growing out of the agreements made with the former by Luis de Velasco,
and his subsequent services in the islands. The first petitioned
in behalf of Legazpi: 1. That two of the Ladrones with title of
_adelantado_, and a salary of two thousand ducats be granted him
and his heirs, this concession to bear civil and criminal powers of
jurisdiction, and the title of governor and captain-general of the
Ladrones. 3 and 4. Exclusive right to choose men for the conquest,
both in New Spain and the Philippines, or any other place, and the
appointment of duties and officials; also the right to fit out ships
in any port of the Indies, and authorization of agents. 5. That he be
permitted to assign land to the colonists. 6 and 7. That he and his
heirs be high constables of all these islands and that they hold all
forts built therein. 8 and 9. To him, his sons, heirs, and successors
forever, one-twelfth of all incomes from mines, gold and silver,
precious stones, and fruits, in the Ladrones; and two fisheries,
one of pearls and the other of fish, in the same islands. 10. That
for ten years after any colony has been formed no import tax be paid
on goods. 11. That only one-tenth of all gold, silver, gems, and
pearls discovered for ten years after the first settlement be paid the
king. 12. That Legazpi may appoint in his absence from the Philippines
or Ladrones a lieutenant, who shall act in his name. 13. That for
six years he may commission two vessels for navigation of the Indies,
and that he may despatch them together or separately. 14. That fines
be granted for the founding of churches and monasteries throughout
the islands. 15. That the petition in regard to Felipe de Salcedo be
granted. 16. That a dozen religious from each order go to the islands,
and that their superior do not object to their going. 17. That
no foreigners, especially Portuguese, be allowed in the islands,
"because therefrom might follow great losses and troubles, as happened
when Lope Martin was sent as pilot with Captain Pericón." 18. That
no vessels be permitted to go to these islands from the Indies, or
from any other land, "without the express consent and commission of
the royal _Audiencia_ or the viceroy" of the district from which the
ship sails, and the king must be fully informed thereof. The cause of
this clause was that ships were fitting out in Peru and other places
for these islands. 19. That Moros be prohibited from trading in the
islands. 20. "Because the conquest of the Ladrones is of slight moment,
by reason of their inhabitants being poor and naked," and their best
use is as a way-station from New Spain; and New Guinea on the other
hand offers much profit in both temporal and religious matters,
that their conquest be permitted to Legazpi. 21. That, in case of
Legazpi's death before the conquest is effected, the petitioner,
or Legazpi's heir and successor, or the person appointed by him,
may complete it. This petition was vistoed in Madrid, March 2,
1569, although it had been presented a considerable time before
that date. After waiting for two years in vain for an answer to this
petition Melchor de Legazpi presented another petition asking: that
efficient aid be sent his father; that he be confirmed in his title
of governor and captain-general "with the salary that your highness
is pleased to assign him, and with the other rewards contained in
his [Legazpi's] petition, ... and that he be not abandoned to die
in despair at seeing himself forsaken and forgotten by his king;"
that he be granted the four thousand ducats promised him by Velasco
"in order that we might better prepare for the marriage of ... my
sister, who is of marriageable age." The petition states that even had
Legazpi's expedition proved a failure, the king should not permit want
to come upon his children, since his substance had been expended in
the royal service. In the third petition, Melchor de Legazpi requests
that the office of accountant of the City of Mexico rendered vacant
by the death of its incumbent, be bestowed upon him, in remembrance of
his father's services. He says the family is "poverty-stricken and in
debt," because of his father having spent all his possessions in the
king's service. The fourth petition presents information concerning
Legazpi's services. The fifth petition requests that certain persons
be received by the court as witnesses, and give information regarding
Legazpi. From the testimony of these persons it was shown that Legazpi
was one of the oldest and most honored citizens of the City of Mexico;
that he was a wealthy landholder of that city; and had lost his wealth
through devotion to the king's service, without receiving any reward
therefor. (Tomo iii, no. xlvi, pp. 330-370.)
Warrant of the Augustinian Authorities in Mexico Establishing the
First Branch of Their Brotherhood in the Philippines--1564
Fray Pedro de Herrera, vicar-general of the Order of Hermits of our
holy Father Augustine in the regions of the Indies, with Fray Diego
de Vertavillo, provincial of the same order in this Nueva España, and
Frays Antonio de Aguilar, Nicolás de Perea, Francisco de Villafuerte,
and Juan de Medina, _definitors_ [80]--to our very dear Brethren in
Christ, Andrés de Urdaneta, prior, Diego de Herrera, Andrés de Aguirre,
Lorenzo de San Esteban, Martin de Rada, priests, and Fray Diego de
Torres, to you, all and singular, everlasting greeting in the Lord.
Very beloved sons: You are aware how Felipe, by the grace of God
king of the Spains and the Indies, and our lord, has been greatly
pleased with the news that some brethren of our order are to go with
the expedition now being equipped by his very illustrious viceroy and
captain-general, Don Luis de Velasco, in this Nueva España, which is to
rail through the Western Sea of this kingdom toward the continent and
certain of the islands that lie between the equator and the Arctic and
Antarctic poles, and below the region of the torrid zone itself--to the
end that according to right reason and the benign counsels of Christian
piety, both at home and abroad as will best seem consonant with the
purpose of his royal majesty, you may control the fleet and troops
of the Spanish army. Especially too that the most brilliant light of
faith may beam upon the populous races that dwell in that region of
the world. Through the benignity of God most holy and supreme, and
your preaching, there is hope that those benighted barbarians may cast
aside the errors and more than Cimmerian darkness of idolatry for the
splendor of the gospel; and that they who, so long unacquainted with
gospel truth, have been groping in the gloom of Satanic bondage may
now at last through the grace of Christ, the common savior of all men,
gaze at the full light of truth in their knowledge of his name.
Wherefore, as it has seemed our filial and reasonable duty not to
prove wanting in view of the favor and trust granted us by his royal
majesty, whereby measures will be taken to add to the divine glory,
our homage to the king, and the safety of many mortals,--therefore
after long meditation on this matter and mature counsel, sure as we
are of your piety, deep learning, charity, and merits, we have chosen
you for this apostolic charge, the task (with the help of the Lord,
to whom we commend you) of leading peoples to embrace the faith. In
order that greater and richer merit may ensue from your obedience
in undergoing these very great hardships, which you are ready to
meet through your love of Christ--although we have ever found you
willing and ready to comply with our mandates--yet now in virtue of
die Holy Ghost we command you, the above-named brethren, to set out in
this first voyage with the fleet which the illustrious and well-born
knight Miguel López de Legazpi, governor and commander of the fleet,
whom ours [81] style captain-general, is to conduct to the aforesaid
lands. We exhort and pray you earnestly, as far as we may in the
Lord, to be in all things as the good actor of God, as becometh the
holy ones and ministers of God, in all virtues--especially humility,
patience, and discipline.
Chiefly, however, we desire to have shine forth in your deeds that
singular and renowned token of Christians which our Savior Christ,
when on the point of offering up his most innocent life and his
most holy blood--that thereby, in rescuing us from the deadliest of
fates, he might ensure the freedom of mortals--commended repeatedly
to his followers as a countersign, in these words: "By this shall
all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for
another." This is that priceless boon of charity which Paul styles
"the bond of perfection," which we trust may not only shine forth
from your midst--Whereby you should cling to Christ as a companion,
and seek the possession of his spirit--but that the same affection
of peace and love flow thence from you to all other men as from a
clear fountain, to the end that those who have made profession of this
soldiership in Christ may cling to one another in the mutual bond of
charity, to the maintenance amidst the clash of arms of that "grace
which," the Apostle affirms, "is above all sense." For peace, be it
known, dwells even in the midst of affrays, and is to be commended
by you all, to the best of your power, to the inhabitants of those
regions--to whom you should, as the heralds and vanguard of true
evangelical piety, appear as in search not of what is your own,
but of what is Jesus Christ's. Moreover, we earnestly exhort your
charity in the Lord, as far as lies in our power, to announce the
all-holy gospel of Christ to all races, baptizing them that believe
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;
training them in the holy Catholic faith, on the same lines on which
the faithful are trained by our cherished mother the Church of Rome;
shunning utterly therein all novelty of doctrine, which we desire
shall in all things conform to the holy and ecumenical councils and
doctors acknowledged by the same Church; teaching them especially
that obedience which all Christians owe to die supreme Pontiff and the
Church of Rome--which in truth is always the leader, head, and mistress
of all other churches of the world--then to their lawful rulers and
masters; teaching them at the same time to live under the yoke and
discipline of Faith, Hope, and Charity, and to forget, moreover,
their old-time superstitions and errors of the Devil. And that you
may the more easily fulfil the duty of your apostleship, to which
you have been called by the Lord, we declare and appoint all among
you who are priests among the preachers and confessors of our order,
granting to you whatever privileges have hitherto been granted or shall
be granted by the supreme Pontiffs themselves, or their legates, to
our order especially, as well as to other orders, hospitals, houses,
congregations, or other persons whatsoever--the privileges whereof
may be considered as common to us by reason of many apostolic grants,
among others, especially, the grants made to us by Julius the Second,
Leo the Tenth, Clemens the Seventh, and Paulus the Third. Moreover,
we grant you especially all the authority hitherto given by Sixtus
the Fourth, Nicholas the Fifth, Gregorius the Ninth, Leo the Tenth,
Adrian the Sixth, Clemens the Seventh, Paulus the Third, and Paulus
the Fourth, or which hereafter may be given by all other Pontiffs,
to all brethren going to the countries of unbelievers, to preach the
holy gospel of Christ--especially to Farther Tartary, China, and other
regions of the earth wherein we know not whether up to these times
has been preached the piety of the holy Catholic faith--among which
indults of the Pontiffs, Adrian the Sixth granted and conveyed all his
power of whatsoever kind that might seem of need in the conversion
and maintenance of neo-Christians. By reason of our office we grant
and convey to you this power as far as lies in us.
We grant you, moreover, the power to establish houses and monasteries
of our order in whatever places it may seem expedient to you for the
glory of God and the health of our neighbor, and all the privileges,
especially those of Sixtus the Fourth, Julius the Second, and Leo the
Tenth for the reception of novices to the habit of our order. Shunning,
moreover, all novelty, you shall zealously bring them up in the same
mode of life that you yourselves have learned from your mother,
our order, under the rule of our holy Father Augustine, and the
constitutions of the order.
Also, we grant you power to administer all the sacraments to
commanders, soldiers, sutlers, traders, and others who go on this
expedition, as well as to all other faithful in Christ, whom you may
encounter wheresoever you go, in virtue of the grants made therefor
to us by Adrian the Sixth, Paulus the Third, and all other supreme
Pontiffs.
Also to the very venerable father Fray Andrés de Urdaneta whom you
all--each for himself, publicly and privately, at the same time when
through our commission you were assembled in chapter--have chosen
canonically as your prior and prelate for this expedition, we grant
the fulness of all our authority in corporals as well as spirituals,
as far as we have, it and are enabled, without reserving anything
whatsoever to ourselves. And this authority we wish to terminate in
the aforesaid father, whenever according to our instructions you shall
choose another, and pass thence in its fulness to the newly-elect,
and so on in succession for all time, until this grant of ours shall
be recalled by ourselves or our chiefs.
In testimony and faith whereof, we have signed our names, with the
titles of our office, to this our grant, whereto we have ordered the
seals of our order to be appended.
Given in our convent of Culhuacan [Mexico], the fifth ides of
February, in the year of our Redemption one thousand five, hundred
and sixty-four.
_Fray Pedro de Herrera_, Vicar general.
_Fray Diego de Vertavillo_, Provincial.
_Fray Antonio de Aguilar_, _Definitor_.
_Fray Nicolas de Perea_, _Definitor_.
_Fray Francisco de Villafuerte_, _Definitor_.
_Fray Juan de Medina_, _Definitor_.
Act of Taking Possession of Cibabao
On the flagship, on the fifteenth day of February, 1565, the royal
fleet being anchored near a large island, which the natives indicated
by signs to be called Cibabao, [82] the very illustrious Miguel Lopez
de Legaspi, his majesty's governor and captain-general of the people
and fleet of discovery of the Western Islands, appeared before me,
Fernando de Riquel, chief notary of the said fleet and government of
the said islands, and declared: that whereas his lordship is sending
his ensign-general, Andres de Ybarra, to make friends with an Indian,
a native of this island, called Calayan, who declared himself a chief;
and whereas it is fitting that possession be taken of the island in
the name of his majesty; therefore he authorized fully the said Andres
de Ybarra to take possession, in the name of his majesty, of the part
and place where he went thus with the said Indian, and all the other
districts subject and contiguous thereto. In affirmation of the above,
he consented to the present ordinance before me, the said notary,
and the witnesses hereunder subscribed, with their incidences and
dependencies, annexes and rights, and he embossed the same in the
form prescribed by law, and signed it with his name, the witnesses
being the high constable Grabiel de Rribera, Amador de Arriaran [83]
and Juan Pacheco, gentlemen of the governor, Miguel Lopez.
Given before me,
_Fernando Riquel_, chief notary.
And after the aforesaid, on this said day, month, and year aforesaid,
the said ensign-general Andres de Ybarra, appeared before me, the
said notary and the witnesses hereunder subscribed, being on the river
Calayan to which the said chief thus named took him, having landed in
a small inlet, at the edge of the water, and containing a small bay,
and said that in the name of his majesty, by virtue of the power
conferred on him by the very illustrious Miguel Lopez de Legazpi,
governor and captain-general of the discovery of the islands of the
West, he occupied and took possession and apprehended the tenure and
true and actual possession or quasi-possession of this said land, and
of all territory subject to it and contiguous to it. And in token of
true possession, he passed from one end of that land to the other,
cut branches of trees, plucked grass, threw stones, and performed
such other acts and ceremonies as are usual in such cases--all of
which took place quietly and peaceably, with common consent of those
who were present, without the opposition of any one. And after the
aforesaid act took place, the said Andres de Ybarra besought me, the
said notary, to certify thereto, those present as witnesses being,
father Fray Diego de Herrera, father Fray Pedro de Gamboa, the high
constable Grabiel de Rribera and Francisco Scudero de la Portilla,
[84] Pedro de Herrera, and many other soldiers. I, the said Fernando
Rriquel, notary aforesaid, bear witness to the aforesaid, for it was
done in my presence, and I was present at everything jointly with
the said witnesses. In witness whereof I, Fernando Riquel, chief
notary, affix here my signature and accustomed flourish, which in
such documents is in token of truth. Collated with the original. [85]
_Fernando Riquel_, government notary.
Proclamation Regarding Treasure
Order to Make Declaration of the Gold Taken from the Burial-Places
of the Indians
In the island of Cubu of the Western Islands, belonging to his majesty,
on the sixteenth of May, one thousand five hundred and sixty-five,
the most illustrious Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, his majesty's governor
and captain-general of the people and fleet of the discovery of the
Western Islands, appeared before me, Fernando Riquel, government
notary of the said islands, and declared: that, inasmuch as he had
been informed that many Spanish soldiers and sailors have opened many
graves and burial-places of the native Indians in this island, wherein
a quantity of gold and other jewels has been found; and inasmuch as
those opening these graves and finding the said gold have not made
a report thereof to his excellency nor to his majesty's officials,
in order that his majesty may receive and take his royal fifths and
rights; therefore he ordered, and did order, that proclamation should
be made, in due form of law, that all who have opened any graves
whence they have abstracted gold, jewels, and other valuables, and
those who have in their possession gold and jewels of these islands,
however they may have been obtained, shall appear and make full
declaration regarding such things before his majesty's officials, in
order that what is, in this regard, fitting to his majesty's service
and the good security of his royal estate, may be provided--under
penalty that whoever shall act contrary to this order shall, besides
losing all the gold and other valuables thus obtained and abstracted,
be proceeded against in due form of law.
Furthermore, he ordered that, from this time henceforth, no grave or
burial-place be opened without the permission of his, excellency, in
order that there might be present at this opening one of the king's
officials, or myself, the above-mentioned notary, so that no fraud
or deceit may occur, and so that an account and memorandum may be
taken of everything--under penalty of five hundred _pesos de minas_
and of returning all that was taken from such grave or burial-place,
together with the fifth over and above this for his majesty's exchequer
and treasury. This was his declaration and order, and he signed the
same with his name,
_Miguel Lopez_
Proclamation: This said day, month, and year abovesaid, the contents of
this edict were proclaimed in the form prescribed by law, by the voice
of Pito Atambor, [86] in the presence of myself, the said notary, near
the lodging of the said governor and general, and near the lodging of
the master-of-camp, Mateo del Sas, many soldiers being present at each
place. In affirmation of the above, Fernando Riquel, government notary.
Collated with the original,
_Fernando Riquel_, government notary.
Letters from Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and Other Officials to Felipe
II of Spain--1565
To the Sacred Royal Catholic Majesty:
I gave an account to your majesty of my departure from Puerto de la
Nabidad, which is located in Nueva España, with your royal fleet for
the discovery of the Western Islands. Continuing my voyage until
February thirteen of this present year, I arrived at one of the
Filipinas Islands. Afterward I cruised among other islands of this
archipelago, until I reached this island of Cubu, whence I despatched
a vessel to Nueva España to discover the return route, and to give
an account to your majesty of the incidents of our voyage until the
departure of this vessel. The relation of the voyage is despatched
together with this letter, as well as certain other information in
regard to the change of feeling among the natives respecting the
friendship and goodwill that they have been wont to exercise toward
the vassals of your majesty, and the cause therefor; the possessions
that have been taken in your majesty's name; and the routes of the
pilots of this fleet. I beseech your majesty that you will have these
examined, and provide whatever seems most fitting. I shall remain
in my settlement in this island of Cubu until I receive the orders
your majesty shall see fit to impose upon me, although I have but few
people. I am writing also to the royal _Audiencia_ of Nueva España to
beg succor of both people and ammunition, in order that I may sustain
myself until your majesty has seen all these records, the memorandum of
the articles asked by the officials of your royal _hacienda_ [treasury]
residing here, and the general and individual communications of those
who remain here, and until your majesty shall have provided and ordered
what is most fitting, and have signified your royal pleasure. Since
this undertaking is so vast, and of so great import in regard to the
spiritual and temporal, and has ended so happily, and is so seasonable,
I humbly beg your majesty to order that particular account be taken
of it, and that you order the succor and provision petitioned and
requested from these islands; and that you will give the matter into
the charge of one who will provide and effect it with all care and
diligence; for I trust, with the help of God, our Lord, that very
great blessings in the service of God, our Lord, and of your majesty,
will result, with the increase of your royal income and the universal
good of your kingdoms and seigniories. I beseech your majesty that,
yielding with your accustomed magnificence in showing favor to your
servants who serve you in matters of great import, you will be pleased
to order that the communications accompanying this letter be examined,
and that you will grant me the favor that seems most fitting to your
majesty, whose sacred royal Catholic majesty may our Lord have in
his keeping, and give you increase of kingdoms and seigniories for
many and felicitous years. From Cubu, May 37, 1565.
Your sacred royal majesty's faithful servant, who kisses your majesty's
royal feet,
_Miguel Lopez de Legazpi_
_[Endorsed:_ "To the Sacred Catholic Royal Majesty the king Don
[Felipe] our lord.--To his majesty, May 27, 1565. Miguel Lopez de
Legazpi, Cubu, May 27, 1565.--Seen and to be filed with the others."]
To the Sacred Catholic Majesty:
Because General Miguel Lopez de Legazpi is giving your majesty
a full account of events throughout these districts, therefore we
shall say only that we remain in your majesty's royal service in these
Filipinas--in that part where the men of Magallanes were killed, called
the island of Cubu--under the protection of God, our Lord, and awaiting
that of your majesty; and we remain here with very great necessity.