Moro Pirates' attacks worsen, 1634.

New Governor and Reënforcements arrive, 1635.

Zamboanga City History

SECOND BOOK OF THE SECOND PART OF THE CONQUESTS OF THE FILIPINAS ISLANDS, AND CHRONICLE OF THE RELIGIOUS OF OUR FATHER, ST. AUGUSTINE

          CHAPTER XV

 The raid of the Mindanao pirates into Leyte. Election of father Fray Juan Ramirez as provincial. Arrival of the governor, Don Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera, and the religious (Jesuits) who came in his company.

That year of 1634 was so quiet and so barren of events worthy of remembrance that I shall not dwell long upon it; for there is nothing of which I have heard to detain me, unless it be the raid of the Mindanao enemy into the island of Leyte, and the depredations that they committed there with the license permitted to them in seeing that there was no attempt made in Manila to check them.

On Sunday, December 3, 1634, the Mindanaos arrived with eighteen galleys at the village of Ogmuc, leaving behind in that of Baybay the rest of the vessels which they brought in their fleet. Fifty of our Indians went out to resist them, but being unable to fight so many, they gradually retired to a little fort, possessed by the village. They thought that they would be able to resist the pirates there, being encouraged by their minister, Father Juan del Carpio, of the Society of Jesus; and they did so for some time, until the Moros, knowing that the church was higher than the fort, entered it and our men could not reach them with their shots. They planted three pieces in a convenient place at the church, in order to do great damage to those in the fort; and firing without cessation, they did not allow our men to fire a shot through its loopholes and windows. Others of the enemy hastened by another side to gather bundles of thatch by uncovering the roofs of the houses; and by fastening together what wood and bamboo they could gather, and pushing this contrivance toward the fort, they set it afire. The fire burned a quantity of rice and abacá (which is the hemp of this country), and many men were choked by the smoke. The besieged, seeing that the fire had caught the timber-work [of the fort], and that they were being inevitably killed without any chance to defend themselves, displayed a signal for surrender, and in fact did so.

They were all captured; and a great contest arose among the enemy as to who should have Father Carpio as his captive. In this contention they had recourse to the Mindanao captain, and he ordered that the father be killed. That they did very gladly, and beheaded him and carried his head back to present it as a spoil to their king, Cachil Corralat (Sultan Kudarat). The latter had charged them not to leave alive any religious or Spaniard, for so had he vowed to their false prophet Mahomet in an illness that he had had. They took the others captive, and sacked and burned all the village. From that place they sailed out and committed the same destruction in the villages of Soyor, Binñangán, Cabalián, Canamucán, and Baybay (Leyte Island). But they were so stoutly resisted in the village of Inibañgán in [the island of] Bohol, and in Dapitán (Mindanao), that they retired but little the gainers; for those Indians are very valiant, and very different in valor from the other villages which the Mindanaos sacked.

The Camucones (the name of the Moro pirates who inhabit the little islands of the Sulu group east of Tawi-tawi, and the islands between these and Borneo) also—a people from islands subject to Borney, cruel and barbarous, and Mahometan by religion, although there are pagans in some islands—made their raids into the island of Panay, chiefly on the villages of Batán, Domayan, and Mahanlur, and in those of Aclán and Bahay, where they captured many of our Indians, and burned the churches of the visita. The visitas are usually deserted, and have no houses to defend them; and those Camucones are very cowardly and very different from the Joloans and Mindanaos, who are valiant, and much more so the latter named. The Camucones entered by the river and bar of Batán, which is salt water, where a very grievous jest happened to two or three of their craft. The river of Batán has another river a short distance above the village road, which ends in a very wide and spacious sea, which they call " tinagongdagat," or "hidden sea," in which the inhabitants enjoy excellent fishing. With the ebb of the tide that spacious sea is left, almost dry, and then many kinds of shellfish are caught, such as oysters and crabs. The Camucones entered that sea, with the intention of lying in wait for some capture, but when they least expected it they found their craft on dry ground. An Indian who was gathering the aforesaid shellfish saw them; and, recognizing them to be piratical enemies by the style of their craft, went to the village and gave warning of them. Many of the inhabitants of Batán assembled, and, well armed, attacked the Camucones very courageously. They made a great slaughter of the pirates, and captured many of them and burned their craft. Some of the Camucones escaped through the mangrove plantations and swampy ground. They were captured next day, with the exception of those who had the luck to rejoin the boats of their companions—who repenting of their carelessness, returned to their lands, and did not return to try their fortune in those regions for many years.

Those Camucones enemies, entering that island of Panay in the same district between Batán and Aclán, in 1672, captured, the alcalde-mayor of Panay, Captain Don José de San Miguel. He defended himself against them until he was killed, and immediately when that was known they beheaded him, and took his head and skin to their land as a trophy. Better fortune was experienced by the notary, Pedro de Villarús, who was in another boat; for, having seen the Camucones, he had his boat beached, and, taking to the mangrove swamps, saved his life after great danger. This he attributed to a miracle of the apostle St. Peter, to whom he was very devoted, and to whom he made a great feast as a thank-offering. The piteous death of that alcalde-mayor, Don José de San Miguel, could be attributed to the punishment of God, as he had been a cruel persecutor of the regular ministers; so much so that in the time during which he governed that province (which by the Divine permission was short), they suffered a great persecution. But God knows the truth; and it is not permitted, nor do I wish, to interpret the events of His holy will and providence. But it has not seemed proper to me to omit a circumstance which I positively know concerning that ill-starred youth; namely, that after his death, there was found among his papers a letter from his father, Don Basilio de San Miguel (who is said to have been much given to astrology and soothsaying), who told and ordered him not to receive an office of justice under any circumstance for the first that he should obtain threatened him with a very great disaster. I know that fact absolutely; for the rest, concerning the infallibility and even possibility of like judgments, I declare that I am ready to obey the command of our holy Mother the Church, in the constitution of his Holiness Sixtus V which begins, Cæli et terræ Creator.

Father Fray Gerónimo de Medrano finished his triennium, notable both for his pacific and prudent government, and by the two martyrs of Christ who ennobled this province during his triennium. In the chapter celebrated in the convent of Manila, April 28, 1635—over which father master Fray Alonso de Carvajal presided, by virtue of the letters of our father-general —father Fray Juan Ramirez,³⁴ a religious of great prudence, learning, and devotion, was elected, to the content of the whole province. The definitors elected were father Fray Estacio Ortiz, the father master Fray Teófilo Mascarós,³⁵ Fray Cristóbal de Miranda, and Fray Andrés Berdugo.³⁶ The visitors were father Fray Diego Martínez ³⁷ and Fray Juan Gallegos. They enacted regulations very useful for the good government of the province, and provided ministers for the ministries of it, both priors and vicars, as at that time it contained many distinguished members of the order.

Two galleons arrive at Cavite on St. John's day, which were returning from Nueva España (Mexico) with the reënforcements for these islands. The flagship of those vessels was called "Nuestra Señora de la Concepción" [i.e., "Our Lady of the Conception"], and the almiranta "San Luis." They brought the new governor and a company of religious of our order, and also some of St. Dominic, among them father Fray Diego Collado.³⁸ On July twenty-seven father Fray Diego de Ordás ³⁹ entered the convent of Manila with his mission, which was composed of twenty-five religious, who have been very useful to this province.

That same year came also Governor Don Sebastían Hurtado de Corcuera, knight of the Order of Alcantara, and member of the Council of War in the states of Flandes, where he had served many years with great credit, being one of the most renowned captains in the siege of Breda. He had afterward been master-of-camp of the port of Callao in Perú, and captain-general of the cavalry of that kingdom, and lastly governor of Panama. He brought a great reënforcements of soldiers, many of them from Perú, as he made his voyage to Acapulco from that kingdom. He was a gentleman of great valor, and one prone to undertake rash enterprises. However he did not have much good fortune in the outcome of these, either in war or in politics, for all had a disastrous end. The reason of this is hidden, with the Divine plans; but, as the reader will see in the events that I shall soon write, it will appear that the beginnings of his government, fatal for these islands, could not have less unfortunate progress, the effects lasting until the present time. Don Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera took possession of this government on June 25 of the above year.

His Majesty had promoted Don Hernando Guerrero to this archbishopric of Manila; and the latter, upon the arrival of the decree of presentation in the year 1632, asked the cabildo on May 25 to put him in possession of his government. But inasmuch as the decree which was required for it was lacking, the cabildo refused to receive him in possession until the arrival of the bulls and pallium. Consequently, he remained in Manila without governing, until, in the above year [i.e., 1635], came an official statement that the bulls and pallium were already attended to in the Roman court; and he thereupon insisted once more that he be admitted to the government of the Church. There were various difficulties raised by the cabildo in receiving him; for in that ship there came only a statement from an apostolic notary, without approval. In regard to this matter long opinions were uttered by each side, which were finally settled by admitting Señor Guerrero after he swore to present himself with the bulls and pallium within a year. In accordance with this, possession was given to him on June 25, 1635.

Don Fray Hernando de Guerrero began to govern this church at the same time that Don Sebastián de Corcuera these islands: At the beginning there were abundant indications of what would happen at the end; for the new governor showed himself so greatly bent on increasing his own jurisdiction that it was necessary to act with severity, and not to allow him to make precedents by which certain notions (already beginning to be apparent when he was governor of Panamá) which he had in mind should be established. That gentleman was at once very prudent, very harsh and austere, very tenacious in his resolutions, and wedded to his own notions —which is the occasion for the greatest errors in princes; for by not yielding, in matters that self-love adopts as certain, they allow themselves to be carried over any precipice. This passion was greatly predominant in that gentleman and was the cloud that obscured other talents, worthy of esteem, that adorned him. Immediately occasions of dispute arose between the two, not because Guerrero tried to meddle with the civil government, but because the governor was trying to govern both estates, by giving unfair interpretations to several matters called by the name of "royal patronage;" these are delicate to handle, and the attention with which they ought to be treated is not bestowed on them. Don Fray Hernando greatly regretted the unavoidable occasions that arose, and feared that by the precedent of the first disputes all those which might afterward arise would be regulated; and accordingly, he tried not to weaken at the beginning, which is the time when one must pay heed in order to avoid consequences.

The first occasion when the governor contrived to introduce himself into the ecclesiastical government more than was his right, was in trying to aid father Fray Diego Collado of the Order of Preachers in the division which the latter was attempting to make of the province of Santo Rosario, under the title of "Congregation of San Pablo," dividing the province into two parts. For that purpose the father had brought a company of religious, who were called "barbados," because they wore long beards, and were destined for the new province which he was going to found under the title of "congregation," for the conversion of Japón and China. For this purpose the said father Fray Diego Collado had obtained the bulls necessary for it in Roma; but seeing that he would not be given license for it in the royal and supreme Council of the Indias, on account of the difficulties that were apparent to the eyes of the least prudent, he did not present them there, being content with having Don Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera on his side, with whom he had come to these islands in the aforesaid company. That was a very dangerous and critical time for the province of Santo Rosario, which was exposed to many disturbances by the division that they were trying to make of it; and the best convents near Manila were to be taken away from it for the new congregation. In that pretension the aid of the governor was freely used, and it was necessary for the archbishop to oppose him, the province of Santo Rosario having had recourse to the latter. Thereupon the dispute was openly declared, because the governor tried to carry to completion the undertaking that had been begun. The said division would without doubt have been carried into effect had it not been opposed by the archbishop and by Don Fray Diego de Aduarte, a Dominican, and bishop of Nueva Segovia. That was the beginning of the sharpest controversies that have been seen in the Indias between the two jurisdictions—ecclesiastical and civil; and from it originated the disturbances which scandalized the world, causing lamentable effects which are experienced even until the present time. Not only laymen, whom worldly considerations cause to follow the side of power in these islands, conspired on the side of the governor, but also certain ecclesiastical persons, whose advancement depended on the will of the civil government. These latter, being domestic enemies, were the greatest spur in the hostilities that had been begun. They would have been ended by the care that the archbishop was taking, had the unyielding disposition of Don Sebastián de Corcuera, in what had been begun, allowed him to be less insolvent in what he was attempting. For if on such occasions something is not yielded on both sides, the fire that has been started will continue to increase until any check will be entirely impossible—as was experienced on this occasion; for instead of being extinguished, it became more furious with what happened afterward, as we shall see in the following chapter.

        CHAPTER XVI

 Relation of the disputes and strife between the archbishop and the governor, Don Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera.

The strife, being greatly inflamed by the events above mentioned, became entangled with one of the most memorable disputes that have occurred in the islands—a necessary occasion for the sharpest encounter between the two jurisdictions, and one from which Don Fray Hernando Guerrero could not excuse himself, as it concerned the most sacred part of the ecclesiastical immunity. That was a matter in which the archbishop could not neglect to sally out with all his might, in order to comply with the obligation of a true prelate. The case was as follows: There was an artilleryman in Manila, named Francisco de Nava, who had a female slave with whom he had illicit communication, as came to the ears of the archbishop. The archbishop ordered him to remove from himself this occasion [for sin] by selling the slave-girl to another person; and had the latter placed, for that purpose, in the house of a lady who was related to Doña María de Francia, who became fond of her and arranged to buy her from the artilleryman. The latter was so beside himself over the loss of the said slave that he refused to sell her at any price, saying that he wished, on the contrary, to marry her. But Doña María de Francia so arranged matters that the slave was sold, and came into her possession with very slight effort. The artilleryman, grieved and regretful for what had happened, almost became mad, and, it having been given out that he was mad, certain violence was shown him; and on one occasion he had received a sound beating at the house of Doña María de Francia, because he had gone there to request that they should give him the slave, as he had resolved to make her his wife.

Aggrieved and rendered desperate in this way, he saw the girl pass one day in a carriage with Doña María de Francia. Going to her he asked her whether she knew him, who was her master. The slave answered him with some independence, whereupon he, blind with anger, drew his dagger in the middle of the street and killed her by stabbing her, before anyone could prevent it. All the people, both those in the carriage and those in the street, ran tumultuously [after him]; but the artilleryman escaped them all, and took refuge in the church of our convent in Manila. The governor heard of what had happened, and ordered Don Pedro de Corcuera, his nephew (who was then sargento-mayor of the camp), to take the artilleryman from the church, saying that he could not avail himself of the sanctuary of the church, as he had committed a treacherous act —although it was only a homicide, and the settlement of this question did not concern the governor. However, his action arose mainly from the anger that he felt that what had happened was in the presence of his nephew, Don Pedro de Corcuera—who, also being angered at what concerned his wife, made use of his commission with less prudence than he ought to exercise in executing such orders from his superiors. He caused the church and convent to be surrounded; and, going inside, examined everything, not excepting even the sacristy; and it is even said that he declared that, if he found the artilleryman there, he would take him out a prisoner. But not having been able to find him then, Don Pedro left the church and convent surrounded by a double guard. The governor added to that that he would not allow the religious to enter or leave, until he had hold of the refugee. The latter was finally found, and taken from the sacristy, and surrendered to the commander of artillery, in order that he might proceed with the trial as his competent judge; and he, either carried away by flattery, or in obedience to the commands of the governor, proceeded so hastily that in a very short time he condemned the artilleryman to death.

The archbishop's provisor, Don Pedro Monroy, bore himself on this occasion with the prudence that was fitting, and proceeded against the commander of artillery, requesting him to deliver his prisoner and return him to the church. Having been informed that the commander of artillery was a mere instrument, and that all his actions were according to the impulses of the governor, he sent three lay priests to the palace to intimate to the latter that the judge should deliver the refugee to him. The priests entered, without anyone hindering them; and finding that the governor had already retired, as it was then an advanced hour of the night, they started to withdraw in order to return next morning; but the soldiers of the guard would not permit them to leave, saying that such was the order of the governor.

The sentence against the artilleryman having been given—which, it is said that the governor sent ready made out to the judge to sign—they proceeded to execute it, notwithstanding that the provisor proceeded to threaten censures, and to impose an interdict  ⁴⁰ and suspension from religious functions [cessatio de divinis]. The governor ordered a gallows to be erected in front of the very church of St. Augustine, and the criminal was hanged thereon—to the contempt of the ecclesiastical immunity, for the [proper] place assigned for such punishments was very distant from there. The governor, seeing that the sentence was already executed, and that he had now obtained the chief object of his desire, wrote to the archbishop, requesting him to have the censures removed and the interdict raised, and the churches opened on the day of the nativity of our Lady. The archbishop, recognizing the duplicity of the governor, refused to answer that letter without first consulting the orders; and, after consulting with some of them, decided that he would not raise the interdict, since there was less inconvenience in having it imposed [even] on so festive a day, than there would be in his yielding on an occasion so inimical to the ecclesiastical immunity. However, the requests of the Recollect fathers of our father St. Augustine, who had charge of the advocacy of the nativity, had so much influence that the archbishop ordered the interdict to be removed, and it was done.

The commander of artillery was condemned to some pecuniary fines, from which he appealed to the judge of appeals, who was the bishop of Camarines. The ecclesiastical judge refusing to admit the appeal, he threatened the royal aid of fuerza; and this question having been examined in the royal Audiencia (which at that time consisted of but the governor and only one auditor, Don Marcos Zapata), it was declared in his favor, and the appeal went to the bishop of Camarines. The latter—namely, Don Francisco Zamudio, of the order of our father St. Augustine, and a son of the province of Méjico—declared the commander of artillery to be free from the sentence given by the ecclesiastical judge. The trial of the commander of artillery had its second hearing. On that account there did not fail to result certain charges against the governor, such as his having ordered the secular priests to be detained in the guard-house; his declaration that he could not be excommunicated by anyone except the pope; and that if an order were given to him to arrest the pontiff, he would arrest him, and even drag him along by one foot (which he was proved to have said by several persons). The governor freed himself from all these charges by excuses in a manifesto which he published; but as it is not a part of my duty to examine their adequacy, I shall not do so. I shall refer the reader to the reply made to him by a learned ecclesiastic of the university of Méjico; ⁴¹ for there is no liberty in Filipinas to enable any one to complain, or to speak his mind against what the government manipulates 

The governor ordered the provisor, Don Pedro Monroy, to go to the island of Hermosa to serve in the post of chief chaplain, endeavoring by this means to revenge himself—as if he were able to give the former the collation and the spiritual jurisdiction necessary. The provisor resisted him, and informed the archbishop thereof. The governor also wrote a letter to the latter, ordering him to appoint another provisor in place of Don Pedro Monroy, both because he had been assigned to the island of Hermosa and such was advisable for his Majesty's service (the mask under which the passions of those who ought to fulfil their duties with justice are generally cloaked), and because the office of provisor could not be exercised by him in contradiction of a royal decree which ordered that the provisor should not be one who had not been graduated and who did not have the learning necessary (although the learning of Don Pedro was sufficient, and the holy Council [of Trent?] and the sacred canons do not fix conditions for such an office). The archbishop convened the orders for the solution of this matter. Having written to Father Luis Pedrosa, rector of the Society, to attend the meeting, the said father rector excused himself; and, although summoned the requisite number of times, he refused to attend. Consequently, the archbishop promulgated an act, in which he deprived the fathers of the Society of the privilege of preaching throughout the archbishopric, of the titles of synodal examiners, and of active and passive right of assembly with the secular priests and the orders both in public acts and in other functions, in consideration of the fact that they refused to concur in the defense of the rights of the ecclesiastical estate. On the following day, Tuesday, October 9, 1635, the archbishop sent a letter to the governor, requesting him to accept the excuse given by the provisor, so that he might not go to serve in the post of chaplain at the island of Hermosa; for he had need of him [i.e., the provisor]. The governor should know that it was beyond the power of secular judges to appoint ecclesiastical vicars and to confer spiritual jurisdiction. Consequently, he petitioned the governor in his own name, that of the bishop of Cebú, and those of the orders, to refrain from such appointment; and counseled him that he should consult with learned persons who feared God, since there were so many in the body of secular priests and in the orders, in such determinations. The religious of the Society, angered at the act of the archbishop, after various demands and replies on both sides (which I shall not set down here, as it is not my intention to stir up so delicate matters—in which it must be believed that each one would strive according to the dictates of his conscience, for one cannot imagine the opposite of either side, rather believing that the common enemy was preparing his weapons in order to occasion the misfortunes that followed afterward); appointed the schoolmaster, Don Fabián de Santillán y Gabilanes, judge-conservator (because they declared that they were prevented from the exercise of their privileges). He accepted the appointment, and immediately erected a tribunal against the archbishop, issuing acts against him and fulminating censures in case he should again oppose the proceedings that had been commenced.

Who could now look for less lamentable issues than those that were seen these in islands from so wretched beginnings, as are those that we have seen even to our days? The archbishop was very much grieved over this determination, for he saw arrayed against himself, on one side, the tyrannical governor (for Don Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera was domineering), and on the other an order so great as the Society. Notwithstanding he determined to present himself in the royal Audiencia by way of [pleading] fuerza, although he recognized the little that he could accomplish by that means. But he was unwilling to incur the fault of having failed to take this precaution, as was determined by the orders of these islands—who firmly and steadfastly assisted the archbishop, aiding him to maintain the ecclesiastical immunity, which was running so great danger. The archbishop presented himself in the royal Audiencia, where his arguments were examined in two meetings; and a disagreement [in the Audiencia] having resulted, the fiscal, who was the third, undertook to discuss the question. He declared against the archbishop, saying that the judge-conservator had used no fuerza. The latter continued to urge his censures against the archbishop, who, destitute of all aid, determined to surrender and withdraw the acts. He first made a protest before Diego de Rueda, royal notary and a familiar of the Holy Office, in regard to the fuerza that the governor and the judge-conservator were employing against him. When the governor learned of the protest that the archbishop had made, he had the notary, Diego de Rueda, arrested, through the agency of the judge-conservator, and locked him up in the castle of Santiago, after having taken from him his deposition as to the contents of the protest—for the governor had been informed that it was a defamatory libel against him. The notary declared that the protest of the archbishop contained no special clause that was prejudicial to anyone, but that it was directed only to the defense of his rights. After the arrest of the notary, the judge-conservator fulminated new censures against the archbishop, ordering him to annul the protest. The archbishop treated those censures as invalid, for the judge-conservator's jurisdiction did not extend to the trial of that question. He further replied that the said protest no longer remained in his possession, as it had been given to father Fray Diego Collado to keep. He contented himself with this reply, being unwilling again to attempt the remedy of having recourse to the Audiencia by a plea of fuerza, whence he knew that he would issue ill-despatched. The archbishop retired to the convent of St. Francis, where the governor went to see him, pretending that he wished to serve as intermediary between the archbishop and the judge-conservator, although it was clear that all the actions of the latter were regulated according to the governor's intentions, and were executed by his aid. At the end of his visit he asked the archbishop to give him the protest, pledging his word that he only desired to burn it, without reading it or showing it to any one. The archbishop recognized the purpose of his pretense, and reaffirmed the first reply that he had given the judge-conservator. In order to free himself for the time being from the importunities of the governor, it was necessary to give him some hope that he would make the efforts possible to get hold of the protest and send it to him. In a letter that he sent afterward to the governor, he wrote the following:

"After your Lordship showed me the kindness to come to console and favor me, the most diligent efforts possible were made in order to have the protest returned to me. But it is hammering on cold iron. What more can I do? Had my purpose been not to show it, I could have said that I had torn it up, or have alleged some other pretext, and would not have indicated the person to whom I gave it to keep, as I knew that there was an order to sequester my goods. Since it is impossible, sir, and it is not my fault, I do not accept the excuse which your Lordship gives me in your letter, in order to free yourself from showing me further kindness, and from making the effort to settle this matter as a governor and friend. Therefore, I petition your Lordship, since this matter rests with you, and is to be settled by you alone, and since you are all-powerful in this matter, that your Lordship do as you are able to do for one who has recourse to your protection; for I wish to remain in your Lordship's protection, only bound to serve you as long as I live. May God preserve the life of your Lordship for long years. From this convent of St. Francis, November 24, 1635

            FRAY HERNANDO, archbishop."

That prelate wrote the letter with this humility and gentleness; but it was insufficient to cause the so ingenuous confession of the archbishop to be believed, although it was the truth.

On the other side, father Fray Francisco de Herrera, of the Order of Preachers, commissary of the Holy Office, made a demand, asking that the notary, Diego de Rueda, as one of his household, be given up to him. For that purpose he fulminated censures against the judge-conservator, demanding from him the prisoner, and ordering him to make no further search for the protest, as that was outside his jurisdiction. He was obeyed, and order was given to deliver the prisoner to him; but the governor refused to deliver him up. Consequently, the father commissary of the Holy Office sent two religious of St. Dominic to notify the governor by another act, similar to that sent to the judge. The governor not only did not obey it, but arrested the two religious and sent them to Cavite with an adjutant, and had them placed in the convent of San Telmo of their order. Afterward, when the governor found himself at variance with the tribunal of the Holy Office, he began to work more clearly in the opposition that he had commenced, repeating many times that proposition of his which speaks of the ecclesiastical estate: "In order to curb the spirit of the obstinate and arrogant mule, take away its fodder." That was an impious comparison, and unworthy of a gentleman who was so good a Christian and so devout, and of whom some pens so well affected to him write so much, that already they pass on (as is generally said) to ennoble his actions, gilding his errors with the excellent gold of vigor and rhetoric. Some of them, however, refrain almost entirely from discussing this contention, which gave the Dutch of Batavia much matter for blasphemous talk.

Don Pedro de Monroy had retired outside the walls of the city, as he had already left the office of provisor. The governor ordered that he be not allowed to enter the gates of the city. Consequently, when he deemed it advisable to enter Manila to see the archbishop, he had to disguise himself in the habit of St. Francis; and went to enter through the gate of Santo Domingo, with a religious who accompanied him. The commander recognized him, and, together with the rest of the soldiers, surrounded him and tried to take him to the governor, as they had an order for it. They would have accomplished this, had not some religious of the convent of St. Dominic come up, who, although maltreated by the soldiers, removed Don Pedro Monroy from that danger, and placed him in their convent. Matters daily continued to grow worse, for the governor neglected no occasion, nor left any rock unturned in order to annoy the archbishop—now taking as his instrument the judge-conservator (who was continuing to accumulate facts against the archbishop), now arousing new causes for controversy. However, he was impelled in all this by the suggestion of a third party, and of late by Don Andres Arias Xirón, who was the secular priest most opposed to the archbishop—both in having prevented the archbishopric from being given to him, as we have already related, and because he was the close friend and helper of the conservator, Don Fabián Santillan. Another and still more recent cause was, that in the visitation that the archbishop was then making in the chapel of Nuestra Señora de Guía, where the said Don Andrés was acting as cura—in which the natives had deposed various charges against him; and on account of their verbal process, as it appeared that he had threatened them, the archbishop had ordered him by an act to leave his benefice within four and twenty hours, and to remain six leguas from it. Don Andrés Arias Xirón did not obey that order, and remained in Manila, where he had recourse to the royal Audiencia by a plea of fuerza, which was decided [to be such] by the only auditor, Don Marcos Zapata, who was not ignorant of the rules of the Council of Trent which forbid appeals in a trial arising from the visitation. On account of that decision of fuerza, the archbishop declared the auditor Zapata to be excommunicated; consequently, that official was also ready to work against the archbishop. All greatly blame that magistrate, because Don Sebastián de Corcuera found an aid and support in him. One would believe that the Holy Spirit talks with the governors and auditors of Filipinas more than with others, although these words and warnings are declared in the chapter of Wisdom: Discite judices finium terræ, prebete aures vos, qui continetis multitudines, et placetis vobis in turbis nationum; quoniam data est a Domino potestas vobis, et virtus ab Altissimo, qui interrogabit opera vestra, et cogitationes scrutabitur, quoniam cum essetis ministri regni illius, non recte judicastis, nec custodistis legem justitiæ, neque secundum voluntatem Dei ambulastis.⁴² Of such ministers and counselors, the holy king said that they who were confounded and ashamed should remove themselves far from him: Avertantur statim erubescentes, qui dicunt mihi, "Euge, euge!" (Psalm lxix). But He must have chosen on this occasion that the passion of the governor should regard the flattery of that magistrate as to his favor, in order to excuse his own conduct. It may be that his error was for lack of his understanding and not of his will; and to judge of that pertains to the Supreme Tribunal.

At that time the Order of the Society having considered the disturbances which the judge-conservator had occasioned, full of repentance at having been the origin of troubles of so disagreeable publicity, in the attempt to check them for the sake of the future made the judge-conservator renounce his commission, and be absolved by the archbishop. This the latter did on January twenty-eighth, 1636. The governor pretended that he had been the mediator of that agreement. The archbishop nodded acquiescence and pretended to believe it, in order not to lose that occasion for peace. The governor went to the archiepiscopal house, and took the archbishop to the church in his own carriage, and there knelt down on his knees, begging pardon from him. The good prelate gave him pardon very willingly, thinking that that was to be the end of all those past troubles. But the common enemy did not so permit, for he very soon relit the fire which had only been hidden under the ashes of those courteous exteriors.

to Chapters 17-18

31 Gaspar de San Agustín, the author of the first part of the Augustinian history of the Philippines (Madrid, 1698), was one of the most prominent Augustinians who have ever been in the islands. He was born in Madrid in 1650, and professed in the convent of San Felipe el Real in 1667. On going to the islands he ministered at Lipa (1689-1692), Parañaque (1693, 1708, and 1719), Pásig (1695 and 1716), Malate (1698 and 1714), Tambobong (1702 and 1707), Tondo (1699, 1701, and 1710); and exercised the duties of procurator-general (1677 and 1686), provincial secretary (1686), definitor (1689 and 1711), visitor (1701), and commissary of the Holy Office. He died after a long and painful sickness, which deprived him of his sight, at the convent of San Pablo at Manila, in 1724. He was a graceful poet, and, besides his history and the materials for the present work, he left various writings, among them his famous Compendio de la arte de la lengua tagala (Manila, 1703)...His history is said to be the most interesting of those on the Philippines. See Perez's Catálogo, pp. 134-136.[back to text]

32 Casimiro Diaz was a native of Toledo, being born in 1693. He took his vows in the convent of San Felipe el Real in 1710, and after his arrival at the Philippines completed his literary studies. He was stationed in the missions at Magalang (1717), Mexico (1728), Aráyat (1734); Betis (1735), Minalin (1737), and Candaba (1740). He was procurator-general (1719), provincial secretary (1722), definitor ( 1725), presiding officer of the chapter (1731), qualifier of the Holy Office, chronicler of the Augustinian province in the islands, reader (1744), and conventual preacher. His death occurred in Manila in 1746, and he left behind many writings. See Pérez's Catálogo, pp. 222-224. [back to text]

33 The editor of Diaz's work is Fray Tirso López, who is still living at the Colegio de Filipinos in Valladolid. He was born at Cornombre, May 25, 1838, and took the Augustinian habit at Valladolid in 1855. He spent the years 1864-1866 in the Philippines, while most of the rest of his life has been passed at the above college, where he has filled various duties. He has several times refused an appointment as bishop, and is well known in certain circles as a writer, being a correspondent of the Royal Academy of History at Madrid. The editors of the present series are under many obligations to him for his kindly interest and aid. See Pérez's Catálogo; pp. 525-527. [back to text]

34 Juan Ramírez was a native of La Mancha; and, after going to the Philippines, was one of those who contributed most efficiently to the pacification of the Zambales in 1618, and in 1639 fought in the front rank against the Chinese insurgents in Manila. He was missionary in Lipa in 1621, in Taal in 1623, in Bay in 1626, in Taal for the second time in 1630; and definitor in 1632, and pro vincial in 1635, dying in 1641. See Pérez's Catálogo, p. 91. [back to text]

35 Teófilo Mascarós was born in Valencia, and professed in the province of Aragon, and became doctor and master of sacred theology in the university of Orihuela, and prior of the convent of Mallorca. Upon his arrival in the islands, he became missionary in Malate in 1626 and 1629, in Pásig in 1632, in Hagonoy in 1638 and 1641; and was also prior of Bay and Manila, and definitor in 1635. He died while prior and missionary of the village of Bay (June 26, 1644). See Pérez's Catálogo, p. 101. [back to text]

36 Andrés Verdugo was a native of La Mancha, and professed in the province of Castilla where he became reader of philosophy. Having been destined for the Tagál provinces, after having read theology and the canons in the convent of San Pablo at Manila, he became a missionary in the villages of Tambobong (1629), of San Pablo de los Montes (1630, 1638 and 1650), of Bulacán and Pásig (1641), of Taguig (1644), and of Bay (1656). Being elected prior in 1647, he resigned that office, and continued his ministry until 1653, when he was elected provincial. He died in Bay in 1656. See Pérez's Catálogo, pp. 99, 100. [back to text]

37 Fray Diego Martínez was born in La Mancha, and professed in the province of Castilla in 1613. He was minister of Barbarán in 1626, of Passi in 1629 and 1632, of Mambúsao in 1635 and 1639, of Oton in 1641, of Dumalag in 1644, of Batán in 1648, of Dumangas in 1650, and of Panay in 1651 and 1653. His death occurred probably about the year 1656. See Pérez's Catálogo, p. 99. [back to text]

38 Diego Collado, O.P., was a native of Miajadas, in Estremadura, and took his vows in the convent of Salamanca July 29, 1605. He labored for some years in Cagayán, and in 1619 was sent to Japan, where he became vicar-provincial. Recalled thence in 1622, he was sent to Spain as procurator, where he worked zealously for the order. In 1635 he returned to the islands with twenty-four religious, when he caused great disturbances in the province. Being at last abandoned by Corcuera, his schemes came to naught; and he was sent to Cagayán, where he remained until 1641, when he set out for Manila in order to return to Spain at the king's command, but was drowned at Cabicungan. He continued the history of Japan written by Orfanell and printed it in 1631 at Madrid; and he also compiled and published a Japanese dictionary in 1631 at Rome. See Reseña biográfica, i, pp. 338, 339. [back to text]

39 Diego de Ordax was born in León in 1598, and professed in the convent of Burgos in 1618. In 1626 he was missionary in Laglag, became subprior of Manila in 1629, prior of Santo Niño de Cebú in 1630, and commissary-procurator in the court of Spain in 1632. He returned to the islands in 1635, and in 1637 was appointed prior of Cebú for the second time and afterward definitor and missionary of Oton (1638), prior of Manila (1644 and 1656), and provincial (1647 and 1659). See Pérez's Catálogo, p. 103. [back to text]

40 This interdict was imposed by only the local ecclesiastical authorities; but the period in which it occurred renders desirable and interesting a mention of the controversy (then fresh in men's minds) between Paul V and the Republic of Venice, in which the papal interdict on a state or commonwealth was deprived (1606) of its power as a weapon of the papal authority. A full account of this episode, in which the chief figure was the celebrated Fra Paolo Sarpi, is given by Andrew D. White in his "Fra Paolo Sarpi," in Atlantic Monthly, xciii (1904), pp. 45-54, 225-233. Cf. Ranke's Lives of the Popes (Foster's translation, London), ii, pp. 110-130, and iii, 123, 124; and Alzog's Universal Church History (Pabisch and Byrne's translation, Cincinnati, 1878), iii, pp. 365, 366. [back to text]

41 The University of Mexico was founded in 1551 (some make it earlier), its endowment being begun with property left for that purpose by Mendoza, the first viceroy, and afterward increased by royal grants and private bequests. In the troublous times of the nineteenth century, the national university languished, and finally perished. [back to text]

42 This quotation includes a portion of the second verse and all of the third, fourth, and fifth verses of the sixth chapter of the apocryphal book of Wisdom, and is as follows in English:

"...Learn, ye that are judges of the ends of the earth.

"Give ear, you that rule the people, and that please yourselves in multitudes of nations;

"For power is given you by the Lord, and strength by the most High, who will examine your works, and search out your thoughts;

"Because being ministers of his kingdom, you have not judged rightly, nor kept the law of justice, nor walked according to the will of God." [back to text]

[Translation of title-page: "Conquests of the Filipinas Islands: the temporal by the arms of our Catholic Sovereigns of España, and the spiritual by the religious of the Order of St. Augustine; and the foundation and progress of the province of Santíssimo Nombre de Jesús of the same order. Part second: compiled by the use of the materials which the very reverend father Fray Gaspar de San Agustín,³¹ author of the first part, collected, by Father Fray Casimiro Diaz, ³² native of Toledo, of the Order of our father St. Augustine, chronicler of this province of Santíssimo Nombre de Jesús, procurator-general, and twice secretary and definitor of the same. With the necessary licenses. Valladolid ³³. . . 1890."]