MINIATURES

Woodcut depicting cannibalism among natives in America, from 1509 German edition of Amerigo Vespucci's "Letters to Soderini", Strasbourg 1509.Artist- Anon On the Atlantic coast of South America, Magellan's fleet spent almost a year exploring the region and interchanging with its indigenous people. One interesting account by the Italian chronicler Pigafetta mentions about the cannibals of the land which is now present-day Brazil : "They eat the flesh of their enemies, not as good meat, but because they have adopted this custom. Now this custom arose as follows: an old woman of this place of Verzin (Brazil) had an only son, who was killed by his enemies, and, some days afterward, the friends of this woman captured one of the said enemies who had put her son to death, and brought him to where she was. Immediately the said old woman, seeing the man who was captured, and recollecting the death of her child, rushed upon him like a mad dog, and bit him on the s...

 17th C. obvious exaggeration of Patagonian natives Five hundred years ago, the fleet of Magellan was exploring the southern coastline of the Americas -- What is now the border between Argentina and Chile. They encountered a tribe whose male members were taller and heftier than the average European. Pigafetta wrote in his journal: "Departing thence as far as forty-nine degrees and a half in the Antarctic heavens (as we were  in the winter), we entered into a port to pass the winter and remained there two whole months without ever seeing anybody. However, one day, without anyone expecting it, we saw a giant, who was on the shore of the sea, quite naked, and was dancing and leaping, and singing, and whilst singing he put the sand and dust on his head. Our captain sent one of his men towards him, whom he charged to sing and leap like the other to reassure him and show him friendship. This he did, and immediately the sailor led this giant to a little island where the capt...

Even the candles that burned for long hours in the 17th-century Binondo church were, of course, products of Chinese alchemy. Newly arrived artisans from Amoy (Xiamen) struggled to replicate European faces in their religious statues. Their Madonnas, for instance, bore distinct Chinese features. The Spaniards, equally homesick, craved reminders of their homeland. In an effort to mimic the preserved meats they missed, like jamón, the Chinese adopted new curing techniques. The first bullfight held in Manila was a pale imitation of those held in the Americas. Yet, it wasn't long before enterprising Chinese supplied the event with bulls – a timid crossbreed between Chinese and Mexican stock, as described by Retana. From bookbinders to haberdashers, Chinese immigrants arrived in droves as the silver economy boomed. The lure of Potosi metal, the first truly global currency, doubled the number of Chinese seeking a new life just a two-week junk voyage away. Binondo Canal. Manila 1885 -- I...

Sinasabing sila ang nagkalat ng peste negra o "Black Death" sa Europa noong taong 1348. Isang uri ng kagimbal gimbal na pesteng kumitil sa buhay ng mahigit kumulang 100 milyong katao. Mga simpleng dagang bahay na nagdala ng pulgas na nagsilbing "vector" o tagapagsalin ng mikrobyo ng nasabing peste. Kapag nakagat ka ng pulgas at kumalat ang mikrobyo, hindi ka tatagal ng dalawang araw. Sa un a'y lalagnatin ka. Tutubuan ng bukol na parang pigsa. Babagsak ang katawan. Hindi magtatagal -- Tigok ka! Subalit sa mga Hindu, daga ang kasa kasama ng kanilang diyos na si Ganesha, ginagamit nyang kasangkapan upang sumuot sa kasuluksulukan at kaliit liitan lugar ng alinman daigdig o alin mang labirinto -- sinasabing karakter ng daga bilang hayop na may angking ibang talino. Si Ganesha ay diyos na lumulutas ng mga suliranin at balakid ng sangkatauhan. At sa kanyang papel na ito sa kosmolohiyang Hindu, daga ang kanyang "sidekick". Kay John Steinbeck, sa kanyang obra...

We might not often realize it, but one precious cargo of the Magellan Armada that survives up to now is none other than the Santo Niño of Cebu. In fact it is the only object -- a religious relic, from the great expedition that is still with us. Magellan and his men brought with them merchandise like mirrors, combs, other fancy objects like costumes and fe ather hats etc., obviously to attract the curiosities of the cultures and people they will encounter. Some of these objects were later sold or bartered by the crew for food supplies and also for precious spices. The image of the child Jesus dressed in a 16th century costume, a full regalia for a European child prince was a gift to Humabon's wife , said to be in honor or her baptism. After the horrific massacre of some of Magellan's men in Cebu and the subsequent escape of the armada, nothing was heard of again about the fate of the early Cebuano Christian converts. Until Legazpi arrived in Cebu, four decades later-- 1565 As...

If we are to believe some of his biographers, the reason why he went to Germany was simply to learn the latest in the field of ophthalmic surgery. Other authors pointed out his desire to be fluent in the German language, which he defined as "in the level fit only for the kitchen." Sorry, but my blasphemous thoughts would not stop me, whatever reasons we could come  up with, whether it was this unending curiosity on the Teutonic culture, one thing I just could not stop myself from saying: "Quatsch! Nein! Nuts! Rizal went to Germany to provoke. And every move he did was a provocation!" In the time when Spain was protesting German incursions in the so-called Spanish possessions in the Pacific -- the Marianas and Micronesia, our agent provocateur chose to cross the Rhine and visit. To say or greet them, "Ahoy there, enemy ahoy", or to exchange prosits for a "Stange" of beer? But the German intellectuals, some of whom were known figures in the sc...

Julio Nakpil – Kompositor, rebolusyonaryo, mandirigma;  Sa kasalukuyang panahon tila mahirap pagsamahin ang mga katangiang  nabanggit sa katauhan ng  iisang tao.  Sa dahilang kadalasan ang ideya ng karamihan sa isang  musiko-kompositor  ay -- Isang indibidwal na habang ang paligid ay nagkakagulo o nagrerebolusyon,  nandoon lang siya at nakaupo lamang sa isang sulok,  nagkukutingting ng piano o ano mang instrumento.  Walang pakialam at kung meron mang opinyon,  sasarilihin na lamang. Ano pa at sa panahon ngayon ng K-Pop at ng Rap,   naitatanong ko din naman kung   mauunawaan pa kaya o di kaya’y makaka “relay” pa ang maraming Pilipino, lalong lalo na ang mga Pasigueno sa  personalidad na ating tinatalakay, sa kanyang komposisyong marcha na may pamagat na  "Pasig-Pantaynin" na  nakahibla na sa kasaysayan ng Katipunan sa Pasig?                Pasig 1839.   Tulay "Fr....