_Return of Archbishop Don Fray Hernando Guerrero from his exile in
Mariveles; and the end of the relation commenced._
Stripped of all consolation, the archbishop, Don Hernando Guerrero,
remained twenty-six days in the island of Mariveles, where he endured
perforce privations, both because of his advanced age, and because
of the dreariness of the island--which is very great, as it is nearly
deserted, and contains only some few Indian huts. Those Indians have
charge of scouting those seas, and of advising Manila of what they
discover, by the greater or less number of fires which they light--in
the manner that the Persians were wont to do, who gave advice by means
of those fires, which they called _angaros_, as is mentioned by Bardayo
in the first chapter of his _Argenis_. The climate [of Mariveles]
is very unhealthful, and the location is not a pleasant one as the
island is shut in on all sides by thick forests, and because of the
continual beating of the sea. There lived the venerable shepherd,
meditating on the ingratitude of his sheep, venting his feeling in
gentle sighs, and relieving his afflicted breast with tears. Thus
was he found by four prebendaries of the Manila cabildo who went to
console him, and to propose to him certain matters in behalf of the
governor, which we shall detail later.
The church at Manila remained during that time as a flock without a
shepherd. All was confusion and disorder. The new provisor, the bishop
of Camarines, had readily raised the interdicts and the suspension of
religious functions. He ordered the bells to be chimed for the feast
on Saturday, the eve of the festival of the Holy Ghost. The prelates
of the orders, with the exception of him of the Society, thought that
the provisor who had been intruded could not legitimately raise the
interdict and the other censures. For no mention of this is made in
the chapter _Alma Mater: de Sententia Excomunic._ in 6; and having
held a conference in regard to this matter, with the university of
Santo Tomás, which always maintained a firm attitude in defense of
the immunity of the Church, they determined to close their churches,
and to observe the orders imposed by their legitimate prelate. They
did so until after the feast of Pentecost was over. The Audiencia
summoned them to act in accordance with the cathedral, but they paid
no attention to it until they had despatched a suitable person to
the archbishop. The latter, fearful lest greater disturbances should
originate, gave heed, as a true father, and sent an order for them
to raise the interdict; and they did so on May 20.
The orders and the two universities held various meetings and
consultations with the governor, when they saw that the troubles
which had originated from the archbishop's exile were increasing,
because of the acts of jurisdiction enacted by the provisor who
had been intruded, invalid procedures in the administration of the
sacraments, and scandals which had been occasioned to these new
fields of Christendom. This last was not the point least worthy
of consideration, since that precedent did more damage than was
realized, both in the new fields of Christendom, and in the report
of this matter among the foreign nations who surround these islands
on all sides, for they note our actions carefully. They rendered
various signed opinions for this; and they also drew up another,
counseling the archbishop to yield certain things in order to avoid
greater troubles which were indispensably necessary to restore the
peace of that church, which was exposed to greater disturbances;
and that, to assure his right, he should make a protest regarding
it. They despatched the aforesaid prebendaries with this commission,
who, on their arrival, laid the determination of the cabildo, orders,
and universities before the archbishop, as well as the decision of the
Audiencia in regard to the recalling him from exile, if the archbishop
would concede three points, to wit:
"That he would consider as lawful, and confirm, all the acts of
jurisdiction performed by the bishop of Camarines.
That he would place in possession of their posts Don Andrés Arias
Xirón as archdean, and also the chaplain of the royal hospital.
That he would not proceed in any ecclesiastical trial pertaining to
the archiepiscopal government, without the advice of the counselor
who would be assigned to him."
The archbishop resented greatly the proposition of such points to him,
and preferred to remain in exile, where he had greater quiet than in
Manila; but considering the decision and advice of so erudite persons,
which were sufficient to discharge his conscience, he agreed to all
the points proposed--first having made a protest that he was doing
this to relieve himself from molestation, and to obtain the peace
of his church and repose for the consciences of his sheep, until the
decision of the matter should come from the royal and supreme Council
of the Indias, in whom it inhered.
The governor and Audiencia determined to restore Don Fray Hernando
Guerrero to his church, and on June 6, 1636, they withdrew him from the
island of Mariveles. He entered Manila amid the great rejoicing of all,
who could not look enough at their beloved shepherd; and commenced to
govern his church. But it was not with the peace that he ought to have
had, for new contentions and new causes for anger arose daily with the
governor, who was ever despotic in his actions. [45] The archdean Don
Andrés Arias Xirón took possession of his prebend, but God did not
permit that he who had been the origin of so many disasters should
obtain much; for in a short time he sickened with dropsy and other
bad complications, and died in the flower of his age. The greatest
evil was that he died impenitent, refusing to be absolved from
the excommunication and censures by which he was bound, although
the archbishop, as a pious shepherd, sent a priest to his house to
persuade him to be absolved. The soldiers who took the archbishop
into exile all died within two years, by quick and sudden deaths. The
auditor Zapata died suddenly, being found dead in his bed, although
he had retired in perfect health. The governor lost his nephew, Don
Pedro de Corcuera, whom he loved dearly; and another nephew, named
Don Juan de Corcuera, perished while going as commander of the ship
"Nuestra Señora de la Concepción," which was dashed to pieces in the
islands of the Ladrones (today the Marianas), where many people were
lost, and where the governor lost a great quantity of riches, which
his greed (which was great) had amassed during his term. At this same
time, Don Pedro de Francia, brother-in-law of Don Pedro [de] Corcuera,
died; and so that no branch of that house might be left, God took to
himself Don Pedro de Francia, son of Don Pedro Corcuera and Doña Maria
de Francia. The same year the governor received news of the death of
his brother, Don Iñigo Hurtado de Corcuera. His entire government was
fatal and unfortunate; and later, in his residencia for it, he suffered
many troubles, for he was kept prisoner for five years in a castle,
and all his property was confiscated. Misfortune followed him into
all parts, for having returned to España, where he was corregidor
of Córdoba, they tried to kill him, and he got out of it by the
skin of his teeth. Finally, when he was governor of the Canarias,
it is said that he died suddenly. I write here only the results;
I shall not consider what so many disasters together demonstrate. I
leave the generally-known things which these islands still bewail,
since the universal knowledge of them frees me from it; and in the
following chapter, another and better pen [will take it up.] [46]
But it does not seem to me fitting to neglect to mention in this place
a testimony of what, it seems, Divine justice must have executed;
so that we may conjecture from it how great an offense to the divine
Majesty was the scandalous manner in which the exile of Archbishop
Don Hernando Guerrero was carried out; so that we may know that if He
displayed his temporal punishment in regard to what was pardonable
and not guilty, how great will be the punishment which His Divine
Majesty will mete out in His just tribunal to those men who were the
cause and instrument of so sacrilegious and scandalous a desecration,
unless they first hastened to atone for it by works of true penitence,
in order to be deserving of His infinite mercy.
The many and horrifying earthquakes from which the city of Manila
has suffered from its beginning until the present, have resulted in
almost its destruction and depopulation--especially in those of 1645
and 1658, as we shall see later. But in the midst of these ruins, the
houses which suffered most always preserved the principal walls, some
even the first floor, and others more--although these were stripped
of their covering, and, as it were, the skulls and shapeless skeleton
which indicate the robust symmetry of that building's corpse. Only in
the area and place where this lamentable tragedy occurred (namely,
the archiepiscopal palace of that time) has there remained not
only no wall, nor a vestige of its building, but not even the
foundations. Neither were any stones found there, which tell that
there was a house of human habitation. There is seen naught but an
open space, which forms a square for some splendid houses owned now
by Sargento-mayor Don Domingo Bermudez, alcalde-in-ordinary, who
inherited it from his father-in-law, Don Francisco de Moya y Torres,
chief constable of the Holy Office of the Inquisition. Whenever I
pass by that place, this memorial of the Divine punishment presents
itself to me.
The sardines were once as ordinary a food in Manila as in Coruña; but
from the time of that lamentable exile, they have so abandoned those
waters that one can catch them but seldom, and then it is a matter for
surprise. And (in order to publish more fully that that [exile] was
the cause), whenever any consecrated archbishop or bishop arrives at
Manila, on those days some sardines are caught, and then they retire to
continue their interdict. [47] Pens have not been wanting to undertake
as their employment the defense of Don Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera,
chiefly those from one order--to which he was very devoted until, as
is said, they came to regard him as a saint. But they do their duty as
thankful [for favors received], although it was not necessary for them
to do so much that they should declare themselves his admirers. The
worst is that in the year of 1683, Manila again relapsed into this
scandalous sin with the exile and banishment of Don Fray Felipe Pardo,
of the Order of Preachers. But I shall relate, in its proper place, the
disastrous end that all those who were guilty in that affair suffered.
The common enemy of the human race was not content with the lamentable
tragedies of which he made the Filipinas Islands the sad theater;
on the contrary, fearful that the peace which all desired might be
established between the governor and the archbishop, he commenced to
arouse new contentions. Although they did not result in scandalous
outbreaks, they were sufficient to make the archbishop, Don Hernando
Guerrero, live in the midst of continual warfare, the matters of
controversy threatening to assume very quickly an evil aspect. Not the
least important of these was that which even until the present has
not ceased to result in disastrous effects--namely, the founding of
the royal chapel for the military forces of Manila, which was founded
by Don Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera. Thus did he separate from the
parochial right of the cura of the Spaniards all the soldiers, who
constitute the majority of the people in these islands, and especially
in the city of Manila. For that purpose he created twelve collegiates
in the college of San José (which is in charge of the fathers of the
Society of Jesús), with the title of royal chaplains; they were clad
in blue cloaks, with sleeves of violet velvet, on which were wrought
the royal arms; and for their support [was given] the encomienda of
Calamianes. Taking two reals from the pay of each soldier every month,
which is a very considerable sum, he applied five hundred pesos of
it as a means of sustenance for the chief chaplain, and sums at the
rate of two hundred pesos for the other chaplains. It has a chief
sacristan who looks after its adornment, and its administration is in
charge of either the master-of-camp or the sargento-mayor. The soldiers
are buried there, and they pay well for it when they die. It has the
advocacy of our Lady of the Annunciation, and there they celebrate
other feasts during the year, by vote of the camp of Manila--such
as, chiefly, the advocacy of the Immaculate Conception and the most
holy sacrament, besides others which the governors add for their
devotion. There is a sermon in this chapel during Lent on Wednesday
and Friday mornings; to which the governor and royal Audiencia go.
That caused very great detriment to the right of the cura of the
Spaniards, because of the division which it made of the soldiers;
and it became necessary for the archbishop to sally out in defense of
that point. As the governor was so desirous of the said foundation,
there were debates of great heat on both sides; for the archbishop was
unwilling to grant permission for that foundation, which would cause
so much harm to the parochial right. But, recognizing that the break
would only widen, he agreed to concede the permission under certain
limitations and obligations which he was able to impose, reserving
the determination for his Holiness. Afterward, there being some
difficulties in that permission, because it was opposed by the curas
of the cathedral, as they said that the chief chaplains abused the
permission, extending their functions more than was their right, they
begged a declaration of that permission from Archbishop Don Hernando
Guerrero. He gave it with the privilege that is observed today, and it
is attested by the records which exist in the ecclesiastical archives,
under date of January 5, 1640.
The archbishop tried to appoint a collector of the contributions for
masses during that year of 1636; for one was lacking in the cathedral,
from which arose certain troubles. The cabildo resisted him, refused
to obey the act for the appointment of one, and denied that the
archbishop had authority and jurisdiction for it. As an argument
that he did not possess it, they declared that he had not presented
the confirmation of his Holiness and the pallium, and the year in
which he had taken oath to present it had passed. That caused the
archbishop considerable anxiety, for the cabildo presented itself
in the [Audiencia] session with a plea of fuerza, and the matter was
declared against the archbishop. Various opinions were given in this
matter by the universities and by erudite persons; and consequently,
that suit lasted a long time, until, at the arrival of the ships from
Nueva España, the pallium and the bulls of confirmation came to the
archbishop. New disturbances were feared, in case the contrary should
happen, and the method adopted for adjusting this matter was that the
archbishop jointly with the cabildo should appoint the collector of
the contributions for the masses, and that is still observed in the
cathedral of Manila.
The archbishop had scarcely gotten out of that matter when he found
himself involved in another of no less importance; for the governor,
Don Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera, wished to appoint a governor to
the bishopric of Camarines, because of the death of its bishop, Don
Fray Francisco Zamudio. That thrust gave the archbishop considerable
anxiety, as he had experienced fully the despotic disposition of
the governor. But he could do no less than oppose it, as it was a
matter which concerned the ecclesiastical authority and the spiritual
jurisdiction; and the archbishops have always made the appointment
in the vacancies that have occurred in these islands, as it pertains
to them by their right as metropolitans. The governor threw himself
with all his might into what he had commenced, and gave the bishop to
understand that that occasion for dispute would end worse than the
past; and he continued to arrange matters in so high-handed a way,
that the archbishop feared what the governor threatened. But God
permitted that that controversy be settled by the interposition
of zealous and influential persons, who mollified the governor;
and it was settled that the archbishop should name three subjects,
so that the governor might appoint one of them. For that purpose
the archbishop called meetings of learned men, and, having made a
protest, appointed in the first place Doctor Hernando Paez Guerrero;
in the second, Master Don Juan de Velez, who died bishop-elect of
Cebú; and in the third, Licentiate Manuel Reaelo [_sic; sc._ Rafaelo]
Macedo. The same thing happened afterward through the death of Bishop
Don Fray Diego de Aduarte, of the Order of Preachers, a man of singular
virtue, the bishop of Nueva Segovia. In his government, Canon Alonso
de Vargas entered to govern, with the same form of choice as the
first. That form of appointing governors for the vacancies of the
bishops was usurped many years in these islands--although there has
been sufficient opposition from the bishops at such an innovation
and corruption--until the provision suitable to so essential a
matter was made in the royal and supreme Council of the Indias,
and in our own times a decree was received from the queen mother,
that the archbishops alone should appoint rulers for the bishoprics,
but the cabildo of Manila [should do this] when the see is vacant.
During all the time while Archbishop Don Fray Hernando Guerrero
governed the church of Manila, he was exercising echoes of the
etymology of his name in the contentions that he had with Governor
Don Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera; [48] and had there not been a
prelate in the church of Manila so zealous and vigilant in matters
of ecclesiastical immunity, it would have been involved in other
and greater difficulties. The archbishop commenced the visitation of
his diocese as soon as he became free from the late storms; and he
continued it through all the benefices of his clergy, until he reached
the island of Mindoro. There he found himself in another danger, no
less than those which he had experienced on land; for he was attacked
by six hostile galliots of the Mindanao enemy, which bore down upon the
boat in which he was, near Naohan. Had not that boat been staunch and
swift, the enemy would have captured and killed him--as is the usual
custom of those Mahometan pirates, the enemy of our holy faith. It
defended itself with the men aboard it, until it arrived at the land
of Bacoo, where they had scarcely time to land and get into a place
of safety; when, as the boat had remained in the sand, the pirates
seized it, and captured many of the followers of the archbishop. They
pillaged all the cargo aboard the boat, even the ornaments and the
pontifical robe, all which was of much value. That blow caused great
sorrow to that good prelate, for the Mindanaos killed most of the men
whom they captured, and it was only after many difficulties that a few
could be ransomed. The bishop became very ill with a serious sickness,
from sorrow and his past troubles. [49]
LETTER WRITTEN BY A CITIZEN OF MANILA TO AN ABSENT FRIEND
I will try to give your Grace an accurate account of the changes
that have occurred this year, and of the anxiety and unrest of this
community, so that your Grace may have an adequate conception of the
matter, and may judge it on its merits, since you have no reason to
distrust him who relates it--a thing which would cast doubt on the
relation itself. Such has actually been the case with a relation
written by the Order of St. Dominic, which has been sent from this
city to that of Zebu and other parts, whose author shows manifest
prejudice and but little accuracy in what he relates. Laying aside
then, all partiality, and as one who has been a witness of everything,
although I had no part in it, I shall relate to your Grace all that
has happened.
An artilleryman, named Francisco de Nava, seems to have been
maintaining illicit relations with a slave-girl whom he owned, named
Maria. That gave rise to troubles, and the artilleryman was placed in
the house of brother Guerrero; and finally the slave-girl was taken
away from him, and the archbishop, Don Fray Hernando Guerrero, had
her sold. The artilleryman was very angry and vexed at that, and his
love drew him so powerfully that he said that he wished to marry the
slave-girl. She answered that she preferred to be the slave of another
than his wife. For that reason, when the slave was very unguardedly
following the coach of her mistress on Sunday, August nineteen, one
thousand six hundred and thirty-five, that man, with deliberate purpose
and overconfident, stealthily approached her in the principal street,
near the cemetery of Sant Agustín; and, embracing her from behind,
asked her whether she knew him. She answered in the affirmative,
and he treacherously stabbed and killed her. He sought refuge in
the convent of St. Augustine, where neither the sargento-mayor
nor the master-of-camp, who surrounded the convent with soldiers,
could find him. At a hazard, they prevented any religious from going
out--an abuse contingent on the military, which cannot be checked
by a captain-general. Accordingly, the Order of St. Dominic did
the governor an injury in their relation, by declaring that he had
incurred excommunication on that account, since he had no share in it,
but only ordered the soldiers not to allow the treacherous homicide
to leave the church. A few days after that, when the matter had cooled
down somewhat, an adjutant of the camp, one Don Juan de Frias, because
of the reward that was offered, entered the convent at midday, where
he found and seized the artilleryman. The cause was referred to the
commander of artillery (for the artilleryman was under his command),
in order that he might try it in the first instance; and he condemned
the artilleryman to death. The latter appealed to his captain-general
and the auditor-general of war. The cause was returned, as the appeal
was considered out of order, for the captain-general was convinced
of the treachery and treason of [the artilleryman]; whereupon the
commander of artillery tried to execute the sentence of death.
The archbishop of this church of Manila excommunicated the commander
of artillery; and his provisor, one Don Pedro de Monrroy, had two
notifications served on the governor, although there was no reason
for his so doing. Once the notification was made after ten o'clock at
night, when the governor had already retired. Two clerics entered for
that purpose through the midst of the body-guard. As the governor was
already asleep, and his servants had retired, and the doors of their
chambers were locked, they could not serve their notification at all;
accordingly, they turned to go. Trying to depart by passing through
the body-guard, by the way that they had entered, he who was stationed
at the door would not suffer it--in accordance with a general order
received many days previously to the effect that, although they should
allow entrance into his house at night, they should not allow anyone to
leave; as he judged such an order expedient for the proper government
of his household. Consequently, the clerics who had entered could not
leave; for, when they went back to the governor, they found him shut
in his room and asleep, and when they returned to the guardroom, the
soldiers were minded to observe their orders without any distinction
of persons. Hence the clerics had to stay all night and until dawn
on the stairway and in the corridors of the palace. On that account,
certain persons also took opportunity to say, and not with any good
intention, that the governor had incurred excommunication--although
he was so far from that, and this was so accidental a case that it
could not have been foreseen in the order that was issued so many
days previously. The relation of the fathers of St. Dominic charges
that accident to the governor, unjustly and with prejudice.
During the execution of the sentence on the night of Thursday,
September six, an interdict was imposed and the cessation of divine
services ordered. The sentence was executed, and the artilleryman
was hanged on the same spot where he had killed the slave-girl. The
provisor was so carried away by passion that he tried to make
(and it is even said that he did make) a report that they hanged
the culprit in a sacred place--although the street was public, and
[the hanging occurred] at the same place where the artilleryman had
committed the homicide. Your Grace can see the so great want of logic
[in this matter]; for if that were a sacred place, then the crime had
been committed in it, and the artilleryman could not avail himself
of the church as he was trying to do.
The governor wrote to the archbishop in terms of the greatest courtesy,
requesting him to throw open the churches, and not to deprive this
community of mass and consolation on a day of so great importance as
was the nativity of our Lady, which came on the following Saturday;
for, since the execution was already over, there was no remedy for the
matter. The archbishop called a meeting of the religious of all the
orders, who thought by that means to avenge themselves for the injuries
which they imagined that they had received from the governor--those
of St. Dominic, because he had divided the Parián treasury; those of
St. Francis, because he had regulated the hospital expenses, which
they were incurring to the so great detriment of the royal estate; and
those of St. Augustine, because he had deprived them of some Sangley
shops in Tondo--and for other private feelings of resentment. They
carried the torch into that meeting, making the encounter between
the governor and the archbishop a political matter; consequently,
they expressed the opinion that the censures should not be raised
under any circumstances. A religious of St. Dominic said that they
ought to last for five hundred years, while another added "even to
the end of the world." Very indecorous was their speech regarding
the person of the governor, for they did not stop to consider that
he represents the royal person by reason of his office. Only one
Franciscan father, named Fray Bartolome Bermudez, and the two of
the Society who were present--namely, the reverend fathers Luis de
Pedrasa and Father Lorenço Goreto," [50] master in the morning classes
[51]--were of the opinion that the censures should be raised. They
even showed clearly that justice had been rightly exercised, since
the treacherous murder had been committed so openly. Therefore,
and because of other defects in what had been enacted, they proved
that the censures did not bind the commander of artillery, or any one
else. On this account the other religious gave much [opportunity for]
merit to those of the Society, by uttering insulting words against
them. From that time, they conceived so great an aversion for the
fathers of the Society, that it was the beginning of the disturbances
that afterward arose. The governor again requested the archbishop, for
the second and third time, to raise the interdict and the cessation
of divine service. But the latter was so far from complying, that he
refused to answer the papers, and so the matter stood. But afterward,
when we least expected it, in order to please the Recollects and allow
them to celebrate their festival of St. Nicholas, the archbishop lifted
the censures and absolved the commander of artillery, _ad cautelam_
[52]. For the latter did not consider himself as excommunicated, nor
even did learned men regard him as such. That was very apparent then,
for, when he had appealed to the bishop of Camarines, the sentence was
in his favor; and the bishop absolved him from the pecuniary fines
which the archbishop had imposed. Thereupon that tempest was laid,
the principal cause of which was the provisor, Don Pedro de Monroy;
while those who increased its fury were the religious of St. Dominic,
St. Francis, and St. Augustine. On that account, in order to prevent
similar troubles that might arise in the future, the governor undertook
to execute a royal decree, by the terms of which the said provisor
had been proclaimed, in the time of Governor Don Alonso Fajardo,
as banished from the kingdoms. The temporalities had been taken from
him, as is clear from the authentic royal decree which was despatched
for that purpose. Your Grace will notice the lack of accuracy in the
other relation, since its author declares therein that that royal
decree had been repealed, while in truth it was in full vigor and
force. That is so true that there is no unprejudiced man in this
city who does not know it. This year, as I have heard reported, the
original of that decree has been sent to his Majesty. The archbishop
held various meetings with the religious, and they agreed to defend the
said provisor to the death, as they said, if necessary. The governor,
in order to remedy these troubles in so small a community, desisted
from his purpose, and tried to conduct the matter along smoother
channels. He offered the said provisor the chaplaincy-in-chief and
vicariate of the island of Hermosa, in a letter of the following tenor:
"It is necessary for his Majesty's service that your Grace go to serve
in the island of Hermosa as chaplain-in-chief, and vicar of those
presidios. [You will receive] three hundred pesos salary per year,
the altar fees, and the fees from the confraternity of the soldiers,
which has been lately instituted; and, with these and the pay, you will
be able to live well. Thus will certain irreparable disadvantages,
that might ensue if you do not accept this service for his Majesty,
be avoided. And inasmuch as I have received letters from the said
island of Hermosa this morning, in which the governor begs me to send
him such a person very speedily, your Grace will make the decision
to depart, so that this same champan may return to Cagayan, whence
it and one other are to take fifty native soldiers, so that the two
may go together. May our Lord preserve your Grace, as He is able. The
palace; October eight, one thousand six hundred and thirty-five.
_Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera_"
Although the governor does not state the motive in this letter, his
motive was to remove the occasion for disputes; and also because the
commandant of the island of Hermosa, Francisco Hernandez, wrote him
a letter, part of which is as follows:
"There is a religious in this island called Fray Lucas Garcia, [53]
of the Order of Preachers. He is judge-provisor; and I have so many
debates with him at present, and he is so crazy to govern, that he
is hurling many shafts at me, without heeding that I am serving
him to my utmost in everything, and that I am endeavoring to aid
him in all that arises. He is much given to suits and questions,
even going so far as to prevent the ringing of the animas [54] at
night or the singing of the _alabado_ hymn. It may be that in regard
to the most holy sacrament and the pure conception of our Lady the
Virgin Mary, who was conceived without the taint of original sin,
he does not wish that any mention be made of the Virgin, to say that
she is immaculate. Lastly, sir, this matter demands a remedy, by the
archbishop sending a cura as judge-provisor. That is very necessary, so
that we may be able to go on and live as God orders. If this blessed
religious be removed from his charge, he will change his habits,
and we shall be left in peace and quiet--which, as I see, it would
be very difficult to obtain in any other way. Can your Lordship
believe that, if he had any reasonable ground [for his conduct],
I would not ascertain it, in order to give account of the matter
to your Lordship, or that still less would I allow dissensions so
vexatious to exist? I am very sorry to inform your Lordship of this,
but I cannot do otherwise; for it is not right that this religious
should place these forts in the condition in which he left Cagayan. For
with authority as judge-provisor, while my predecessor was exercising
the duties of this government, he did his utmost to usurp the royal
jurisdiction--arresting and punishing soldiers and other persons
without asking the royal aid, or fulfilling his obligation and his
Majesty's command. Will your Lordship be pleased to relieve this
condition as the occasion demands, by sending a secular cura as
judge-provisor with the suitable despatches, so that this blessed
religious may not offer him any trouble. The island of Hermosa,
October 13, 1635.
_Francisco Hernandez_"
The provisor, Don Pedro de Monrroy, answered the governor's letter
as follows:
"In response to the honor which your Lordship does me in your letter
by ordering me to make a decision, I say, sir, that I have but little
health, as can be seen in my face; consequently, I do not dare to
embark. Besides I am occupied with the duties of the offices which
I am, at my prelate's behest, exercising at present. If I were quite
well, I would ask my prelate for permission to go anywhere in order
to give pleasure to your Lordship. May our Lord preserve your life
for many years. Manila, October eight, one thousand six hundred and
thirty-five. Your Lordship's chaplain,
_Licentiate Don Pedro de Monrroy_"
The archbishop raised a great disturbance on account of this,
declaring that the governor was a violator of the ecclesiastical
immunity. He immediately summoned the two bishops of Zebu and Nueva
Segovia (who were here) and the orders and the clerics to a meeting,
by a letter of the following tenor.
But, before mentioning the letter, I wish to recount to your Grace
certain actions of the governor, which, as the relation of the
Dominicans asserts, obliged the archbishop to assemble the bishops
and orders, and others; but which (as I suspected) happened after
the meeting, so that your Grace may see how they are stirred up,
and engaged on the side of evil. The first was, that the governor's
guard detained several priests by force one whole night, without
allowing them to leave the palace. It has been seen above already
that this happened by accident, and without the governor's order. 2d,
that he gave orders at the [city] gates for the soldiers not to allow
any ecclesiastics to leave. The justification for that was, that it
was rumored that several ecclesiastics were trying to take flight,
and to carry with them a number of soldiers and sailors who were in
the pay of his Majesty. That did in fact happen, for two religious,
one secular, and more than thirty soldiers and seamen who had just
been paid more than three thousand pesos from the royal treasury,
deserted. [Third], that he did not allow the religious to enter or
leave their convent. It has been already seen above that the occasion
for the surrounding of the convent of St. Augustine was in order to
prevent the escape of the treacherous fugitive. Consequently, all else
that happened was the over-zeal of the soldiers, who take military
orders very literally. [Fourth], that he tried to exile the provisor,
Don Pedro de Monrroy, by virtue of an old royal decree, the execution
of which had been repealed. It is outside of all truth to say that it
was repealed; for it is certain and appears that it had full force and
vigor, as I have said above. [Fifth], that he was persuaded that no
one could excommunicate him but the supreme pontiff. This opinion is
not so improbable, as I have heard discussed by men who know more than
I. But Burguillos, [55] a learned man of the Order of St. Francis,
holds and supports it valiantly; and at the least the governor, by
his membership in the habit of Alcantara, enjoys by a bull of Leo X
the privileges and immunities of the Cistercian religious; [56] and,
by another bull of Alexander III, the privileges of the knights of
Santiago, who can be excommunicated only by the supreme pontiff or
by his legate _a latere_. [57] As for saying that the governor can
exile from these islands any of his Majesty's vassals whom he wishes
to, I do not know that it is said in so harsh terms. What I do know
is that the royal patronage gives him authority, in punishing the
seculars and ecclesiastics, to remove them when they undertake to
meddle with what does not concern them. [In regard to the charge]
that he prevents the soldiers from becoming religious, no such thing
enters his mind. His order is that, before the soldiers embrace a
religious life, they shall inform him of it, so that their accounts
may first be examined, to ascertain whether they owe anything to
the king, in order that it may be paid before they become religious
[58]--as was ruled by Sixtus V in his bull. Here in Manila there is
another thing which further justifies this action of the governor,
namely, that many soldiers embrace a religious life with the sole
intention of getting rid of their duties as soldiers; and then after
a few months as novitiate, many vagabonds go out. In order to avoid
that annoyance, it is well to have it appear and to have it noted in
their accounts that they became religious, so that, if they leave
that life, they may be compelled to serve the king. If this is not
so, let the authors of the other relation tell [of any one] who has
asked permission to become a religious who, if he is not indebted to
the king, has not obtained his desires.
[Resuming my narrative], the formal letter, then, which the archbishop
wrote to the father rector of the Society, Luis de Pedrasa, is
as follows:
"The governor has today written a letter to the provisor, in which
he says that it is fitting for the service of his Majesty for him
to go to the island of Hermosa, to serve as chaplain-in-chief and
vicar of those presidios--and this without any opportunity being
afforded the provisor to ask my consent. It appears to me, Father
Rector, that this is a very grave matter; and it seems best to call
a council of the bishops and of all the orders, so that, we may
decide that two of those at the meeting shall proceed to ascertain
the authority possessed by the governor _in spiritualibus_ [_i.e.,_
"in spiritual matters"], in order that we may not continue day after
day with these letters and these mandates. Since I advise you of the
point which is to be discussed in the meeting, I beg your Paternity
to do me the favor to be present at it, and to bring with you the
father confessor of the governor and two father readers tomorrow
morning, Tuesday, at eight o'clock; for thus is it advisable for the
service of our Lord and of His church, and that of his Majesty King
Don Phelipe. Your Paternities are bound to follow the footsteps of the
other and mendicant orders in matters so justifiable and for the common
welfare; and I am confident that I shall receive your support. May our
Lord preserve your Paternity for many years. From the [archiepiscopal]
house, today, Monday, October, 1635.
_Fray Hernando_, archbishop."
The bishop of Nueva Segovia, Don Fray Diego Duarte, excused himself
by saying that that measure calculated not to quiet but rather to
disturb the citizens. The clergy excused themselves--one for illness,
another for ill-health, a third because he could not attend, and a
fourth because he did not wish to attend; and so no one went. Your
Grace should note here the malice of the other relation; for although
the bishop of Nueva Segovia and the ecclesiastical cabildo had excused
themselves, that relation makes no mention except of the dean--saying
that he could not attend, because of sickness--and of the fathers of
the Society, in order to stigmatize their motives and to make them
more odious. Although it is true that the latter excused themselves,
they did so by a courteous letter, which was written for that purpose
by their rector; and in order that your Grace may read it, and know
exactly its contents, since from it originated the disputes that
followed, I place it here.
"Most illustrious Sir:
"It appears that the more the Society endeavors to serve your most
illustrious [Lordship], and your provisor, in striving for the peace
of the community, and harmony and friendly relations between the
ecclesiastical and secular leaders, in the same proportion do some
(I know not whether with so good intention)--making, as is said,
a poison from the antidote--endeavor to injure that peace. Hence I
am unable to see what benefit our attendance can be, or what lack
there will be if we fail to offer our opinion; since whatever we say
will be received in the manner that the so pious efforts that have
been made during these last few days have been received. Therefore,
I beg your Excellency, with due humility and respect, to be pleased
to excuse us on this occasion, for the love of God our Lord; for
other occasions on which we can serve your Excellency will not be
wanting. May our Lord preserve and augment your person as we all,
your chaplains, and I the least of them, desire.
_Luis de Pedraza_"
Some at the council read this letter, and the archbishop and religious
were very angry at the absence of the members of the Society from the
meeting. They paid no attention to the fact that the clergy and the
bishop of Nueva Segovia were also absent. They couched their lances
against only those of the Society; and the first thing done in the
said meeting was to enact an act and resolution so harsh that it
seems best not to mention it at all, but to copy it word for word,
so that your Grace may judge what may be your pleasure, and whether it
was only to express some resentment, as the other relation declares,
or to disclose their passion by not telling the hatred that they
felt. The act is as follows:
"In the city of Manila, on the ninth of October, one thousand six
hundred and thirty-five, his Excellency the archbishop of Manila, and
at his summons, the most reverend bishop of Zebu, and the prelates
of the orders of St. Dominic, St. Francis, and St. Augustine, and
the Recollect fathers of the last order, and the readers of all of
the said orders, having assembled in the archiepiscopal palace,
it was resolved that, inasmuch as the fathers of the Society of
Jesus had been summoned to the said assembly, this and another time,
by his Excellency, in order to communicate matters to them touching
the service of God and of His Church, which his Excellency wished to
execute with the advice of all for their better result; and since
both times when they were summoned they excused themselves and in
fact did not attend the said meeting, by which one can see that they
separate themselves from the cause of the Church, and that they leave
her deserted and abandoned in whatever pertains to them: therefore
it was resolved in the said meeting, that from any one who separates
from his mother in her greatest trials and necessities, his brothers,
the children of the Church, ought to separate themselves--namely,
by not attending the functions of common interest that shall be held
or celebrated in the convents and church of the Society of Jesus,
such as are feasts, contests in debate and other things similar to
these; and by not inviting them to those which are celebrated either
in the cathedral church and parochial churches of this city, or in
any other churches whatsoever, whether subject to his Excellency or
to the prelates of the said orders. Also, from this time henceforth,
his Excellency deprives them of the sermons [assigned to them] on the
list of the said cathedral, and of all other sermons that they have
or can have throughout his archbishopric, so that they can preach in
none of the churches subject to his Excellency. His Excellency also
resolved that no cleric of his archbishopric, of whatever rank or
degree he be, either by himself or in the name of the communities which
he represents, may or ought to go to the said functions celebrated
in the convents or churches of the said Society. His Excellency
also deprived them of the title of synodal examiners in all his
archbishopric. The said archbishop promised that he would observe
all the above until a decision should be made by another assembly
of like character with this. And thus his most illustrious Lordship
affixed his signature with the rest who attended the meeting, [59]
on the said day, month, and year.
_Fray Hernando_, archbishop.
_Fray Pedro_, bishop of Santisimo Nombre de Jesus.
_Fray Domingo Gonsalez_
Fray Geronimo del Spiritu Santo
Fray Juan de Montemayor
Fray Gaspar de Santa Maria [60]
Fray Francisco de Herrera
Fray Alonso de San Joan
Fray Joseph de Santa Maria
Fray Antonio Gonsalez
Fray Vicente Argente
Fray Alonso de Carvajal
Fray Sebastian de Oquendo
Fray Diego de Ochoa
Fray Pedro de Santo Thomas
Fray Miguel de San Juan [61]
By order of his Excellency, the archbishop, my lord,
_Bachelor Joan Fulgencio_, notary."
But it is to be noted that although the above act is signed by so many,
some of them afterward stated that they had been misled. For the Order
of St. Augustine afterward renewed through its definitors its former
friendship with the Society, saying that those who had signed had no
authority to do so; and the bishop of Zebu, Don Fray Pedro de Arçe,
retracted it as a mistake, as your Grace will see by the enclosed
document that he drew up.
"In consideration of a council called by Archbishop Don Fray
Hernando Guerrero, on the ninth of this month of October--at which
I was present, together with certain religious of the orders of
St. Dominic, St. Francis, and the caked and discalced religious of
St. Augustine--and of a paper that was drawn up against the Society of
Jesus, in which the archbishop deprived them of the sermons [assigned
to them] in the lists of the cathedral and of other secular churches
subject to the said archbishop, as well as the other things that
the said document contains because the fathers of the said Society
of Jesus did not attend the said council: I signed the said paper
at the meeting, on account of the relation that was made then in the
absence of the said fathers of the Society. But afterward, having been
informed of the truth, and that the fathers had very just reasons
for not attending such meeting, I declare for the discharge of my
conscience, that my opinion given then is null and void, and that
the action taken in the said document is not just. On the contrary,
I think that the said fathers of the Society are worthy of praise and
reward for their great devotion, holy doctrine, and excellent method of
procedure--of which it is not proper to deprive the faithful, by taking
from them the fruit that is received from their sermons and admirable
instruction everywhere. In order that this my sentiment and opinion may
be apparent for all time, I affixed my name to this present document
in Manila, October eighteen, one thousand six hundred and thirty-five.
Fray Pedro, bishop of Santissimo de Jesus.
His most reverend Lordship signed in my presence and I witness thereto,
and know him.
_Juan Soriano_, notary-public."
Following the decree enacted by the archbishop, another point
was discussed in the assembly, which concerned the attempt of the
governor to have Don Pedro de Monrroy go to the island of Hermosa
as its chaplain. In this regard they resolved to offer effective
opposition; and the archbishop, at the advice of the assembly, wrote
the following letter to the governor:
"I have read the letter written by your Lordship to my provisor, and
his answer, and the resolution of your Lordship to send him to the
island of Hermosa. As I desire peace and harmony with your Lordship,
I entreat you to receive his excuse, since it, and my need of his
person, are well known. Besides this, I ask your Lordship to note
that the appointment of a vicar, or the granting of ecclesiastical
authority and jurisdiction, or the administration of sacraments,
is the prerogative of the ecclesiastical prelates, and not of the
civil government. Therefore, I request your Lordship to refrain from
making similar appointments in this regard. I write all the above to
your Lordship by the advice of the bishop of Zibu and of the orders,
so that your Lordship may see that I am not moved by passion, but by
reason and justice; and that I do not trust to my own opinion, but to
that of many. I entreat your Lordship to form another like opinion
in making your decisions, and with persons who are free to speak
their minds to your Lordship. May our Lord preserve your Lordship
and prosper you in His holy service. Today, Tuesday, October nine,
six hundred and thirty-five.
_Fray Hernando_, archbishop."
The governor answered the above letter of the archbishop as follows:
"I do not think that your Lordship desires peace and harmony as
you say, since you order me to receive the excuse of Don Pedro de
Monrroy in what I ask from him, which is fitting to the service of
his Majesty. I am doing it with all peace, without desiring war,
and without seeking war with anyone. Many can supply your Lordship's
need of his person, who are better intentioned and more learned,
in accordance with his Majesty's orders in his royal decree.
On the contrary, your Lordship has rather too much of Don Pedro de
Monrroy than too little, for the quiet, harmony, and good government
of your church.
I am not ignorant that the approval of ecclesiastical persons is
reserved to the prelates in order that they may administer the
sacraments; but the appointing of them belongs to the government
by virtue of the royal patrimony, just as his Majesty appointed
your Lordship bishop and archbishop, and as his Holiness approved
and confirmed it. Consequently, I cannot, even though your Lordship
orders it, abstain from appointing curas and vicars, choosing from
three whom your Lordship ought to nominate, the person whom I shall
consider most suitable. In the case of canons and dignidades of this
holy church, governors of vacant bishoprics, and chaplains, superior
and subordinate, of the soldiers, presidios, and galleons of his
Majesty, I need no nomination by your Lordship, although they need
your approval. If your Lordship writes me thus 'at the advice of the
bishop of Zebu and of the orders, so that I may see that your Lordship
is not moved by passion, but by reason and justice,' I am moved by
passion in ordering that all who came to these islands at the king's
cost or in his galleons, and who are his vassals, whatever be their
rank and degree, shall serve him. And when I say that this is fitting
for his royal service, only his Majesty can call me to account for it.
I value the advice given me by your Lordship that, when I make
decisions, I take counsel with persons who are free to speak their
mind to me. When I take counsel for the better service of God and
the king, I look for the most learned men of good reputation, and
many disinterested persons, so that they may not confuse me with
so many different opinions. To them I do not declare my intention
or determination, as is the general custom, until all have spoken;
and then I conform to the opinion of those which I deem best.
May your Lordship understand this truth, and that I fear God more
than the king and his vassals. May His Divine Majesty preserve your
Lordship for many happy years. The palace; October nine, six hundred
and thirty-five.
_Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera_"
The archbishop and the orders seeing that the members of the Society
were not disturbed (which seems to have been their intention, to judge
by the resolution of the assembly), the archbishop sent a notary, a
few days afterward, to notify the superiors of the Society of an act,
which I shall place here together with the reply of the father rector,
Luis de Pedraza.
"We, Don Fray Hernando Guerrero, by the grace of God and the holy
apostolic see archbishop of these Philipinas Islands, member of his
Majesty's Council, etc. Inasmuch as we ordered for just reasons that
moved us thereto, in harmony with the rules of the holy Council of
Trent (in chapter four, _De reformatione,_ session twenty-four),
that the religious fathers of the Society of Jesus be notified--the
father-provincial, Joan de Bueras, the rector, Luis de Pedraza, and
the other superiors of the said order who live in this city--not to
preach outside of their convents in any part of all this archbishopric,
or in camps, or guardhouses, by any manner of talk or preaching,
or in any other manner: that order they shall observe to the letter,
under penalty of major excommunication, _late sentencie, ipso facto
incurenda una protina canonica monitione premisa_, [62] and a fine
of four thousand Castilian ducados for the Holy Crusade, to which
we hold them immediately condemned if they do the contrary. Given in
our archiepiscopal palace, in the city of Manila, October twenty-six,
one thousand six hundred and thirty-five.
_Fray Hernando_, archbishop.
By order of his Lordship: _Diego Bernal_
"At the residence of the Society of Jesus in Manila, on the
twenty-ninth day of the month of November [_sc_., October], one
thousand six hundred and thirty-five, I read and announced the act
contained in the other part [of this document], exactly as is therein
contained, to the father rector, Luis de Pedraza, in the presence
of the witness Diego de Rueda, royal clerk, and the fathers Pedro de
Prado, procurator-general, and Gregorio Bellin. In their presence, he
desired me to give him an attested copy of the act, as a protection
of his right, and they were witnesses of the entire proceeding. I
attest this.
_Juan de la Cueva Moran_, notary-public.
"Then immediately the said father Luis de Pedraza required me once,
twice, and thrice, to set down the reply which will be declared,
notwithstanding that the notification is set down. And, inasmuch as
I am constrained by the said requisitions, I give it; and it is of
the following tenor:
'That in all things that were not a violation of their privileges,
they were prompt to obey, since they were under that obligation; but
if any demand were in violation of those privileges, then they would
make use of the means afforded them by the law for their defense and
which his Holiness granted them. He affixed his signature, in the
presence of the above witnesses.
_Luis de Pedraza_
Before me.
_Joan de la Cueva Moran_, notary-public.'"
The fathers of the Society thought that act was a manifest injury
to their order and privileges, for three reasons. First, because
they were deprived of preaching to all persons, with no exception,
without there being other cause therefor than those which your
Grace may infer from the document. Second, by commanding them with
excommunication and pecuniary fines, a thing which is manifestly a
violation of the immunity of the regulars. Third, because they were
prohibited from giving instruction in the camps and guardhouses,
which is a violation of a _Clementina_, [63] as I am told, and to
which no contrary decision has been rendered by the holy Council of
Trent. The fathers of the Society attempted to maintain peace by all
possible ways, but they were unsuccessful; and they could find no
route to that end. The past governor, Don Juan Cerezo [Salamanca]
who was desirous of settling the matter, undertook to secure that
end by writing to the archbishop the following letter:
"Our friendship, and the respect with which I always view the affairs
of your Lordship, and my obligations, constrain me to represent
affectionately to your Lordship, on the present occasion, the great
danger that is being incurred in maintaining the provisor in his
office, in hatred of him who represents to us the royal person, so
that your Lordship may consider in time the scandalous end that is
threatened. And although your Lordship will doubtless proceed, I must
warn you through my experience of European affairs, heedfully, that
the reasons that operate in this small presidio, which is surrounded by
barbarians and hostile nations, have no place in populous cities. The
governors base their defense on the public peace, in the attainment of
which the prelates [should] always aid, without trying to examine the
governor's intention, or throwing obstacles in his path under pretext
of ecclesiastical immunity; and although peace is composed of both
estates, and it is the business of both to secure and maintain it,
its prerogative belongs only to the royal jurisdiction.
"In order to repair these troubles, so that we can hope for great
harmony in the future, I consider it as the only remedy, and the one
most fitting for the authority of your Lordship, for Don Pedro de
Monrroy to display his nobility of character, and resign himself
of his own free will to the will of Don Sebastian, thus valuing
his favor more than the comforts which he is now enjoying. If he so
act, I am sure that it will open a free door for greater promotions
[for him], and for the consolation of this community. Your Lordship,
as a father, ought to pay attention to this without permitting the
matter to be carried to a compulsory settlement, of which I have
certain proofs. This opinion seemed good to father Fray Domingo
Gonsalez--although, after having conferred with your Lordship,
he replied to me that he does not find any secular who can fill the
vacancy of the said Don Pedro de Monrroy. But I remember to have seen
that your Lordship was inclined to the canon Don Pedro de Quesada. I
have here been addressing your Lordship with tenderness and love; and
you may believe that any action contrary to this would be held as a
great disservice by his Majesty--especially, as it is understood that
the points of [ecclesiastical] government are reduced to assemblies
of theologians, your Lordship being their counselor. May God our Lord
preserve your Lordship. From my residence.
_Don Juan Çerezo [de Salamanca]_"
Don Juan de Cerezo was not content with this letter, but, being
constrained by his excellent desires, wrote another letter of the
following tenor:
"As no beginning has been made in procuring the desired peace,
I shall charge myself to treat of it, as it concerns so deeply the
licentiate, Don Pedro de Monrroy, to whom I remain a true friend;
and at the pace at which the matter is being matured it must be that
some little devil has been unchained, and that he is defrauding all
the gains. But, nevertheless, as all this cause is for the service of
our Lord, I am confident that your Lordship and all the orders will
favor it. I am awaiting joyful news this afternoon, in order to be
able to commence openly to be the mediator of harmony which, it is
represented to me, this community will hereafter enjoy. And should
that harmony unfortunately be not attained, I rely, in everything,
upon this assembly. At least will your Lordship be pleased to give
such direction to it, by your great prudence, that these matters may
not be further disturbed. May God preserve your Lordship, as He is
able, and as I desire. From my residence, October 12, 1635.
_Don Juan Çerezo Salamanca_"
The dean of this holy church, Don Miguel Garçetas, also did on his part
what he could to stay this storm; and he with three other dignidades
went about among the four orders, to talk to their superiors in order
that they might aid with their advice, so that the affair of Don Pedro
de Monrroy might be directed to the satisfaction of the governor, since
he had so good an intention; and, at the same time, so that they might
annul the resolution taken against the Society in the meeting above
mentioned. Each one in private promised mountains of gold. They met
with the archbishop; and the bishop of Nueva Segovia and some seculars
having attended that meeting, they were not allowed to take part in
it, because others thought that they were on the side of the Society,
and that they were inclined to support the governor's decision. In
that assembly not only did its members not revoke the resolution,
as each one had promised, but they confirmed it and refused to give
satisfaction to the governor in regard to Don Pedro de Monrroy.
Immediately the obstinacy and stubbornness of the participants in the
meeting was learned; and those who had tried to act as angels of peace
felt it keenly, especially Don Juan Cerezo. As he had exerted himself
most in striving for peace, his grief at seeing that his good desire
had not been obtained was greatest. Therefore he wrote the following
letter to the archbishop:
"By your Lordship's letter I have learned the opinions of the religious
who attended the meeting of last night. Of the purpose that animates
them and their hearts, may God judge. With this outcome I retire from
these matters, and my only desire is that they come out right. I
meddled in the affair because I thought it expedient and desirable
to procure, by honorable means, the restoration of your Lordship's
liberty of the ordinary jurisdiction. That was injured and enslaved,
the moment when it was subject to the hindrance of not being able to
alter anything without a fresh intervention of the orders, and of being
obliged to temporize with them so much as your Lordship indicates;
for the person and dignity of the archbishop of Manila are of great
importance, and his feelings of anger should be of less duration,
so that he should not be compelled to chide the quarrels of others
with his crozier.
"I petition your Lordship to keep this in mind, for I say it through
my love as a son of your Lordship, as a corrective for the present
and a warning for the future; and the greatest happiness exists when
the two heads of the state are in harmony. May God direct it, as He
is able, and preserve your Lordship, as I desire. From my residence,
October 19, 1635.
_Don Juan Çerezo [Salamanca]_"
The fathers of the Society, seeing that the peace measures had been
useless, and that the doors to any suitable settlement were tightly
closed on them on the part of the archbishop and the religious who
were their opponents; and that two days afterward they had notified
the rector of the Society of the first act, they had notified the
minister of Santa Cruz of another (that place being a mission of
the Society), in order that he should not instruct certain Indians,
a right which the preceding prelate had given to the Society. [64]
It was rumored that the archbishop was trying to deprive them of
the confessional. Daily new troubles were feared, and the fathers
of the Society were compelled to appoint a judge-conservator; and
one was in fact appointed on the second of November, 1635. This
was Don Fabian de Santillan y Cavilanes, schoolmaster of this holy
metropolitan church. He was not serving _ad interim_, as the other
relation declares, but held that office in regular appointment,
and had held it for several years. He was the son of a treasurer
of the royal exchequer. Alonso Baesa del Rio was assigned as his
notary, a notary-public and a man of vast experience and skill in
papers. The judge-conservator ordered the archbishop, under penalty
of major excommunication and a fine of four thousand ducados for the
Holy Crusade, to repeal the acts passed against the Society, as they
were manifestly injurious. Before he was notified of this act, the
secretary read to him his appointment as judge-conservator made on
behalf of the Society. This is apparent by the identical acts, which
I have seen. I advise your Grace of this so that you may have accurate
information on this point; for it is stated and restated often, in the
other relation, that the archbishop was not notified legally before
they notified him of the act of the judge-conservator. He was notified,
for it is certain that the first document read to him by the secretary
was the appointment as judge-conservator, as above stated. Later,
the same secretary read to him the bull for judge-conservators,
and that of Gregory XIII, in which he concedes authority to the
fathers of the Society to preach anywhere. The secretary entering the
archbishop's hall with the documents, the latter asked him what he
had, and he answered that they were the bulls. "But why?" added the
archbishop; and Fray Antonio Gonsalez, who was in his company, said:
"He has been tired, for we have already seen them in the collection
of bulls." If this is so, I am surprised that the hostile relation
states that the act of the judge-conservator was null and void, as
he did not first exhibit the briefs (of which no notice was taken)
to the archbishop. The latter's procurators also were not bashful,
and were so bold as to allege the same in public session of the
Audiencia. But they were convinced by the secretary that he read
the acts, whereupon an auditor declared: "We must pay heed to this,
and not to the new falsehoods that they bring."
Next day the archbishop presented himself with a plea of fuerza, during
prison inspection, before the auditor Don Alvaro de Mesa y Lugo _[sic;
sc._ Zapata?]; and as there was no other auditor, he issued the usual
order. On Tuesday, the sixth of the same month, recourse was had to
the royal Audiencia, on behalf of both the archbishop and the Society,
to examine the records. The royal Audiencia, seeing that the order
issued during the prison inspection was not sufficient, but defective,
issued another and new one, and nothing further was discussed in
that meeting of the Audiencia. Next day, Wednesday, November seven,
the records were brought. The archbishop was represented by the
father prior of St. Augustine, Fray Juan de Montemayor, and the
father reader, Fray Diego de Ochoa, of the same order; the father
definitor of the Recollects, Fray Pedro Barreto; the father guardian
of St. Francis, Fray Juan de Pina; and Bachelor Fulgencio de Ribera,
a secular, and the deacon and servant of the archbishop. The Society
was represented by Father Diego de Bobadilla, [65] and Father Lorenco
Goreto, masters of theology. The latter, before all else, declared that
they had no quarrel with the holy orders, and that in consequence the
fathers had nothing to do there. But the others replied that they had
been authorized by the archbishop. The royal Audiencia ordered the
authorization to be read. It made mention only of the father reader,
Fray Diego de Ochoa, father Fray Pedro Barreto, and the bachelor
Fulgencio de Ribera. Thereupon, they ordered from the room the father
prior of St. Augustine, and the father guardian of St. Francis,
who went out somewhat shamefacedly. The secretary read the records,
but was interrupted at every step by the reader Fray Diego de Ochoa,
which resulted in some animosity. After the reading, the president
asked the representatives of the archbishop whether they had anything
to state. The bachelor Fulgencio de Ribera took the floor, and said in
few words that the judge-conservator was not legitimately appointed,
for there were no manifest injuries in the case. Then the president
invited the two religious who had remained [to speak]. They said that
those of the Society should state their case first, and accordingly
the latter were given the floor--Father Diego de Bobadilla first,
and then Father Lorenço Goreto. They proved in the judgment of those
of us who were present (and it so seemed to me, although not much is
obtained from these things) that the acts which I have mentioned are
manifest injuries; and that, consequently, the judge-conservator was
legally appointed. In order that your Grace may understand more of
what was declared, I am sending you a summary of the allegation made
by the fathers of the Society, which one of them communicated to me,
and I enclose it herewith. Hence I shall not go into greater detail
here, by mentioning what I have heard erudite men say in reply to
certain arguments by which the other relation tries to prove that
the enactments of the judge-conservator were null and void. I shall
only say a word, if I remember it, on three or four points which the
relation heaps together, but which are of small moment. It declares
that the judge exceeded his authority in not giving the archbishop more
than one hour's time-limit in which to read the bulls and to withdraw
the act, while in reality twenty-four hours were granted him; and when
the secretary, Alonso Baesa del Rio, went to notify the archbishop of
the act, to his offer that he could easily obtain more time from the
judge, answer was made by Diego Bernal, who was the secretary of the
archbishop, that they had time enough, and that no more was necessary,
as they had read the bulls often enough. The point was not in this, but
in the fact that the judge-conservator could not command the archbishop
to withdraw the act that he had made against the Society. By that
one may see the calumny in alleging that the time was insufficient
to withdraw the act. The relation states that it was a dispute over
jurisdiction, and that consequently, according to the ruling of
the Council of Trent, judge-arbitrators were to be appointed. That
is an error; for there was no contest over jurisdiction, but only
that the judge-conservator, as the delegate of the supreme pontiff,
ordered the archbishop to withdraw an act manifestly injurious to
the Society. The relation declares that the bulls were authorized
by the same judge-conservator and his secretary. That is true, but
how did that cause any nullification? For the judge did not feign
briefs, or say that the one that he presented was the original one,
but that it was a faithful copy of the original, which the Society
had showed him. Therein he obeyed the behests of the supreme pontiff,
in order that such copies might have legality and authority. When the
fathers of the Society had finished their statement, the president told
the father reader Fray Diego de Ochoa, and the father definitor Fray
Pedro Barreto, to make what further statements they had to make. But
they, changing color, and being uneasy, answered clearly and frankly
that they had nothing more to say, as they had not come prepared for
it. I confess to your Grace that we who were present were put to the
blush at seeing so shameful a thing; and we asked, since they had
not come prepared, why they had come and why they had received the
archbishop's authorization. They requested that audience be granted
them the next day, and, although that is contrary to common practice,
it was conceded to them, so that they could at no time say that they
had not presented their side of the matter, and that they were without
defense. That was so clear and manifest a victory for the fathers of
the Society, and before the tribunal, the officials, and the great
crowd which was present, that I am surprised how those of the other
side dared to utter a word. They returned to the conflict on the
following Thursday; and other religious besides the two above mentioned
and the secular, were summoned. Those who came newly were father Fray
Antonio Gonsalez, vicar-provincial of St. Dominic; Fray Diego Collado,
of the same order; and father Fray Pedro de Herrera, of St. Augustine:
on entering the Audiencia, they presented their authority without
being requested to do so--fearing to encounter any such jest as had
happened to the others the day previous, for lack of authority. The
father reader Fray Diego de Ochoa spoke first in this Audiencia, in
a loud voice and with many exclamations, and casting opprobrium on
the person of the judge-conservator. Then the father definitor Fray
Pedro Barreto spoke. He read a short paper that he had written, saying
that he had not been able to commit it to memory. He was followed by
father Fray Antonio Gonsalez, who alleged a very trifling defect in
the bull. After him Fray Diego Collado spoke. He said that he was the
confessor of the president of Castilla when the bishop of Cordoba had
a similar suit with the orders in España. Father Fray Pedro de Herrera
gave his opinion last. All of them together consumed more than one and
one-half hours. The fathers of the Society answered, Father Diego de
Bobadilla first, and then Father Lorenso Goreto. Such was their reply
that, to all of us who were present, it seemed that they had proved
their case, and it is sure that they showed the act to be a manifest
injury: first, because they had been ordered not to preach outside of
their churches, under pain of excommunication and pecuniary fines;
second, because the archbishop, through his anger toward only one
of the Society, had forbidden all of them in his archbishopric to
preach. The controversy then hinged on [the question] whether the
prelate may prohibit some of the Society, for just causes (which he
said that he had, but did not express), from preaching in camps and
guardhouses. The friars said that he could, and their whole argument
consisted of what the Council [of Trent] says, according to what they
alleged--making fuerza out of those words, _contradicente episcopo_
[_i.e._, "the bishop opposing"], and giving as explanation that the
prelate may by his own authority oppose and forbid the regulars to
preach, even in their own churches. Thence they inferred that the
archbishop had not laid on the fathers of the Society all that he
could. Those of the Society answered this at length, and showed by
several books which they brought to the Audiencia that that phrase
_contradicente episcopo_, ought not to be understood in that manner,
but according to a certain Clementina which, if I am not mistaken,
is that of _De sepulturis_, and begins with _Dudum_. As this was the
point of all their controversy, I refer you to the statement that
is enclosed herewith. But I am unable to conjecture why the other
relation wastes so much paper, and becomes wearisome, by bringing
in so many statements to prove that the religious may not preach in
the churches of others without the permission of their owners, since
the Society never claimed anything else, nor were their statements
intended to prove it. And believe me, your Grace, on this second day
no less glory fell to the Society than on the first. I have related
this point so extensively, as some prejudiced persons have stated that
the adherents of the archbishop silenced the fathers of the Society.
The gentlemen of the royal Audiencia remained in the hall, and
on voting on the point of fuerza they were divided. Thereupon,
his Majesty's fiscal was appointed, as that pertains to him by
law. His vote, it appears, was cast in favor of the fathers of the
Society. Consequently, it was declared that the judge-conservator had
not used fuerza toward the archbishop, and that he should proceed
with his commission. Some persons were not lacking who tried to
suspend the proceedings and declare them null and void, because the
archbishop's representatives were not notified that it was because the
auditors' opinions were discordant that his Majesty's fiscal had been
appointed judge. They did not take note that this matter of making
notifications and summons is an act of superiority and jurisdiction;
and that, as the royal Audiencia does not hold that in ecclesiastical
matters, it does not employ such acts, and only declares whether the
ecclesiastical judge practices fuerza or no--and this not as judge
of the ecclesiastical estate, but as a political governor who desires
peace in his country. The other and contradictory relation also tries
to prove the proceedings null because, before the royal Audiencia
declared that the judge-conservator was not committing fuerza, the
procurators of the archbishop drew up a petition which they presented
to the president, in which they challenged the auditor Zapata. But
he who regards this as nullification, proves that he is but little
accustomed to the manner of procedure of the Audiencia; for in the
first place the petition was not presented in time, and second, it was
not signed by a lawyer--an essential lack, as that is contrary to his
Majesty's orders for what is to be done in such cases of challenging
a judge, and especially so superior a judge as an auditor.
As the judge-conservator was declared by the Audiencia to be legal,
he proceeded, constraining the archbishop with censures so that he
should furnish an official statement of the acts issued against the
Society. He did so, sending the original act already mentioned, the
original [record of the] meeting that he held with the religious,
and the act that was issued ordering the fathers of the Society
not to minister to the Indians of Santa Cruz. Within a few days the
matter was well on the way to a conclusion and settlement, when it
was discovered that the archbishop and some of the said three orders
of St. Dominic, St. Francis, and St. Augustine, had held a meeting,
and under color of a protest had issued a defamatory libel, in which
they linked the same judge-conservator, the Society of Jesus, the
governor, and the royal Audiencia, because these had declared against
their will. This document was a matter of common talk and notoriety,
not only because it was declared by many of the townspeople, who
had heard it from those who had been present at the meeting (and as
there were so many of them it could not be kept secret); but also,
as soon as it was requested, the archbishop told the father rector,
Luis de Pedrasa, that he would not give up such a paper, even if
he were deprived of the archbishopric; and father Fray Pedro de
Herrera, his procurator, said that they would not give it even if
they were hanged. The father provincial of St. Francis asked Adjutant
Juan de Vega Mexia, why he demanded such a paper, for it was not
well for the Society, or their judge-conservator, or the governor,
or the royal Audiencia to see it. This tone increased the reports
of the townspeople, and the constant rumor that that protest was a
defamatory libel and contained grievous things about many persons. It
was authenticated by a royal clerk named Diego de Rueda, who is also
a familiar of the Holy Office. The judge-conservator arrested him,
and took his confession, in which, although he did not tell openly all
that the protest contained, he made known sufficient of it so that one
could get light on the matter. The judge-conservator petitioned the
governor for the aid of the civil arm, and on Friday, November 16,
arrested the clerk by its help. The commissary of the Holy Office,
Fray Francisco de Herrera, of the Order of St. Dominic, came out to
demand his familiar from the judge-conservator. The judge answered that
he had already taken his statement; that, although he had arrested him
so that he might declare more, the man was no longer necessary to him;
and that it did not concern him, and they should demand the familiar
from the governor, who had him. The father commissary answered that the
reply of the judge was not satisfactory, and that his familiar should
be handed over to him. The judge answered that in writing, as follows:
"In the city of Manila, November twenty-three, one thousand six
hundred and thirty-five. Don Fabian de Santillan y Gavilanes,
schoolmaster of the holy cathedral church of this said city,
apostolic judge-conservator of the Order of the Society of Jesus,
etc., declared that [he makes this declaration] inasmuch as the
reverend father preacher Fray Francisco de Herrera, of the Order of
St. Dominic, commissary of the Holy Inquisition in these islands,
sent him an oral message by the accountant, Alonso Baesa del Rio,
notary-public and apostolic notary of this tribunal, yesterday,
Thursday, between six and seven in the morning, asking to have Diego
de Rueda sent to him (as he said that he had arrested him), for a
certain declaration that he had need of making before the said father
commissary. To that message the said judge-conservator also responded
orally, saying that although he had arrested the said Diego de Rueda,
because of what pertained to his office as judge-conservator, it was
two days since he had finished with him, and that the said Diego de
Rueda was no longer held prisoner at his account. Therefore, he should
go to Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, governor and captain-general
of these islands, to ask for him. Nevertheless, after his declaration
that he was not holding the said Diego de Rueda a prisoner, the said
father commissary, by an act that he issued today, ordered the said
judge-conservator, under penalties and censures, to deliver the said
Diego de Rueda within two hours, and he was notified of it at the hour
of nine in the morning. The judge-conservator made the same answer
in writing that he had given orally to the said apostolic notary,
and more fully (although the said [oral] reply was sufficient). At
the hour of ten in the morning he wrote a letter to the said father
commissary, sending it by Adjutant Juan de Vega Mexia, in which he
offered to the commissary to draw up a document requiring, exhorting,
and notifying the said governor and captain-general of these islands
that, in what pertained to this court of the said apostolic judge
conservator, inasmuch as the latter had no longer anything to do with
the said Diego de Rueda, the governor should set him free and send him
to the said father commissary. The latter answered in writing through
the said adjutant, Juan de Vega Mexia, that the said governor declared
that it was not his Lordship, but the said judge-conservator, who had
arrested the said Diego de Rueda. And after the said reply, and for
greater satisfaction, and so that his obedience, as an obedient son of
the Church to the mandates of the Holy Inquisition may be recognized,
the judge-conservator thereupon petitions and supplicates--and in a
necessary case, requires, exhorts, and charges--Don Sebastian Hurtado
de Corcuera, governor and captain-general of these islands, in what
pertains to this court of the said apostolic judge-conservator,
inasmuch as the latter no longer has anything to do with the
said Diego de Rueda, to free that man and send him to the father
commissary, as the latter has ordered and commanded the said apostolic
judge-conservator, under penalties and censures. Thus did he enact,
and affixed his signature. The schoolmaster,
_Don Fabian de Santillan Y Gavilanes_
By his order:
_Alonso Baeza Del Rrio_,
notary-public and apostolic notary."
After receiving this reply, the father commissary left the judge, and
requested the governor to give him his familiar. His Lordship answered
him that the said familiar had transgressed in the exercise of his
office by having authenticated, as a royal notary, a defamatory libel;
and that the punishment for that devolved upon the royal jurisdiction,
according to the agreement in the new compilation [of laws]. The
governor sent Diego de Rueda under arrest to the fort of Cabite,
whereupon the father commissary had the governor notified of the
following act through a youthful friar called Fray Ignacio Muñoz,
and another who accompanied him:
"In the city of Manila, on the twenty-sixth of the month of November,
one thousand six hundred and thirty-five, the reverend father Fray
Francisco de Herrera, commissary of the Holy Office in these islands,
declared that he is at present engaged in a cause pertaining to the
tribunal of the Inquisition, in regard to a protest which is reported
to be a defamatory libel against the holy Order of the Society of
Jesus, and other persons occupying places of dignity. The principal
witness in it is Alférez Diego de Rueda; and, for lack of him, the
service and execution of the Holy Office in investigating this cause
is suspended and prevented. Inasmuch as the pontiff Pius Fifth,
and other pontiffs order in very strict terms that the causes of
the Inquisition take precedence over all others, and that all causes
cease and be superseded until the Holy Office concludes its business:
therefore the said commissary ordered (and he did so order) Governor
Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, who says in his letters that he has
arrested the said Diego de Rueda for having become an apostolic notary
when he was a royal notary, for the purpose of authenticating the
protest that is said to be a libel--an offense which by being committed
in connection with this cause, belongs by law to the Inquisition,
and to no other tribunal, as it is in regard to what is said to be a
defamatory libel against the said order and persons; and gives him a
time-limit of thirty hours within which to present Diego de Rueda at
the Holy Office, under penalty of major excommunication and a fine of
five thousand ducados for the expenses of this tribunal. And, under the
same penalties, he orders the said governor not to make any further
effort to demand or inquire about the said protest, since if it is,
as is asserted, a defamatory libel, it belongs to no other judge, but
only to the Holy Office; and the governor shall not molest the said
prisoner until the Holy Office has entirely concluded its cause. And
he thus decreed in this act, which he ordered and signed.
_Fray Francisco de Herrera_
Before me:
_Fray Ignacio Muñoz_, notary."
The friar commenced to read his act, and, at the commencement of the
reading, the governor asked the friar to hand it to him. Seeing that
this was the beginning of disturbances in the community, he ordered an
adjutant to conduct those friars courteously to their convent at the
port of Cabite, and charge their superior to retain them there and
look after them well; and that they should not disturb the peace of
the community for him, nor talk with the freedom and levity that they
had displayed to him. The fathers of St. Dominic took occasion from
that to utter innumerable evil reports about the governor, so that
there was no place where they did not murmur aloud about him. Father
Fray Sebastian de Oquendo of the Order of St. Dominic, in especial,
went one morning to the auditor-general of war, Manuel Suarez, with a
bull which he declared had been promulgated by Pius V; and having read
it, he declared that the governor was excommunicated for preventing
the exercise of the Inquisition's authority (although the governor
declared that he did not prevent it but that he was maintaining, as
he ought, the royal jurisdiction); that he was deposed, that he was
not governor, and could not act as such; and that the senior auditor
should immediately assume the government, and arrest Don Sebastian
and place him in a fort. The auditor-general referred all the above
to the governor; and, as a confirmation of this and other rumors
that were current through the city, the same fathers of St. Dominic
brought a friar from Cabite, named Fray Francisco Pinelo, [66] a man
of talent and eloquent in the pulpit, in order that he might preach
on the second Sunday of Advent, December 9, 1635. He did in fact
preach [on that day], and before beginning his sermon, he said that
he had called and invited the people to read a bull that he declared
was given by Pius V, and was translated from Latin into Romance, in
which his Holiness regards those who prevent the exercise of the Holy
Inquisition's authority as infamous, and incapable of holding offices
and dignities, and as _ipso facto_ deposed from them. The said father
asserted all the above with such tones and manner, and at such a time,
that it was clearly seen that he meant it for the governor; and that
he was scoffing at him as an infamous person, and as one deposed from
the government of these islands, because he had sent to Cabite the two
friars who had been sent to him. He began his sermon after that, and
it was throughout a satire on the Society, on the judge-conservator,
and on the governor and the royal Audiencia. He said of the fathers
of the Society that they were the cats of the Church, and a damnable
and corruptible milk, who were trying by their deceits to influence
other religious not to go to Japon. He added that such as they were
members that had been lopped off from the Church; and that by their
shrewdness and political methods they were insinuating themselves
into everything. Of the judge-conservator he said that one would
believe him a canon of London rather than of the cathedral of Manila;
that the Jesuits had made him a pope or popelet, and that through
him they had undertaken to give them [i.e., the other orders] pap;
[67] that he was a gambler, and that he had lost some thousands of
pesos, which I know is not the case. Of the governor, the preacher
said that he was a Pilate, and even much worse; since Pilate had
refused to intervene in the death of Christ, while the governor was
trying to take part in the controversies with the archbishop; he also
compared him to Herod. He talked very venomously about an auditor,
and, although he did not name him, it was just as if he had done so,
for one could plainly infer of whom he was speaking. He characterized
him as unjust and vicious, and all without other foundation than his
having declared that the judge-conservator was legal, contrary to
what the fathers of St. Dominic claimed. The muttering and commotion
among the audience were very marked. It is a fact that many of us
think that the preacher had no other aim or motive than to disturb and
rouse the crowd so that there should be an uprising, as there had been
in Nueva España. And as I have already begun this matter of sermons,
and so that I may not afterward interrupt the thread of my discourse,
I shall say somewhat here to your Grace of the many disorders that
have happened in this direction.
On the day of St. Lucy, December 13, in the convent of the
Recollects of St. Augustine, father Fray Andres del Spiritu Santo
preached. I was present, and his whole sermon was a satire against the
judge-conservator, the fathers of the Society, and the governor. He
said many evil things of them, all of which I do not remember
in detail, except that he said, by mistake, of the fathers of the
Society that they were Hippocrates; and then, immediately correcting
himself, that they were hypocrites and arrogant fellows, and that it
was the Society not of Jesus, but of the devil. He characterized the
judge-conservator as a vicious fellow. The same father preached on
the afternoon of Palm Sunday, in his convent. He said of the governor
that he was not setting [a good] example in having founded the royal
chapel in the palace, where he hears preaching, because he does not
go out to their churches to hear these things. He said also that the
governor was obstinate because he did not humiliate himself before the
archbishop, as it was Holy Week and the season of the jubilee. The
worthy father did not consider in the midst of his zeal what the
governor has done for the archbishop, and how he has aided him. He
added that the governor did not understand the law of the Christians,
as he had said (according to the preacher's statement) that he could
not be excommunicated. That scandalized the hearers, and was the
motive for many of the city to declare (as I hear) that these sermons
kindled the fire that raged, and were the cause of these revolutions.
On Sunday, the third day of Lent, February 24, 1636, at the publication
of the ordinary edict, the whole city gathered in the cathedral,
where I was present. The father guardian of St. Francis, Fray Juan
de Piña, preached. He mentioned in the pulpit a balance that the
accountant Juan Bautista de Zubiaga had brought forward against the
fathers of St. Francis (who have had charge of the royal hospitals),
of more than thirty thousand pesos. Inasmuch as soldiers without
weapons have not been received in the hospital for many years, and a
great number of men have died in it, and there is no account of what
has been done with those arms, they amount, when appraised at low
prices, to over thirty thousand pesos. The preacher declared that
he had reason to make a greater charge and declare a larger balance
against the king of España. The charge was that Fray Francisco Ximenez
conquered Oran; and that one of their friars, named Zumarraga, [68]
pacified Nueva España. Thus a great part of his sermon was taken up in
indecorously contending and taking issue with the king of España. On
the Wednesday following, February 27, the same preacher delivering
a sermon in the same cathedral church, returned to the same balance,
and treated the said computer of accounts, Juan Bautista de Cubiaga,
with great contumely. He called him a Gascon devil, disguised as a
Viscayan or Navarrese, who getting a smattering of accounts, gave out
that he was an accountant, in order to come to give him a beating. And
this he said amid the laughter and commotion of the audience.
On one Friday in Lent, the fifteenth of March, I was present at the
convent of St. Augustine; Fray Diego de Ochoa of the same order came
out to preach. At the beginning, he read a notice which said that
Father Lorenso Goreto would preach on the following Tuesday at the
church of the Society of Jesus, on the good thief. [69] He added
that that feast of the thief was very suitable for the Society,
characterizing its members as thieves. Later in the course of his
sermon, he brought in the balance which, as I have told your Grace, the
accountant Juan Bautista de Zubiaga presented against the Franciscan
fathers concerning the hospitals. He declared it to be an Inquisition
case, and that, if that holy tribunal did not take cognizance of it,
he himself would seize him. This he said with loud words and a menacing
aspect. And, so that your Grace may have a good laugh, I will tell
you his argument for saying that it was an Inquisition case--namely,
that the pontiff had seen in dreams St. Francis and St. Dominic with
their shoulders holding up the church of San Giovanni in Laterano,
which was about to fall--a sign that their sons must keep the Church
of God upright by means of their glorious labors, as if for that
reason no one of the said orders could do anything wrong. Besides the
fact that your Grace will see that this vision is not of the Divine
attestation--although it pertains to Christian piety to believe it,
as so many others--I would never finish if I should try to tell
your Grace the disorder that has reigned in the pulpits all this
year. I only tell, in general, what occurred this past Lent, and
even since Advent. I and many others have gone through curiosity to
hear the preachers of St. Dominic, St. Francis, and the Recollects of
St. Augustine. Most of the sermons have consisted of satires against
the governor, the Audiencia, the judge-conservator, and the fathers
of the Society of Jesus; and in utterances so extravagant that they
caused a great scandal, and in things ridiculous and unworthy of the
pulpit. The latter they made a professor's chair for the avenging
of their passions, instead of one for teaching the doctrine of
Christ. Your Grace can see what fruit the audience would get from it.
Returning to our narrative, the fathers of St. Dominic were not
content with saying the above-mentioned things in and out of the
pulpits, but they incited a petition to the dean of this holy church,
Don Miguel Garçetas, who, as the archbishop was excommunicated by
the judge-conservator, was exercising the office of provisor and
vicar-general in it; they asked him to declare the governor to be
excommunicated. For I cannot tell your Grace the fear which seized the
religious orders in this matter, that they must place the governor on
the excommunicated list; and how many actions that he had committed for
which, as they said, he had incurred excommunication--so much so, that
in a paper that appeared afterward, there was mention of twenty-five
excommunications that he had, in their opinion, incurred; and I do not
know whether there are any more in the law. With that petition they
presented a paper proving that the governor was excommunicated, and
speaking indecorously of him, saying that he was a mean and foolish
gentleman. The dean, who is a discreet man and aged, was quite far
from assenting to the request made of him, as he saw that they were
uneasy and their disturbance was superfluous.
The judge-conservator afflicted the archbishop with new censures
and penalties to get him to hand over the protest, but the latter
would agree to do so under no considerations. He declared that he
had given it some few days before to Fray Diego Collado of the Order
of St. Dominic, and that he could not get it back from him. The
archbishop did not consider himself as excommunicated, although he
had been declared as such. Neither did the religious consider him as
such, but persuaded him that he could say mass, and he did so. The
religious went in and out of his archiepiscopal palace as before,
holding meetings and causing trouble in the community. Therefore,
measures were taken to establish some sentinels at the archbishop's
door, so that so many religious might not enter to disturb him;
but the fathers of the Society interceded with good results, so
that the sentinels should be removed. That was done immediately. The
archbishop left his house on the twelfth of November and retired to
[the convent of] St. Francis. On the eighteenth, the four provincials
of the said four orders went to consult the governor. He told them not
to overturn the community as they were doing. All the efforts possible
were made and various means were taken to get hold of the protest,
since it was fundamental to the conclusion of the peace which was
desired. The archbishop wrote the following letter to the governor
from the convent of St. Francis:
"Sir:
"Since your Lordship did me the kindness to come to console me and show
me favor, I have made the most strenuous efforts in the world to have
the protest returned to me; but it is hammering on cold iron. What
can I do? For if my intent had been not to show it, I could say that
I had torn it up, or could have alleged some other pretext; and I
would not have mentioned the person to whom I gave it to keep, as I
knew that there was an order to sequestrate his [70] property. Since,
sir, it is impossible, and it is not my fault, I do not accept the
excuse that your Lordship gives me in your letter, in order to free
yourself from showing me favor and undertaking to act, settle this
affair as governor and friend. Therefore, I petition your Lordship,
[71] as you can do for one who avails himself of your protection;
for I desire ever to remain in your Lordship's favor, and only bound
to serve you all the days of my life. May our Lord preserve your
Lordship's life for long years. From this convent of St. Francis,
November 24, 1635.
_Fray Hernando_, archbishop."
The governor responded as follows to the above letter:
"Most thoroughly do I believe what your Lordship says in your letter
in regard to the efforts made to get hold of the protest, and that
your Lordship does not have it. But it is an exasperating and serious
thing that Father Collado, or whoever else has it, should display
this tenacious obstinacy; and that so many efforts, so many mediators,
and so much argument are not sufficient to get it. It is certain, sir,
that so great obstinacy in a subordinate ought not to be overlooked;
for it is hindering good men so that we cannot go farther in this
matter, until we have subdued that disobedience, which is unworthy of
so religious a person--especially since I have given my word to burn
it in the presence of your Lordship, without letting any person see
it except Diego de Rueda, so that he may acknowledge before witnesses
whether it is the paper which he wrote or authenticated. All these
considerations, and many others which occur to me, almost render it
impossible for me to serve your Lordship. On the other hand, your
Lordship's present need of my service constrains me more; and as Don
Sebastian de Corcuera, I am doing more, I judge, in charging myself
with these affairs than I would do in concluding them had I all the
authority that your Lordship mentions.
Now, sir, that I may move in the matter with more security, it will
be necessary, since there is no other remedy, to compel Diego de
Rueda to declare to me, and attest as a notary, the contents of the
protest; and in order to cause him to do so, even though he resist,
I shall have to make use of the means, however harsh, that I shall
find available. May God direct the matter, and may He guide me in all
things so that I may be successful in serving your Lordship. Given
at the palace, this day, Sunday.
_Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera_"
In order to bring about that settlement, the governor went, November
20, to see the archbishop, whom he consoled; and he offered to do
all in his power in favor of his Lordship. The next day the same
governor called a meeting of the gentlemen of the royal Audiencia,
his Majesty's fiscal, and all the learned jurists in Manila. They
agreed that this matter could not be settled so long as the protest
did not make its appearance. In accordance with that decision, the
governor wrote the following letter to the archbishop:
"From the time when I went last evening to pay my respects to your
Lordship, I have thought of nothing else excepting how I might manage
to serve you. With that purpose, I had the four advocates of the
royal Audiencia summoned, and others--ecclesiastics, jurists, and
theologians. On meeting them, I set before them my great desire for
peace and for the quiet and comfort of your Lordship. I had them read
the letters that your Lordship wrote me, the efforts that had been
commenced, and the papers given me yesterday by the father readers of
St. Augustine. After discussing them, little credit was given to the
statement of father Fray Pedro de Herrera and to the mandate of father
Fray Antonio Gonsalez; for both of them are accomplices. Moreover,
it was not well for them that the people should see them meddling
in a matter that is so unrighteous and one so unbecoming to their
profession. [I told those who were assembled] that, accordingly, they
should protect these papers, so that neither the mandate of father
Fray Antonio should bind father Fray Diego Collado or any other of
his religious, or the statement of the said father Fray Pedro de
Herrera have any effect. For it was considered also that the latter
had been issued nine days after the incident [of Rueda's arrest]
had occurred; and more especially was noted the obstinacy of father
Fray Diego Collado in refusing to return to your Lordship the paper or
protest that had been made. For these reasons all unanimously, without
one dissenting voice, were of the opinion that your Lordship should
make new and more strenuous efforts to secure and surrender the said
protest on account of the difficulties that so evidently result from
secreting it. And since, sir, it contains nothing that can tarnish the
reputation of the Order of the Society, or that can be of importance to
any other, I would judge it impossible that there can be any agreement,
or that the cause can be concluded to the pleasure and satisfaction of
your Lordship, except by handing over the said paper--with the promise
that I hereby give, as a gentleman, that if it be handed over to me, I
shall only allow the notary to see the signature, so that he may attest
that it is the document that he authenticated; and then immediately,
in the presence of him who hands it to me, or in the pretence of your
Lordship (for which purpose I shall go to your residence), I shall burn
it so that nothing of it can remain. It has also seemed best for me
to ask the judge-conservator to grant your Lordship four or six days
more than the time-limit that he has assigned; and I shall do that
immediately, so that your Lordship may have more time to see that
that religious may not ruin the whole affair, and that he may hand
over the paper. And in case that he always prove obstinate, I shall
immediately refrain from meddling in this matter, either for or against
your Lordship. I beg you to pardon me for having made this resolution,
in accordance with the opinion of so many erudite and well-intentioned
men. And, even had they not given it, I would have made it of my own
accord, after hearing what the sargento-mayor has just told me of
the religious of St. Dominic, who have broken into the guardhouse at
one of the gates of the wall, defying the soldiers stationed there,
and forcibly bringing inside Don Pedro Monrroy--contrary to the order
that I had given that he was not to be allowed to enter, since he is
not provisor, and has nothing to do inside the walls. And if these
disorderly acts are committed while I am seeking means and methods of
doing your Lordship a service, by which I may aid you in paying the
condemnations that have been ordered, I am freed from the obligation
of having anything to do with these matters, either pro or con. On
the contrary I shall inform the king our sovereign of the efforts
made on my part; and all the community will have understood them and
will know that your Lordship, taking counsel of the three orders,
neither desires nor tries to secure peace. I beg your Lordship's
pardon for speaking so boldly, and rest assured that there is not,
nor will there be, more than I have said here. May God preserve your
Lordship for happy years. Given at the palace, November 21, 1635.
_Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera_"
Since the above letter makes mention of the forcing of the guardhouse,
I shall narrate to your Grace what occurred. Don Pedro de Monrroy,
since he was not provisor, left the city. The governor, fearing that
if he returned hither, the matter would be more unsettled than ever,
left orders at the city gates that Don Pedro should not be allowed
to enter, should he make the attempt. But on November 21--on the same
day and at the same hour when the governor was with the archbishop in
the convent of St. Francis, trying to settle the matter--the said Don
Pedro Monrroy, clad as a Franciscan friar, with another Franciscan
friar as companion, attempted to enter by a gate near the convent of
St. Dominic, at the time of the Ave Marias. A great number of religious
went out of the convent to receive him. The commandant at the gate,
one Alférez Don Francisco de Ribera, recognized him; he seized him, and
called out to his soldiers to take their arms, and prevent Don Pedro's
entrance. But there were so many friars of St. Dominic, who charged
down and defended him by fighting with their fists, that the soldiers
could not use their weapons or prevent his entrance. Consequently,
forcing the guardhouse, they took him into the city. The governor
felt just anger at this. He ordered the commandant and soldiers to be
arrested, and he was about to garrote the commandant and punish the
soldiers for not having obeyed his order. They exculpated themselves
quite sufficiently in the report that they made of having done their
utmost, but that the fury of the religious gave them no time to do any
more. The governor in great anger wrote to the father vicar-provincial
of St. Dominic, Fray Antonio Gonsalez, regarding the matter; and the
latter responded very coolly that his religious had not done such a
thing, and that he had proof and information to the contrary. The
father vicar added that Don Pedro de Monrroy had entered the city
in obedience to the summons of the Inquisition. For your Grace
must suppose that as the friars saw the matter was ending ill, and
as their passion against the fathers of the Society was so great,
they endeavored by all means to make it a case of Inquisition against
them. Therefore, on November 19, the father commissary sent for a copy
of the act of the judge-conservator, in which the latter ordered the
archbishop to produce the protest or defamatory libel, under penalty
of suspension; that act was affixed to the archbishop's door, as he
was not at home, and as he could not be found to notify him. Father
Fray Francisco de Paula [72] acted as notary on this occasion. He
ordered a writing-desk to be placed in the street, and, with great
pomp and clatter, had the said act removed, and copied it on the
writing-desk. Next morning the father commissary sent another friar,
named Fray Ignacio Muñoz, [73] to act as notary to summon the judge,
Don Fabian de Santillan; he did it in so clamorous a manner, and at
such a time, that people thought he was trying to place some stain on
the said judge. The latter, in order to purge himself from it, asked
the father commissary for an official statement stating that he had not
been summoned for any crime, but only to be told that the trial of the
said protest did not pertain to him. At nine o'clock in the morning
of the twenty-third of the same month of November, two lay brothers
of the same Order of St. Dominic, also in the capacity of notaries,
went to the judge-conservator, who was at [the convent of] the Society,
to notify him that he must surrender Diego de Rueda. And because the
doorkeeper of the Society told them to wait a moment, they began to
cry aloud and to attest by witnesses that they were being prevented
from attending to the affairs of the Inquisition. On the twenty-sixth
of the same month, another notification was made to the same judge,
asking for Diego de Rueda, and ordering that he be sent to demand
the protest. Many other notifications were served on him through the
agency of Fray Antonio Espexo [74] of the same order. From this your
Grace will observe that they had a different notary for each day;
this is a matter on which I may reflect much, and I even imagine
that the inquisitors of Mexico would not be pleased with so great a
variety of notaries for one commissary--some being lay brothers and
others ordained priests, some youths and others of greater age--and
usually but little restrained. To show that, I will only tell your
Grace of one thing that one of those notaries, Fray Ignaçio de Muñoz,
said, when going one day to a garden with another friar of his order,
Fray Pedro de Ledo, [75] and with the collegiates of Santo Thomas:
"I shall not stop until I see all the Theatins [_i.e._, Jesuits]
put to the knife." What a fine disposition is that, your Grace,
and what a good inclination in a notary of so holy, upright, and
dispassionate a tribunal as is that of the holy Inquisition! Finally,
the father commissary asked the judge-conservator to surrender to
him an information that he had brought against Don Pedro de Monrroy,
because he had said that Lutero and Calvino [_i.e._, Luther and Calvin]
and other heretics had not done so much harm to the Church of God as
had the fathers of the Society. The judge gave him the original, but
kept a copy, which the father commissary also sent to get from him. The
judge refused to give it to him, saying that he could not give it up,
and that it was necessary to adduce in the cause; and that although
it pertained to the father commissary, as far as it was a mischievous
statement, yet it pertained to the judge himself, so far as if was
an injury against the Society, of whom he was the conservator. The
father commissary notified him, besides, that he himself would send
to demand the protest or defamatory libel, since, being such, it
pertained to the Inquisition to try it. The judge answered him that
it did not pertain exclusively to the Inquisition, and that he had
begun to try that cause, as it concerned the principal cause. The
father commissary served many different notifications on the judge,
in which it could be plainly seen that he was trying to embarrass the
affair, so that if should not proceed further. Accordingly, the judge
notified the commissary, or rather, father Fray Francisco de Herrera,
not to lay obstacles in the path of his apostolic jurisdiction, and to
cause him no hindrance in it. In order to conclude this part of the
matter, I shall cite here the answer given by the judge-conservator
to an act by the father commissary; it is as follows:
"I, Don Fabian de Santillan y Gavilanes, schoolmaster of the holy
cathedral church of this city, apostolic judge-conservator for the
observance and immunity of the privileges, rights, and actions,
of the Order of the Society of Jesus, etc., declare that, having
examined the reply of the reverend father Fray Francisco de Herrera,
commissary of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, given to the act
issued by myself on the twenty-eighth of the present month and year,
he says therein that he is not trying and never has tried to disturb
the peace, or anything that the said judge-conservator could do in
its defense; but only to take cognizance of what pertains to the
Holy Office of the Inquisition in order to fulfil his obligation
(to which pertains all that of which he has been notified), and to
obtain the papers regarding the said causes, according to the terms
of the briefs of the supreme pontiffs, so that no paper shall remain
in possession of any judge, notary, or any other person; and that
the said judge-conservator has no brief to oppose to this, nor can he
have such. As for the chief order in the said my act, it is not that
the said reverend father commissary should not disturb the peace, nor
do all that which he may do in defense of it, but that he restrain
himself from hindering and disturbing, in any manner, the exercise
of my apostolic jurisdiction, which I am actually exercising; and,
especially, that he do not ask for papers which do not pertain to him,
but to my court and to the cause that I have in hand. Such are the
papers that the said reverend father commissary asks from me; for the
originals of those which belong to the cause of Don Pedro de Monrroy
I have delivered without waiting to have them asked from me, as I
have mentioned in the said my act--only because in a certain manner
they may belong to the said tribunal of the holy Inquisition. But
they belong principally to my court, and to the cause that I have
in hand; for the words spoken by the said Don Pedro de Monrroy are
especially injurious and insulting to the said Society of Jesus and
its religious. It is necessary for this reason that an authenticated
copy of the papers which I delivered to the said reverend father
commissary remain in the records of this cause, in order that I may
not fail in my duty and jurisdiction, and that I may give a good
account to his Holiness of the affairs under my charge. As for the
assertion that the briefs of the supreme pontiffs order that the said
tribunal of the Holy Office shall obtain all the papers (both original
and copies) touching the causes that pertain to the Holy Office, and
that no paper remain in possession of any judge, notary, or any other
person--that is understood, as is apparent from the said briefs, to
mean the causes which belong strictly to the said tribunal of the Holy
Office, and to no other court. Likewise, those which are asked from me
belong--inasmuch as they contain injurious and insulting words against
the said Society, whose apostolic judge-conservator I am--peculiarly
and chiefly to my court; and if I handed them over I would be greatly
delinquent in the obligations of my office, and I would cease to be
a judge-conservator of the said Society of Jesus. Neither can I be
ordered to refrain from requesting the protest or paper that I am
asking from the archbishop of Manila, Don Fray Hernando Guerrero;
for it contains affronts and insults uttered recently against the
said Society of Jesus, and against my jurisdiction, and the acts
that I have pronounced. And supposing that it could also pertain to
the said tribunal of the Holy Office to try the defamatory libels
against religious persons, it has not hitherto been understood that
the exclusive trial of such causes has pertained to it. And since
this cause is at least _mixtifori_; [76] and since I am actually
trying this cause as apostolic judge-conservator, and consequently,
with exclusive apostolic authority, without anyone having the power
to take it from my hands, except his Holiness (whose delegate I am,
and to whom only I am immediately subject); and since, for all this
[authority], it is unnecessary for me to produce any other brief except
the apostolic authority and jurisdiction of judge-conservator which
I hold and which I am exercising; and since with less justification
can the said reverend father commissary restrain me from asking the
said paper or protest from the said archbishop, and make me leave
it to the said reverend father commissary--first, because he has a
part in this affair, as he was present and signed the first act of
the said archbishop against the said Society of Jesus on the ninth
of October of this present year, together with certain religious of
his order, whose signatures I have in my possession (that act having
been the foundation and origin of all the insults received by the said
Society of Jesus, and the reason whereby they were incited to appoint
me their judge-conservator); and second, because, the said archbishop
having made the said protest or defamatory libel, the said reverend
father commissary cannot lawfully demand it, for the said archbishop
is not his subordinate, while I, forsooth, can ask it as being his
legitimate apostolic judge, and moreover I can constrain him with fines
and censures against his obstinacy and disobedience to the apostolic
mandates; hence the said reverend father commissary's command that
I leave to him the demand for the said protest or defamatory libel,
and that I refrain from asking for it, means that I should allow him
to exceed the authority of his commission, and that I refrain from
fulfilling mine: therefore I order the said reverend father commissary
to observe and obey the act of which he was notified yesterday, the
twenty-eighth, exactly as is therein contained, without exceeding
it in any point, under the penalties and censures therein contained,
to which I regard him as immediately liable in their fullest measure
if he does the contrary. By this act, I decree and order, and affix
my signature. If the said father commissary should not appear so that
this notification may be served by the notary who shall make it, the
latter shall serve it at the doors of the college of Santo Thomas,
where the said father commissary is rector and where he lives; and
the notary shall affix a copy of this act to the doors so that he may
consider it as completely a damage and injury as if the notification
were made and read to him in person. And the notary shall establish
this act by an attestation. Given in Manila, November twenty-nine,
one thousand six hundred and thirty-five. The schoolmaster,
_Don Fabian Santillan y Gavilanes_
By his order:
_Diego de Aldave_, apostolic notary."
"In the city of Manila, on the twenty-ninth of November, one thousand
six hundred and thirty-five, about half-past eleven in the morning,
more or less, I, the present notary, read and announced the act on
this folio to the reverend father Fray Francisco de Herrera, of the
Order of St. Dominic, and commissary of the tribunal of the holy
Inquisition of these islands, in his own person, exactly according
to its contents. Having heard it, he said that it was impossible to
notify him of the said act on the said day, as it was a holy day;
and that I should accordingly return on the first workday, when he
would answer in due form and at greater length. In accordance with
my orders in the said act, I affixed a copy of it, signed by the
hand of the said judge, and authenticated by me the present notary,
to the gates of the college of Santo Thomas, where the said reverend
father commissary lives, in the presence of fathers Fray Sebastian de
Oquendo and Fray Andres Gomez de Espexo and other persons. Witnesses
present were Juan Ortiz de Sossa, Benito de Cañeda, Francisco Correa,
and Juan Garcia de Nava, soldiers of the company of Captain Pedro de
la Mata. I attest it.
_Diego de Aldave_, apostolic notary"
At this juncture all the community was thrown into an uproar by
certain religious, who showed the hate that they had toward the
Society--to such an extent, that on the day of the Presentation,
November 21 (which is the chief day of the holy Misericordia of this
city, which the orders always attend), not any of them went except
those of the Society. The others refused to meet with them although
they had been invited--a matter that scandalized us not a little. As
often as possible, the same religious uttered innumerable evil and
infamous things against the fathers of the Society, which the latter
passed by, silencing their suffering. The orders discussed innumerable
innovations, all apparently in order to make confusion. As it pertains
to the governor to preserve peace, he one day (namely, November
27) had the superiors of the orders of St. Dominic, St. Francis,
St. Augustine, and the Recollects, summoned to the royal Audiencia. He
summoned also the father commissary of the Holy Office, but he refused
to attend, and sent no excuse. The others attended. They were told in
the royal Audiencia that they must quiet their friars, so that they
might not continue to stir up the community. The governor ordered
their superiors to banish from the city those who were ringleaders
in this--namely, Fray Francisco de Paula, and Fray Sebastian de
Oquenda, of the Order of St. Dominic; and two others of the Order of
St. Augustine. The superiors would, however, under no considerations
obey. On the contrary, on St. Andrew's day, the thirtieth of November,
while celebrating the feast of the apostle, who is the patron saint of
this city, in [the church of] Santa Potenciana, the master Don Juan
de Ledo ascended the pulpit to preach. A notice was given to him [to
read] which stated that father Fray Francisco de Paula would preach
on the following Sunday in his convent of St. Dominic. That was a very
ill-considered act, since it was equal to giving the governor and the
royal Audiencia a slap in the face, not paying any attention to what
they had ordered in his Majesty's name--all of which the governor
prudently overlooked, in order to avoid other annoyances.
At this time the despatch of the galleons which were to take the
reënforcements to Maluco was being discussed. The religious enticed
a pilot, named Francisco Domingues, who had been honored and favored
by the governor by being made captain of infantry, and who had been
appointed pilot of the flagship, to flee with some of them by way
of Yndia. The governor learned of it, and was obliged to arrest the
said pilot, and to order at the city gates that two religious of the
Order of St. Dominic, namely, Fray Francisco Pinelo and Fray Diego
Collado--who were the ones who had planned that escape--should not be
allowed to pass through them. Then that order also began to say that
the governor was incurring a thousand excommunications, not stopping to
consider that he who has charge of this city and these islands is bound
to preserve them and watch over them, and to give the proper military
orders that he considers necessary; and that he could not prevent that
loss, except by not allowing those religious to leave the walls. By
another method, other religious stirred up a goodly number of sailors,
and as many soldiers; and they, having already received money for the
journey to Maluco in the galleons which were about to sail, fled in
a champan by way of Yndia. There was in this affair a cleric named
Don Francisco Montero, who had been expelled from the priesthood,
and who was a restless man. He carried papers and authority from
the archbishop. There was also a French Recollect friar, named Fray
Nicolas de Tolentino, who was angered at his order because they did
not elect him provincial in accordance with his claims. A friar of
St. Dominic went also. It was said that he was going on to España
with grievous complaints against the governor, the royal Audiencia,
and the fathers of the Society. But much greater can be the complaints
of the governor of him because he had committed so unreasonable an act,
and one so much to the disservice of his Majesty, in taking away the
men who were to aid his royal service in the royal fleet.