The Philippine Islands, Moluccas, Siam, Cambodia, Japan, and China, at the Close of the Sixteenth Century, by Antonio De Morga

Henry E.J. Stanley, Henry E.J. Stanley

• Publisher: Hakluyt Society
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781317021513
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

Translated from the Spanish, with Notes and a Preface, and a Letter from Luis Vaez de Torres describing his Voyage through the Torres Straits. The main text is from a transcription of the 1609 Mexico edition. The appendix includes a brief continuation of the history of the Philippines to 1868, particularly with regard to government and commerce. For a revised edition, see Second Series 140. This is a new print-on-demand hardback edition of the volume first published in 1868.

Sucesos De Las, Islas Philipinas Dirigidos

A Don Chrlstoval Gomez De Sandoval Y Rojas, Duque De Cea.: Por El Doctor Antonio De Morga, Alcalde Del Crimen De La Real Audiencia De La Nueva España; Consultor Del Santo, Officio De La Inquisicion.

MEXICI AD INDOS.

Anno 1609.

Imprimatur.

BY order of the most excellent Lord, Don Luis de Velasco, Vice Roy of this New Spain, and of the most illustrious and most reverend Lord Don fray Garcia Guerra, Archbishop of Mexico, of His Majesty's Council: I have seen this book of the Events in the Philippine Islands, written by Dr. Antonio de Morga, Alcalde of the Court and Royal Audiencia of Mexico; and it appears to me to be agreeable and profitable, and worthy to be printed; inasmuch as the author has observed with exactitude the laws of history, and for the careful arrangement of the work; in which he shews brilliant genius, and a laconic style which few attain to, and a truthfulness in the matter, such as one might have who possessed such complete information respecting it, from the years during which be governed those islands. And I have signed this with my name in this Professed House of the Company of Jesus of Mexico, on the 1st day of April of 1609.

JUAN SANCHEZ.

Don Luys de Velasco, knight of the order of Santiago, Vice Roy lieutenant of the King our Lord, Governor and Captain General of New Spain and president of the Royal Audiencia and Chancery which resides in it, etc. Whereas Dr. Antonio de Morga, Alcalde of crime in this said Royal Audiencia, has informed me that be had written u book and treatise of the Events in the Philippine Islands, from their first discovery and conquest until the end of the past year of six hundred and seven; and has requested me to grant him leave and privilege that be may print it, and no other person for some time, and on my behalf I committed to padre Juan Sanchez, of the Company of Jesus, the inspection of the said book: therefore, by this present I give it to the said Dr. Antonio de Morga, so that he, or the person who may hold his permission, may freely, during the period of ten years, the first in succession, print the said book, by means of such printer as may seem fit to him: and I prohibit that any person should do so within the said time without the said permission, under pain of losing, and that he shall lose the type and accessories with which the said impression should be made; which I apply to the Royal Chamber of His Majesty, and the said Dr. Antonio de Morga, by halves. Done in Mexico, at seven days of the month of April of one thousand and six hundred and nine years.

DON LUYS DE VELASCO,

By order of the Viceroy, MARTIN LOPEZ GANNA.

Don Fray Garcia Guerra, by the Divine Grace, and that of the Holy Apostolic See, Archbishop of Mexico, of the Council of His Majesty, etc. Having seen the opinion of padre Juan Sanchez of the Company of Jesus, which be has given, of having seen the book which Dr. Antonio de Morga, Alcalde in this Court and Chancery, presented before us, intitled—Events in the Philippine Islands, their Conquest and Conversion, for which we gave our commission; and as by the said opinion it is established that it contains nothing against our Holy Catholic Faith, or good morals: on the contrary, that it is useful and profitable to all persons who may read it: by this present we give license to the said Dr. Antonio de Morga that be may cause the said book of the said conquest and conversion of the said Philippine Islands to be printed in any of the printing presses of this city. Given in Mexico, the seventh of April of one thousand six hundred and nine years.

FR. GARCIA, Archbishop of Mexico,

by order of his most illustrious Lordship the Archb. of Mexico.

D. JUAN DE PORTILLA, Secretary,

Dedication to Don Cristoval Gomez De Sandoval Y Rojas, Duke of Cea.¹

I OFFER to your Excellency this small work, deserving of a good reception as much for the faithful narrative which it contains, as for its being free from artifice and ornament. Knowing my poor resources, I began it without fear, and took courage to go on with it: it is clear that if that which is given had to bear an equal proportion to him that receives, there would be no one who might deserve to place his works in the hands of your Excellency; and those deeds would remain forgotten, which in these times our Spaniards have done in the discovery, conquest, and conversion of the Philippine Islands; as well as various events which from time to time have happened in the great kingdom of the Pagans which surround them: for as these parts are so remote, no narrative has appeared in public which purports to treat of them from their beginnings up to the state in which they now are. I pray your Excellency to receive my good will, laid prostrate at your feet; and even should this short writing not give that pleasure which self love (that infirmity of human wit) leads me to expect, may your Excellency deal with me, as yon are used to do with all; reading it and cloaking its imperfections with your courtesy and gentleness, as being so rich in these and other virtues, which, with Divine power, cause lofty things not to be strangers to more humble matters; and have placed your Excelleney in yonr own natural greatness, in the place winch you hold, for the good of thee© realms, rewarding and favouring what is good, correcting and repressing that which is opposite: in which consists, the well being of the Republic, which, gave occasion to Beinoorifcus, the ancient philosopher, to say that reward and punishment were indeed gods. In order to enjoy this felicity there is no need to wish for any time gone by, but contenting ourselves with the present only to pray God to preserve your Excellency for us many years.

D. ANTONIO DE MORGA.

To The Reader.

THE monarchy of the Kings of Spain has been aggrandised by the zeal and care with which they have defended within their own hereditary kingdoms, the Holy Catholic Faith, which the Roman Church teaches, against whatsoever adversaries oppose it, or seek to obscure the truth by various errors, which faith they have disseminated throughout the world. Thus by the mercy of God they preserve their realms and subjects in the purity of the Christian religion, deserving thereby the glorious title and renown which they possess of Defenders of the Faith. Moreover, by the valour of their indomitable hearts, and at the expense of their revenues and property, with Spanish fleets and men, they have furrowed the seas, and discovered and conquered vast kingdoms in the most remote and unknown parts of the world, leading their inhabitants to a knowledge of the true God, and to the fold of the Christian church, in which they now live, governed in civil and political matters with peace and justice, under the shelter and protection of the royal arm and power which was wanting to them:¹ weighed down as they were by blind tyrannies and barbarous cruelties, with which the enemy of the human race had for so long afflicted them and brought them up for himself.

From this cause the crown and sceptre of Spain has come to extend itself over all that the sun looks on, from its rising to its setting, with the glory and splendour of its power and majesty; but surpassing any of the other princes of the earth by having gained innumerable souls for heaven, which has been Spain's principal intention and wealth. And besides much riches and the treasures which she enjoys, together with memorable deeds and victories which she has won, so that throughout the universe her great name is praised and celebrated, arid the perseverance and valour of her vassals, who have accomplished these deeds and poured out their blood.

Having won America, a fourth part of the earth which the ancients never knew, they sailed following the sun, and discovered in the Western Ocean an archipelago of many islands, adjacent to further Asia, inhabited by various nations, abounding in rich metals, precious stones, and pearls, and all manner of fruit. Where, raising the standard of the Faith, they snatched them from the yoke and power of the devil, and placed them under her command and government: so that justly may they raise in those isles the pillars and trophies of Non phis vitro, which the famous Hercules left on the shore of Cadiz, and later the strong arm of Charles Y, our sovereign, cast down upon the ground, surpassing him in great deeds of arms and enterprises.

The isles having been subjected by the sovereign light of the holy Gospel which entered there, the heathen were baptised, and the darkness of their paganism banished, and they changed their names for that of Christians. The islands also, leaving the names which they held, took (with the change of faith and baptism of their inhabitants) the name of Philippine Islands; in recognition of the great favours which they received from His Majesty Philip the Second, our sovereign: in whose fortunate age and rule they were conquered, favoured and encouraged, like a work and labour of his royal hands.

Their discovery, conquest and conversion was not accomplished without much expenditure, labour and Spanish blood, with varied events and critical moments, which make the work more illustrious, and furnish a spacious field, over which historians may extend themselves, for such is their office, and the matter is not scanty: and it possesses serious and pleasant subjects, sufficient to deserve their care, without its being prejudicial to them to treat of Indian occurrences and wars, which they who have no experience of them esteem as less than what they are. For the people of these parts are valiant and warlike nations of Asia, brought up in continual warfare by sea and land, making use of artillery and other warlike instruments, taught in this exercise by the necessity of their own defence against the great and powerful kingdoms in their neighbourhood; and (if with a few imperfections) they have become skilled and their teaching completed in the school of Spain, which lastly brought war to their doors, as has happened to other provinces of Europe in the like manner which had fallen into ignorance and neglect of the use of arms.

Some curious persons have planned to write this history, to whom (as time and resources failed me) I have given and distributed many papers and narratives which I possessed; and I hope they will publish them with more purpose than that which np to the present time we have received piecemeal from some historians of our time.

I spent eight years in the Philippine Islands, the best years of my life, serving unremittingly in the office of lieutenant of the governor and captain general, and from the moment the Royal Audiencia was founded in Manila in the office of auditor, the first who was received in it. And desirous that the affairs of these islands should be known, particularly those which happened in the time in which I dealt with them, taking them from their origin, as much as might be sufficient, I have related them in a book of eight chapters; and the first seven contain the discoveries, conquests, and other events in the islands and kingdoms and provinces in the neighbourhood, which happened in the time of the proprietary governors that there were until the death of Don Pedro de Acuna. And the eighth and last chapter is a brief summary and narrative of their qualities, inhabitants, and method of governing and converting them, and other special matters, and of the knowledge, dealings and communication which they had with the other islands and gentile communities conterminous to them. As fearful am I of the defects which will be found in this, as persuaded of being deserving of pardon, for having designed, this being my intention, to give to each one that which is due, and to restore the truth without enmity or flattery, which has been injured in some narratives which are going about the world, a fault very much to be reproved in those who relate the deeds of others, and prohibited by a penal law which Cato and Marcius, tribunes of the Roman people, established for those who in recounting their own deeds exceeded the truth, which would seem less worthy of punishment, as self love intervenes in their case.

There will not he wanting some one who will call me to account for my oversights, and I shall have already given him an answer by confessing them; and should this not be enough to put him to silence, stopping up my ears like another Ulysses, I will pass by this inconvenience (with the hurry with which I have written), and will serve whoever may read it, which will be sufficient to remove me from greater dangers.

It is to be Noted

In reading this history, that some words may he observed, names of provinces, towns, magistrates, arms and vessels, which for more fitness have been written as they are ©ommomly named and are current in those parts; and in tee last chapter, which contains tee account of the islands and their peculiarities, these words will be explained and declared.

Chapter I.

Of the First Discoveries of the Eastern Isles, and of the Voyage which the Adelantado Miguel Lopez de Legazpi made thither; of the Conquest and Pacification of the Philippines during his Governorship; and of Guido de Labazarris, who afterwards undertook the charge.

ACCORDING to ancient and modern cosmographers, that part of the world called Asia has adjacent to it an immense number of islands, large and small, inhabited by divers nations and peoples, as rich in precious stones, gold, silver, and other minerals, as abounding in fruit and grain, flocks and animals; in some of these all sorts of spices are produced, which are carried thence and distributed throughout the universe. They name them commonly in their books and descriptions, aud charts of navigation, the great Archipelago of Saint Lazarus, which is in the Eastern Ocean; of these islands, amongst others more famous, are the isles of Maluco, Celebes, Tendaya, Luzon, Mindanao and Borneo, which are now called the Philippines.

The Pope Alexander the Sixth having divided the conquests of the New World between the Kings of Castille and Portugal, they agreed to make the division by means of a line which the cosmographers drew across the world, in order that, the one towards the west and the other towards the east, they might follow out their discoveries and conquests, and settle peacefully whatever each might win within his demarcation.¹

After that the city of Malacca had been won for the crown of Portugal, on the mainland of Asia, in the kingdom of Jor (Johore), named by the ancients the Aurea Chersonesus, in the year one thousand five hundred and eleven, on receiving news of the islands which lie near there, especially those of Maluco and Banda, where they gather cloves and nutmeg, a Portuguese fleet set out to discover them,¹ and having touched at Banda, they went thence to the isle of Terrenate, one of the Maluco isles, drawn thither by its own king, in his defence against the King of Tidore, his neighbour with whom he was at war: this was the beginning of the settlement which the Portuguese made in Maluco.

Francisco Serrano, who returned to Malacca with this discovery, and passed on to India in order to go to Portugal and give an account of it, died before making this voyage, having communicated by letters what he had seen to his friend Fernando de MagaUanes² (for they had been together at the taking of Malacca, and he was in Portugal); from which narrative he understood what was most fitting with respect to the discovery and navigation of those islands.

Magallanes at this time passed over to the service of the King of Castille, from causes which moved him thereto:¹ and he set forth to the Emperor Charles V our sovereign that the islands of Maluco fell within the demarcation of his crown of Castille, and that the conquest of them pertained to him conformably to the concession of Pope Alexander;² he also offered to make an expedition and a voyage to them in the emperor's name, laying his course through that part of the delimitation which belonged to Castille, and availing himself of a famous astrologer and cosmographer named Ruyfarelo, whom he kept in his service.³

The emperor (from the importance of the business) confided this voyage and discovery to Magallanes, with the ships and provisions which, were requisite for it, with which he set sail and discovered the straits to which he gave his name. Through these he passed to the South Sea, and navigated to the islands of Tendaya and Sebu, where he was killed by the natives of Matan, which is one of them.¹ His ships went on to Maluco, where their crews had disputes and differences with the Portuguese who were in the island of Terrenate: and at last, not being able to maintain themselves there, they left Maluco in a ship named the Victory, which had remained to the Castilians out of their fleet; and they took as chief and captain...