(tribunal of) courtmartial and that it actually participated in
the administration of military affairs may be seen in the cédula of
June 22, 1599, which authorized the local consejo to act with the
audiencia and cabildo in restraining the military officials in the
provinces from imposing undue exactions on the natives, assessing
them too heavily or confiscating their property in the equipment of
military forces in time of threatened invasion (Recopilación, 3-4-3).
[473] On March 12, 1781, Governor Basco y Vargas complained to the
king against the inconvenience of having to appeal the decisions of
the local council of war to the Supreme Council in Madrid. This was
the practice followed in other parts, he said, but it was undesirable
in the Philippines on account of the isolation and the distance. He
recommended instead that these cases should be appealed to a board
consisting of the governor and two asesores--one his own, and the
other an oidor to be designated by him. This recommendation was not
accepted (A. I., 106-1-18).
[474] Audiencia to Váldez, December 11, 1788, A. I., 107-5-16.
[475] Royal order of March 27, 1802, A. I., 107-5-16.
[476] Case of Don Diego Salvatierra, November 20, 1792, A. I.,
105-2-10.
[477] Case of Don Josef de Áviles, November 2, 1792, A. I., 105-2-10.
[478] Recopilación, 2-16-12; 2-15-36.
[479] Ibid., 2-16-11.
[480] The memorial which the governor sent in answer to the arguments
of the oidor was an interesting exposition of his opinion of the
audiencia. He said that the lack of time alleged by the oidor was
a mere pretense, as the regular sessions of the audiencia did not
exceed three hours a day. The governor stated that none of the oidores
were occupied more than that length of time, excepting those who
had special conservatorships of cockpits, tobacco, cards, betel, and
wine. The suits of Spaniards and Indians were few, he alleged, since
most of the questions involving commerce were tried in the tribunal
of the consulado (Governor Marquina to the superintendent-general,
July 10, 1789, A. I., 107-5-18); see Chapter III, note 88.
[481] Recopilación, 3-11-2.
[482] Ibid., note 2.
[483] See citation of the cédula of January 24, 1773, applicable
to Perú, wherein an oidor was permanently charged with the duty of
serving as auditor de guerra (ibid.).
[484] Morga states that after the audiencia was established in May,
1584, "they (the oidores) began to attend to the affairs both of
justice and of war and government" (Morga's Sucesos, Blair and
Robertson, XV, 60).
[485] Memorial of April 19, 1586, Blair and Robertson, VI, 197-233. The
purpose of the proposed expedition was declared to be to "forestall the
danger that the French and English, and other heretics and northern
nations, will discover and navigate that strait which certainly
lies opposite those regions--that of Labrador." A note suggests
that this probably referred to the St. Lawrence River. Delgado says
that Governor Sande called this council together on April 9, 1586,
evidently meaning Santiago de Vera, as the latter became governor
in 1584, and Sande left the Islands in 1580. De Vera's signature is
affixed to this petition. Other letters of special importance, from
the audiencia or individual oidores to the court, entirely or in part
on military affairs, written during this period, may be noted in Blair
and Robertson, VI, 56-65, 157-233, 254-264, 265-274, 311-321, XVII,
251-280, and throughout this series from Volumes VI to XXXV (1584-1650)
especially. The general subject is covered in A. I., 67-6-6 to 26.
[486] Luzón Menaced, Blair and Robertson, VIII, 284-297. We shall see,
in the next chapter, that Governor Bustamante, on a similar occasion,
asked for the written advice of the various ecclesiastical authorities
and corporations on the question of whether he had a right to remove
and appoint oidores without express royal authorization.
[487] Opinions of the religious communities on the war with the
Zambales. January 19-20, 1592, Blair and Robertson, VIII, 199-233.
[488] Audiencia to the King, January 7, 1597, A. I., 105-2-1.
[489] A. I., 105-2-1 to 10 are replete with documents illustrating
this phase of the relation of the audiencia and the governor.
[490] Torre to the King, July 26, 1744, A. I., 108-2-21.
[491] Report of Council of War, June 18, 1746, A. I., 108-2-21. See
note 17 of this chapter, which deals with the local council of war. On
the occasion referred to, it acted as a courtmartial. It also had power
to advise the governor, and even to prevent the military officials from
taking steps which would inflict injustice on the natives in connection
with military operations. Here it may be seen that magistrates were
actually members of this council, and in this capacity they advised
the governor as to the best means of fortifying and defending the
Islands. The laws of the Indies are singularly lacking in definite
statements as to the legal composition and membership of this council.
[492] Obando to the King, August 15, 1748, A. I., 108-2-21.
[493] Morga's Sucesos, Blair and Robertson, XV, 205-237.
[494] Martínez de Zúñiga, An historical view, I, 239-241.
[495] In recommending the services of Licentiate Madrid y Luna,
oidor of the Manila audiencia, Alcaraz wrote to the king as follows:
"On that account, and for the good accomplished by his services in
this Royal Audiencia, the said Licentiate Madrid claims that your
Majesty should grant him as a reward permission to marry some of his
seven daughters and three sons in Mexico" (Alcaraz to Felipe III,
August 10, 1617, Blair and Robertson, XVIII, 52).
[496] Formosa lost to Spain, Blair and Robertson, XXXV, 128-162.
[497] Audiencia to the King, July 15, 1598, A. I., 67-6-18.
[498] Audiencia to Felipe III, August 8, 1620, Blair and Robertson,
XIX, 77-89.
[499] Recopilación, 5-3-24; also A. I., 105-2-1.
[500] Recopilación, 2-15-55. Don Antonio de Morga, writing in his
Sucesos in 1609, described the Chinese government of the Parián as
follows: "The Chinese have a governor of their own race, a Christian,
who has his officials and assistants. He hears their cases in affairs
of justice, in their domestic and business affairs; appeals from him
go to the alcalde-mayor of Tondo, or of the Parián, and from all these
to the Audiencia, which also gives especial attention to this nation
and whatever pertains to it" (Morga's Sucesos, Blair and Robertson,
XVI, 197). See W. L. Schurz, "The Chinese in the Philippines," in
The Pacific Ocean in history, 214-222.
[501] The Chinese were altogether too shrewd in business for the other
residents of Manila. The desire to avoid trouble and to keep from
provoking the Chinese to rebellion were also factors, and there were
institutional and religious reasons. The Chinese were of different
race and heritage and their practices and beliefs were regarded by
the Catholic Spaniards as altogether heathenish and heretical, and
judging by almost any standard of morality and cleanliness it must
be conceded that some of them at least were indecent and revolting.
[502] Cédula of December 1, 1606, A. I., 105-2-1.
[503] Recopilación, 6-18-6.
[504] King to the Audiencia, December 4, 1630, A. I., 105-2-10. The
Chinese had asked the king on this occasion to remove Governor
Tavora. The magistrates, jealous of the governor, and desiring to
see him dispossessed of his office, forwarded this request to the king.
[505] Royal instructions to Gerónimo Ortiz y Capata; February 4,
1631, A. I., 105-2-1.
[506] King to the Audiencia, December 4, 1630, A. I., 105-2-10.
[507] King to the Audiencia, August 8, 1609, A. I., 105-2-1.
[508] King to Governor Silva, March 27, 1616, A. I., 105-2-1.
[509] King to the President and oidores, July 25, 1619, A. I., 105-2-1.
[510] King to the President and oidores, December 21, 1630, A. I.,
105-2-1.
[511] Acuerdo of July 27, 1713, A. I., 68-4-17.
[512] Attention was called in the last chapter to the acuerdo power of
the audiencia in Chinese affairs. It was seen there that the audiencia
passed ordinances regulating the Chinese trade, also their organization
and manner of living in the Islands.
[513] King to the President and oidores, May 14, 1790, A. I.,
105-9-10. This tax was collected from the Chinese in 1852, when Jagor,
the celebrated German traveller, visited the Islands. Chinese who
were engaged in agriculture paid merely the tribute of twelve reales,
which was collected from natives as well. In addition to the tax of
six dollars (probably Mexican, which were equivalent to the silver
peso) merchants paid an industrial tax of twelve, thirty, sixty, or
one hundred dollars, according to the amount of business transacted
(Blair and Robertson, LII, 57-58, note).
[514] Consulta of June 28, 1786; Intendant Carvajal to King, December
31, 1787, and other letters; A. I., 107-5-15.
[515] Testimonio de autos sobre sublevación de los sangleyes,
substanciados y determinados por el oidor, Don Pedro Sebastián Bolívar
y Meña, 1686-1690, A. I., 68-1-27.
[516] Marquina to the King, June 30, 1793, A. I., 107-5-22.
[517] King to the Audiencia, November 30, 1797, A. I., 105-2-18.
[518] King to the Audiencia, February 19, 1806, ibid.
[519] See Chapter II, notes 61 and 64 of this book. The study which
Dr. David P. Barrows has recently made of the office of governor
and captain-general is of value in showing the continuity, and at
the same time the evolution of the office from Spanish times to
the present. Dr. Barrows states that Miguel López de Legaspi became
governor and captain-general of the Philippines when the office was
created in 1567. The original cédula of establishment and appointment
is in Blair and Robertson, III, 62-66, and bears the date of August
14, 1569. See Barrows, "The governor-general of the Philippines under
Spain and the United States," in The Pacific Ocean in history. p. 239.
[520] Fiscal to the King, July 21, 1599, Blair and Robertson, XI,
114, 115; Maldonado to the King, June 28, 1605, ibid., XIII, 307-315.
[521] Audiencia to Felipe III, August 8, 1620, ibid., XIX, 87-89;
see also Messa y Lugo to King, July 30, 1622, ibid., XX, 161-163.
[522] Messa y Lugo to the King, July 30, 1622, ibid., XX, 162-163;
see Recopilación, 9-45-3.
[523] Recopilación, 8-20-1.
[524] Recopilación, 2-16-43 and 44.
[525] Messa y Lugo to the King, op. cit., 186.
[526] Blair and Robertson, XXXIX, 177.
[527] In accordance with Recopilación, 5-15-2.
[528] Foreman, Philippine Islands, 60; Blair and Robertson, XXXIX,
208-219.
[529] The governor arrested and imprisoned magistrates Zalaeta
and Lezana before the arrival of Valdivia. Oidor Viga was exiled to
Samar and Bolívar was sent to Mariveles. Both of these last-mentioned
magistrates died in exile. By the time Valdivia arrived Fiscal Alanis
was the only person connected with the former audiencia who was left
to be punished. His residencia was taken and his property confiscated
(Blair and Robertson, XXXIX, 135, 231-233, 277, 281-295).
[530] Bolívar to Valdez, June 15, 1685, ibid., 221.
[531] Ibid., 223.
[532] Pimentel to Rodríguez, February 8, 1688. Blair and Robertson,
XXXIX, 240. Pimentel accused the governor of scandalous conduct,
"in the matter of chastity, not sparing any woman, whatever may be
her rank or condition; and he keeps some worthless women who serve
as procuresses for conveying to him those whose society will give him
most pleasure." Pimentel stated that the archbishop and the friars of
the city did nothing to check this conduct, but knowingly permitted it.
[533] Pimentel to Rodríguez, February 8, 1688, XXXIX, 239-240.
[534] Ibid., 242-243.
[535] Torralba to the King, June 23, 1718, A. I., 68-4-18. When
Governor Bustamante arrived in Manila in 1717, Torralba's services as
oidor and temporary governor, extending over a period of eight years,
were investigated. Wholesale bribery was the leading charge against
him. He had levied blackmail on alcaldes mayores, encomenderos, and
Chinese and Spanish merchants. He was also charged with the misuse of
government funds, and was held responsible for large deficits. It was
said that he had sent his wife to Macao with most of this ill-gotten
money. In his residencia he was fined 120,000 pesos, exiled forever
from Madrid, Manila and New Spain, and was reduced subsequently to
such poverty that he was compelled to beg. He died a pauper in the
hospital of San Juan de Diós, in Cavite, in 1736.
[536] Government of Bustamante, Blair and Robertson, XLIV, 151; this
account (pages 148-165) is a summary of Concepción, Historia general,
IX, 183-424; see also Montero y Vidal, Historia general, I, 410-429.
[537] Consulta del gobierno de Filipinas sobre la formación de aquella
audiencia, 2 de Mayo de 1718, Zulueta Mss., Manila.
[538] Report of Archbishop de la Cuesta on the Bustamante Affair,
June 28, 1720, Blair and Robertson, XLIV, 182-195.
[539] Recopilación, 2-15-11.
[540] Ibid., 2-16-29.
[541] Contestación de la Compañía de Jesús, 6 de Mayo de 1718,
Zulueta Mss., Manila.
[542] Recopilación, 2-16-93.
[543] Opinión de la Universidad de Santo Tomás, 9 de Mayo de 1718,
Zulueta Mss., Manila.
[544] Recopilación, 2-16-44.
[545] The legal phases of this question together with the opinions
of the royal fiscal and the leading councillors are set forth in
the consulta of the Council of the Indies of March 18, 1720, A. I.,
68-2-8. In this consulta an effort is made to fix responsibility for
the murder of the governor, and to determine the legality of his acts.
[546] This refers to the reception of the French papal delegate,
Tourón, who came to the Islands to inspect the archbishopric, and who
was received by the audiencia without the authority of the Council
of the Indies. This will be treated further in Chapter X of this book.
[547] Fr. Diego de Otazo, the Jesuit confessor of Bustamante, in a
letter to his superior, described the power of the governor and his
treatment of the audiencia as follows: "Here, my father," he wrote,
"the governor takes away and establishes, gives, commands, unmakes and
makes more despotically than does the king himself;... Royal decrees
are not sufficient; for either he hides them, or he does not fulfill
them as he ought. The Audiencia does not serve [as a check] on him,
for he suppresses and he establishes it, when and how he pleases;
nor do other bodies, whether chapters or [religious] communities
(dare to oppose him), ... for he does the same thing [with them]. And
never do there lack pretexts for doing thus, even though such bodies
are appointed by the king; and with the pretext that account of the
matter has already been rendered to Madrid, what he has begun remains
permanently done, or else he proceeds to change it, as seems good to
him." (Letter of Diego de Otazo, S. J., November 19, 1719, Blair and
Robertson, XLIV, 175.)
[548] Recopilación, 2-16-93.
[549] Government of Bustamante (from Concepción), Blair and Robertson,
XLIV, 161.
[550] Recopilación. 2-16-43, 44, 46.
[551] King to Basco y Vargas, December 10, 1783, A. I., 105-2-10.
[552] Sociedad de los Amigos del País, an economic, commercial,
and agricultural society established in the Philippines by Governor
Basco y Vargas in 1780.--Original autos and plans for society in
A. I., 106-1-14.
[553] Audiencia to the King, December 17, 1788, A. I., 106-4-17.
[554] Expedientes sobre establecimiento de intendencias y
subintendencias en Filipinas, A. I., 105-1-17, 107-5-18, 105-3-5,
146-6-13.
[555] King to the Audiencia, August 1, 1788, A. I., 105-2-10.
[556] King to Basco y Vargas, October 9, 1777, A. I., 105-2-9.
[557] Audiencia to the King, December 23, 1789, A. I., 106-4-17.
[558] Montero y Vidal, Historia general, II, 324, note.
[559] For further testimony bearing upon the formative period of
the audiencia's history, see Chapter II of this volume, wherein
are described the conflicts attendant on the establishment of the
audiencia in the Philippines.
[560] Dasmariñas to Felipe II, June 6, 1592, Blair and Robertson,
VIII, 253.
[561] Acuña to Felipe III, July 15, 1604, Blair and Robertson,
XIII, 232.
[562] Acuña continued as follows: "If the governors do not consent
to this (the appointment of the relatives and dependents of oidores),
the auditors dislike them, and seek means and expedients whereby the
worthy persons to whom the said offices and livings are given shall
not be received therein. Accordingly the governors, in order not to
displease the auditors, give up their claims and dare not insist upon
them" (ibid., 234).
[563] Acuña further commented on their commercial abuses: "The said
creatures and connections of the said auditors trade and traffic a
great deal in merchandise from China; and the citizens complain that
it is with the auditors' money (their own or borrowed), and that with
the favor they receive they cause great injury to the commonwealth, for
they take up the whole cargo. They desire to be preferred therein, and
in buying the cloth and in every other way, try to take advantage. If
the president wishes to remedy this they do not cease to offer him
little annoyances; for the auditors know how to magnify themselves,
in such a manner that they give one to understand that any one of
them is greater than he; and they attain this by saying that what
the president or governor does they can cancel, and that what the
auditors decree has no appeal, recourse, or redress" (ibid., 234-5).
Acuña testified that the magistrates had rendered life unpleasant
for the residents of the colony, because of their selfishness. He
continued: "the resources of this land are scanty, but if there is
anything good the auditors also say that they want it for themselves;
and when there is a Chinese embroiderer, tailor, carver, or other
workman, they proceed to take him.... Such benefits do not extend
to the citizens; but rather, if any of these things are available,
the said auditors demand them and by entreaty and intimidation get
possession of them. It is the same thing in regard to jewels, slave men
and women, articles of dress, and other things.... We are compelled
to overlook these things, and others of more importance, that we may
not experience worse trouble; ... as your Majesty is five thousand
leguas from here and redress comes so slowly" (ibid., 235-236).
[564] Their salaries must be preferred, he wrote, "even if it be
from the stated fund for the religious orders, bishops, ministers
of instruction, and for the military forces, who are before them in
order,--they have difficulties and misunderstandings with the royal
officials (ibid., 236) ... as the treasury is always straitened
(sic), and, on account of the great care which the auditors take
to collect their salaries, as it cannot be so prompt as they would
wish, they seek borrowed money from the citizens--who give it to
them, willingly or unwillingly, each one according to his means or
designs. From this follow difficulties, to which they pay no heed;
as some of them demand these loans from persons who are parties to
suits at the time, who grant these to the auditors in order to place
them under obligations, and profit by them" (ibid., 239).
[565] The rebellion referred to here occurred in 1603. It was said to
have been instigated by two mysterious mandarins who came to Manila for
the alleged purpose of searching for a mountain of silver, which was
located near Cavite. On the Eve of St. Francis the Chinese made their
attack with great success, owing, the ecclesiastical element claimed,
to the personal intervention of St. Francis, who appeared on the
walls and led his followers to victory. In this revolt 24,000 Chinese
were hunted down and slain. In 1639 another rebellion occurred. A
third insurrection of the Chinese took place in 1660. In 1763 the
Chinese joined with the British in their attack on the city. It is
estimated that Anda, in his campaign in the provinces, put an end
to 6,000 Chinese. Another massacre, and the last in the history of
the Islands, took place in 1820. This was an uprising of the natives
against all foreigners who were thought to be responsible for the
plague of cholera then raging (Foreman, Philippine Islands, 108-119;
A. I., 105-1 to 10 and 68-1-27).
[566] The entire dependence of the colony on the Chinese trade is
attested by Concepción (Historia general, IV, 53). He states that:
"Without the trade and commerce of the Chinese these dominions could
not have subsisted." Morga, in his Sucesos (349), further testifies:
"It is true the town cannot exist without the Chinese, as they are
the workers in all trades and business, and are very industrious,
working for small wages."
[567] Acuña to Felipe III, July 15, 1604, Blair and Robertson, XIII,
239-241.
[568] Fajardo described "the oppression caused by the multitude of
relatives and followers (of the auditors); their appropriation of
the offices and emoluments, to the injury of the meritorious; their
hatred and hostility to those who unfortunately fall out with them;
their trading and trafficking, although it be by an intermediary, since
they, being men of influence, buy the goods at wholesale and protect
their agents." He stated that this caused him great embarrassment and
made good government almost an impossibility (Fajardo to Felipe III,
August 10, 1618, Blair and Robertson, XVIII, 126).
[569] "The auditors," Fajardo wrote, "have few important matters that
oblige them to close application, (and) they must apply the greater
part of their time to devising petty tricks on the president in order
to vex and weary him, until, [as they hope] not only will he allow them
to live according to their own inclination but also their relatives
and followers shall, in whatever posts they desire, be employed and
profited. And since harmony has never been seen here without this
expedient, one would think it easy to believe such a supposition"
(Fajardo to the King, August 15, 1620, Blair and Robertson, XIX,
120-121).
[570] Recopilación, 8-20, 21, 22.
[571] Decree written on margin of letter: Fajardo to the King, August
15, 1620, Blair and Robertson, XIX, 136.
[572] Ibid., 122.
[573] Fajardo to Felipe III, August 10, 1618, Blair and Robertson,
XVIII, 126.
[574] Fajardo to the King, July 21, 1621, Blair and Robertson, XX, 53.
[575] Ibid., 54. Fajardo continued as follows: "To such a point has it
(the dissension) gone that if this country were not involved in the
perils of war as it has been, and as they are still threatening it,
I should beseech your Majesty to place it in charge of some other
person, who would be more interested in documents. But may God not
choose that I should be relieved from the service of your Majesty,
in which from the age of fifteen years I have been engaged; ... It
would be no little pleasure to me to be employed in naval and military
affairs and other things in which, with my counsel and my personal
aid, I might be able to help; and to know that the matter of auditors
and their demands, their rivalries, and their faultfinding, should
concern another."--Ibid., 55-56.
[576] Concepción, Historia general. VII, 168 et seq.; see Lea,
Inquisition in the Spanish dependencies. 299-318, and Cunningham,
"The inquisition in the Spanish colonies; the Salcedo affair," in the
Catholic historical review, III, 417-445. The Salcedo affair will be
more fully discussed in Chapter XI, of this book, which treats of the
relations of the audiencia and the church; citations 60-72, Chapter XI.
[577] See Augustinians in Philippines, in Blair and Robertson, XXXVII,
235, 239, 269-273.
[578] Robertson, History of America, IV, 20. See Chapter VI, note 54,
of this book.
[579] Recopilación, 2-15-46.
[580] Moses, The Spanish dependencies in South America. 1, 221. The
Council of the Indies manifested its disapproval of the acts of the
audiencia and of Pizarro by commissioning Pedro de Gasca as president
of the Audiencia of Lima. Gasca was ordered to restore that viceroyalty
to the sovereignty of Spain, and to do whatever the king would do under
like circumstances. This was in May, 1546. "He (Gasca) was at the head
of every department of the administration," writes Professor Moses;
"he might raise troops, appoint and remove officers, and declare war;
he might exercise the royal prerogative of pardoning offenses; and was
especially commissioned to grant an amnesty to all who had been engaged
in the rebellion. He was authorized to revoke the ordinances which
had caused the popular uprising and the overthrow of Blasco Núñez;
and, returning to the earlier practice, he might make repartimientos,
or confirm those which had been previously made. In accordance with
his expressed wish, he was granted no specific salary, but he might
make any demands on the treasuries of Panama and Peru." Ibid., I, 225.
[581] Ibid., I, 264.
[582] Ibid., I, 267.
[583] Ibid., I, 276-301. See Recopilación, 2-15-8.
[584] Ibid., II, 82.
[585] Ibid., II, 16.
[586] Ibid., I, 361.
[587] Bancroft, History of Mexico, II, 273-295.
[588] Ibid., II, 318-340; 367-381.
[589] Ibid., II, 410.
[590] An audiencia was created at Compostela, Nueva Galicia, in
1548. This tribunal bore the same relation to the audiencia and viceroy
in Mexico as did that of Santa Fé de Bogotá to those in Lima. The
Audiencia of Nueva Galicia had both judicial and administrative
functions, exercising its jurisdiction over the partidos and
corregimientos, with their respective alcaldes and corregidores. It
concerned itself, moreover, with projects of conquest, discovery,
the development of mines, and internal improvement. Subsequently this
audiencia was transferred to Guadalajara and given that name. See
Recopilación, 2-15-7.
[591] Bancroft, History of Mexico, II, 586.
[592] Ibid., II, 602-7.
[593] It is interesting to note that in 1564, while the Audiencia of
Mexico was governing ad interim, the voyage of Legaspi and Urdaneta
was undertaken, and the first permanent settlement was made in the
Philippines by authorization of that tribunal. Bancroft (History of
Mexico, II, 599-600) is both indefinite and inaccurate in his account
of the expedition of Legaspi and Urdaneta to the Philippines. He
says: "Finally on the 21st of November, 1564, the squadron sailed,
and after a prosperous voyage, reached Luzón, where Legaspi founded
the city of Manila." It is well known that Legaspi did not sail
directly to Luzón, as Bancroft implies, but he visited a number of
islands in the Archipelago before he settled at Cebú on April 27,
1565. Manila was not formally claimed until May 19, 1571 (Montero y
Vidal, Historia general, I, 39; Martínez de Zúñiga, An historical view,
113-119). Bancroft (op. cit., II, 743) states that Manila was founded
in 1564 by Miguel de Legaspi. Manila was a prosperous commercial center
before the Spaniards came to the Islands. Dr. James A. Robertson in his
article entitled "Legaspi and Philippine colonization" (see American
Historical Association, Annual report, 1907, I, 154), states on the
basis of original documents that "this well-situated and busy trade
center was erected into a Spanish city on June 3, 1571, and on the
24th the necessary officials were appointed." Dr. Robertson states
in a note (p. 154) that "possession was taken of Luzon, June 6, 1570."
[594] Recopilación, 8-4-24.
[595] Ibid., 3-2-47.
[596] Ibid., 2-15-47 and 48.
[597] King to the Audiencia, November 23, 1774, quotes the cédula
of September 13, 1608, as testimonio; A. I., 105-2-9. A copy of this
cédula also exists in A. I., 67-6-3.
[598] Testimonio al acuerdo de 19 de Julio de 1654, Audiencia de
Manila, A. I., 67-6-3. See Recopilación, 2-15-58.
[599] Copies of the cédula of January 30, 1635, and of April 2, 1664,
and of the consulta of September 9, 1669, exist in A. I., 67-6-3.
[600] Recopilación, 2-15-45. It will be seen that this law was slightly
modified by laws promulgated in the eighteenth century.
[601] Ibid., 60.
[602] Ibid., 56; 3-2-12, 13, 53, 28-33.
[603] Ibid., 9-11.
[604] Ibid., 10.
[605] Montero y Vidal, Historia general, I, 94; Martínez de Zúñiga,
An historical view, I, 184-192.
[606] Ibid., I, 192.
[607] Ibid., I, 199.
[608] Montero y Vidal, op. cit., I, 106-107; Martínez de Zúñiga,
op. cit., I, 195.
[609] Morga's Sucesos, Blair and Robertson, XVI, 61.
[610] Acuña designated Almansa to supervise military affairs instead
of Oidor Maldonado, who was in reality senior magistrate, and as such
should have assumed the direction of military affairs in accordance
with the practice elsewhere, and in compliance with the laws of the
Indies. The fiscal objected to this illegal procedure, as he termed it,
alleging that the governor was not authorized by law to choose his
own successor. He pointed out that, according to the existing laws,
the senior magistrate should succeed to the military command by his
own right, without the interference either of the governor or the
audiencia. Notwithstanding this protest, Almansa continued to hold
the post of acting captain-general, for which it was said that he
was better fitted than Maldonado.
[611] Audiencia to Felipe III, July 6, 1606, Blair and Robertson,
XIV, 140-148. These demands were ultimately met by a subsidy from
the treasury of New Spain. It may be remarked in this connection,
that the oidores were probably interested in somewhat more than
increased revenue for defense, since they were known to have been
absorbed in commercial ventures. This episode marks the beginning of
a struggle on the part of the Manila merchants for increased trading
privileges--a battle which continued until the close of the eighteenth
century. They were opposed by the merchants of Cádiz and Seville,
and it was in the interest of these last-mentioned cities that the
Manila trade was restricted (Royal order of November 10, 1605, and
King to the Audiencia, February 6, 1606, A. I., 105-2-1).
[612] Although the laws of the Indies forbade the oidores from trading
(Recopilación, 2-16-59, 60, 62, 64, 66), and the correspondence of the
period shows that the oidores were at first denied trading privileges,
(King to Conde de Monterrey, April 14, 1597; A. I., 105-2-1), they
were allowed to send to Spain sufficient cloth, silk and other
dress materials for their own use and for that of their families
(Recopilación, 2-16-63). This last-mentioned privilege was abused,
however, until the right of each official to send only a limited
amount of cargo on the galleon was generally recognized. For example,
the cargo list of the galleon "Trinidad" in 1753, shows that ministers
were assigned six boletas, or bales, of the nominal value of 125 pesos
each--that being only half the amount usually allowed. This reduction,
effected by Governor Arandía, caused much opposition on the part of
the audiencia (Expediente of January 30, 1754; A. I., 108-3-11). The
officials having first claim on the right to send goods in the galleon
were those of the municipal cabildo of Manila. On March 27, 1714, they
were conceded the right to ship 132 fardillos, the specifications of
which were not given. It was mentioned, however, in the consulta which
recommended this bestowal that this was a re-enactment of the grant
of 1699, and that it was the policy of the king to be generous to the
regidores in this matter because they were not given salaries (A. I.,
68-2-8). The royal order of June 30, 1786, bestowed on the regidores
the right to ship one ton of goods. This right was confirmed by the
consulta of October 7, 1789 (A. I., 105-3-5). The cédula of April
25, 1803, conceded five boletas, each valued at one hundred pesos,
to each regidor. The oidores were each allowed ten boletas by this
cédula (A. I., 106-2-15).
[613] Audiencia to Felipe III, July 6, 1606, Blair and Robertson,
XIV, 147.
[614] Martínez de Zúñiga, An historical view, I, 230-331.
[615] Ibid., I, 239, et seq.; Montero y Vidal, Historia general, I,
162, et seq.
[616] Martínez de Zúñiga, op. cit., I, 241; Montero y Vidal, op. cit.,
I, 166.
[617] Inventario de Residencias, A. I. op. cit.
[618] King to the Audiencia, August 9, 1609, A. I., 105-2-1.
[619] See Chapter VII, notes 49 to 56.
[620] Recopilación, 2-15-56; 3-2-47; 3-2-11 and 12.
[621] Fajardo to Felipe III, August 10, 1618, Blair and Robertson,
XVIII, 127. In regard to the points covered in the above letter
of Fajardo, the audiencia legally lacked the power of granting
encomiendas at this time, although it undoubtedly bestowed them,
nevertheless. The power to grant encomiendas for the period of its
temporary rule was granted October 24, 1655. Moreover, by cédulas of
May 25, 1596, August 24, 1619, and September 5, 1620, the audiencia
was conceded authority to make temporary appointments to offices when
it assumed the government ad interim (Recopilación, 2-15-56; 3-2-47;
3-2-11 and 12).
[622] Fajardo to Felipe III, August 10, 1618, Blair and Robertson,
XVIII, 124-125.
[623] Martínez de Zúñiga, An historical view, I, 250-251. The latter
Silva was a relative of the viceroy, the Marqués de Cerralbo. He
was well known in the Philippines, where he had formerly resided and
married the daughter of an influential resident. He held the temporary
governorship about a year. It was during his administration, and
through his efforts, that the first Spanish expedition was made to
Formosa, Silva having ordered the alcalde mayor of Cagayán to land
there with a military force and establish fortifications. This was
done; thereupon a large number of Dominican friars sought and obtained
permission for the spiritual conquest of the Island. Zúñiga says that
the latter "exerted themselves with such zeal, that in a short time
they built several towns, and were able to number the greater part
of the natives among the professors of our faith" (ibid., I, 252-253;
Montero y Vidal, Historia general, I, 180-181).
[624] Audiencia to the King, July 24 and August 15, 1624, Blair and
Robertson, XXI, 84-97.
[625] Silva to Felipe IV, August 4, 1625, Blair and Robertson,
XXII, 62-78.
[626] Ibid., XXII, 66. The governor estimated the services of the
magistrates in a special report to the king on July 30, 1626. He
stated that Messa was "an upright judge, and zealous in the service
of your Majesty." His comments on the other three were as follows:
"Geronimo de Lagaspi does what his two sons wish, whom, on account
of their reckless lives, the governors cannot employ, and thus they
are unable to satisfy their father, who is not contented except with
favors. Don Juan de Valderrama does as his wife says; and Don Matias
Flores, although a young man, is less harmful;... He makes all the
profit he can from the office, and on the whole is not acceptable to
the community, which is always disturbed by him" (Silva to Felipe IV,
July 30, 1626, Blair and Robertson, XXII, 102).
[627] Instructions to Francisco de Rojas y Ornate, August 17, 1628,
A. I., 105-2-1.
[628] See Royal Instructions to Rojas y Ornate and Tavora (duplicates),
June 4, 1627, A. I., 105-2-1.
[629] Martínez de Zúñiga, An historical view, I, 264-266, Montero y
Vidal, Historia general, I, 189-200. The method of filling vacancies
in the governorship during this period was described in a letter from
Governor Corcuera, Cerezo's successor, to the king, dated June 30,
1636. He wrote: "Your Majesty has conceded to your viceroys of Nueva
España authority, in case of deaths and vacancies in this government,
to send commissions to those who are to have charge of military
matters; and until the arrival of the regularly appointed governor
you order them to send another governor from Mexico" (Corcuera to
Felipe IV, June 30, 1636, Blair and Robertson, XXVI, 150).
[630] Cédula of January 30, 1635, A. I., 67-6-3.
[631] Corcuera to Felipe IV, June 30, 1636. Blair and Robertson,
XXVI, 150 et seq.
[632] Fajardo to the King, July 10, 1651, A. I., 67-6-9.
[633] Ibid.
[634] Governor Lara to the King, July 19, 1654, A. I., 67-6-9.
[635] Cédula of April 2, 1664, with testimonios of former cédulas
and correspondence on succession, A. I., 67-6-3.
[636] These two magistrates had come to the Islands on the same ship;
Montemayor had disembarked at Cagayán and had come to the city by
land, arriving a few days earlier than Coloma (Montero y Vidal,
Historia general, I, 336).
[637] Events in Filipinas, 1668, Blair and Robertson, XXXVII, 23-63;
also correspondence of Governor Manuel de León, and consultas of the
Council of the Indies on Salcedo Affair, 1670-1673, A. I., 67-6-9,
10, 11; 67-6-3. For a more extended account of this episode, see
Cunningham, "The inquisition in the Philippines; the Salcedo affair,"
in the Catholic historical review, III, 417-445.
[638] Augustinians in the Philippines, 1641-70, Blair and Robertson,
XXXVII, 273-275; also Consulta of Council of the Indies, July 16,
1674, A. I., 67-6-3.
[639] Montero y Vidal, Historia general, I, 354-361.
[640] Ibid., I, 375. See Chapters X and XI of this book.
[641] There is no question of the harmful effects of the intervention
of the church in the government on this occasion. For a general
survey of this subject throughout the history of the Philippines,
see the author's article entitled "The ecclesiastical influence in
the Philippines" (1565-1850) in The American journal of theology,
XXII, 161-186, and Robertson, "Catholicism in the Philippine Islands,"
in The Catholic historical review, III, 375-391.
[642] See Chapter VIII, note 16. On June 30, 1716, Torralba forwarded
an elaborate memorial to the king, showing that the finances were
in an excellent state, a net gain of 38,554 pesos having accrued to
the treasury since the beginning of the audiencia's rule. On the day
that this report was filed there existed in the treasury, according to
Torralba's figures, a favorable balance of 294,000 pesos. This report
contains the following interesting data: Income from the subsidy,
250,000 pesos; betel monopoly, 13,167 pesos; tributes, 109,152
pesos; royal auctions, 20,377 pesos; medias anatas, 16,373 pesos;
almojarifazgo, 20,377 pesos; wine monopoly, 14,000 pesos (Report of
Torralba on Financial Affairs, June 30, 1716, A. I., 68-4-18). In a
letter dated July 8, 1716, Torralba reported his compliance with the
cédula of October 10, 1713, by means of which the king had appealed
for a "free gift or contribution on the part of the inhabitants of the
Islands to assist in putting down a Catalonian conspiracy." Torralba
stated that the audiencia had seen to the fulfillment of this command
and had collected the sum of 7,042 pesos (Torralba to King, July 8,
1716, A. I., 68-4-18).
[643] Concepción, Historia general, IX, 44, et seq. Pavón, it will
be remembered, had been removed for advising Governor Zabalburú to
receive the French papal delegate, Tourón. In 1718 all of Torralba's
acts against Tourón and Villa were nullified by the Council of the
Indies, and those officials were restored to office, while Torralba
was condemned to perpetual exile (A. I., 68-2-8).
[644] Torralba to the King, July 15, 1715, A. I., 68-4-18; another
report of Torralba on the same subject, dated September 1, 1717,
exists in A. I., 68-2-8.
[645] Royal Fiscal to the Council, August 21, 1719, A. I., 68-4-18.
[646] Torralba to the King, June 15, 1716 [with approval of Council
indicated on margin], A. I., 68-4-18; Recopilación, 6-8, 6-9, 6-10.
[647] Martínez de Zúñiga, An historical view, II, 37-40.
[648] Zúñiga, who was favorable to the rule of the churchmen, writes:
"There never appeared less confusion at an insurrection than on the
present occasion, every individual seeming satisfied with his lot in
being relieved from unjust oppression and violence. The archbishop,
who had assumed the reins of government, was the only person
whose mind was not at ease; but in a short time he was restored to
tranquillity by the arrival of a royal order, enjoining him to suspend
the Governor from his office, and imprison him; replace the Royal
Audience on the same footing as before; set at liberty Señor Velasco
(an oidor who had been imprisoned by Torralba), and assume the reins
of government himself, which was exactly what had been effected by
the late disturbance."--Martínez de Zúñiga, op. cit., II, 39-40.
[649] Royal order of September 8, 1720, A. I., 106-4-16. Testimonio of
cédula of November 23, 1774, A. I., 105-2-9. Two years later, the home
government showed its disapprobation of the rigorous acts of Cuesta
by demoting him from his place as Archbishop of the Philippines to
the minor post of Bishop of Mechoacán in New Spain (Montero y Vidal,
Historia general, I, 432). The assumption of the government by Cuesta
invited the suspicion that he had been a party to the murder of the
governor. Seven archbishops had already ruled on various occasions
in New Spain (Bolton, Guide, 469-470). It is surprising that such an
attempt to solve this problem was not made earlier in the history of
the Philippines.
[650] Martínez de Zúñiga, op. cit., II, 84-95; Montero y Vidal,
Historia general, I, 480-495.
[651] Martínez de Zúñiga says he carried a special government
commission as governor ad interim, and his refusal to accept the office
was later used as a precedent by Bishop Espeleta in his refusal to turn
over the governorship to Archbishop Rojo (Zúñiga, An historical view,
II, 89). Evidently he had all the qualifications necessary to fill
the office of governor, for he had been a member of the Audiencia of
Quito for seventeen years, and had been also a member of the Council
of the Indies (Blair and Robertson, XLVIII, 145-146).
[652] Martínez de Zúñiga, An historical view, II, 89-90.
[653] Opinion of Pedro Calderón Enríquez, July 26, 1759. Opinion of
Francisco Leandro Viana, July 31, 1759, Autos of Appeal, August 3,
1759, A. I., 106-4-16. Montero y Vidal (Historia general, II, 8)
states that Espeleta used intimidation to secure the office.
[654] Anda was sixty-two years of age when he left Manila to undertake
the defense of the provinces (Blair and Robertson, XLIX, 211).
[655] Relación de la conquista de Manila por los Ingleses y presa
del galeón de Santísima Trinidad en el mes de Octubre de 1762. A. I.,
107-1-15.
[656] Manifiesto of Viana, March 8, 1762, A. I., 107-3-2.
[657] Rojo's Narrative, Blair and Robertson, XLIX, 210.
[658] Ibid., 210-211.
[659] Testimonio del Secretario de Cámara, 13 de Noviembre,
1762. A. I., 107-3-2.
[660] Recopilación, 2-31-1 to 14.
[661] Martínez de Zúñiga, An historical view, II, 180.
[662] Testimonio del Secretario de Cámara (authorized and sworn to
by Anda), 13 de Noviembre, 1762, A. I., 107-3-2.
[663] Testimonio del fiscal, Francisco Leandro de Viana. 8 de Marzo,
1763. A. I., 107-3-2.
[664] Rojo's Narrative, op. cit., Testimonio de D. Antonio Díaz,
(ayudante de Rojo) ... 28 de Noviembre de 1762, A. I., 107-3-4.
[665] Montero y Vidal (Historia general, II, 67; see, also, note 114,
Blair and Robertson, XLIX, 176) summarizes the life and character
of Archbishop Rojo as follows: "This prelate was more imbecile than
traitor.... His obstinacy in submitting the Islands to the dominion
of the English; his struggles against Anda ... his absolute ignorance
of his powers ... his pardonable ignorance of whatever concerned the
military defense of the archipelago, his calm submission to whatever
the English advised, even in matters clearly opposed to the integrity
and interests of Spain ... give an exact idea of the capacity and
character of the unfortunate one who had the misfortune in such
an anxious time to exercise a command for which he was lacking in
intelligence, valor and in all other attributes necessary to its
successful accomplishment."
Le Gentil (Voyage, II, 252) characterizes him as follows: "Archbishop
Rojo was a capable man for the management of finances; he was clever
in business and very zealous for the service of the king; but he did
not understand anything of military affairs; ... he was between two
fires, and being of an irresolute disposition, he did not know which
way to turn, ... besieged on one side by oidores, on the other side
by monks, he would not (otherwise) have waited till the English were
on the assault."
Charges of indecent living and riotous conduct were made by Anda in
his various letters to the Archbishop. While the English were at the
gates of the city, the prelate was passing his hours with indecent
women. Anda stated that Rojo alternated between the dance-hall and
the pulpit, leaving to others the question of defense. Anda stated
that Rojo had allowed himself to be influenced by the traitorous
Santiago de Orendaín, refusing to listen to the more loyal counsel
of the king's ministers (Blair and Robertson, XLIX, 132-160).
Francisco Leandro de Viana, the fiscal, believed that the archbishop
neither wished to be a traitor to the king nor to his country, but
he asserted that he (Viana) was the only person in the colony who was
so charitable in his opinion. He felt that Rojo's stand was a result
of his incapacity, timorousness, irresolution and ignorance. Viana,
like Anda, commented on the archbishop's lasciviousness and immorality
(Viana to Rojo, March 1, 1763, A. I., 107-3-2).
Zúñiga, the ecclesiastical historian, seeing through priestly eyes,
affirmed that Rojo was guilty of only one error during his rule. This
was his engagement to pay four millions of pesos to the English and
to deliver up the Islands to them (Martínez de Zúñiga, An historical
view, II, 239).
[666] Anda to Rojo, October 20, 1762, Blair and Robertson, XLIX,
153-154.
[667] When news of the temporary suspension of hostilities reached
him in July, 1763, Anda refused to place confidence in the assurances
either of the British or of the archbishop. He held out until the
arrival of the new governor, Francisco Xavier de la Torre. See Anda
to Rojo, July 29, 1763, A. I., 107-3-4.
[668] Recopilación, 2-15-180.
[669] Anda to Rojo, October 30, 1762 (with testimonios of witnesses),
A. I., 107-3-3; Recopilación, 2-15-57 and 58. On October 20, 1762,
Anda wrote as follows: "I said and I repeat that the presidency and
government fell to the royal Audiencia; and I add that the latter is
conserved and continued in me, that I am the sole and only minister,
that by my absence from that capital because of the commissions
confided to me at a convenient time, I remained free from the enemies
... so that in my person is met the prescriptions of law clxxx of
the above-cited book and título, since my associates are lacking and
have been imprisoned with your Excellency in the fatal loss of that
capital." (Blair and Robertson, XLIX, 136).
[670] Relación de la conquista de Manila por los Ingleses,
... 1761-1764, A. I., 107-1-15.
[671] Memorial of Viana, March 8, 1763, A. I., 107-3-2.
[672] Blair and Robertson, XLIX, 172-175.
[673] Report of Governor Francisco Xavier de la Torre on the
Negotiations for the Evacuation of the City of Manila, 1764, A. I.,
107-1-15.
[674] Martínez de Zúñiga, An historical view, II, 234.
[675] Viana to the King, October 30, 1762, A. I., 107-3-2.
[676] By this seizure the sum of 2,253,111 pesos was realized in the
interests of his government and at the same time, of course, it was
kept from falling into the hands of the British. Anda subsequently
reported to Governor Torre that the capture of the treasure of the
"Filipino" made possible the conservation of the Islands, "and that
the English did not leave them completely desolate, since without this
aid, the subsistence of the state would have been impossible." (Anda
to Carlos III, June and July, 1764, Blair and Robertson, XLIX, 299).
The fact that the galleon carried a cargo of over two million pesos
affords no small insight into the way in which the merchants and
officials obeyed the law which forbade an annual return exceeding
1,000,000 pesos. See Martínez de Zúñiga, Estadismo, I, 266-270.
[677] Anda to Carlos III, June 22, 1764, Blair and Robertson, XLIX,
262-268.
[678] Martínez de Zúñiga, An historical view, II, 234-235.
[679] Ibid., II, 235; see Montero y Vidal, Historia general, II, 65-66.
[680] Montero y Vidal, op. cit., II, 68-70. The treaty of peace between
England and Spain was signed on February 10, 1763. Notice had been
served on Anda several times that suspensions of military operations
had been authorized, but the oidor-gobernador was suspicious, and
would not respond to the overtures of the British. The Spanish troops
under Anda's command entered Manila on June 10, 1764, and the British
forces evacuated the same day. Montero y Vidal (op. cit., II, 71)
states that the new governor, Torre, feigned illness on the day of
the transfer of sovereignty that Anda might be enabled to receive the
keys of the city and thus not be deprived of the honors which he had
so faithfully earned.
[681] Martínez de Zúñiga, An historical view, II, 241.
[682] Anda was made Councillor of Castile on November 6, 1767. A
life's pension was bestowed on him on November 19, 1769. He remained
in Spain until 1770 when he returned to the Philippines as governor
(A. I., 106-4-4).
[683] In Mexico two prelates governed ad interim after this
time--Peralta in 1787 and Beaumont in 1809. Bolton, Guide, 469-470.
[684] Cédulas of November 23, 1774, and July 2, 1779, A. I., 102-2-9.
[685] Articles 61 and 63, Royal Instruction of Regents, Rodríguez
San Pedro, Legislación ultramarina, VII, 22-28. This Instruction
transferred to the regent all the powers and prerogatives which
formerly belonged to the senior magistrates of the audiencias. These
are defined in Recopilación, 2-15-57 and 58.
[686] Recopilación, 2-15, note 16.
[687] Ibid.; also A. I., 102-2-9.
[688] Royal order of October 25, 1806, Recopilación (1841), II,
Apéndice.
[689] Rodríguez San Pedro, Legislación ultramarina, I, 90-91.
[690] Concepción, Historia general, III, 336, et seq. This is
discussed in Chapter II of this volume. Original materials exist in
A. I., 68-1-32.
[691] The royal patronage in the Indies was based on the bulls of
Alexander VI, dated May 4, 1493, and November 16, 1501, and on that of
Julius II, dated July 28, 1508. By the first two bulls the temporal and
spiritual jurisdiction of the Indies was conceded to the monarchs of
Spain and by the last one the universal patronato was given. Aside from
the responsibilities of government, this concession involved the duty
of christianizing the natives and the right of collecting tithes from
them. By virtue of these papal bulls the Spanish rulers were granted
the right of nominating prelates for the Indies, the assignment of
benefices and provinces to the different orders, the confirmation of
minor ecclesiastical appointments, and, in fact, general supervision
and control over the regular and secular clergy in the colonies
(Recopilación, 1-6-1 to 7). By these acts the pope was relieved of
all direct responsibility for the spiritual government of Spain's
over-sea dominions, his authority being limited to the approval of
prelates nominated by the Spanish king and to other ecclesiastical
duties of a nominal character.
The patronato real in Spain furnished a precedent for that of her
colonial empire. Although the royal patronage in Spain and in the
colonies were closely associated, the beginning of this relationship
may be found in the early years of Spanish history, when concessions
were granted by the king to nobles, cities, and similarly, to
churchmen, in exchange for fealty of some sort. For example, the
vast tracts of land in Spain were received by the church as a gift
from the state, wherefore the state reserved the right to declare who
should hold these lands and enjoy these privileges and also the power
to dictate the conditions under which they were to be held. The right
of appointment by the crown to vacant benefices and to all the higher
church offices were applications of this principle. (See Cunningham,
"The institutional background of Latin American history," in the
Hispanic American historical review, Vol, I, pp. 24-39.)
The concession of 1501 by Alexander VI was only one of a number of
privileges of the sort accorded by the popes to the Spanish crown. The
emperor, Charles V, obtained from Pope Hadrian VI the perpetual
right to nominate prelates and abbots to vacant benefices. In 1543
the Spanish government further demanded and received the concession
that all posts within the church in Spain and her colonies should be
held by Spaniards. In 1538 the right of the church to issue bulls and
briefs affecting the colonies was limited. In 1574 Philip II declared
that the right of patronage belonged privately to the king. As a result
of this, says Professor Altamira, "the Spanish clergy considered itself
more closely bound to the king than to the pope, ... more dependent on
the court than on the curia, ... more eager for the privileges of the
crown than for the rights of the church, ... the bishops were obliged
to obey the monarch more than the archbishop." (Altamira y Crevea,
História, III, 418-19.)
The laws of the royal patronage centralized the supervision and control
of the clergy of the Philippines in the person of the governor of the
Islands. The latter was vicepatron and representative of the king in
ecclesiastical matters. He was the responsible head of church affairs
in the Islands so far as these matters concerned the government. He
was legally authorized and required to receive and assign prelates, to
confirm minor appointments by the prelates to parishes and curacies,
to make removals from the same when necessary, to make temporary
assignments of provinces to the regulars and to support the prelates in
the exercise of episcopal visitation. His consent was necessary to the
suppression, division, or union of districts, curacies and parishes,
and no priest could leave the Islands without his consent. The
king was patron, but the exercise of his authority in the colonies
was delegated to the respective viceroys and governors. See entire
title of Recopilación, 1-6; for general observations on the royal
patronage see Gómez Zamora, Regio patronato: Parrás, El gobierno de
los regulares de la América, I, 2-16; Mendieta, Historia eclesiástica,
20-21, 186-196; Hernáez, Colección de bulas, 12-28.
[692] This is a translation of ruego y encargo, which form civil
officials were required to employ on all occasions in addressing
ecclesiastical officials. The king himself observed this rule and
his act was supposed to form a precedent for general use within the
Spanish colonial empire.
[693] Recopilación, 1-6-47.
[694] Ibid., 2-1-10. Laws 11 and 12 of the same title did not in any
way diminish the authority of the royal audiencia. Law 11, dated May
16, 1571, antedating the one above quoted, declared that although
cédulas on governmental subjects were occasionally addressed to the
"president and oidores," the viceroys and presidents might have
private jurisdiction over these matters. Law 12, dated April 6,
1638, recognized the fact that ministers of justice were frequently
addressed on (governmental) subjects, which, it declared, should not
be construed to prejudice the viceroy's pre-eminence in these matters.
[695] Concepción, as cited in note 1 of this chapter. Salazar's
arguments are outlined in Chapter II of this treatise.
[696] Archbishop Pardo's well known opposition to the exercise of
governmental control on the basis of the royal patronage and his
resistance to the pretensions of ultimate superiority over the church
which the temporal government claimed and assumed are referred to in
another part of this treatise. In a letter written by the archbishop
relative to the ecclesiastical controversy bearing his name, Pardo
made the assertion that no person was more zealous to encourage or
conform to the royal authority than he, for he realized the necessity
of complete temporal jurisdiction over all things secular. He stated
that he had always encouraged the ecclesiastics to comply with the
just demands of the civil government, "for it is just," he wrote to
the king, "to observe the temporal things over which Your Majesty has
providence, since the secular power must be obeyed, ... yet I cannot
offend the royal person by allowing him or his servants to transgress
the rules or authority of God without interposing my influence against
it, even at the risk of being disgraced; ... while I am allied to
the civil authority in things secular, I am the superior in spiritual
matters." He continued: "God has placed side by side the ecclesiastical
and temporal authorities and the latter were intended to be subject
to the former, and therefore, the temporal ministers ought to cede to
the spiritual, according to the rules of the Holy Catholic Church. It
is manifestly unjust, therefore, that a governor, maestre de campo,
or other royal official should command or summon to justice a prelate
who is charged with the welfare of the souls of the people of his
commonwealth" (Pardo to King, September 7, 1686, A. I., 68-1-44).
A violent, though ineffective resistance was maintained by the church
when Governor Simón de Anda y Salazar sought to abolish certain
practices observed in the chanting of mass. Anda based his action
on his authority as vicepatron. In his stand he was supported by the
archbishop and by two suffragan bishops. However, Bishop de Luna, of
Camarines, who was also papal delegate, violently opposed "sending
[a copy of] this scandalous mandate to the royal Audiencia--a body
consisting of three magistrates, to whom an appeal may lie against the
governor" (Letter of a Franciscan Friar, December 13, 1771, Blair and
Robertson, L, 318-319.) That a soldier should be the final arbiter in
a question belonging so pre-eminently to the ecclesiastical sphere,
seemed to this bishop to be entirely subversive of the interests of
religion and he turned to the audiencia for protection and support. The
governor sent a squad of soldiers to arrest the prelate, and the
latter was forced to leave the Islands.
In 1770, Governor Anda was vehemently opposed by the ecclesiastical
authorities of the colony in his efforts, as the churchmen described
it, "to interfere in the governmental and judicial rights and
pre-eminences of the church." This was during the struggle over the
question of episcopal visitation; in this matter the governor supported
the archbishop. The former had gone so far as to declare that the
friars had neither the right nor the authority to administer the
sacraments. The replies of Fray Sebastián de Asunción, a Recollect,
and of Antonio de San Próspero, of the Augustinians, attacked the
whole foundation of the royal patronage, claiming that the church
should be given entire control in ecclesiastical matters. According
to their views the attention of the governor should be confined to
administrative affairs (Expediente de los provinciales de Filipinas, 15
de Julio, 1772, A. I., 107-7-6). As these friars were the provincials
of their orders, their opinions are of value in reflecting the
ideas of the religious in the Islands on the subject of episcopal
visitation. These opinions were contrary to the accepted practices
and to the ideas of men of higher standing in Spain's colonial empire.
Archbishop Pardo's well-known opposition to the exercise of
governmental control on the basis of the royal patronage gave him
pre-eminence in these same matters.
[697] Gómez Zamora, Regio patronato, 330 et seq.
[698] Ibid., 330-354.
[699] Ibid., 378.
[700] Recopilación, 1-8-2, 3, 6. A dispute concerning the jurisdiction
of the audiencia over the findings of synods arose in 1773 and again
in 1776, when the Bishop of Nueva Segovia protested against the ruling
of the audiencia that all the deliberations of a provincial synod
which had been held in that bishopric should be submitted for its
approval. The bishop appealed to the Council of the Indies and that
body approved the action of the audiencia (King to the Audiencia,
October 19, 1776, A. I., 105-2-9).
[701] Recopilación, 1-9-2, 7, 10.
[702] Recopilación, 1-13-23.
[703] Ibid., 1-14-1, 20, 42; 3-14-3.
[704] Ibid., 1-14-34, 38.
[705] Ibid., 44, 67.
[706] This law was nullified by the cédula of August 1, 1795, which
forbade the intervention of the vicepatron and audiencia in these
matters. See Recopilación, 1-6, note 17, also 1-14-37.
[707] Ibid., 68.
[708] Ibid., 71, 75.
[709] Cédula of June 1, 1574, Blair and Robertson, XXI, 27-31.
[710] Cédula of November 14, 1603, Blair and Robertson, XXI, 50-52,
note.
[711] Royal order of April 6, 1609, A. I., 105-2-1.
[712] Recopilación, 1-14; 1-7-54.
[713] Ibid., 1-7-1, 36.
[714] Montero y Vidal, Historia general, I, 357-358. Illustrative of
this same authority on the part of the audiencia and the Council of the
Indies was the consulta of the latter tribunal, enacted January 22,
1781. The Audiencia of Manila had called the attention of the home
government to the fact that the nomination of Fray Manuel de Obelar,
a Dominican, to the post of apostolic vicar of the province of Fukien,
China, had been irregular because it had lacked the formality of
presentation by the Spanish monarch. Other nominations, namely, those
of 1753 and 1759, were cited as examples wherein this formality had
not been lacking. The Council of the Indies recommended to the King
that the nomination should be accepted and that an ayuda de costa
should be voted, but that His Holiness should be notified through the
Spanish ambassador in Rome that in the future the requirements of the
royal patronage should be observed, and that no appointments in China,
Spain, or in the Spanish colonies should be made without the consent
of the Spanish monarch (A. I., 105-3-2).
[715] Recopilación, 1-6-31 and 1-14-12, treat of the admission of
foreign prelates and visitors to ecclesiastical posts within the
Spanish colonial empire. The latter law stipulates, in addition,
that all bulls must be confirmed by the Council of the Indies before
their introduction into the Indies.
[716] Tourón proceeded to China, where he continued his inspection. He
revoked many of the privileges of the Spanish friars there and forced
their retirement to Manila (consulta of the Council of the Indies on
the report of the proceedings of Cardinal Tourón in China, February
24, 1710, A. I., 68-2-8). That his proceedings were recognized by
the Spanish government is shown by the consulta of April 21, 1708,
whereby 4000 pesos were voted to defray the expenses of Tourón in
the Philippines and China. This money was added to the Philippine
subsidy in Mexico (ibid.).
[717] Arce to Philip III, July 30, 1619, Blair and Robertson, XVIII,
238-239.
[718] Díaz, Conquistas, II, 267, et seq.; Martínez de Zúñiga, An
historical view, I, 259.
[719] Tavora to Philip IV, July 8, 1632, Blair and Robertson, XXIV,
224-228.
[720] Corcuera to Philip IV, June 30, 1636, Blair and Robertson,
XXVII, 21.
[721] The cédula of December 15, 1797, authorized the installation of
the Bishop of Nueva Segovia as archbishop in the vacant see of Manila,
on the death of the incumbent, in accordance with the requirements
of the royal patronage. On September 8, 1800, the Bishop of Cebú
was designated as archbishop in the same manner. The installations
were made by the vicepatron on the strength of these cédulas, with
the understanding that the latter were to be followed by the proper
papal bulls, executed in due form. Cédulas of December 15, 1797,
and of September 9, 1800, A. I., 105-2-18.
[722] The vicepatron had a right to do this in conjunction with the
prelate until August 1, 1795, when authority was bestowed upon the
latter without the interference of the civil government. Recopilación,
1-6-38, note 17.
[723] Cédula of August 1, 1795, and of September 16, 1803, A. I.,
105-2-10; Recopilación, 1-6, note 17.
[724] Recopilación, 1-14-71 to 75; the entire title (14) of this
book deals with the general subject of the religious orders. The
method of procedure in such cases may be illustrated by the efforts
of the government to correct the abuses of Fray Alonso Zamudio, an
Augustinian, who was in charge of a parish, and who therefore was
subject to episcopal visitation. He was charged with immoral and
vicious conduct. The provincial of his order made an investigation
and reported that the evidence brought against him would warrant his
prosecution. He recommended the removal of the friar, which, he stated,
he could not himself bring about because Zamudio was acting as a parish
priest. The provisor of the archbishopric recommended the banishment
of Zamudio, which act was carried out by the governor in acuerdo with
the audiencia. A ruego y encargo was dispatched by the tribunal,
soliciting the surrender of the friar. He was accordingly handed
over to the civil authorities and was incarcerated in Fort Santiago
until the sentence could be executed (Información del juez-provisor,
y testimonio de los abusos del fraile Alonso Zamudio, May 21, 1650,
A. I., 67-6-9).
[725] Recopilación, 1-14-71, 72. An illustration of the operation of
this sort of banishment may be noted in the case of three Augustinian
friars whose deportation was requested by their provincial. The request
was ignored by Governor Anda, whereupon the provincial wrote directly
to the court; consequently on April 13, 1777, the king ordered the
audiencia to see that these three friars were returned to Spain;
Anda was advised to give more attention in the future to matters
pertaining to the royal patronage (King to the Audiencia, April 13,
1777, A. I., 105-2-9).
[726] This has been discussed in Chapter III of this treatise.
[727] Recopilación, 1-14-67.
[728] Concepción, Historia general, IX, 190; Montero y Vidal, Historia
general, I, 400-401.
[729] "Provisores and vicarios generales exercise the ordinary
ecclesiastical jurisdiction throughout the entire territory of the
diocese and reside in the head city of the bishopric or archbishopric"
(Escriche, Diccionario, II, 453). The magistrates and other judicial
functionaries of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction will be described
at greater length in the succeeding chapter.
[730] Juez-conservador, an ecclesiastical or secular (not civil) judge
named by the pope with jurisdiction or power to defend a particular
church, monastery or convent. (Escriche, Diccionario, II, 260).
[731] Nuns of St. Clare to King, Blair and Robertson, XXVI, 24.
[732] Recopilación, 2-31-1, 8; 6-10-8, 9.
[733] Le Gentil, in Blair and Robertson, XXVIII, 218.
[734] Recopilación, 3-14-28.
[735] Guerela to the Council, June 20, 1702, A. I., 68-4-12.
[736] Report of Torralba, July 20, 1713, A. I., 68-4-16. Torralba
was charged in his residencia with having received bribes from the
Franciscans for making this report, which was favorable to them and
which was designed to bring about the restoration of the curacies to
the friars of that order.
[737] Royal decree of February 14, 1713, A. I., 68-4-18.
[738] Recopilación, 1-14-42 to 46; 1-7-21 to 31; 1-6-49; 2-15-146
and 147.
[739] Royal decree of December 31, 1622, Blair and Robertson, XX, 253.
[740] Recopilación, 2-18-18.
[741] King to the Audiencia, April 6, 1778, A. I., 105-2-9.
[742] Información, a legally-attested document establishing proof of
some act or crime (Escriche, Diccionario, II, 156). In the broader
sense an información was an opinion or a body of evidence on a special
topic drawn up and legally attested by the proper authority. These
informaciones appear to have been submitted by the audiencia, or by
individual oidores, contadores, oficiales reales and others, but in
all cases they were legally drawn up and sworn to. An información
was always a special report, drawn up in compliance with a request
or command and is thus to be distinguished from a regular yearly or
semi-annual report.
[743] Recopilación, 2-23-13, 12, 15.
[744] King to the Audiencia, July 1, 1598, A. I., 105-2-1.
[745] King to the Audiencia, December 7, 1610, Blair and Robertson,
XVII, 151-152.
[746] King to the Audiencia, August 17, 1628, A. I., 105-2-1.
[747] Recopilación, 1-14-1.
[748] Ibid., 1-14-31 to 34, 38, 40, 91, 92; 2-33-11 to 15. Hundreds
of these reports appear in A. I., 105-2-1 to 10.
[749] Recopilación, 1-14-2, 3, 4.
[750] Ibid., 1-14-90, 91, 20. Missionaries were so badly needed in
the colonies in the sixteenth century that they were sent free of
expense. The governors and viceroys were commanded to pay particular
attention to them, assisting and providing for them in all possible
ways. "Until the members of the different orders were enabled,
by their sufficient numbers and increased prosperity, to establish
themselves in communities ... both king and pope extended privileges
and protection to them in order to facilitate the labors of their
calling." (Bancroft, History of Mexico, III, 702.)
[751] Recopilación, 3-14-4.
[752] Ibid., 1-22-7.
[753] Ibid., 19.
[754] Ibid., 1-22-53.
[755] Audiencia to Felipe II, June 25, 1588, Blair and Robertson, VI,
318. The Jesuits, on July 8, 1598, again requested permission to bestow
the degrees of licentiate and doctor, urging that the distance from
Europe was so great that the universities there were inaccessible to
students of the Philippines. At that time the petition of the Jesuits
was not granted, but that order succeeded in getting permission
to establish the college of San José in 1601. This institution was
enabled to maintain itself without royal aid until 1767. Its chief
support was derived from the immense wealth of the society and from
the large donations of individuals.
[756] Montero y Vidal, Historia general, I, 283-294; Pastel-Colín,
Labor evangélica, III, 414-418.
[757] Cédula of June 30, 1778, A. I., 105-2-9.
[758] The college of Santo Tomás was founded on August 15, 1619,
eighteen years after the foundation of the rival college of the
Jesuits. Due largely to the guiding influence and paternal care of
a number of Dominican archbishops it grew and prospered. It became a
royal university in 1645 and its title was extended at various times
subsequently (Montero y Vidal, Historia general, I, 169 [note], 283).
[759] Blair and Robertson, XXXVIII, 78-80.
[760] A number of testimonios exist in A. I., 105-2-6 bearing on
suits of natives and Chinese mestizos who aspired to enter the royal
university. In later years they were admitted, but these institutions
were primarily intended for the children of Spaniards. Of especial
interest was the suit brought in the audiencia by the Chinese mestizo,
Francisco de Borja, against the University of Santo Tomás for the
degree of master of arts, which the educational institution refused
to grant on account of the nationality of the plaintiff. The suit
was carried to the Council of the Indies, and that tribunal, after
requiring the opinion of the royal fiscal, declared in its consulta
of July 17, 1780, that the laws of the Indies (Recopilación, 1-22-57)
denied to mestizos, Chinese, and mulattoes the right of studying in
the royal universities, but once having qualified, however, there
was nothing in the origin or nature of an infidel that should prevent
his receiving his degree (A. I., 105-3-1). Another question which was
deliberated with much care was whether illegitimate children should
be admitted as students or qualified as licentiates.
[761] Ecclesiastical tithes (diezmos), according to Martínez Alcubilla,
were "taxes upon the products of the earth which the producers paid
from the entire product of their labor, without deduction of the
expenses to which they were put, or consideration of the capital
invested" (Martínez Alcubilla, Diccionario, V, 412). Escriche defines
the ecclesiastical tithe as "the part which is paid by the faithful for
the maintenance of the ministers of the church," usually consisting
of a tenth of their products, although at times it was less, varying
with the use and custom of the locality (Escriche, Diccionario,
I, 638). This payment was required from merchants, farmers and
encomenderos (Recopilación, 1-16-1 to 10). In 1537 Viceroy Mendoza was
directed to exact tithes from the natives (Bancroft, History of Mexico,
III, 666). This was again ordered by the cédulas of July 12, 1778,
and January 20, 1786 (A. I., 105-2-9). Subsequently the agricultural
estates of friars were made liable to the payment of tithes. As early
as 1655 the Jesuits in New Spain were obliged to pay tithes on all
crops and productions of their estates (Bancroft, History of Mexico,
III, 668).
The purpose to which these funds were theoretically devoted was the
support and maintenance of the church. The right of collecting and
administering them was conceded to the crown by Pope Alexander VI
in the bull of November 16, 1501, in "full, absolute and irrevocable
ownership, with the condition that the crown should assist the church
with a sum sufficient for the decent support of divine worship, its
prelates and ministers" (Recopilación, 1-16-1 and 23). The cédula
of April 29, 1648 reaffirmed and amplified this bull, ordering in
addition that one-third of all money arising from vacant benefices
should be set aside for the support of the church, while the residue
should be sent to Spain (ibid., 1-7-41; see also 1-16-28 and Article
8, Real Ordenanza de Intendentes de Buenos Ayres; Robertson, History
of America, IV [Bk. viii], note XXXII).
On February 3, 1541, Charles V prescribed that the tithes should be
divided into four equal parts, two of which were to go to the prelate
and chapter of the diocese, while the remaining two parts were to
be further separated into ninths (novenos), of which two were to
be reserved for the crown, three for the construction of churches
and hospitals, two for salaries of curates, and the remaining two
portions were to be set aside to pay the dignitaries and subalterns
of the diocese (Recopilación, 1-16-23).
In case the portion reserved for the salaries of curates proved
insufficient, the royal treasury guaranteed a yearly stipend of from
one hundred to a hundred and twenty pesos to each priest. This cédula
was amended by the regulation of March 28, 1620, which provided that
the royal ninths should be taken from the gross amount of tithes paid
in (Recopilación, 1-16-25). So it developed that the crown came to
assume entire jurisdiction over the administration of the tithes,
retaining a portion of these episcopal rents for non-ecclesiastical
purposes. The royal share was placed in the treasury and was
administered by the oficiales reales, leaving only seven-ninths of
the money actually obtained to be expended for the support of the
church. These funds were collected in the provinces by the provincial
revenue officials, subject to the supervision of the alcaldes mayores,
who were responsible in turn for this particular matter to an oidor
and a royal treasury official of the central government (Ibid.,
1-16-1, 30).
These novenos were not infrequently farmed out in New Spain, and at the
auctions thereof frauds were as repeatedly committed as at the sales
of other royalties. Instructions were issued ordering the Audiencia
of Mexico to investigate the nature of these transactions. In March,
1728, the royal novenos were leased for a period of nine years at
$19,000 annually. When this lease expired they were let again for
a similar period at $20,000 a year (Bancroft, History of Mexico,
III, 666-668 and note 57); see Priestley, José de Gálvez, 249-253,
for data on the administration of tithes in New Spain.
[762] Recopilación, 1-16-11, 3.
[763] Ibid., 13.
[764] Ibid., 24; also Real Ordenanza de Intendentes de Nueva España,
Art., 193.
[765] Royal order of September 25, 1768, A. I., 107-5-23; see also
Royal decree of July 9, 1785, A. I., 106-2-15.
[766] Testimonios accompanying auto of December 11, 1775, A. I.,
105-2-9.
[767] King to the Audiencia, July 12, 1778, A. I., 105-2-9.
[768] Decree of January 20, 1786, repromulgated December 16, 1796,
A. I., 105-2-10. While the laws of the Indies make no mention of the
requirement that the natives should pay tithes, the above cédulas
expressly order it. This is interesting, in view of the fact that
Gómez Zamora, in his Regio Patronato (381 et seq.) says that in the
Philippines the natives were not called upon for tithes. Montero y
Vidal (Historia general, III, 179) cites the cédula of May 23, 1801,
which exempted Indians from the payment of tithes.
[769] Montero y Vidal, Historia general, III, 179; also King to the
Audiencia, October 6, 1792, A. I., 105-2-10.
[770] Aguilar to Soler, July 31, 1799, A. I., 107-5-23.
[771] On August 17, 1853, the superintendent of real hacienda of Manila
made an effort to revive the payment of tithes, which practice had
become extinct. He ordered the religious provincials to present in
the administración general de tributos lists of all taxable property
under their jurisdiction (Montero y Vidal, Historia general, III, 178).
[772] While the temporalities were originally the endowments of
the sovereign for the support of the clergy, in the Philippines at
this time they were chiefly derived from the sale of jewels, lands,
live-stock, and other chattel properties of the Jesuit order, which
had been suppressed in 1769. Property to the value of 2,000,000
pesos fell into the hands of the government on this occasion. The
temporalities did not include convents, school buildings, colleges,
churches and church furnishings. The latter were turned over to the
archbishop and the secular church.
[773] Cédula of January 22, 1803, A. I. 107-5-29.
[774] A very instructive and hitherto unexplored field of investigation
lies in the reports of the different officials and bodies in
the colonies which were entrusted with the duty of collecting and
forwarding money to help Spain in putting down the various revolts of
the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. We may note the
letter of Governor Aguilar, dated July 20, 1804, in which he reported
compliance with the royal order of June 20, 1798, relative to the
raising of money for the purposes indicated. He had opened two public
subscriptions for "voluntary offerings" to aid in putting down the
Catalonian revolt of 1798. In the first subscription, 80,946 pesos
were raised and in the second, 15,397 pesos. The Dominicans alone
gave 5000 pesos, the magistrates of the audiencia, the members of the
consulado, the contadores, oficiales, reales, obras pías, prelates,
temporalities, the Compañia de Filipinas, the monte pio militar,
the veteran soldiers, religious orders and other organizations and
individuals each contributing their share. Aguilar reported that
subscriptions had been opened in all the provinces by the corregidores,
alcaldes mayores and intendentes. The various provinces and districts
contributed on this occasion as follows: Tondo, 11,059 pesos; Laguna,
2768 pesos; Cebú, 300 pesos; Albay, 85 pesos; Cápiz, 318 pesos;
Leyte, 21 pesos; Antique, 4 pesos; Samar, 1090 pesos; Zambales, 41
pesos; Calamianes, 1607 pesos; Mindoro, 221 pesos. This money was
sent to the Viceroy of New Spain, and was forwarded to Spain by him
together with the remittances collected for the same purposes in that
viceroyalty. Reports of alcaldes mayores show that these assessments
(contribuciones voluntarias or directas, or donativos voluntarios)
varied from half a real from the poorest Indian to five hundred
pesos from the wealthier landlords and merchants. In many cases these
assessments practically amounted to confiscations (Aguilar to the King,
July 20, 1804, A. I., 105-3-23).
On June 18, 1806, the king acknowledged receipt of money which had
been confiscated from the common funds of the village communities
(King to Aguilar, June 18, 1806, A. I., 105-2-18).
Hume, in his Modern Spain (158), says that in 1809 the colonies
contributed 3,000,000 pounds sterling for the relief of the home
government. Priestley, José de Gálvez, 370-71, sheds some light on
the matter of these forced contributions in New Spain.
[775] Martínez Alcubilla, Diccionario, X, 719. The obras pías were
charitable associations or corporations, usually under ecclesiastical
control, which were founded and supported by persons who contributed
or willed their money for beneficent objects. In Manila there were two
leading societies of this character, the Santa Misericordia and San
Juan de Diós. The former was a branch of a larger organization of the
same name, which had originated in Portugal, and was quite generally
established throughout Spain, Portugal and their colonies. A branch was
founded in Manila in 1596, with the object, as stated in the articles
of establishment, of erecting and maintaining a college for orphan
children, the support of the poor, and particularly of the orphans and
widows of soldiers. This society flourished from the beginning under
the favor of certain governors and oidores and by their assistance and
by that of other friends, and through the endowment by the government
of a large amount of free space on the galleon, it became a wealthy
and powerful institution. San Juan de Diós, which was organized as a
brotherhood, was established in the Philippines in 1617 with avowed
charitable purposes. In the cédula of February 10, 1617, the king
ordered the audiencia at Manila to place the hospitals under the care
of this brotherhood (Blair and Robertson, XLVII, 164-165). Though it
did not attain the wealth or importance of the Misericordia and it
never had the extensive relations with the government of the other
society, it did exceedingly valuable work in the Islands, going far
toward accomplishing the purposes for which it was founded.
[776] By 1660, the Misericordia had received in contributions the
sum of 356,363 pesos. In 1619, the treasury at Manila had become so
exhausted by the expenses involved in resisting the Dutch that Governor
Fajardo borrowed from the society the sum of 39,599 pesos. Later
Governor Corcuera exacted a loan of 104,609 pesos. In all, up to 1670,
an aggregate of 441,909 pesos had been borrowed from this wealthy
society for the current expenses of the government. In 1762-3 the
Misericordia contributed the sum of 195,588 pesos as tribute money
to the British and was, according to its own accounts, despoiled of
301,597 pesos, making a total of 506,184 pesos, and leaving a balance
of 193,246 pesos (Procurador de la Misericordia de Manila al Rey,
23 de Julio, 1764, A. I., 106-5-8).
The capital of the Misericordia of Manila on January 31, 1755,
was estimated at 701,477 pesos (Informe del Contador de Cuentas,
31 de Enero, 1755, A. I., 106-5-8). In the occupation of Manila by
the British and in the loss and despoliation of property suffered
thereby, the Misericordia received a blow from which it never entirely
recovered. By July 20, 1804, the capital of the society had dwindled
to 151,625 pesos (Aguilar to the King, July 20, 1804, A. I., 107-5-29).
[777] Cédula of November 8, 1747, with testimonios of previous
correspondence, A. I., 106-5-8.
[778] Informe del Contador de Cuentas del Consejo de Indias, 31 de
Enero de 1755, A. I., 106-5-8.
[779] Cédula of April 19, 1755, A. I., 106-5-8.
[780] Arandía to the King, July 24, 1757, A. I., 106-5-8.
[781] Cédula of February 21, 1759, A. I., 106-5-8.
[782] King to the Audiencia, April 25, 1778, A. I., 105-2-9.
[783] Cédula of August 2, 1787, A. I., 105-2-10.
[784] Aguilar to the King, July 20, 1804, A. I., 107-5-29.
[785] The capital of the society was at that time estimated at
151,625 pesos.
[786] King to the Audiencia and Consulado, June 7, 1775, A. I.,
105-2-9.
[787] The term espolio was applied to the properties which archbishops
and bishops left at the time of their death, such property having
accumulated when they were in office. All possessions of deceased
prelates reverted to the crown in accordance with the cédula of March
25, 1620. The rents from vacant benefices accumulated from the time
of the death of a prelate to the appointment of another to succeed
him (Escriche, Diccionario, I, 735; Bancroft, History of Mexico,
III, 699). The money derived from espolios and vacant benefices was
aggregated to the royal treasury for such subsequent distribution as
appeared necessary for the relief of cathedrals, parishes, colleges,
asylums, and charitable institutions.
[788] Recopilación, 1-7-38, 39.
[789] Ibid., 37, 40.
[790] Cédula of June 24, 1712, A. I., 68-4-17; Recopilación, 1-7,
note 8.
[791] Auto de Espolio of Bishop Gorospe, May 28, 1715, A. I., 68-4-18.
[792] In the colonial bishoprics the temporary successor of a deceased
prelate was usually designated by the local diocesan chapter. If,
as was the case in the Philippines, the latter body were lacking, the
archbishop, by virtue of his position, became temporary ecclesiastical
governor, with jurisdiction over the revenues of the diocese. The
benefice was considered vacant until the appointment of a regular
bishop.
[793] A fairly typical example of an espolio was that of Bishop Arévalo
of Nueva Cáceres, rendered by the audiencia on July 19, 1759. The total
sum left by that prelate was 19,000 pesos. The leading items of the
espolio were: costs, 1919 pesos; bequest to College of Santo Tomás,
2000 pesos; bequest to the cathedral of Nueva Cáceres, 400 pesos;
bequest to the brother of the deceased, the Marquis of Monte Castro,
1000 pesos. The remaining portion was paid to creditors in sums
varying from 20 to 300 pesos, leaving something over 6000 pesos for
the crown (Auto de Espolio, 20 de Julio, 1759, Audiencia de Manila,
A. I., 106-4-16).
On June 14, 1774, the audiencia reviewed the autos of espolio of
the Bishop of Cebú, the total of which aggregated 11,210 pesos. The
papers were duly forwarded to the Contaduría General, at Madrid,
and were approved by that tribunal on June 20, 1778 (A. I., 105-2-9).
Owing to the anarchical conditions prevailing at the time of the
death of Archbishop Rojo, his espolio had to be postponed until June
26, 1777, and the royal treasury received 3078 pesos therefrom. The
prelate left a valuable library to the College of San Ildefonso in
the city of Mexico, and 13,617 pesos in money to be distributed among
his personal creditors and heirs (Consultas del Consejo, 20 de Marzo,
1778, A. I., 108-7-1 and 2; 105-3-2).
The large sum of 12,000 pesos was netted to the royal treasury
by the espolio of Bishop Espeleta of Cebú on May 6, 1783 (A. I.,
105-2-10). By way of contrast, the fact may be noted that the espolio
of Archbishop Santos y Rufina yielded 92 pesos. (Auto de Espolio del
Arzobispo Santos y Rufina, 20 de Octubre, 1792, A. I., 105-2-10.)
[794] Real Ordenanza de Intendentes de Nueva España, Artículos 227,
228, 229.
[795] Recopilación, 1-3-1; 1-4-25.
[796] Ibid., 1-2-14.
[797] Fajardo to the King, August 15, 1620, Blair and Robertson,
XIX, 163.
[798] King to the Audiencia, June (?) 1604, A. I., 105-2-1.
[799] King to the Audiencia, October 30, 1634, A. I., 105-2-1.
[800] Recopilación, 1-3-1, 1-6-2. The expediente covering this case
is in A. I., 105-3-1. The cédula of April 6, 1778, and testimonios
are in A. I., 105-2-1.
[801] See Cunningham, "Origin of the friar lands question in the
Philippines," in The American political science review, X (August,
1916) pp. 465-480.
[802] Recopilación, 1-4-20.
[803] Ibid., 1-2-20.
[804] See Note 2 of the preceding chapter.
[805] Recopilación, 2-16-138.
[806] See Note by A. P. Cushing, in Blair and Robertson, V,
292. Escriche (Diccionario, I, 838-9) defines fuerza as "the wrong
which an ecclesiastical judge does to a party when he assumes
jurisdiction over a case which does not belong to him, or when
he fails to observe the rules prescribed by the laws and canons,
or when he unjustly denies appeal." Recurso de fuerza is defined as
the reclamation to a civil judge, made by a person believing himself
aggrieved by an ecclesiastical judge, imploring the protection of
the former in order that the fuerza or violence may be terminated
or undone. There are three ways mentioned by Alcubilla in which an
ecclesiastical judge may commit fuerza: 1. When he assumes jurisdiction
in a purely temporal case, which by its very nature is not rightfully
subject to his authority. 2. When, by trying a case whose jurisdiction
belongs to him, he fails to observe the method and form prescribed
by the laws and canons. 3. When he refuses to allow appeals which
should be rightfully allowed (Martínez Alcubilla, Diccionario, V, 807).
[807] Recopilación, 2-15-148, 149. The interdict, as defined
by Escriche (Diccionario, I, 712), is a prohibition, mandate,
or censure, pronounced by an ecclesiastical authority by which is
prohibited the use of certain spiritual privileges which are common
to all. The effect of the interdict may be to prohibit Christian
burial, the administration of the sacraments or the celebration of
divine services. Exception may be made in rare cases of baptisms,
confirmation and confession for the dying. Even though the interdict
may be pronounced it does not prohibit the saying of mass in a
low voice behind closed doors and without the ringing of bells. A
priest who violates the interdict may be pronounced "irregular",
but a layman who does so may incur the penalty of excommunication
(see Catholic Encyclopedia, under "Interdict").
[808] This refers to the privilege extended by the church to offenders
against the laws of the realm, who were allowed to take refuge from
the civil authorities in a church or convent. This practice was
recognized by the government. By a bull of Clement XIV, the right of
extending asylum was limited to a few churches only, the number of
these depending on the population of the town or city. Those guilty
of certain specified crimes of the most heinous character were
denied the privilege of sanctuary. The act of sheltering oneself
under the protection of God was supposed to be spontaneous and not
premeditated. The privilege was often abused by individual churchmen
(Escriche, Diccionario, I, 353).
[809] A clarifying description of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction
has been given by Escriche. He defines it as "the power of the
Church for the trial and adjudication of civil and criminal affairs
exercised either by its own right or by concession of princes." This
jurisdiction, says Escriche, is of two kinds, inherent (spiritual)
and privileged (temporal). After classifying the different cases which
fall naturally under each category, he describes the tribunals for
the interpretation of canon law. "The ecclesiastical jurisdiction,"
he writes, "the inherent, as well as the privileged, is exercised,
in first instance, by the bishops and archbishops in their respective
dioceses, in the second, by the metropolitan with respect to the
suffragans, and in the third, by the papal delegate. The bishops
and archbishops do not exercise the jurisdiction by themselves
but by means of their provisores or vicarios. These latter may be
either generales or foráneos.... The term provisor or vicar-general
is used to designate him who exercises the ordinary ecclesiastical
jurisdiction in the entire territory of the diocese and resides in
the episcopal city situated therein; ... foráneos are the others
established as delegates in certain parts of the diocese in order to
facilitate the administration of justice; no appointments to these
offices may be made without the royal approbation. The authority
of the provisores and vicarios cease by death of the prelate from
whom they obtained the nomination, and is reassumed by the cabildo
or chapter, sede vacante, which selects persons to succeed them"
(Escriche, Diccionario, II, 453).
Escriche further describes this hierarchy of ecclesiastical judges:
"The metropolitans, then, are the ordinary judges of first instance
with regard to the archbishoprics and at the same time they are
the judges of appeal from the suffragans, and, accordingly, they
are accustomed to appoint, aside from the provisores or vicarios,
ordinarios who discharge the functions of judges of first instance. As
the obispos exentos are not subject to a metropolitan, but directly
to the holy see, recourses of appeals from their decisions go to the
papal delegate." The cases of appeal from the metropolitans and other
ecclesiastical judges were heard in third and last instance by the
tribunal known as the rota of the papal delegate, which was composed
of the nuncio of the pope, and the ecclesiastical auditors appointed
by the crown.
The ecclesiastical courts of the Philippines conformed generally, in
organization and limits of jurisdiction, to the scheme outlined in the
preceding paragraphs. The three bishops of Nueva Segovia, Camarines,
and Cebú had their courts in the chief towns of their respective
dioceses. They were assisted by the customary provisores. Appeals
were carried from them to the court of the metropolitan which was
located in Manila; this latter tribunal consisted of the archbishop,
the vicar-general, and a notary. Above this court was that of the
papal delegate who tried cases of appeal from the lower tribunal in
accordance with canon law. In conformity with a bull of Gregory XIII,
dated May 15, 1572, the authority of the papal delegate in appeal cases
was final; "he might overrule and even supersede the metropolitan,
as being the judge in final appeal." The Bishop of Camarines most
frequently acted as papal delegate (Blair and Robertson, XLII, 27,
Note 4). Aside from these courts there was that of the commissary of
the Inquisition whose jurisdiction will be subsequently noted.
Each order, also, had its own judicial machinery for the settlement
of cases arising within it. The courts of the orders were presided
over by their provincials, generals and commissaries, and were
composed of those dignitaries and other magistrates selected in
accordance with their own rules. Special investigators or visitors
were also delegated to try cases arising within the orders, and to
make inspections, ascertaining the general character of the work of
the orders, the conduct of their dignitaries and the regularity of
their administration.
[810] Moses, South America on the eve of emancipation, 126.
[811] Carta de Fr. Francisco de Laudín ... al Consejo de Indias,
20 de Enero, 1668, A. I., 68-1-44.
[812] Recopilación, 1-7-54; 2-15-150; 3-1-4; Escriche, Diccionario,
II, 453.
[813] Recopilación, 1-10-1, 2.
[814] Escriche, Diccionario, II, 453.
[815] Recopilación, 1-10-4, 6, 7, 12; 1-7-12.
[816] Ibid., 11.
[817] Ibid., 2-15-153; 1-10-13; 3-1-3.
[818] As an example of this we may refer to the work of the
Augustinians in bringing to the light of judicial scrutiny the abuses
of certain encomenderos against the Indians of Mindanao. This was in
1581, before the audiencia was established. The offending encomenderos
were brought to Manila and tried by Bishop Salazar, who temporarily
deprived them of their holdings and sentenced them to imprisonment and
fines (Governor to the King [day and month not given], A. I., 67-6-6).
[819] The opposition of Salazar to what he termed the encroachment
of the civil jurisdiction was based on the assumption that the royal
patronage did not extend to tribes which lived in an uncivilized
and savage state. He contended that the pope had not conceded
this, consequently, as bishop, he had entire jurisdiction without
interference from the audiencia or governor over the Mohammedans
(as he termed all non-Christians) and the Chinese (A. I., 1-1-3/25).
[820] Cabildo de Manila to the King, A. I, 68-1-35.
[821] Fajardo to Felipe III, August 15, 1620, Blair and Robertson,
XIX, 155. The pendulum seems, however, to have swung in the other
direction at times. In 1604, the audiencia was charged with having
tried members of religious orders in absentia without giving them a
chance to summon witnesses or otherwise to defend themselves (King
to Audiencia, October 30, 1604, A. I., 105-2-1). That the audiencia
did not always have power to discipline the friars for infractions of
the royal laws in 1626, is attested by the case of an Augustinian who
led an assault on an alcalde mayor in Batangas, destroyed his house,
maltreated his person, and, in the presence of the natives, publicly
accomplished his disgrace. The king demanded from the audiencia a
statement of all the facts of the case so that he and the Council
might take proper steps for the punishment of the offending religious
and the protection of His Majesty's servants in the future (King to
Audiencia, May 21, 1623, A. I., 105-2-1). The audiencia conducted an
investigation and forwarded the papers relative to the case to the
court for final action. See Chapter X, note 35.
[822] Blair and Robertson, XXVIII, 314-15; see XLI, 22-25, 134, 231-4,
239, 255.
[823] Montero y Vidal, Historia general, 283-284.
[824] Letter of Fray Miguel de Solano, May 7, 1753, A. I., 67-6-4.
[825] Orellana to Carlos II, February 24, 1683, Blair and Robertson,
XXXVIII, 81-85.
[826] Concepción, Historia general, IX, 107. There are records of
many suits of this character throughout the history of Juan de la
Concepción. The original documents relating thereto are to be found
in A. I., 105-3-1 to 10. See also A. I., 67-6-3, 67-6-9 to 11.
[827] See note 3 of this chapter.
[828] Martínez Alcubilla, Diccionario, V, 807.
[829] Recopilación, 1-10-10; 2-15-136.
[830] Alzar or quitar la fuerza was the act on the part of a royal
tribunal of abrogating, annulling, or reforming the effects of violence
committed by an ecclesiastical judge.--Escriche, Diccionario, I, 839.
[831] Recopilación, 2-15-134, 135.
[832] Ibid., 2-15-143.
[833] Ibid., 144.
[834] Ibid., 152 and 142.
[835] Ibid., 2-2-4.
[836] Escriche, Diccionario, I, 712.
[837] Recopilación, 2-15-148: See expediente on affairs in the
Philippines, 1690, A. I., 67-6-3.
[838] Ibid., 1-7-47.
[839] Ibid., 2-15-149.
[840] Ibid., 1-10-9.
[841] Ibid., 10; 2-15-136.
[842] This is discussed in the preceding chapter.
[843] A. I., 1-1-3/25; Blair and Robertson, VIII, 275-281; X, 79,
245-275.
[844] Ronquillo to the King, July 12, 1599, A. I., 67-6-6, cited in
the preceding chapter.
[845] Cédula of November 13, 1626, A. I., 105-2-1; for cases of the
excommunication of viceroys and oidores and other matters relating
to the Inquisition in Perú and in New Spain see Lea, The inquisition
in the Spanish dependencies, 191-298, 319-451.
[846] Corcuera to Felipe IV, September 25, 1623, Blair and Robertson,
XXVI, 104-107.
[847] Martínez de Zúñiga, An historical view, I, 268.
[848] Relation of 1635-1636, Blair and Robertson, XXVI, 39-40;
see also Corcuera to Felipe IV, Blair and Robertson, XXVI, 60-127;
Montero y Vidal, Historia general, I, 195-196.
[849] Montero y Vidal, op. cit., I, 193-197.
[850] The Inquisition, as represented by one commissary and
three alternates (who were usually bishops) was established in the
Philippines on March 1, 1583. The commissary of the Inquisition had
for his special field all questions of faith and heresy, clearing
away the errors and superstitions against the dogma and the lax
opinions which pervert Christian morals (Pérez y López, Teatro,
XXVIII, 208). The Inquisitor of the Philippines was instructed,
on his arrival, to present his papers "to the ecclesiastical and
lay chapters in order that they might receive him and recognize
him in so high and holy an office." The Inquisition was represented
continuously in the Philippines until 1813. With the introduction
of this dignitary may be noted the presence in the Philippines of
at least five authorities with ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The
ordinary ecclesiastical tribunals dealt with contentions within
the Church. The papal delegate tried cases which had been appealed
from these ecclesiastical courts. The regular orders had their own
particular tribunals for the rule and discipline of their members
and the audiencia exercised such ecclesiastical jurisdiction as we
have noted in this chapter. There may be slight wonder, therefore,
in view of the presence of so many ecclesiastical tribunals with
similar powers, that there were frequent conflicts of authority.
[851] Recopilación, 1-19-1.
[852] Law of May 22, 1610, Recopilación, 1-19-2.
[853] The authorized proceeding in such a case was to appeal to
the General Council of the Inquisition, which held its sessions at
the court. This tribunal was authorized to nullify or reverse any
harmful act or decision which the ordinary inquisitors might resolve
upon. (Cédula of March 10, 1553, Recopilación, 1-19-4).
[854] Recopilación, 1-19-18, 19.
[855] Ibid., 16.
[856] Ibid., 21 and 22.
[857] Ibid., 3-15-78.
[858] "When a case may be tried indistinctly either by an
ecclesiastical or lay judge it is said that the case is of the
fuero mixto and then either of the two judges may take up the case,
but the judge who begins it must be the last to try it" (Escriche,
Diccionario, I, 832-833).
[859] See note to Recopilación, 1-19-4.
[860] Le Gentil, II, 172. Recopilación, 6-1-35.
[861] Audiencia to the King, July 20, 1585, A. I., 67-6-18. On
June 26, 1586, the audiencia recommended the discontinuance of
the Inquisition in the Philippines on the ground that it had
been utilized "as a citadel for the shelter of those desirous
of resisting the royal authority" (Audiencia to the King, A. I.,
68-1-33). Archbishop Santibañez, on the other hand, was desirous of
converting the inquisitorial authority into a tribunal to consist
of two ecclesiastics and one oidor. He argued that the distance from
Mexico made procedure cumbersome, and it was manifestly unjust that
residents of the Philippines should be judged by a foreign court
(referring to the tribunal in Mexico.--Santibañez to Philip II,
June 24, 1598, Blair and Robertson, X, 151). These same sentiments
were expressed sixty years later by Francisco Bello, procurator at
Madrid for the religious orders. The Council of the Indies returned
the petition which had been submitted by this last-named ecclesiastic,
to the Viceroy of New Spain, and to the Audiencia and Archbishop of
Manila, respectively, for their advice. The consensus of opinion
was against the idea of creating a tribunal in Manila, partially
on account of the expense. It was also shown that such a reform
would have meant a loss of power to the viceroyalty of New Spain,
and by the adoption of such a suggestion there would be created a
powerful tribunal which would seriously inconvenience the authority
and supremacy of the audiencia and the archbishop at Manila (Consulta
of the Council of the Indies, March 15, 1659, A. I., 67-6-22).
[862] Cited already in various connections, particularly in Chapters
II and X of this treatise.
[863] In the Philippines, archbishops were frequently able to combine
the functions and offices of metropolitan prelate and commissary of
the Inquisition. This gave greater pre-eminence to the archbishop and
made the situation more difficult for the civil authorities. We have
already noted an illustration of this in the case of Archbishop Pardo
(1683-1689). Being also commissary of the Inquisition, he refused to
grant absolution to ex-Governor Vargas, claiming that his authority
as sole inquisitor was not sufficient to justify such action on his
part without first receiving advice from the tribunal in Mexico.
[864] Lea, in his well-known work on The inquisition in the Spanish
dependencies says that "while this branch of the Inquisition (referring
to that in the Philippines) accomplished so little for the faith,
it was eminently successful in the function of contributing to
the disorder and confusion which so disastrously affected Spanish
colonial administration" (p. 308). For a more detailed account of
this episode see Cunningham, "The inquisition in the Philippines:
the Salcedo affair," in The Catholic historical review, III, 417-445.
[865] The leading church historians of the Philippines--Martínez de
Zúñiga, Salazar, Fonseca and Concepción--were naturally unfavorable
to Salcedo in their accounts of the events of his administration. All
agree, however, that Salcedo was a man of energy and precision, who, at
the beginning of his rule, gave promise of universal satisfaction. The
correspondence of the civil officials who were contemporaneous with
the governor, and the letters of Salcedo himself show that his chief
concern was the enforcement of the laws and the elimination of the
ecclesiastical and commercial graft with which the administration of
the government of the Philippines was permeated on his arrival in
the Islands (Letters of Coloma, Bónifaz, Montemayor, León, and the
Municipal Cabildo, 1670-1, A. I., 67-6-3; see also note to Ventura
del Arco Mss., in Blair and Robertson, XXXVII, 262).
Zúñiga, however, states that Salcedo's commercial reforms were
only intended for the benefit of himself and his friends, and that
he reserved the chief articles of trade for himself, leaving only
second-rate and spoiled goods for the merchants. This same historian
states that the governor arranged for the early departure of the
galleon on one occasion, with his goods on board, leaving those
of the majority of the merchants unshipped (Martínez de Zúñiga,
An historical view, I, 307-308). Fonseca charges him with avarice,
maintaining that all classes of society in Manila were disgusted
with the governor's commercial transactions and were shocked at his
exile of the archbishop. This historian relates that "the magistracy,
the army, the merchants, arts and industries, ... all raised their
voices against the badly directed government of Salcedo, determining
to over-turn him; representative citizens of Manila petitioned the
audiencia, asking that it deprive him of the government, ... and the
royal acuerdo determined to do so, but at the last moment the judges
disagreed over the question of whose signature should precede the
others; this question remained in litigation, and blocked the action
of the royal acuerdo" (Fonseca, Historia de la provincia de santissimo
Rosario. Libro V, Capítulo VIII, quoted in Sobre una reseña histórica,
92). Concepción, the Augustinian historian, confirms the above, and
gives a more clarifying reason for the failure of the audiencia to
oust the governor--namely, that the latter was sharing his commercial
profits with the magistrates, thereby purchasing their favors; the
oidores were therefore reluctant to take action against the governor
(Concepción, Historia general, VII, 137-138, 162-200).
[866] Salcedo was charged with plotting to sell the Islands to the
Dutch and with surrounding himself with Flemings, one of whom was a
Calvinist. It was alleged that he had already sent large sums of money
to Macao, including a large part of the funds in the Manila treasury,
and that he was preparing to depart in person. It was said moreover
that he intended to return in command of a Dutch squadron and capture
the colony for Holland. It is evident that there was no lack of charges
against Salcedo (The original correspondence and consultas of the
various tribunals which considered the charges against Salcedo may
be noted in A. I., 67-6-3. See Blair and Robertson, XXXVII, 37-60,
Lea, The inquisition in the Spanish dependencies, 299-318, and the
ecclesiastical authorities mentioned in the preceding note).
Dr. Pardo de Tavera, in his account of the arrest of Governor Salcedo,
says that "in 1668, Governor Salcedo had some difference with (the
friars) ... and the archbishop and as a result, the latter decided to
avenge themselves, plotting with the military officials, regidores and
merchants to bring him before the Inquisition. They made a conspiracy
and, one night while the governor slept, the conspirators, among
whom were the provincial of the Franciscans, the guardián of the
convent of that order in Manila, and various other ecclesiastics,
entered his room, surprising him while he slept, and placed him in
irons. He was thus taken to the convent of the Franciscans, but
considering the latter insecure, they carried him to that of San
Augustín, loading him with a heavy chain" (Pardo de Tavera, Reseña
Histórica, 37). After a period of imprisonment in Manila, Salcedo
was ordered to Mexico for trial by the tribunal of the Inquisition,
as the local authority was without authority to take further action
in the matter. Salcedo never reached his destination, however,
as he died at sea. This was subsequently the fate of Paternina,
the inquisitor who was responsible for his disgrace.
[867] That Governor León had a trying position to fill may be
believed by his description of affairs as he found them in Manila,
and of his struggles to restore the royal authority to its proper
status. He gave a full account of "the excessive presumption of the
commissary of the Inquisition in the arrest of Don Diego Salcedo,
my (his) predecessor, and his interference in matters wherein he had
no real jurisdiction." León reported having prevailed upon the royal
audiencia to order the commissary to refrain from meddling in affairs
which did not concern the Inquisition. The ways of the Inquisition he
described as "dark and secret;" it was "a danger and a fearful power,"
a "monster, feared by all," working, not in the light of day, but
insidiously, constituting a sinister power whose strength was not
fully realized (León to Council, June 10, 1671, and July 4, 1672;
Consulta of the Council of the Indies, July 16, 1674, A. I., 67-6-3).
[868] Audiencia to the King, June 15, 1671, A. I., 67-6-10.
[869] Consulta of the Council, August 12, 1672, A. I., 67-6-10.
[870] Montero y Vidal, I, 356.
[871] Acuerdo of August 24, 1672, A. I., 67-6-10.
[872] While the Salcedo affair accurately depicts the power which the
Inquisition assumed on a particular occasion, the episode cannot be
said to illustrate its power and influence throughout the history of
the Islands. Indeed, never on any former or subsequent occasion did the
Inquisition constitute such a menace to the state. It was generally
prevented from exercising too much power in the Philippines by its
own isolation. Represented by a single agent, who was not always on
good terms with the other ecclesiastical authorities there, and who
was thousands of miles from his immediate superior, the tribunal of
Mexico, he was confronted and opposed by the combined civil, secular
and monastic powers. Owing to these circumstances, the commissary
of the Inquisition in the Philippines could not, single-handed and
unaided, constitute a long-continued danger to the commonwealth.
[873] Reales resoluciones no recopiladas, Pérez y López, Teatro,
XXVIII, 207.
[874] Recopilación, 1-19, note 2.
[875] Ibid., note 1. This tendency culminated in the decree of February
22, 1813, which suppressed the Supreme Tribunal of the Inquisition and
renewed the jurisdiction of bishops and vicars over cases involving
the faith, as had been the practice before the Inquisition was
instituted. All property belonging to the Inquisition reverted to the
crown. Soon after the restoration of Ferdinand VII the Inquisition
was revived, against the will of that monarch, it is said, but it
was again abolished by the decrees of March 9, 1820, and July 1, 1835.
As a result of the suppression of the Tribunal of the Inquisition
on March 9, 1820, and the transfer of its authority over matters of
faith to the vicars and bishops, Escriche says that "in the exercise
of their jurisdiction some of these prelates exceeded their authority
and established in their respective dioceses juntas de fé, which turned
out to be in reality inquisitorial tribunals with practically the same
authority which former tribunals had exercised. They inflicted corporal
and spiritual punishments and guarded in their ministry the most
inviolable secrecy." As soon as reports of this unexpected assumption
of authority came to the notice of the government, Ferdinand hastened
to order the suppression of these self-constituted tribunals, without
immediate success, however. Escriche tells us that they continued
their excesses for some time, "depriving accused persons of the
means of defense, keeping from them the names of persons testifying
against them," flagrantly disregarding the dispositions of the brief
of Pius VII, dated October 5, 1829, in prohibition of exactly these
abuses. On February 6, 1830, a cédula was expedited which authorized
appeals in cases of this nature until three conforming decisions were
rendered. The decree of July 1, 1835, abolished these tribunals,
ordering the prelates to exercise jurisdiction with appeal to the
Department of Grace and Justice (Escriche, Diccionario, I, 773).
[876] The author has treated this subject in a separate monograph
entitled "The origin of the friar lands question in the Philippines,"
in The American political science review, X, 463-480.
[877] The friar lands litigation began in 1687 and continued
until 1751. The efforts of the government met with considerable
opposition. The oidores who were charged with the inspection of the
titles to these lands frequently abandoned their commissions and
recommended that the friars be left alone. However, in the year last
mentioned, the opposition of the Franciscans, the last of the resisting
orders, was overcome (Correspondence regarding friar lands exists in
A. I., 68-4-12 and 68-6-26). See also the Camacho Controversy, Blair
and Robertson, XLII, 25-116; Montero y Vidal, Historia general, I,
385, et seq.; Concepción, Historia general, VIII, 192-206; Philippine
Census, I, 342-343; Sobre una reseña histórica by the Dominicans of
Manila, 65-89.
[878] "In America [and in the Philippines] the monks were given
a somewhat unusual position. According to the canon law they were
not able to hold beneficed curacies, but the extent of the American
field, and the limited number of the clergy available to occupy it,
induced Leo X, Adrian VI, Paul III, Clement VIII, and Pius V to permit
them to become parish priests. Under this order a very large number
of these parishes in America in the first century were occupied by
friars. But in the middle of the eighteenth century, this privilege
was withdrawn, leaving them only two friars in a conventual province"
(Moses, South America on the eve of emancipation, 138-139).
[879] See Cunningham, "The question of ecclesiastical visitation in
the Philippines," in The Pacific Ocean in history, 223-237.
[880] Recopilación, 1-15-28.
[881] Ibid., 29.
[882] Ibid., 31.
[883] Valuable materials, for the most part original, on the visitation
controversy may be found in Blair and Robertson, XXIV, 247; XXIX,
191; XLII, 25-116; XX, 87; XXI, 32-78; XXXVII, 193-200. See also
A. I., 69-1-29, 68-4-16, 106-4-21, 105-2-9, 106-4-31. Montero y
Vidal (Historia general, I, 86-87, 295, 398; II, 134-138, 257 et
seq.) presents a good secondary account of the subject.
[884] This legajo list was obtained from the index of the collection
of manuscripts in the section known as Audiencia de Filipinas, of the
Archive of the Indies in Seville. The aim is only to present legajos
which contain material on the audiencia. A more complete list covering
all the Philippine material in this depository may be found in Blair
and Robertson, LIII.
[885] The above system of reference to documents in the Archive of
the Indies is used universally, and it has been employed consistently
in this treatise. The manuscripts are wrapped and tied in bundles
(legajos), which, in turn, are to be found in large cases (estantes),
and the shelves (cajones) of the cases are numbered. The meaning
of the above reference therefore is Estante 68, Cajón 6, Legajo 3,
indicating that legajo number 3 is to be found on Shelf 6 of Case 68
of the Archive. A legajo contains in the neighborhood of 2,000 pages
of hand-written manuscript. The documents may be originals, certified
copies or ordinary drafts or duplicates. They are supposed to be
grouped according to subject-matter, and usually the materials in a
given cajón deal with a phase of the same question. Legajos in a given
cajón and manuscripts in a given legajo, roughly speaking, are arranged
chronologically, though in many cases they have lost their original
order owing to careless handling. This description is sufficient
to identify any document to which this classification is applied,
as these numbers are not duplicated, though often the documents are,
and copies of the same manuscript may be found in different cajones.