Did you know that Spaniards arrived in Australian territory almost 200 years before the British?
Did you know that Spain was allegedly the first European nation to claim sovereignty of Australia?
These findings were presented by the Chilean researcher Gustavo Mártin-Montenegro in his monograph entitled Australia del Espíritu Santo: A Spanish name for an English country.
The renowned Chilean historian came to the conclusion that the national day of Australia del Espíritu Santo (Australia of the Holy Spirit) should be commemorated on May 14, 1606.
This designation, explains the author, can be attributed to the navigator Pedro Fernández de Quirós, a Portuguese explorer in the service of the Spanish Navy.
According to Mártin-Montenegro, on December 21, 1605, Pedro Fernández de Quirós and Luis Váez de Torres set sail from Callao, Peru, with the intention of establishing a settlement in the southern hemisphere.
Thus, on May 14, 1606, he took "possession" of the land and wrote a note to the King of Spain, Felipe III, that says: "I take possession of all the lands, those seen, and those to be seen, of all part of the south as far as the South Pole, that from that day to be called 'Australia del Espíritu Santo.'"
Martin-Montenegro explains that the 26th of January, the day in which Australia currently celebrates its national day, is based on the events of 1788 when Arthur Phillip, on behalf of the British crown, began the process of occupation of the territories.
A bronze statue depicting Pedro Fernandez de Quiros stands by Sydney's Central station at the Plaza Ibero Americana on Chalmers street
Phillip landed at Port Jackson (the place where Sydney was founded) with his 11 ships of convicts, which consisted of 568 men and 191 women. All of them were brought from England to establish penal colonies.
Devastating colonial action
The Chilean historian points out that 26 January is also remembered as the beginning of a devastating process against the first nations people of those territories. Aboriginal Australians inhabited the land of the south long before the Europeans.
Archaeology has given the hypotheses that Indigenous Australians may have originated from somewhere in Africa, south of China or directly from South East Asia.
Martin-Montenegro says "there is evidence that the oldest human presence dates approximately 116, 000 years ago and that the antiquity could be expanded to 176,000 years."
The author specifies that long before Great Britain occupied the country, in 1788, there were more than 600 indigenous communities in Australia, it was even estimated that there were between 200 and 250 different languages and numerous dialects were spoken.
Nevertheless, the first settlers never acknowledged this, instead declaring the land to be 'Terra Nullius' meaning 'nobody's land'.
The author therefore asks readers to reconsider the date, because January 26, 1788 marks the "devastating colonial action imposed by England" when Arthur Phillip established the penal colonies.
The Spanish version of 'Australia's' history
The historian's research explains that Anglo-Australian books hold that the first Europeans to arrive in Australia were the Dutch, but that they never showed interest in colonising the territory. They had the impression that it was a "barren territory and the population in primitive state."
Nevertheless, Martin-Montenegro says, "the Spanish have their own version and claim that they were the first to visit the continent island before the Dutch."
"The history indicates that in 1595, the navigator Lope de Vega arrived at the eastern coast of Australia establishing itself in Bondi Beach, in Sydney."
After that, on May 14, 1606, Pedro Fernández de Quirós took "possession" of the land and immediately wrote to the King of Spain, the note before described. "I take possession of all these lands, those seen, and those to be seen, of all part of the south Pole, that from that day was to be called Australia del Espíritu Santo."
The investigation states that in his memoirs, published in 1610 in Seville and 1617 in London, Fernández de Quirós tells King Felipe III, who was married to Margaret of Austria, the following:
"For the happy memory of Your Majesty, and for the sake of the name of Austria, I named (the said land) the Australia of the Holy Spirit, because in your day (the anniversary of your birth) I took possession of it."
Thanks to the research of George Collingride, cited by Martin-Montenegro, it is known that on May 14, the day of the possesion of the land, the appearance of the Holy Spirit is also celebrated.
Australia or 'Austrialia'?
Some Australian historians suggest that the manuscript of Quirós suffered some alterations and that the original word would have been Austrialia. That is why they have always doubted the veracity of the facts.
Diplomatic conflict between European nations?
Martin-Montenegro states that when Spain learned of the arrival of the English in 1788, Spain did everything possible to preserve the territory it presumed as belonging to it.
In fact, instructions were given to arrest James Cook, as he was blamed for breaking the law by invading waters that belonged to Spain.
History tells that on August 22, 1770, Captain James Cook took possession of the land in the name of the King of England, George III, from the entire east coast to the south end.
Spain reportedly did continue its pressure but failed to evict the invaders.
Martin-Montenegro says in his research that it is obvious that Spain did not have the capacity to defend the sovereignty of Australia because the Spanish empire was in decline while the British Empire was rising.
Name of Australia
Martin-Montenegro gives a detailed description on the theory of how Australia was discovered and the process to put a name to it.
Martin-Montenegro says that the first works date back to the second century, when the Roman astronomer, mathematician and geographer named Claudius Ptolomy (or Tolomeo) speaks for the first time of a continent in the south, an unknown land.
The investigation indicates that it was not until 1531, when the French cartographer Oronce Fine established in his maps an imaginary continent that he called Terra Australis, which in Latin means "land of the south" or "land of the southern winds."
Claudius Ptolemy's map depicting an imagined 'Terra Australis' Source: Wikimedia Commons - Public domain
Regarding the current iteration of the name of Australia, it is known that the explorer Matthew Flinders named the area as Terra Australis, which was the original name that it had been given by European cartographers.
Then, in 1804, Flinders drew a map where he names the area as Australia. The governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie supported the idea of Flinders by the name of Australia. In 1824, England officially accepted that the continent should be called Australia.
So what is the definitive truth?
Australian historians have not generally acknowledged or as Martin-Montenegro claims have "ignored" that Spain claimed sovereignty in Australia.
The author Al Grassby, who is quoted by Martin-Montenegro, says in his book The Spanish in Australia: "Australian historians still refuse even to acknowledge that the debate ever took place. They have also ignored […] the fact that Spain claimed the sovereignty of Australia.
"This "conspiracy of silence" continues at Australia’s universities today, where students are encouraged and indeed permitted […] to look only at the aspects which were put forward in London. [...] This is part of the unbalanced approach that has been made to Australian history."
The author of the monograph, Mártin-Montenegro, makes a serious call to authorities of Australia and Spain to investigate the historical truth.
