MINIATURES

When details of Columbus' voyage reached the royal houses of Europe, there was this frantic desire to know more. Insatiable curiosities would not only die down. Bitin sila! Of course, the uhs and ahhs were centered first to the gory tales of strange creatures, monsters or animals beyond description, giant trees, walking plants, cannibals, and also treasures.  In the end, what was also proven was this hidden human desire to retell, to know what's new. Cartographers battle it out to get the exact details, location, or a thing to measure depicting the newfound terraform in their maps. Often consultations to those who knew were simply lacking that several maps and illustrations turned out to be hilarious, close to a caricature- with beasts and strange humans occupying much of the curiosities. The language was a problem? In the beginning, not so much so, since the demand for information came mostly from those who speak Latin. But when commodities and more curiosities from the...

Looking at this 17th-century French engraving, many might ask about the distinguishing features: Who are the Moluccans? Who are the inhabitants of the Philippines? On a more profound analogy, one tends to recall the early years of Spanish conquest when both the Moluccas and the Philippines were somehow grouped into one together with other  Pacific islands. It was known then as the "Spanish East Indies." This could somehow explain why some books and journals in the 16th to the 17th Century often discussed both archipelagos collectively.                               "Habitans des Philippines, des Moluques et des Isles de la Sonde". from                                        Illustrations de Nouvelle géographie / Martineau. Ca 1700. Early travel books often illustrate inhabitants of the places discuss inacc...

The young Charles V -  circa 1515 by Bernard van Orley. Modern readers might immediately notice the outrageous hairstyle and, of course, the famous Hapsburg jaw. He had two different names or designations in the two vast dominions he inherited and ruled. From his father, Philip "the Handsome" of Hapsburg, he inherited the German territories, the Low Countries, and Flanders (modern-day Netherlands and Belgium). From his mother, the Spanish Infanta (Princess) Juana "La Loca" (the Mad), he inherited the kingdoms of Spain. Indeed, the best of European worlds. Proof that good looks and madness are a potent mix? Ahh, if not for the chin! To the Germanic states, he was "Karl der Fünfte" or Karl V, "Kaiser des Heiligen Römischen Reiches Deutscher Nation" (Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation). To the Spanish kingdoms, he was simply Carlos I (Carlos Primero). Yes, also the namesake of the famous Brandy de Jerez. Carlos I was the ne...

Portrait of Charles V -- 1519 (Woodcut) By Albrecht Dürer. After Hans Weiditz the Younger Again, the jaw is quite prominent. But I discuss this more for the symbolism found in this print. First, it's dated 1519, Charles V ascended into the Spanish throne in 1517. Technically he was just Carlos I. His appointment and the crown as Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire would come later 1520. On the top are the three coats of arms. The middle one, with a double-headed black eagle, that's the Hapsburg coat of arms-- from the paternal side. Now the other two are the standards of Naples and that of Castile-Leon, the kingdoms he inherited from his mother's side. Grabe sa pamana! Below the coats of arms is the representation of two Pillars of Hercules, which, according to Greek mythology, were built by Hercules himself near the Straits of Gibraltar to mark the edge of the world. The pillars bore the inscription "Nec plus ultra" (also Non plus ultra, "nothing farther b...