Alonso Ramírez

Alonso Ramírez (born c. 1662, date of death unknown) was a sailor from San Juan, Puerto Rico, who was press-ganged into the crew of the English privateer William Dampier and subsequently became the first known person from the Americas to circumnavigate the world. His account of the voyage formed the basis of The Misfortunes of Alonso Ramírez, published by Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora in 1690, which became widely popular and is often regarded as the first historical novel of the Americas.

A criollo born in the coastal capital of Puerto Rico, Ramírez's life took a turn for the worse early in his life, losing his wife in childbirth and prompting him to leave the Americas altogether. Ramírez arrived at the Philippines, then a Spanish colony in Asia, where he worked as a merchant sailor. Ambushed and taken aboard Dampier's flagship as its boatswain, he traveled with them through Asia, Oceania and Africa before going off on his own after arriving at the mouth of the Amazon. As captain of a frigate previously captured by Dampier, he found his way back to Yucatán before being shipwrecked.

Due to the sensational nature of the account and the serendipitous circumstances that allowed his survival, the existence of Ramírez was widely speculated to be a fictional creation for 317 years, until historical research validated several details of his account. He frames its place within the Empire by noting that at the time the quality of water at Aguada made it famous in New Spain. Ramírez makes reference to the Taino name for the island, Borinquen, and gives the history of the island to that point, citing the gold deposits that were responsible for its name and the cocoa economy that followed. He notes that the cultural extinction and decimation of the natives was in part responsible for the population becoming poorer once hurricanes destroyed the plants, since there was a lack of workers.

Traveling abroad and sailing At age 13, Ramírez boarded a hulk captained by a sailor named Juan del Corcho, with a stop at Havana. From Havana, the vessel traveled to San Juan de Ulúa. After six month, Ramírez was lamenting his decision to go abroad, having experienced worse quality of life than at San Juan. Once again, Ramírez was unsatisfied with the work, citing that the mountain trails only offered ample chance to be scared at the threat of landslides and numerous hazards of other kinds. While Lopez recovered, Ramírez spent time fantasizing about better and more lucrative lines of work. Upon arriving at Cuicatlán, the merchant suffered a fatal bout of the same illness. His wife died in child birth eight months later, after which he returned to Puebla de los Angeles and began working under carpenter Esteban Gutierrez.

Arriving at Cavite, he criticized the locals for being unreceptive and the port town for its weather, dangerous landscape and lack of fresh water. As such, he decided to become a sailor and operate out of Cavite, a line of work that took him to Indian ports which he described as constantly requested and lucrative. Despite this, Ramírez expressed disgust at the religious practices there, calling the citizens "moors and gentiles" and lamenting that Catholicism wasn't practiced. He also traveled to Batavia, expressing fascination at the presence of international merchants and a large variety of merchandise and the Portuguese port of Macau. Ramírez complained that they were only give four short boarding pikes and two badly damaged muskets with five bullets for defense. Despite ordering his men to stations, it became evident that the attackers were better equipped and the frigate was being peppered by shots.

As the captain of the frigate, Ramírez was taken aboard the flagship and introduced to the pirate captain, who received him with a joy that he considered hypocritical. Upon being queried about the wealth of the region, he feigned ignorance. When asked if their vessel could be supplied at Capones Island, Ramírez lied and said that the island was uninhabited as a ruse to have his captors ambushed. The pirate flotilla had two well provisioned ships, both armed with eight cannon and a large number of cutlasses, blunderbusses, harpoons, grenades and axes. Ramírez was tied to the mast and interrogated again while he and his crew were tortured. His Indian quartermaster revealed that Capones Island was actually inhabited and that Ramírez was an experienced sailor, so the pirates gave Ramírez a beating.

The Pacific and Asia Arriving at Côn Đảo, the Spanish frigate was sacked and set on fire. Efn|Despite not being directly stated, it is believed that around this time Ramírez changed ships and boarded the Good Hope. Despite providing a detailed account, Ramírez claims that he did not participate in the pillaging, always staying on the flagship. He went on to call the pirates "beasts" due to supposedly taking the charred arm of one of their victims and shared it among themselves in an act of cannibalism, before offering him a piece. Anchoring at Hon Khoai island, they resupplied and Ramírez and his crew were told to make ropes with vegetation. At Siantan Island, they attacked the natives and took livestock and other provisions. After torching a settlement at the Tambelan Islands, they sailed to Borneo where they docked at Sukadana and requested permission from the governor to trade. After scouting the place for three days, the pirates launched a midnight attack plundering the Governor's House and taking him and others hostage, before taking what they could from the rest of the town before torching it and the ships docked there. After resupplying and dropping the hostages on land, they captured two "moor" vessels off the Bengal region, torching them and killing several in the process.

Oceania and Africa By this time, Ramírez noted that the pirate flotilla had been uncontested in all its naval engagements, citing knowledge that they were being hunted down. The manned the ship with 14 armed sailors and ten cannons, assimilating it into the flotilla. The pirates sailed for weeks, eventually finding their way to Australia, finding unoccupied camps and ample food and water. Ramírez was placed in charge of fixing sails and cooking meat.

Ramírez states that the pirates were going to leave him and the Spanish left behind at Madagascar, but he pled them not to making reference to his service and promising to offer servitude as if he was a slave, continued aboard. Relieved, he effusively thanked them. Efn|"Nicpat" likely refers to Nick Burton, master gunner of the Good Hope. Taken to the Captain's Cabin, Ramírez swore that Cornelio was the one planning the mutiny, after which "Bel" pardoned him at the behest of "Nicpat". The pirates sailed towards Cape Hope, from where they continued sailing along the coast for a month and a half.

Return to the Americas Afterwards, the flotilla began an intercontinental voyage, with Brazil as its next destination. According to him, three groups emerged, a majority one that voted to have them killed, another that voted to maroon them and a third -composed by "Nicpat", "Dick", Captain Duncan and his close circle- who opposed both and felt that those options were unwarranted. Ramírez claims that the pirates almost came to blows, before ultimately giving him control of the frigate captured at the Singapore Straight and the Spaniards as his crew. With a mocking goodbye, he was supposedly set on his way. Sailing for six days, they saw land but continued onwards until they stumbled upon three smaller islands inhabited by birds. Ramírez and Juan de Casas took a row boat and took some supplies, after which they continued to Trinidad. Afterwards they sailed West, coming upon Barbados, but left upon stumbling upon a canoe with six British men. The crew consumed most of its supplies, while continuing Northeast. The crew, most of whom were nonwhite Spaniards, feared that the French there would capture and make them slaves.

Ramírez emphasized in his declaration that he was not familiar with the Lesser Antilles and the Caribbean at large due to never traveling there from San Juan during his youth. Ramírez continued sailing West, from which he saw the south coast of Hispaniola about six leagues away, claiming that it was too far to dock. Ramírez continued this route until he found Jamaica, noting that the town of Port Royal was full of ships including two British sloops that were aware of their presence. Frustrated and with supplies reduced to what could be fished and slightly more than a small barrel of fresh water, Ramírez sailed West and then Southwest with the intention of finding a safe dock. However, that night the wind picked up, the tide roared and the rope snapped, sending Ramírez into a frenzy to sail to a barren cape that was visible from there. With morale dropping and thirst increasing, Ramírez swam to the frigate once the weather improved three days later, extracted an ax and what he considered useful to start a campfire. Taking another plunge, he retrieved the small water barrel. Ramírez and Juan de Casas returned to the frigate, taking with them a canoe, blunderbusses, ammunition, powder and its sails, among other things.

Most of the sailors refused to leave camp, until a mosquito infestation became unbearable after a month of eating palm pulp and crabs. He suffered an accident where some ammunition ignited and burned part of his face, hair, chest and leg. Stumbling upon a river and some mangroves, the group found an animal that Ramírez called a "deformed bear", which after being shot charged at him before being killed by the crew. Efn|This was either a southern tamandua or simply an attempt to explain away the true origin of the multiple scars scattered throughout his body. The natives were searching amber for their master, Juan González, informing him that they were at Bacalar in Yucatán and feeding the sailors. Joining the entourage, they visited Mesoamerican ruins where ancient wells could be found and ambushed a canoe to take the natives captive, offering them as "gifts" to the Church at Tihosuco at the behest of González. They remained there eight days, during which they ate and recovered.

Ramírez left the town with a letter for the Vicar of Tixcacal, with the mayors of Valladolid (Francisco de Zelerun and Ziphirino de Castro) being informed beforehand of his arrival. A local encomendero, Melchor Pacheco, received a rusted kris after becoming fixated by it, as the account gathered him celebrity in the town. This act was said by Ramírez to have awakened the suspicions of Ceferino. Wanting to make a claim for the cargo, he was sent to Mérida, arriving there on December 8, 1689, and being housed in a building for foreigners with little to eat. After once again narrating his account to sergeant mayor Francisco Guerreo and notary Bernardo Sabido, he was released and sold Pedro for 300 pieces of eight.

Knowing that the frigate was going to be unloaded, Ramírez tried to travel back to Valladolid, but was prevented from doing so by order of De Castro, who threatened to declare him a traitor to the Crown. Returning to Mérida, and upon arriving there following the Easter celebrations, learned that the Viceroy of New Spain, Gaspar de la Cerda Silva y Mendoza, was summoning him in response to his claim. On April 7, 1690, Ramírez arrived to Campeche, from where he boarded a sloop to Veracruz. Ramírez expressed that he intended to entertain whoever read his misadventures, despite emphasizing they nearly killed him. He felt a necessity to affirm that he did not try to gain sympathy by publishing these claims, nor that he had fallen victim to his pain.

The Crown requested Francisco de Ayerra Santa María, chaplain of Convento Real de Jesús María at Mexico, to oversee the potential censorship of the relation of the events as narrated to the author. By his own admission, the functionary was enthralled by the narrative, both due to the nature of the content and the way in which they were presented in the document. As such, he licensed publishing it without censoring any part of the original manuscript on June 26, 1690. Ayerra Santa María emphasizes the historicity of the account and notes that, to the best of his knowledge, the author only "polished" the narrative with his verbose prose. Several academics, including Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo, Cayetano Coll y Toste, Concha Meléndez, Josefina Rivera de Álvarez and Manuel Álvarez Nazario subscribed to this theory, despite not possessing confirmation during their lifetimes.

Histographical analysis Debate on the historic validity of the account The nature of Ramirez's account, full of intrigue and details that border on self-deprecation, self-righteousness that bordered on heroism and dark tones led to the public perception that he had, in fact, been a creation of Sigüenza y Góngora. The book became a hit during the 20th century when republished as part of a compendium of peculiar books by Pedro Vindel in 1902. It's timing meant that it joined a host of similar works in the popular surge of the buccaneer era of literature and film industry. Though the importance of the account was recognized, it was within the context of its role as a Latin American novel within the colonial context, not for the actions of its lead. The book was republished several times throughout the 20th century, including in his native Puerto Rico in 1944.

Authors such as J. S. Cummins and Alan Soons noted how Sigüenza y Góngora in tongue-in-cheek manner dismisses his geographic knowledge, speculating that as a simple sailor he provided uncredited scientific verification to the details shared with him. Historian Francisco Vidargas was among the first to note that as an objectivist, all of Sigüenza y Góngora's works strived to come as close as possible to an "objective truth" that prevailed over the benefits of including a fictional "enchantment" to them. Estelle Irizarry studied the lexicography of the account and found that it was heterogeneous, supporting the notion that the author served as amanuensis to Ramírez. Several of the figures and events described in the account were verified by Cummins, Soons and Bryant in their republished versions, hinting that at least the setting as described was historically accurate. Some tertiary figures, such as Ceferino de Castro, were also confirmed to have been at the place and time that the narrative describes, performing the tasks that are attributed to them in the text.

Establishing the existence of Ramírez The process of reestablishing the actual existence of Ramírez himself as a real individual and retrieving what could be historically verified of his declaration did not begin in earnest until the 21st century. The decadence of the last years of the Asturian dynasty was used by Antonio Peña Izquierdo to frame the dichotomy between the brothers and the Peninsular establishment. By researching the correspondence between the Portocarrero y Palma and Infantado y Galve families, two compering factions whose power extended from Europe to the Americas the López Lázaro noted that his fortuitous arrival became an important development for the imperial politics. Within the context of expanding military initiatives that responded to multiple buccaneer attacks throughout the region, the viceroy was being pressured to produce more silver for the Peninsula, while funds for New Spain were being withheld. Ramírez's arrival and status as a victim allowed the viceroy to order the publishing of the account as a book, so it could be easily distributed, and which he sent to the Infantado y Galve as proof that his defense initiatives were warranted. The letter that Gaspar wrote accompanying the document was retrieved by the author from the Archivo de la Casa Ducal de Osuna by the author. These include his origin as a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, his arrival to the Philippines, the voyage that began in Asia and led to him wrecking the frigate, becoming lost at Campeche and that what Sigüenza y Góngora wrote down was in accord with what he had been told personally. More historical material that proved the existence of Ramírez was unearthed following this initial research, discoveries that took place during the 2010s included the discovery of his marriage certificate to Francisca Xaviera and the confirmation of the shipwreck of his frigate as reported. By 2020, Carlos Martínez Shaw and Marina Alfonso Mola argued that the possibility of the account being fictional "could definitely be considered buried" as more events and historical figures present in it were confirmed as real.

Debate about his ethnicity Due to the obscurity of his father's birthplace and his last name being "Villanueva", which was commonly adopted by Sephardic converts following their expulsion from Spain in 1492, historian Estelle Irrizary published academic speculation that Ramírez himself possessed that heritage. Other aspects of his life, such as leaving Puerto Rico to fend on his own at the age of 13, have been associated with the continued and covert practice of the Bar Mitzvah among Crypto-Jews in the Spanish New World. Ramírez's poor self-image as expressed numerous times throughout the text, were interpreted as a reflection of his internal turmoil and conflict over his current Catholic faith and his perception of an incompatible background. This author also considers that he would have pursued the intervention of the authorities unlikely, knowing well that his heritage would be noted even if not disclosed, putting his life in danger. Ramírez claims that when these tasks were failed, they would be lashed, and that they only received a bushel of rice accompanied by a pint of water. Every Monday, the captured were made to lash each other for the entertainment of the pirates. He noted that a Sevillian named Miguel was the one responsible for most of his unfortunes, unintentionally documenting an instance of pirate religious conversion and how it affected the acceptance among the crew. Ramírez accused the man of betraying his Catholic faith and adopting the Protestant faith of the British, especially around Christmas and on Sundays, when they would pray. The vessel's weaponry, nine iron cannons with over 2,000 cannonballs of four, six and ten pounds. It is due to this very reason and suspecting duplicity in his allegations of being an unwilling member of the crew, that they reclaimed it in the name of the Spanish Inquisition basing their claim on the crusade bull. However, these suspicions continued to gather support among modern historians who have examined the details of his life between 1687 and 1690. As such, it is believed that while he is generally truthful when it comes to the events witnessed that did not involve him, he was intentionally obscure concerning his role in the crew and his participation in the pillaging that took place at Asia and Oceania.

Although the shipwreck of the frigate was historically and later archeologically confirmed in an expedition organized in February 20–22, 2018, Ramírez's claim that the pirates sent them to their death has been disputed by the very researcher responsible for these findings. Buscaglia Salgado cites a number of omissions in his account to argue that it's more likely that the ship was captured on behalf of the Cygnet and then given those that got the prize pursuant to the Pirate's Code as the crew disbanded and fragmented at the Amazon. The author notes that on the way back, the vessel avoided Puerto Rico for unexplained reasons and emphasizes that it's not possible to sail without spotting the island. Buscaglia Salgado argues that there was no logical reason why the British pirates would let them live and also share a part of the booty if they were considered prisoners being sent to their deaths. The cargo that the shipwrecked frigate was carrying at the time of the loss was consistent more damming to his claims of innocence was Ramírez's own appearance, full of scars and burns which he could not explain to Sigüenza y Góngora when queried. Martínez and Alonso support this conclusion, arguing that the idea that its extremely unlikely that the pirates would gift Ramírez a vessel unless he was actively part of their culture and well regarded as a freebooter. Multiple aspects of the account have been academically studied, including his customs and attitudes in relation to the era. Fabio López Lázaro argues in an article titled La mentira histórica de un pirata caribeño: El descubrimiento del trasfondo histórico de los Infortunios de Alonso Ramírez (1690) that the academic community "must re-evaluate the creation of the Infortunios as a step in the political and imperial strategies." The author identifies a power struggle between the viceroy, his brother and the Duke of the Infantado Gregorio María de Silva y Mendoza and Archbishop Luis Manuel Fernández de Portocarrero. In 1967, Vallés Formosa argued that the account was a more grounded precursor to other novels in the maritime genre, speculating that Daniel Defoe may have acquired a copy prior to publishing Robinson Crusoe. As the book gathered comparisons to subsequent works by authors such as Jonathan Swift, Robert Louis Stevenson and Joseph Conrad, the debate of its historicity raged. María José Rodilla placed it on the same scale of Portrait of Lozana: The Lusty Andalusian Woman and Don Quixote in terms of providing a window of social testimony in a bygone era, even if in the end it turned to be fictional.

Leonor Taiano argues that the reason why Ramírez received the protection of Gaspar de la Cerda, despite the troubling aspects of his involvement with pirates that caused suspicion in other officials, was because it played into his favor by depicting him as a benevolent leader that acted to protect a "defenseless man". This act of "generosity and mercy" and the emphasis of on external and violent enemies, reflected positively on him and allowed Counter-Reformation propaganda to prosper in the New Spain. This author also questions whether Ramírez's criticism of Miguel was intentional, as an attempt to justify that he spoke favorably of some of the pirates that had been forced to adopt Protestantism and were in essence "Crypto-Catholics" and vulnerable before the British Crown. Taiano ultimately identifies Ramírez self-mythification, in particular the claims that he was an oppressed captive and by-stander, to push forward that he was only a victim of circumstance who stuck to his Catholic faith and was ultimately saved by his piety and the benevolent Spanish establishment.

A unique insight on the criollo perception of the world It has also been cited as a novel approach to Imperial community, one based on inspiring pity over appealing to similarities. The account has been called a "unique Latin American perspective to subjects that have long been dominated by European narratives, namely living in times were piracy and shipwrecks were part of daily life for sailors." As a sailor, Ramírez was well accustomed to the frequency in which freebooters targeted Spanish ports and part of his critique of the poor military capacity and equipment of the Nuestra Señora de Aránzazu y San Ignacio was due to feeling fully exposed to attack. Later in the narrative he noted that he associated the British with piracy, a product of numerous attacks by privateers in the Spanish colonies including the attack of his hometown, challenging their maritime hegemony. Despite buccaneers becoming prevalent throughout the region in the decades leading to his birth, Ramírez expresses a more favorable perception of the French in his account, simply due to them being Catholic. Likewise, Ramírez expresses considerable prejudice against Muslims, to whom he refers to as "barbaric [...] Moors", that was informed by longstanding Spanish Islamophobic tendencies that were incorporated into the folklore of Puerto Rico via demonic depictions known as Vejigantes and reenactments of the Spanish-Moro conflict and Reconquista in popular celebrations. These narratives hold so much power over his perception that he was willing to beg and humiliate himself before being left behind in Madagascar. He classified the Tartars, which possibly included other ethnic groups such as Mongolians, as "tricky".

Geography and society of the Spanish East Indies and non-Hispanic Asia Martínez and Alonso consider the narrative as a particularly important insight of the Spanish colonies in the Pacific, especially the Philippines, noting the general accuracy of its description of Manila Bay and several cays and islands along the Manila galleon route. Ramírez provided a seaman's perspective that is lacking in other contemporary accounts of the Philippines capital, which argued that regional merchants and importation from sources independent of the Trans-Pacific fleet were more important than support from the Empire. Regarding Ramírez's description of the several ports found at Southeast Asia, his description of the ethnic composition and socioeconomic realities of each town is both accurate and supported by other sources, including official censuses. The interactions noted between locals and foreign Imperial powers, such as between Tatars in China and the Portuguese at colony Macao, are consistent with historic consensus. His limited understanding of the Malay language led to several places being named as "Pulo" (the word for "island") in the narrative, as is the case with multiple Malaysian ports mentioned.