History Of The Philippine Islands

VOLUME I

Preface

Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas. Dr. Antonio de Morga; Mexico, 1609

EVENTS IN THE FILIPINAS ISLANDS.

DEDICATED TO DON CRISTOVAL GOMEZ DE Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Cea.

BY DOCTOR ANTONIO DE MORGA,

Alcalde of Criminal Causes, in the Royal Audiencia of Nuevà España, and Counsel for the holy Office of the Inquisition.

IN MEXICO. At the shop of Geronymo Balli, in the year 1609.

To Don Cristoval Gomez de Sandoval y Rojas, duke of Cea [1]

Oblivion would await the deeds achieved in these times by our Spaniards in the discovery, conquest, and conversion of the Filipinas Islands—as well as various fortunes which they have had from time to time in the great kingdoms and among the pagan peoples surrounding the islands.

These regions are so remote that no account has been given to the public which explains them from their beginnings to the present condition.

DON ANTONIO DE MORGA [2]

To the reader [3]

The greatness of the monarchy of the Spanish kings is due to the zeal and care with which they have defended, within their own hereditary kingdoms, the holy Catholic faith taught by the Roman church, against all enemies who oppose it, or seek by various errors to obscure its truth which the kings have disseminated throughout the world.

Thus, by the mercy of God, they preserve their kingdoms and subjects in the purity of the Christian religion, meriting thereby their glorious title and renown of “Defenders of the Faith.” Moreover, by the valor of their indomitable hearts, and at the expense of their revenues and possessions, they have ploughed the seas with Spanish fleets and men, and discovered and conquered vast kingdoms in the most remote and unknown parts of the world.

They have led the inhabitants of these regions to a knowledge of the true God, and into the fold of the Christian church, in which those peoples now live, governed in civil and political matters with peace and justice, under the shelter and protection of the royal arm and power, which were wanting to them when weighed down by blind tyrannies and barbarous cruelties, on which the enemy of the human race had so long reared them for himself.

For this reason the crown and scepter of España have extended themselves wherever the sun sheds its light, from its rising to its setting, with the glory and splendor of their power and majesty, and the Spanish monarchs have excelled the other princes of the earth by having gained innumerable souls for heaven, which has been España’s principal intention and its wealth. These, together with the great riches and treasures which España enjoys, and the famous deeds and victories which it has won, cause the whole world to magnify and extol its lofty name and the energy and valor of its subjects, who in accomplishing these deeds have lavished their blood.

Having won America, the fourth part of the earth, of which the ancients knew naught, they sailed in the course of the sun until they discovered an archipelago of many islands in the eastern ocean, adjacent to farther Asia, inhabited by various peoples, and abounding in rich metals, precious stones, and pearls, and all manner of fruit. There raising the standard of the Faith, they freed those peoples from the yoke and power of the demon, and placed them under the command and government of the Faith. Consequently they may justly raise in those islands the pillars and trophies of Non plus ultra which the famous Hercules left on the shore of the Cadiz Sea, which were afterward cast down by the strong arm of Cárlos V, [4] our sovereign, who surpassed Hercules in great deeds and enterprises.

After the islands had been conquered by the sovereign light of the holy gospel which entered therein, the heathen were baptized, the darkness of their paganism was banished, and they changed their own for Christian names. The islands also, losing their former name, took—with the change of religion and the baptism of their inhabitants—that of Filipinas Islands, in recognition of the great favors received at the hands of his Majesty Filipo the Second, our sovereign, in whose fortunate time and reign they were conquered, protected, and encouraged, as a work and achievement of his royal hands.

Their discovery, conquest, and conversion were not accomplished without great expenditure, labor, and Spanish blood, with varying success, and amid dangers: these things render the work more illustrious, and furnish a spacious field of which historians may treat, for such is their office. Certainly the subject matter is not scanty, and contains both serious and pleasant elements sufficient to be worthy of attention, so that it will not depreciate historians to treat of Indian occurrences and wars, which those who have not experienced undervalue. For the people of those regions are valiant and warlike nations of Asia, who have been reared in continual warfare, both by sea and by land, and who use artillery and other warlike implements, which the necessity of defending themselves against great and powerful neighboring kingdoms, taught them to use skilfully; and—although somewhat imperfectly—they have gained dexterity and have completed their education in the school of España, which recently brought war to their gates—thus sharing the experience of other provinces of Europe, who also had formerly been ignorant and careless of the use of arms.

Some painstaking persons, to whom—for lack of time and means—I have given and delivered many papers and relations which I possessed, have planned to write this history; and I hope that they will publish it in better shape than the fragmentary histories which we have hitherto received from some contemporary historians. [5]

I spent 8 years in the Filipinas Islands, the best years of my life. I served continuously as lieutenant of the governor and captain-general.

As soon as the royal Audiencia of Manila was established, I was the first to fill the office of auditor. [6]

I wanted the affairs of those islands to be known. And so I wrote a book of 8 chapters.

Chapters 1-7 is about the events from the proprietary governors [7] until the death of Don Pedro de Acuña.

Chapter 8 is a brief summary of the nature of these regions, their inhabitants, the manner of governing and converting them, and other details.

It treats of the acquaintance, dealings, and intercourse which they maintain with their neighboring islands and pagan communities.

My work is not perfect.

People will point out my oversights.