UNIT 5

MADRID STUDIES
THE PROPAGANDA MOVEMENT
MEDICAL PRACTICE AND STUDIES
TOUR OF EUROPE

LEARNING OUTCOMES: The learners are expected to:

 Reflect on Rizal’s life as a medical student in a strange country

 Evaluate the ideals advocated by the Propaganda Movement
 Describe his experiences as a fresh medical practitioner
 Discover the beautiful places visited by Rizal

LEARNING CONTENT:

A. MADRID STUDIES

On November 3, 1882, Rizal enrolled in the Universidad Central de Madrid in two

courses, Medicine and Philosophy and Letters. Aside from his university studies,
he studied painting and sculpture, took language lessons on French, German
and English in the Academy of San Carlos, and honed his fencing and shooting
skills in the Hall of Arms Sanz y Carbonell.

Rizal led a Spartan life in Madrid. He lived frugally, managed his time wisely for
studying, attending lectures and going to the operas and religious fiestas.
Contrary to other claims, Rizal drank occasionally but lightly, especially when he
was in the company of friends. His only way of gambling was the lottery which
really became habitual.

Madrid Inspiration

It was during this time that he visited the home of Don Pablo Ortega y Rey. He
was a former civil governor of Manila. Rizal and other Filipino Students played
parlor games with his two charming daughters, Pilar and Consuelo. It was
Consuelo who awakened Rizal’s heart. As time passed by, Rizal and Consuelo
became intimately close. And although Eduardo de Lete was also courting her,
Consuelo came to love Rizal.
However, with great will power, Rizal did not allow the romance to grow for
reasons that first, he still loved Leonor and, second, he was planning to leave
Madrid right after his studies. In the end, Consuelo chose Lete over Rizal, not
because she came short of her love for the latter, but because he was just being
inconsistent with her.

B. THE PROPAGANDA MOVEMENT

Between 1872 and 1892, a national consciousness was growing among the
Filipino émigrés who had settled in Europe. In the freer atmosphere of Europe,
these émigrés--liberals exiled in 1872 and students attending European
universities--formed the Propaganda Movement. It was organized for literary and
cultural purposes more than for political ends, the Propagandists, who included
upper-class Filipinos from all the lowland Christian areas, strove to "awaken the
sleeping intellect of the Spaniard to the needs of our country" and to create a
closer, more equal association of the islands and the motherland. Among their
specific goals were representation of the Philippines in the Cortes, or Spanish
parliament; secularization of the clergy; legalization of Spanish and Filipino
equality; creation of a public school system independent of the friars; abolition of
the polo (labor service) and vandala (forced sale of local products to the
government); guarantee of basic freedoms of speech and association; and equal
opportunity for Filipinos and Spanish to enter government service.

Jose Rizal, the Propagandist

The most outstanding Propagandist was José Rizal, a physician, scholar,

scientist, and writer. Born in 1861 into a prosperous Chinese mestizo family in
Laguna Province, he displayed great intelligence at an early age. After several
years of medical study at the University of Santo Tomás, he went to Spain in
1882 to finish his studies at the University of Madrid.

In 1882, shortly after his arrival in Madrid, Rizal joined the Circulo-Hispano-
Filipina. This circle was composed of Filipinos and Spaniards who believed that
reforms be introduced in the Philippines. Its founder was Juan Atayde. Upon the
request of the members of the society, he wrote a poem entitled Mi Piden
Versos (They Asked Me For Verses).
His love for books encouraged him to economize his living expenses and soon,
with great diligence, he was able to build a fair-sized private library, consisting
mostly of second-hand books bought from a bookstore owned by a certain Señor
Roses. His collections of numerous books were on medicine, philosophy,
languages, geography and the arts among others. Rizal was deeply affected by
Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Eugene Sue’s The Wandering Jew.
These books aroused his sympathy for his oppressed people.

During the decade that followed, Rizal's career spanned two worlds: Among
small communities of Filipino students in Madrid and other European cities, he
became a leader and eloquent spokesman, and in the wider world of European
science and scholarship--particularly in Germany--he formed close relationships
with prominent natural and social scientists. The new discipline of anthropology
was of special interest to him; he was committed to refuting the friars'
stereotypes of Filipino racial inferiority with scientific arguments. His greatest
impact on the development of a Filipino national consciousness, however, was
his publication of two novels--Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) in 1886 and El
Filibusterismo (The Reign of Greed) in 1891. Rizal drew on his personal
experiences and depicted the conditions of Spanish rule in the islands,
particularly the abuses of the friars. Although the friars had Rizal's books
banned, they were smuggled into the Philippines and rapidly gained a wide
readership.

Other important Propagandists included Graciano Lopez-Jaena, a noted orator

and pamphleteer who had left the islands for Spain in 1880 after the publication
of his satirical short novel, Fray Botod (Brother Fatso), an unflattering portrait of
a provincial friar. In 1889 he established a biweekly newspaper in Barcelona, La
Solidaridad (Solidarity), which became the principal organ of the Propaganda
Movement, having audiences both in Spain and in the islands. Its contributors
included Rizal; Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt, an Austrian geographer and
ethnologist whom Rizal had met in Germany; and Marcelo del Pilar, a reform-
minded lawyer. Del Pilar was active in the anti-friar movement in the islands until
obliged to flee to Spain in 1888, where he became editor of La Solidaridad and
assumed leadership of the Filipino community in Spain.

In 1887 Rizal returned briefly to the islands, but because of the furor surrounding
the appearance of Noli Me Tangere the previous year, he was advised by the
governor to leave. He returned to Europe by way of Japan and North America to
complete his second novel and an edition of Antonio de Morga's seventeenth-
century work, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (History of the Philippine Islands).
The latter project stemmed from an ethnological interest in the cultural
connections between the peoples of the pre-Spanish Philippines and those of
the larger Malay region (including modern Malaysia and Indonesia) and the
closely related political objective of encouraging national pride. De Morga
provided positive information about the islands' early inhabitants, and reliable
accounts of pre-Christian religion and social customs.

Jose Rizal, the Mason

Rizal then came into contact with the liberal and republican elements, majority of
them were Masons. He was easily impressed by the way prominent Spanish
Masons attack the government. In time, his friends, who were Masons,
persuaded him into Masonry. Thus in 1883, he joined the Masonry, Rizal
naturally ceases going to church and led a life as a “free thinker”. His first
Masonic lodge was “Acacia”.

Things in the Philippines turned bad to worse. The harvest was down. The rent
on the lands cultivated by his family was raised to exorbitant rate by the manager
of the Dominican Estate. Due to the lean situation, his regular allowance
decreased and at time ceased to arrive. Rizal's prime encounter with
Freemasonry occurred when he was in Spain, where he made the acquaintance
of some liberal and republican Spaniards who were mostly Masons. He admired
the way these Masons scrutinized and criticized the methods of the government
and criticized the haughty friars, a freedom which could not be practiced in the
Philippines. Eventually, in 1883, Rizal joined the Masonic lodge in Madrid which
was called Acacia. His central motive in joining the society was to secure the aid
of the Freemasons in his battle against the abusive friars in the Philippines.
Since the friars used the might of Catholicism to oppress and persecute the
country's patriots, Rizal intended to fight them with Freemasonry.

On November 15, 1890, Rizal became a Master Mason in Lodge Solidaridad in

Madrid. Two years later he was awarded Master Mason in Paris by Le Grand
Orient de France.
Some of his comrades including Graciano Lopez-Jaena, Mariano Ponce, and
Marcelo H. del Pilar, were also active Masons. Rizal, on the other hand, was
more placid. His only Masonic writing was entitled "Science, Virtue and Labor,"
which he delivered in 1889.

A portion of his lecture reads:

The duty of modern man, to my way of thinking, is to work for the redemption of
humanity, because once man is dignified there would be less unfortunate and
more happy men that is possible in this life. Humanity cannot be redeemed so
long as there are oppressed peoples, so long as there are some men who live
on the tears of many, so long as there are emasculated minds and blinded eyes
that enable others to live like sultans who alone may enjoy beauty. Humanity
cannot be redeemed while reason is not free, while faith would want to impose
itself on facts, while whims are laws, and while there are nations who subjugate
others. For humanity to be able to attain the lofty destiny toward which God
guides it, it is necessary that within its fold there should be no dissensions nor
tyranny, that plagues do not decimate it and no groans and curses be heard in
its march. It is necessary that its triumphant career march to the tune of the
hymns of glory and liberty with a bright face and serene forehead.

Masters of the Arts

It was during this period when two Filipino masters of the brush won honors at
the National Exposition of the Fine Arts in Madrid Juan Luna’s canvas
“Spoliarium” won a gold medal (3 won) while Felix Hidalgo’s “Christian Virgins
Exposed to the Populace” took home a silver medal (12 won). Rizal, in banquet
in honor of the two gave an eloquent speech that highlighted his poetic genius
and refined sarcasm about the bigotry and blindness of many Spaniards who
could not comprehend the university genius. Rizal declared in the speech called
“Brindis” that talent is not a monopoly of any race or country because it can be
found in anyone and anywhere around the world.

A Doctor and a Philosopher

He then completed his medicine studies for that year at the Universidad Central
de Madrid on June 21, 1884. The next academic year (1884-1885) he studied
and passed all the subjects leading to degree of Doctor of Medicine. Due to the
fact, however, that he did not present the thesis required for graduation, nor paid
the corresponding fees. He was not awarded his doctor’s diploma. Nevertheless,
he was given his Licentiate in Medicine and was entitled to practice. The only
thing he was disqualified from doing was to teach Medicine in the university,
which was, anyway, not part his plans.

On his 24th birthday he was awarded by the university the degree in Licentiate in
Philosophy and Letters with the rating of excellent. Upon completing his studies,
he became more eager to see more of Europe to practice medicine and to
discover more things that would be beneficial to his people and his native land.

C. PARISIAN LIFE AND TOUR OF EUROPE

After graduation, Rizal prepared for a journey to Paris. He dropped by Barcelona

to see his friend Maximo Viola, a wealthy medical student who hails from San
Miguel, Bulacan. He was introduced to Señor Eusebio Corominas, editor of La
Publicidad. Corominas introduced him to the owner Don Miguel Morayta. He
submitted the article Carolines Questions for publication.

By October 1885, Rizal was living in Paris. He practiced ophthalmology under

Dr. Luis de Weckert at Crugen Clinic, 55 Rue Du Cherche-Midi.

He paid visits to the Pardo de Tavera Family. He would frequently stay at the
studio of his Ilocano friend Juan Luna. In the “Death of Cleopatra”, Rizal posed
as an Egyptian priest while Juan Luna posed as Cleopatra himself.

He became friend to Nelly Boustead, a French-English lady with whom he will fall
in love later.

Rizal had natural talent in creating music even though he admitted that his voice
was really bad. He liked music though it never liked him. Nevertheless, he got
inclined to music and participated in many presentations. With constant practice
he came to play the flute fairly well.

He wrote musical pieces like:

 Leonor
 El Canto del Prisionero
 Alin Mang Lahi (a patriotic hymn)
  El Canto de Maria Clara (in Noli Me Tangere)
 Himno A Talisay
 El Canto del Viajero (during his Dapitan Exile)

Rizal left Paris for Germany on February 8, 1886.

IN LOVE WITH GERMANY

Rizal arrived in Heidelberg, a historic German City famous for its old University
and other medieval structures. He stayed in a boarding house with some
German law students. They encourage him to join the Chess Players Club.

He worked as an assistant ophthalmologist in the clinic of Dr. Javier Galezowski.

He also attended lectures of Dr. Otto Becker.

Wrote “A Las Flores de Heidelberg”, which is about flowers in Neckar River on

April 22, 1886. His favorite flower was the bluish “forget-me-not.” He loved to
stroll beside the Neckar River.

Rizal went to Wilhelmsfeld on April 26, 1886 to board with Lutheran Pastor Dr.
Karl Ullmer and his Family. At present, Wilhelmsfeld pays tribute to Rizal through
a museum that was built in his honor. Outside the museum, a life-size statue of
Rizal stands in the middle of the garden in front of a small pond.

Return to Heidelberg. On July 31, 1886, He wrote a letter to Prof. Ferdinand

Blumentritt, Director of Ateneo of Leitmeritz in Austria. He also gave him a book
entitled “Arithmetica” by Rufino Baltazar Hernandez.

On August 6, he witnessed the celebration of the 500 th founding anniversary of

University of Heidelberg. He visited some cities and towns in Germany like
Mannheim, Rudesheim and Eisenach.

He befriended Prof. Friedrich Ratzel, a German historian and psychologist at the

University of Leipzig. He also attended some lectures while in University

He also translated into Tagalog the legend of “William Tell” and the Fairy tales of
Hans Christian Andersen that included “The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina and the
Ugly Duckling.
Rizal was in Dresden from October 29 to November 1, 1886. He met Dr. Adolph
Meyer, naturalist from Dresden University.

Rizal admired Berlin due to its scientific atmosphere and the absence of racial
prejudice. He personally met Dr. Feodor Jagor, author of “Travels in the
Philippines”, Dr. Rudolf Virchow and Dr. Hans Virchow.

To earn some income, he worked also in the clinic of Dr. R. Schulzer, a German
Ophthalmologist. Dr. R. Virchow was generous enough to invite him to give a
lecture on the Tagalog language. He also wrote the scholarly paper entitled
“Tagalinsche Verskunst”.

Rizal lived in Berlin for certain reasons.

 To finish writing and later publish his first novel “Noli Me Tangere”
 To promote the existence of the Filipinos and to share their political
conditions to the Germans.
 To expose the plight of the Filipinos under Spanish rule and their desire for
independence

The winter months of 1886 became the worst time for Rizal in Berlin. For a long
period there was no money that arrived from Calamba. With no money at all,
Rizal felt his novel would not be published at all. He threw the Noli to the
fireplace believing that it would have more use as firewood. Immediately, coming
to his senses in a snap, he withdrew it. In the midst of hunger and cold, Rizal’s
desperation and discouragement started to grow.

A Gift from Above

In the midst of his agonizing moment an “angel” arrived. His friend Maximo Viola
arrived. He paid all his financial obligations and needs. He also financed the
initial printing of the Noli amounting to P300. Truly, Viola was Rizal’s “savior”
Viola came to fulfill his promise that he and Rizal would tour Europe.

Before they proceeded on the tour, Rizal had the novel be printed first. After the
Noli came off the press, the two embarked for the tour. Before the tour, Rizal
received his long-delayed allowance of P1,000 from his brother Paciano through
Juan Luna from Paris. Rizal paid Viola immediately. The rest, he spent for the
tour expenses.

D. TOUR OF EUROPE

The first stop Rizal and Viola was Potsdam, a city near Berlin, which was made
famous by Frederick the Great.

Their next destination was the German City Dresden. Here they paid a quick visit
to Dr. Adolph B. Meyer and the Museum of Art Dresden.

By May 3, Rizal and Viola were in Leitmeritz. They were picked up at the station
by Blumentritt himself. Blumentritt gave them accommodations to the Hotel
Krebs during the length of their stay.

Rizal also remembered when Blumentritt treated them to a drink in a “beer

hausen”. Rizal could not forget the taste of Bohemia which was considered as
the best in Europe.

Rizal and Viola in another occasion attended a meeting of the Tourist Club of
Leitmeritz where Blumentritt serve as secretary. Rizal also got to meet a few
scientists in Leitmeritz like Dr. Czepelak and Prof. Klutschak.

On the 17th of May, the duo boarded a train going to Prague, a historic Czech
City. They were introduced themselves to a certain Dr. Wilkomm, a natural
history professor.

They also visited some sights in Prague like The Tomb of Copernicus, the
Museum of Natural History and the Cave of San Juan Nepomuceno, a catholic
Martyr.

On May 20, they were in Vienna, capital of Austria-Hungary and referred to as

“Queen of the Danube”. They stayed in the Hotel Metropole. Rizal met
Norfenfals, one of the greatest novelists in Europe.

After touring around Vienna, the two decided to leave on a cruise to the Danube
River. They also met and got acquainted with a very lovely lady whom Viola
referred to as, “the Viennese Temptress”.
Other Tourist Attractions in Europe

Munich is called the “City of Beers” because beer was found anytime and
anywhere in the entire city.

Nuremburg was the site of the infamous Catholic Holy Inquisition for Catholic
heretics.

NOTES:

Inquisition Procedure

The Inquisition was an ecclesiastical court and process of the Roman Catholic
Church setup for the purpose towards the discovery and punishment of heresy
which wielded immense power and brutality in medieval and early modern times.
The Inquisitions function was principally assembled to repress all heretics of
rights, depriving them of their estate and assets which became subject to the
ownership of the Catholic treasury, with each relentlessly sought to destroy
anyone who spoke, or even thought differently to the Catholic Church. This
system for close to over six centuries became the legal framework throughout
most of Europe that orchestrated one of the most confound religious orders in
the course of mankind.

Methods of Punishments to Heretics:

1. The Pulley

The pulley is known as the strappado or the garrucha this was the first method of
torture the Inquisition usually applied. Executioners would hoist the victim up to
the ceiling using a rope with their hands tied securely behind their back. They
were then suspended about six feet from the floor. In this position, heavy iron
weights, usually amounting to about 45 kg, were attached to their feet. The
executioners would then pull on the rope, then suddenly allowing it to slack
causing the victim to fall.

2. The Rack
The rack is a favorite of the Inquisition. A rectangular frame, with a roller at one
or both ends. The victim's ankles are fastened to one roller and the wrists are
chained to the other handle and ratchet mechanism attached to the top roller are
used to very gradually increase the tension on the chains, inducing excruciating
pain, straining the ropes until the sufferer's joints were dislocated and eventually
separated. Additionally, if muscle fibres are stretched excessively they lose their
ability to contract, rendering them ineffective.

3. ‘The Pear of Anguish’

‘The Pear of Anguish’ is quite possibly one of the most gruesome and painful
methods. This device would be inserted into an appropriate orifice – those
accused of Blasphemy the mouth, those accused of sodomy into the anus, and
women accused of adultery, incest or of ‘sexual union with Satan or his familiars’
in the vagina. There was no set mode of use for generic Heretics, with freedom
bestowed upon the Torturer. The instrument would then be progressively
expanded, and I’m sure not much is left to the imagination………

4. ‘The Turtle’

‘The Turtle’ is a method wherein the accused Heretic would be placed under a
wooden board, and large stones placed on top, causing crushing pain and slow
suffocation.

5. ‘The Iron Boot’

‘The Iron Boot’ affectionately known as bootikens is designed to crush the foot
and legs. These were boots that went from the person's ankles to knees.
Wedges were hammered up the length of the boot into the person's leg, breaking
and crushing bones as it went.

6. ‘The Breast Ripper’

‘The Breast Ripper’ or the ‘Spanish Spider’ the name of this device speaks for
itself. Women condemned of heresy, blasphemy, adultery, and witchcraft often
felt the wrath of this device as it violently tore a breast from their torso.

7. The ‘Judas Cradle’

The ‘Judas Cradle’ is another particularly painful and humiliating torture. The
victim was stripped, hoisted and hung over this pointed pyramid with iron belts.
Their legs were stretched out frontwards, or their ankles pulled down by weights.
The tormentor would then drop the accused onto the pyramid penetrating both
orifices. With their muscles contracted, they were usually unable to relax and fall
asleep.

8. The ‘Head crusher’

The ‘Head crusher’ is a brutal torture device commonly used only by the Spanish
Inquisition. The person’s chin was placed over a bottom bar and the head under
an upper metal cap. The executioner then slowly turned the screw, gradually
compressing the head between the bar and cap. Teeth and the jaw would often
break first, with the eyes slightly later – it was such an effective method as the
pain could be extended for as long as the torturer wished, or as long as it took
for a confession.

9. ‘The Heretics fork’

‘The Heretics fork’ is a metal rod with two prongs at both ends attached to a
leather strap worn around the neck. The top fork was placed on the fleshy part
under the chin, while the other end dug into the bone of the sternum, keeping the
neck stretched and the head erect at all times. Ensuring optimal agony was
simple. A person wearing the heretic’s fork was kept from lying down by either
being hung from the ceiling or suspended in some manner that proved
distressing. Those wearing the device were only able to murmur to their
torturers; any movement of the jaw would force the sharp prongs to further
penetrate their skin. It was effective for long use because victims usually died of
sleep deprivation and fatigue.

10. ‘Toca’

‘Toca’ or Waterboarding is a method of torture wherein the victim’s face is

covered with a cloth, and water is poured onto the cloth, so that they had the
impression of drowning.

Ulm is a German city famous for its largest and tallest cathedral in the country
Rheinfall is the last German stop. It is also famous for its waterfalls.

Tour of Switzerland

In Schaffhausen, they stayed there for two days. In Basel and Bern, nothing
significant took place there. Lausanne is the Swiss winter capital. On June 19th,
Rizal celebrated his 26th Birthday with Viola in Geneva. After 15 days of stay in
the city, the two parted ways on the 23th, for Viola had to return to Barcelona.

Rizal Tours Italy

Rizal visited the cities of Turin, Milan, Venice, and Florence, birthplaces of the
Renaissance. Rome, the capital city of Italy, also called the “City of the
Caesars.” Vatican City, The capital of the Roman Catholic Church, also called
the “City of Popes.”