<論説>世界分割の科学と政治 : 「モルッカ問題」をめぐって

Abstract

南アジア産の香料は大航海時代の西洋人たちを駆り立てた。なかでも格段に高価だった丁香の原産地モルッカ諸島に先着した(一五一二年末頃) のはポルトガル人であった。ところが、マゼラン(その死後はデル・カノ) 率いるスペイン艦隊がモルッカ諸島に寄港し(一五二一年一一月) ビクトリア号が丁香を積載してスペインに帰着(一五二二年九月) 。これを契機にスペイン・ポルトガル両王権間に「モルッカ問題」が生じた。この問題を解決するために設けられたのがバダホス＝エルヴァス会議(一五二四年四月一一日―五月末日) である。この会議で両国の航海者や天文学者たちは分界の取り決めに基づいてモルッカ諸島の所有権の所在を、両国の法曹家たちはその占有の現状を論議したが、結果的には何の合意も引き出せなかった。しかしながら、U. Lamb はこの会議は「偉大な科学的事業」となる可能性をもっていたし、少なくとも分界の審議にあたった人々の間には政治を越えた「広範な合意の場」が成立していたと考えている。 本稿では分界に関する共通の認識すなわち「共知」の内容と会議を政治化させた仕組みに注目しながら議論の展開を詳細に検討した。まず、分界に関する共知は二重構造を形成していた。表層にはスペイン有利の熟知があったが、深層に有利不利の判断が難しい共知が隠されていたため互いにこれを変造して対抗した。しかも、この二重の共知は「対蹠分界」の理念という政治性の強いもうひとつの共知のうえに成立しており、それは新たな分界論への途を閉ざしていた。Lamb 説に反して政治は共知の担い手たちの言動に強い影響力を及ぼしていた。

The spices from South Asia, especially cloves and nutmegs, were most attractive to the Europeans in the age of discovery. The Portuguese arrived at the Molucca Islands, the only natural home of cloves, for the first time around the end of 1512. However, the Spanish squadron commanded by Magellan (and after his death by Del Cano) called at the Moluccas in November of 1521, and the surviving ship of the squadron, the Victoria, arrived back home with cloves after its circumnavigation of the globe on September 6, 1522. This brought about the "Moluccas Question" between the Spanish crown and the Portuguese. The matter was referred to the Spanish-Portuguese joint council at Badajoz-Elvas from April 11 to May 31, 1524. The council was divided into two committees, one consisting of astronomers and navigators to discuss the conflicting claims to the Moluccas in relation to the treaty of the Demarcacion, the other consisting of jurists to discuss the legal status of its occupation. These committees failed reach agreement on the scientific and lagal issues. U.S. Lamb insisted that the council had the potential to produce great scientific achievements and that there was "a large area of agreement" overriding politics at least among the members of the scientific committee. In this article I examine the discussions in close detail, focussing on the common ground concerning the understanding of the Demarcacion within the scientific committee and on the politicization of its discussions. In conclusion the common understanding had a dual aspect, a superficial one advantageous to Spain but also deeper one of which it is difficult to judge to whom it was more advantageous, for which reason agreement was not forthcoming. Moreover it had a political substructure, the idea of the "Antimeridian", which shut the door to another understanding of the Demarcacion. Despite Lamb's view, the scientific committee and its advisers were indeed heavily influenced by politics.