<論説>サー・ウォルター・ローリーのガイアナ計画

Abstract

従来、サー・ウォルター・ローリ一のガイアナ遠征(一五九五、一六一七年) は、黄金発見の賭けと解され、ヴァージニア植民事業に対する高い評価とは対照的に、極めて低い評価しか与えられてこなかった。本論考では、従来の研究に見られる様々な問題点から、ローリーが彼の後半生を費した構想をガイアナ「計画」と捉え、生前未公刊の彼の諸論文を史料に加えることによって、なぜガイアナなのかという計画の誕生に至る過程、計画の具体的な内容、及び計画の限界や失敗の本質の再検討を試みた。その結果、ローリーのガイアナ計画は、軍事、非軍事の両面からスペイン帝国の打倒とそれに代わるイングランド「帝国」の確立を意図した戦略的な植民論であったこと、そして、一七世紀初頭、彼の計画の継承者たちが行なったガイアナ植民が酉インド諸島植民の基点となっていたこと、を明らかにした。

Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618) is rated high in the English colonial history in North America, but his expedition to Guiana has not been duly appreciated because it was seen as a gamble in search of gold mine. But there leave rooms for reconsidering it, in relation to his aims and intentions in Guiana, by the different point of view from former studies. So, in addition to making researches in Raleigh's major work on Guiana, The Discovery of the Large, Rich and Beautiful Empire of Guiana (1596), by analyzing closely his miscellaneous works, this paper brings a focus on the following points : the reason why he selected Guiana for his design ; the detail of his idea ; its limitation or the exact causes for his failure. From these points of view, it becomes clear that Raleigh's Guiana Design was a strategic colonial theory in order to replace Spanish Empire by English Sea 'Empire'. And it is also recognized that, in the early seventeenth century, Guiana colony attempted by those who supported and inherited his design was the starting point of the history of the British West Indies.