CFP: Zulueta 360: ‘The Trial of Pedro De Zulueta on a Charge of Slave Trading’ (1844) in Context (DEADLINE: 12 October 2018)

(Source: Imperial Entanglements)

We learned of a Call for Delegates for a workshop on various aspects of the 19^th century Zulueta slave trade case. Here the call:

The workshop will take place at The Wallace Collection in London

20 November 2018

The Zulueta family name is not very well known outside of Basque and some slave trade historiography. However, one of the family members, Pedro José de Zulueta (1809-82) is unique for two reasons. Pedro José de Zulueta was put on trial at the Old Bailey for the crime of slave trading in 1843 and, after he was acquitted, he published a monumental tome about his trial in order to exonerate himself further in the eyes of the London merchant community. It is this publication, The Trial of Pedro de Zulueta, Jun. On a Charge of Slave Trading, that is at the centre of the workshop.

Running to almost 500 pages and covering topics from parliamentary inquiries into the slave trade on the West African coast to the Spanish merchant community of London, the book is an unwieldy source. It is difficult to get a sense of it as whole because it is such a convoluted product of its time but it offers a valuable window on Spanish involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade and British attempts at its suppression. However, to penetrate the source and make it accessible requires contextualization and a variety of expertise that can draw out its value. This interdisciplinary workshop will bring together members of the academic community from diverse fields of expertise to explore the wider legal, social and cultural context for Zulueta’s book. This is the link to the book:

Trial of Pedro de Zulueta

 Workshop Format

Each delegate will be chosen for their expertise in an area that is central to the Zulueta book. We ask delegates to prepare a talk of no more than 15 minutes, exploring the text and/or its context from the perspective of their own field of interest. We’re interested above all in making sense of the society that gave rise to Zulueta’s trial, and to which his self-defence was addressed. Suggested areas for discussion include:

Royal Navy

African Coast

History of London

Catholicism in London

Slave-trade in London

London Shipping Industry

London Business History

The Legal aspects of Slave-trade Suppression

The Spanish Community in London

Cuban Slave-trade

The Basque dimension

The Old Bailey experience

 Future Digital Publication of the Zulueta Book

The goal of this workshop is to make Zulueta’s book accessible to a wide audience within and beyond the academy. To this end, the Imperial Entanglements project plans to produce an annotated digital version of parts of the Zulueta book with accompanying contextual studies based on the contributions to this workshop.

We particularly encourage PhD students to participate in the workshop. If you are interested in presenting please email Dr. Anna Brinkman at:

a.brinkman@warwick.ac.uk

We are not asking for an abstract at this stage but please email us with your preferred area of discussion along with a paragraph on how your research can contribute to the workshop by Friday 12 October 2018.

(Source: Imperial Entanglements)