In the name of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and in
honor of Mary ever-virgin, who, under the advocacy [45] of her
most holy rosary, is proposed and accepted as patroness of the work
which will be declared below, inasmuch as she is also patroness of
the Order of Preachers of the patriarch St. Dominic, established in
these Filipinas Islands and the kingdom of China; and to his honor
and glory and that of the consecrated doctor [46] of the holy Church,
Saint Thomas Aquinas, by whose intercessions, protection, and aid the
work described in this writing will have a good beginning and means,
and proceed from good to better forever without end: by virtue of
which, I, father Fray Bernardo de Santa Catalina, [47] religious of
the said order, and commissary-general of the Holy Office in these
islands, as executor of the most illustrious and reverend archbishop
of this city of Manila in the islands, Don Fray Miguel de Benavides,
now defunct, and [as the one] to whom his Lordship communicated the
application of the remainder of his properties for the work and
foundation which will be hereunder declared--as appears from his
last will and testament, which he signed in this said city of Manila
before Francisco de Alanis, former notary-public in this city, on the
twenty-fourth day of the month of July of the former year one thousand
six hundred and five; and the clause treating of this matter, copied,
corrected and collated with the said will signed by the said notary,
is of the following tenor:
_Item_: His most reverend Lordship said and declared that he made--and
he did so make--while still in life, a complete and irrevocable gift
of all the remainder of his properties for a pious enterprise. He
has conferred and communicated in regard to the same with the said
fathers--namely, the prior of Santo Domingo, Fray Domingo de Nieva,
[48] and Fray Bernardo de Santa Catalina, commissary of the Holy
Office. In this charitable work all his properties remaining are
to be applied and distributed, in what manner and form they ordain
and consider advisable, in accordance with his communication and
resolution in regard to it. For this work he said that he gave--and
he did so give--all the remainder of his properties gratuitously;
and the institution was immediately and henceforth to be constituted
the holder and possessor of them. He transferred to them [_i.e._, the
above fathers] his rights and power of disposal [in the property]. This
is the work of which mention was made above.
And I, the said father commissary as executor of another bequest of
properties, which Pablo Rodríguez de Araujo and Andrés de Hermosa,
defunct, left to my distribution and discretion, in accordance with
the terms of their wills--that of the said Pablo Rodríguez de Araujo
appears to have been signed in this city before Francisco de Valencia,
notary-public, on the sixteenth day of the month of February, of the
former year six hundred and six; and that of the said Hermosa before
Francisco de Alanís, notary-public, on the fourth day of the month of
May of the former year six hundred and four--[declare that] the tenor
of the said clauses, one after the other, according to their copies
corrected by the wills signed by the said notaries, is as follows:
"And in order to fulfil this my will and that herein contained,
I leave and appoint as my executors and administrators father Fray
Bernardo de Santa Catalina, commissary of the Holy Inquisition of
these islands, Captain Fructuoso de Araujo, and Francisco de Alanís,
notary-public. To all three of them, and to each one of them singly,
_in solidum_, I delegate power sufficient to adjust and inventory my
properties, and to sell and fulfil that herein contained. And for
its fulfilment, I give, lengthen, and concede to them all the time
and limit that they declare to be necessary. And no ecclesiastical
or secular judge shall meddle with them to make them give account
of the said executorship, because of the confidence that I have in
the above-named persons. For this is my wish, and if such judge
should undertake to demand from them the said account, in that
said event I constitute them my heirs. And when this my will is
fulfilled and observed, and that herein contained, to that part of
my properties remaining and its rights and disposal, inasmuch as I
have no obligatory heir, either forbears or descendants, I establish
and appoint my soul as heir of the said remainder of my properties,
its rights and disposal, so that what pertains to that inheritance,
shall be given into the power of the said father commissary, who
shall distribute it in doing good for my soul in pious works, alms,
and other works of charity, as shall seem best to him.
"And after this my will and that herein contained is fulfilled
and observed, I assign as my only heir to all the remainder of my
properties, the said Inés de Sequera, my wife. However, she shall bind
herself, before all else, to the sum of two thousand pesos net, which
sum shall be employed after the fulfilment of the said my will. With
this condition, it is my will that she have all the remainder for
herself after the legacies are completed, and the other contents of
the said will, and after fulfilment, but in no other manner. This
she shall enjoy, and shall take also that portion that pertains to
her from all the said properties, as they were all acquired during
our marriage. And after having made the reckoning and division in
due form, should she refuse to accept the said inheritance with the
said condition, I leave my soul as my heir to the whole of the said
remainder. My executors shall do with it as they deem best for the
good of my soul, in accordance with what I have contracted and agreed
with the said father commissary. And if the said my wife shall accept
the said inheritance, and shall bind herself to the sum of the two
thousand pesos, they shall be employed as is stated, and they shall
be distributed; for this is my intention, and as such I remit it."
In accordance with the clause of the will of the said archbishop,
I, the said father commissary, Fray Bernardo de Santa Catalina,
inasmuch as the said father Fray Domingo de Nieva is dead, declare
that what his Lordship communicated to us (to myself and to him)
was, that the said remainder of his properties be spent in aiding the
foundation and endowment of a college-seminary, where the religious of
this said convent may pursue the study of the arts and of theology;
and where the religious may instruct the novices and other religious
who wish to avail themselves of their aid, others who are sons of
inhabitants of this city and the islands, and any other persons. It
is to be under the name and devotion of Nuestra Señora del Rosario
[_i.e._, Our Lady of the Rosary]; and to be established in this
city, or where the religious of this said order should assign it,
inasmuch as his Lordship and some of the first founders were of
this city. And inasmuch as there are but one thousand five hundred
pesos left of the properties of the said archbishop, it has been and
is necessary, in order that a work so important for the welfare of
this kingdom, and one that sheds so much luster on communities and
people and directs them so greatly to the service of our God and
Lord, may not be without effect (I declare likewise that there have
remained and are left three thousand seven hundred and forty pesos
from the properties of the said Pablo Rodríguez de Araujo; and that
from the properties of the said Andrés de Hermosa, six hundred and
thirty-seven pesos of the two thousand pesos left at my disposition,
have been collected): I establish, apply, unite, and set aside all
the aforesaid two thousand pesos--that collected and to be collected
of them--and the three thousand seven hundred and forty pesos from
the properties of the said Pablo Rodríguez de Araujo, together with
the sum remaining from the properties of the said archbishop, for
the endowment and foundation of the said college. In their names,
I declare that I have bought two houses and their grounds, which are
located near the principal chapel of this convent, on a street half-way
to the corner of the street that runs from the said principal chapel to
the square and cathedral church of this said city, contiguous to the
street running to the river gate; and on the one side, the houses of
Antonio de Espejo, and on the other those of Alonso Gómez--the place
where the building of the said college-seminary must be located,
and the instruction in the said branches take place, and where must
live and remain the students and other things and persons pertaining
to the said college and the use of it. And in case it is necessary,
I, as such executor and administrator, delegate authority, cession,
and transfer to the part of the said college, so that it may collect
the one thousand three hundred and sixty-three pesos thus owing from
the properties of the said Andrés de Hermosa; and they shall give
receipts and take what steps are necessary for the collection until
the money is obtained. And although I, the said father commissary,
might make this foundation and endowment alone--by virtue of my
authority granted me by the said clauses, and that authority given
me by my superiors for the exercise of the said executorship--for its
greater stability, and so that it may be firm and valid forever, since
the very reverend father Fray Baltasar Fort, provincial of the said
province of Nuestra Señora del Rosario, is present, I beg the latter,
in addition to the permission and license that I have had and have,
for new permission and license to make and execute this foundation
and endowment, and its articles and conditions.
I, the said father provincial, grant, give, and concede everything
necessary for the above. Exercising such permission and license,
the said father commissary requested the said father provincial
and father Fray Francisco Minayo, prior of this said convent, to
accompany him and assist him in sketching the plan and method which
ought to be followed in the said foundation, both in appointing at
present a patron and administrator of the said college, and in making
arrangements for the future in what they see makes for its profit and
growth. For that purpose he places in the hands of the said provincial
and prior, from this moment, the said alms and the properties above
stated and declared, in order that so holy and profitable a work may
be begun with them. That work will, I trust, through the intercession
of its principal patron, the holy rosary of our Lady, and the said
St. Dominic and St. Thomas, its advocates, be of much service to our
Lord, and to the growth of learning and wisdom in these kingdoms, so
that it will be a much greater institution in future times. Therefore,
I, the said father provincial, exercising the power vested in me in
accordance with the statutes and privileges of the said province and
order, and especially of that granted me by the provincial chapter in
the name of the entire province, accept this endowment and foundation,
as is and will be contained in this writ. And consequently, in the
most sufficient form and greatest stability that we can employ, all
we three--the said father provincial, the prior, and the commissary
father Fray Bernardo de Santa Catalina, in behalf of the said deceased,
decide and acknowledge that we are making a foundation of the said
college-seminary in the form and under the conditions and articles
following.
First, in respect to the application made by the said father commissary
of the said properties, we apply them, according as they are assigned
and declared, for the particular properties of the said college of
Nuestra Señora del Rosario--which is to be its title and advocation--so
that a beginning may be made with them in its foundation. [This we
do] with hopes that others of the faithful, after seeing its good
effects in these kingdoms, will augment those properties with much
more, that will help in attaining the great fruit that will result
from the foundation. Consequently from now and henceforth forever, we
erect and constitute the said house and lands, and their accessions
and improvements, and all other properties, which are at present to
be applied to the said college, and those which shall be applied to
it in the future, and what it may have in ecclesiastical and spiritual
properties. And they shall be used as such for the benefit of the said
college, and for the good of the souls of the said archbishop, Pablo
Rodríguez de Araujo, Andrés de Hermosa, and the other benefactors of
the college.
_Item_: That the said house and college with all the incomes and
profits pertaining to it at present, and that shall pertain to
it in the future in any time or manner, shall be under the charge
and administration of the father provincial, and other prelates of
the said order and province. But they shall be unable through that
authority to dispose of anything in the general or special benefit of
the order; but all must be used, spent, and consumed for the good and
welfare of the said college and for its greater utility, adornment,
and growth. All ways and methods shall be tried for the advancement
of this work, as it is just that this work, so urgently commended by
the laws and holy councils, which has so ennobled the cities that
enjoy such houses and colleges, should make progress. And inasmuch
as this province of Nuestra Señora del Rosario has an ordinance
ruling that the properties of the convents be at the disposal of the
father provincial, and that he may distribute them and give them to
the house that he thinks has need of them: since these properties of
this said foundation do not belong to the said convents, or any one of
them, but are to be applied to this one purpose; and since the said
college is not a monastery, and only in its administration is under
the patronage of the said father provincial and it being necessary,
under that of the prior, the father provincial promises and binds
himself, for himself and for the other provincials succeeding him,
to observe this article, and not dispose of the properties of the
said college or any part of them, in any other thing than the benefit,
growth and permanence of the college; and he renounces any ordinance,
statute, or privilege concerning it which authorizes him in any way
whatever to make the said distribution. And for a more binding pledge,
I thus swear, with my hand on my breast, _in verbo sacerdotis_. [49]
_Item_: Inasmuch as the aforesaid convent of Santo Domingo of this
city, is the chief one of this province, both in antiquity and in
all other things, which makes it the most prominent of them all; and
since it is a convent that receives no chaplaincies or other funds
as memorials of the deceased, but is sustained only by ordinary alms
(as is notorious); and it has been built and rebuilt after the fires
that have happened in this city, by means of those alms, through the
exceeding devotion with which the faithful citizens of the city assist
the welfare of the said convent; and since the convent has been,
after the said archbishop, the first contriver and author of such a
work as this, and founds it, and intends to preserve and increase it;
and consequently, it is just that the prior of the said convent have
some prerogatives over the other priors of this province in the said
college: it is an express statute and condition of this foundation,
that he who is, or shall be, now and henceforth, forever, prior
of this said college [_sic_; _sc_. convent] of Manila, shall have
in his charge the government, discipline, and teaching of the said
college, and that he cannot be removed, suspended, or dismissed from
the said administration, unless dismissed from the priorship of the
said convent.
_Item_: As such founders of the said charitable work and college, we
desire, and it is our will, that the said province of Nuestra Señora
del Rosario be its patroness. The provincial of the province shall have
the prerogative and privilege of appointing the lecturers necessary for
the efficient teaching of the branches that may be studied and taught
in the said college, and the officers and assistants advisable for
its efficient administration and temporal government--both within the
said house and outside it--and in all the other things advisable for
the growth and care of the properties, causes, and affairs of the said
college. However, if at any time any ecclesiastical or secular person
shall desire to endow the said college copiously for the increase of
the work and teaching for which it is founded, such person shall be
given the right of patronage whenever he shall have made a considerable
endowment to the satisfaction of the definitors of the provincial
chapter, together with four fathers of the province, those of longest
standing who may be present. Such person shall be admitted as patron,
and shall be given the right of patronage; and this said province
and provincial shall desist from exercising that right--provided
that such patron be not permitted to enact any statute or ordinance,
or to change any of the conditions of that foundation contrary to the
authority of the said father provincial, in regard to the provision
of lecturers; or withdraw the said college from the said order and
province; or remove the said prior from its administration. For it
is advisable that there be no change from the aforesaid for its good
management. [This shall be done] provided that the endowment thus
made for the right of patronage be without any injury to this work and
beginning; for we must always bear in mind and remember to look after
the welfare of the souls of the said archbishop and other persons,
with whose alms this holy work and foundation is begun; whether the
said province, or any other individual patron of the same, whoever
he be, shall exercise the right of patronage, and enjoy the favors,
exemptions, prerogatives, and privileges, which are conceded by all
law to such patrons.
_Item_: As such founders, and in behalf of what pertains to the said
province and its religious, and those of this said convent, I, the said
father provincial and the other fathers, do ordain that the branches
studied and taught in the arts, theology, and other subjects, by the
religious of the said province and order of our father St. Dominic,
shall be studied in the same college forever, and not those of any
other order, seculars, of whatever rank and quality they may be, both
to the religious of the said order, and any other persons whatever,
ecclesiastical or secular, who shall go there to study--and especially
and chiefly to the secular students who shall be reared and taught
there; and they shall wear, as distinctive marks of being students
there, black gowns with white facings.
_Item_: That the said father provincial--and, in his absence, the said
prior who shall be directing the said college--may accept fellowships
to it, chaplaincies, legacies, and endowments, which may be made--with
any obligation to say masses or other suffrages which shall have to
be fulfilled in this said convent by the religious of it. The college
shall satisfy the said convent for the said suffrages, in the form
decided by the said father provincial or prior, with the advice of
the fathers of the council who reside in this convent; and from that
moment permission and authority shall be granted for it.
_Item_: Whenever it may be deemed expedient, the provincial chapter
of this said province--by which is understood the provincial of
the province and four definitors--and two other religious of the
said order of the highest rank and learning, may make statutes,
ordinances, and new articles for the welfare of the said college--in
the distribution and administration of its properties and incomes;
in what pertains to the ministry and teaching of the subjects that
shall be taught in it; and for the appointment of a rector, with the
authority and power that shall seem advisable. Such statutes shall
be made after the said college is finished and completed, and after
it is used for teaching the said branches, and as a residence for
the rector and collegiates. [They shall make statutes] regarding the
admission of the collegiates, and all else that may be desirable and
necessary. This shall be done as often as it may seem advisable; and,
once made, such statutes cannot be added to, altered, or abrogated
without a special authority and order from his Holiness, which shall
state and declare distinctly that the statutes of the said college
shall be changed, added to, or abrogated, and shall point out, for
this, one or several of the statutes. And such cannot be done, nor
shall it be done, by concessions and general orders now received or to
be received by the said province touching the affairs of its order,
even though they be received and obtained after this foundation,
or after the making of the said rules, statutes, and ordinances,
or those that should be made by virtue of this article.
_Item_: All the properties and effects owned or to be owned by the
said college shall be kept in a box with two keys: one of which
shall be kept by the father provincial, and, in his absence by
the vicar-provincial; and the other by the prior of this convent of
Manila. And should the said father prior happen to use the same in the
absence of the said father provincial and of the vicar-provincial,
then the said provincial may appoint another religious of the same
order and convent to keep the key. The said box is to be kept in
the convent for the greater security and safety that can be had for
it. This regulation shall be observed until it is ruled and ordained
otherwise by the said statutes, which shall be made as aforesaid.
_Item_: The properties possessed by the said college at present,
and those that shall accrue hereafter from the said houses and
possessions--inasmuch as it is necessary to construct and reconstruct
them for the aid of this foundation--shall be spent and used in
the said work, building, and rebuilding, in permanent form, how and
as appears advisable to the said father provincial, and the prior,
and the commissary; and in the absence of one of them to the other
two, or in the absence of the holders of the keys of the said box,
to those in whose charge is to be the payment and remuneration of
what pertains to the said works and buildings of the said house.
_Item_: We enact and ordain that, inasmuch as the said college is
founded with the alms dedicated therefor by the said archbishop and the
other deceased, as above declared, at the discretion of me, the said
father Fray Bernardo de Santa Catalina, and with other alms that, God
helping, shall be set aside and applied according to the said method
and plan, and in any other way; we desire and it is our will that,
if at any time any ecclesiastical or secular prince should claim by
act or right to possess any dominion, by way of patronage, or in any
other way should try to dispose of the properties and incomes of the
said college, or to meddle with its administration and government, or
to obstruct and disturb its purpose by any method and in any manner
whatsoever, and through any judge or powerful person, or any other
person whomsoever, who should do it: then immediately and for the
time being, the said property and possessions with which the said
college is founded, and all the rest collected and applied to it,
that is obtained in any manner whatsoever, shall be applied by us to
the said province and religious of the said order, so that all of it,
together with the said houses and college, and their additions and
improvements, may be possessed and enjoyed as their own properties,
acquired with just and legal title; and we annul and render void this
foundation, as if it had never been made. The said order shall be
obliged with them to perform masses and other benefits and suffrages
for the souls of the said archbishop and the others, with whose alms
and properties this foundation is begun; and of the others who, in
any manner, shall hereafter bequeath and apply any other properties
for it. Consequently by this method the said province will render
satisfaction for the said alms to their givers.
We establish and found the said college with the above articles
and conditions. They shall be kept and observed, together with
any others made hereafter in the manner above described; and they
shall not be violated or subverted, or opposed or contradicted, in
whole or in part. I, the said father provincial, by virtue of the
said authority, vested in me as above stated, bind the religious of
this said province and order to see to the fulfilment of whatever
pertains to them, both in the administration of the said patronage,
and in their exercise of the teaching of the said branches; and to
keep the said college under their rule and administration, as well
as the houses and other properties possessed by it now or in the
future; and to do all their duty without any exception, excuse, or
limitation. [This I charge on] both the religious now present, and on
all those who shall be here in the future henceforth and forever, and
they shall not be exempted from its fulfilment for any cause, reason,
or law, which they may have to enable them to do it, or that may be
conceded to them by laws and royal ordinances, statutes, or privileges,
and concessions of this province and order, as yet given or to be
conceded and given hereafter. I, the said father commissary, as such
executor and administrator of the properties of the said deceased,
assert that this application and endowment that I make with them and
for their souls is, and will be, certain and assured; and I have not
made any donation, distribution, or any other application of them for
any other purpose. The said properties will be certain and assured
under the express obligation vested in me specially and specifically
for this foundation and endowment of the said college. And all three,
the said father provincial, the prior, and the commissary, authorize
the justices who can and ought to try this cause, so that they may
compel and force all on whom falls the fulfilment of this instrument
to observe it, as if they were condemned thereto by the definitive
sentence of a competent judge, rendered in a case decided. We renounce
whatever laws and rights plead in our favor, and in this case, and the
law and rule of law that says that a general renunciation of laws is
invalid. This is given in the said city of Manila, on the twenty-eighth
day of the month of April of the year one thousand six hundred and
eleven. The grantors, whom, I, the notary, testify to be known to me,
signed this instrument--Captains Diego de Valdez, Gerónimo de Gamarra,
and Melchor de Ayllón, all citizens of Manila, being witnesses.
_Fray Baltasar Fort_, prior provincial.
_Fray Francisco Minayo_, prior.
_Fray Bernardo de Santa Catalina_
Before me:
_Juan Illán_. his Majesty's notary.