The Spanish Era I: Prelude to the Voyages of “Discovery”

In Search of New Lands

Result of worldwide exploration and expansion:
 Desire to gain new lands
 Power
 Wealth for explorers and their countries

Most important items of trade from the East :

 Pepper, ginger, nutmeg, onions, garlic

The fall of Constantinople & the emergence of the Ottoman Turks

~ closed the former trade routes to the East, causing the monarchs and navigators of
Europe to find new routes across the seas.

Portugese Navigators who sailed to reach down the East:

 Bartolome Dias – Cape of Good Hope
 Vasco de Gama – Calicut, India
 Christopher Columbus – failed to convince the King of Portugal that he could reach
the East by sailing westward.
– was able to get the Support of Spanish Crown.

Portugal & Spain became keen rivals in colonizing lands because of:
 Gold
 Spices
 other merchandise found in the Orient
 religious zeal to proselytize natives

 Papal bull or Inter caetera – was settled by Pope Alexander VI to settle the rivalry on
May 3, 1493.

 Spanish zone – West of the imaginary line drawn N-S, 100 leagues west of all
Azores and Cape Verde Islands.

 Portugal zone – All the lands East of demarcation line.

 Treaty of Tordesillas – both kingdoms agreed to move the demarcation line 370
leagues (about 1,100 mi) west of Cape Verde Islands and still be guided by the
provisions of the papal bull.

 Ferdinand Magellan – member of nobility of Portugal sailed with a fleet carrying the
first Portuguese viceroy to the East Indies and then sent to Malacca in Malay
Peninsula and the spice markets of Ambon and Banda in Western Malaysia.

– promoted to the rank of a captain.

 astrolabe – used in all explorations done by latitude sailing.

 Moluccas or Spice Islands – reached by Magellan after he discovered the idea of

passage to west around South America.

 March 28, 1518 – contract of expedition was signed and Magellan was named
captain general of expedition.
 Magellan’s New Route to the East

5 ships that left Spain together with Magellan:

 Trinidad
 Concepcion
 Santiago
 San Antonio
 Victoria (the only ship that returned to Spain with only 18 survivors)

Voyage to the Philippines

 Islas de San Lazaro – They saw the towering heights of Samar on March 16, 1521.
 Rajah Kolambu – First, refused to welcome Magellan but soon welcomed the
Europeans.
 kasi kasi – blood compact ceremony performed by Rajah Kolambu and Magellan.
 Barangay Magallanes, Limasawa, Southern Leyte – The site of first Christian mass in
the Philippines.
 Gian Battista Ramusio – Butuan
 Antonio de Herrera – Mazaua
 Father Colin – Limasawa
 Lapulapu – another chieftain of Mactan whose real name is Cali Pulacu
– refused to accept the new political system and pay tribute.
 poisoned arrow & bamboo spear – hit Magellan’s right leg and struck his face
 Battle of Mactan – A scandalous defeat for Spaniards for they were not able to prove
themselves better in combat.
 2 years, 11 months and 16 days – the voyage around the world lasted.

The Spanish Conquest of the Islands

 Recopilacion de leyes de los reymos de las Indias (Compilation of Laws on Royal
Islands in the Indies)
– popularly known as Leyes de Indias (Laws of the Indies)
– Was used by Spain to rule its extensive possessions to the Philippines.
 encomienda – administrative unit for the purpose of exacting tribute from the natives
and to use the personal services of the King.
– pretence for slavery
 encomendero – undertook ways to look after the well- being of his people and
educate them with Spanish norms of conduct.
– ¼ of the total collection was given to him
 cabeza de barangay – collects the tribute and gave it to the encomendero.
 Provincial government – system replaced to the encomienda

2 types of Provincial Administration:

1. alcaldia-mayor (province) – where peace had been established by the Spanish
government placed under a civil official called alcalde – mayor.
2. corregimientos (territories) – had not been completely pacified under the charge of
corregidores or politico – military governors.
 pueblo – or towns; province was divided into this.
 gobernadorcillos – admnistered the pueblo.
 pincipalia – prominent land-owning and propertied citizens who could read, write and
speak Spanish.

Gubernatorial powers were made possible through:

1. Audiencia Real or Royal Audiencia
2. Residencia
 3. Visitador-general
4. Archbishop and clergy
5. Subordinate public officials

 One tribute – Corresponds to one family, consisting of husband, wife and minor
children.
– equivalent to (8) reales or on peso
 Half of the tribute – Has to be paid by unmarried man or woman.
 cedula tax – replaced the tribute.
 Polo – forced labor and another form of pacifying the natives.
 polista – or worker; has to work 40 days a year in the labor pool.
 falla (exemption fee) – to be excluded in the polo
 Bandala – refers to assignment of annual quotas to each province for the compulsory
sale of products to the government.

Towards the Hispanization of the Natives

 reduccion – resettlement of inhabitants in Spanish- style poblaciones.
 poblacion – town center
– Organized around a rectangular plaza, with the church and convent on one side
bounded by the tribunal and houses of Spanish officials.

Societal Rank of Spanish Society:

1. espanoles – both Spanish parents
2. espanoles peninsulares – born in Spanish Peninsula
3. espaoles insulares – born in the colony
4. mestizos & mestizas -children of an espanol and an indio or india.
5. mestizo – referred to the mestizos de sangley or Chinese mestizos
6. mestizos de espanol – Spanish mestizos
7. indios or indios naturales – pertaining to the natives of the Philippines without
Spanish or Chinese ancestry.

 Tomas Pinpin – First Filipino printer

 Librong Pag-aaralan nang manga Tagalog nang uicang Castila (Book that the
Tagalogs Should Study to Learn Spanish)
– First published tagalog book
 Cebu – established the first Basic Education
 Archbishop Domingo de Salazar – ordered that every town was to have one school
for boys and one school for girls

Subjects taught in Basic Education:

 Cathecism
 Reading and Writing in the dialect
 Music
 The Rudiments of Arithmetic
 Trades and Industries

 University of San Ignacio – first founded university for boys.

 2 kinds of schools for girls:

1. colegio (regular school)
2. beaterio (combined school and nunnery)
  Christiana en lengua espanola y tagala – earliest catechetical book printed sought to
explain the imortance of Christ, chastity and devotion to God in the vernacular.
 pasion – Written in verse and chanted during the Lent.
– depicted the life and passion of Jesus Christ

 Gaspar Aquino de Belen – wrote the first tagalog pasion.

 Father Mariano Pilapil – wrote the second pasion Pasyong Genesis and this was
more preferred.
 Sociedad Economica de los Amigos del Pais (Economic Society of the Friends of the
Country) – founded by Governor General Basco
– This society helped much in the agricultural development of the country

Great products of the Philippines: •Cotton •Abaca •Silk •Pina •Jusi

 retablo – the highest part inside the church.

Jesus Christ is represented in various forms:

 Santo Nino- as a child
 Nazareno
 Santo Entierro- while placed inside a sepulchre
 Cristo Resucitado-resurrected Christ
 Santo Cristo- Christ on the cross

 Misa de Aguinaldo (Mass of the Gift) – The begin of joyous celebration; popularly
known as simbang gabi

 Misa de Gallo (Mass of the Rooster) – Midnight mass on Christmas Eve

 Panunuluyan – a religious play which reenacts the search by Joseph and Mary for an
inn has also been observed in some parishes prior to the midnight mass.

 Flores de Mayo (Flowers of May) – where devotees offer flowers everyday at the
church altar to honor the Blessed Mother.

 Santa Cruz de Mayo (Santacruzan) – Procession held to commemorate the finding of

the Holy Cross by Empress Helena and Emeror Constantine.

 Sangleys – called to Chinese during Spanish times

 xiang and ley – “traveling merchants”

 Pacto de retro – chinese mestizos were able to acquire land

– a contract under which the borrower who conveyed his land to the lender could
repurchase it for same amount of money that he had received.

 October 5, 1762 – Manila fell into British hands, after a white flag hoisted at Fort
Santiago.

Three governors of Manila during the British occupation:

1. Archbishop Rojo
2. Oidor Simon de Anda
3. Honorable Dawsonne Drake