Module 6

EUROPEAN AGE OF EXPLORATION: FACTORS AND MOTIVES

Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. To determine the implication of Spanish-Moro wars

2. To discuss the reasons of European exploration and their motives

NOTE: This is to help students to understand the course as per mandated by Mindanao State University. This is partial and
subject for improvement. The sources that used are mainly coming from authentic books in history. This is just for
educational purpose only.

AGE OF EXPLORATION / DISCOVERY / EXPEDITION / VOYAGES

In roughly two centuries, from about 1420 to 1620, the urge to discover new lands beyond
Europe reaches a new height. This coincided with the Age of Renaissance, when people became
extremely curious about the world around them.

During the age of exploration, Europe sea captains found a water route to India and
Southeast Asia, sailed around the world for the first time, and brought the knowledge of two new
continents to Europe.

The age of exploration marked the beginning of western expansion or led to the
colonization and settlement of many “unknown” lands. Some European countries like Spain and
Portugal acquired vast overseas empires during this period. New wealth, new resources, and new
economic outlook started the growth of the capitalist economy in the west.

MOTIVES FOR EXPLORATION

1. Europeans Seek Gold and Spices

The desire for wealth was the first motive that pushed Europeans to make long voyage of
exploration Europeans sought gold and silver as well as luxury goods like sugar and silk,
which came from Asia. They also coveted spices from Asia, which were needed to preserve
food, particularly meet.

2. Europeans Seek Alternative Routes

For centuries, Muslim traders had controlled the rich land and sea trade routes to
Asia, from Indian Ocean to Mediterranean Sea. In 1453 the Ottoman Turks during the
sultanate of Fatih Muhammad II took the Constantinople (later on Istanbul), ending the
Byzantine Empire. The Muslim now ruled from Danube River along the entire Black Sea.

3. Religious Zeal Encourages Expansion

A desire to spread Christianity was another reason for the European voyages to
distant parts of the world. The Christian nations in Europe believed that they had an
obligation to spread their faith. They even regarded this obligation as a destiny.
Reconquista (Reconquest)
The struggle and determination of the Europeans to recover Iberian Peninsula from the
Muslims and to destroy the religion of the Muslim and convert the people to Christianity.

PORTUGAL
The favorable location of Portugal on the sea route made the country seek a share in the
profitable overseas trade.

“Fall of Malacca” in 1511

The wealth of Malacca aroused the envy of Portugal, and in 1511 Portuguese viceroy
Alfonso de Albuquerque captured the city.

SPAIN
Portugal’s colonizing rival was Spain. Like Portugal, Spain hoped to reach India by sea. The
discovery of an Atlantic route to Asia was somewhat delayed because of the ignorance and fear of
the sea among navigators. Most of them believed that the world was flat.

TERRITORIAL DISPUTE BETWEEN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL

1. Papal Bull or Inter Caetera

It was issued by Pope Alexander VI to mediate the conflict between two Catholic
countries, Spain and Portugal on May 3, 1493, dividing the “unknown” world into two.
Lands to the west of a line he set were belonging to Spain, and lands to the east were to
go to Portugal.

2. Treaty of Tordesillas
King John of Portugal, however, threatened war against Spain, claiming the Spanish
monarchs had given too great an advantage. On July 1494, diplomats from two Catholic
countries met at Tordesillas (tor-day-SEE-yahs), Spain. They agreed to another dividing line,
370 leagues (about 1,100 miles) west of the Azores.

3. Treaty of Zaragoza
On April 22, 1529, Spain and Portugal signed this treaty under which won
possession of Moluccas after paying Spain of 350,000 gold ducats (more than $800.000
today).

Legaspi-Urdaneta Expedition
It was headed by Miguel Lopez De Legaspi and Fr. Andres De Urdaneta. The expedition
landed in Cebu in 1565 and had a blood compact with Sikatuna (Si Katunaw) at Gala, Bohol.

THE SPANISH-MORO WARS

The Spanish-Moro wars refers to numerous expedition to Muslim Moros lands in the
Philippines, the frequent Moro attacks on the Spanish-held territories and the naval battles that
took place between the Spaniards and the Muslim Moros from about the time of Legaspi’s arrival
in 1565 to the last days of Spanish rule in the Philippines.

 FIRST STAGE (1565-1578)” Brunei Cut Off”

 It aimed the elimination supposed rival of Spain in the Philippine.
 It represented struggle between Spain and Brunei for political and commercial supremacy
in the Philippine archipelago.
  The Spaniards conquered Manila ruled by the Bornean aristocracy and eliminated
Bornean trade from Visayas and northern Mindanao.

1565 Spaniards captured a Bornean trading vessel in the vicinity of Bohol.

1569 Nine Spanish vessels successfully engaged 20 vessels manned by Bornean and Sulu
Muslims in Visayan waters.

Pangiran Buong Manis (Entitled Pangiran Sri Lela)

He came to manila to solicit help from the Spaniards. He wanted the Brunei throne which
he claimed was by his brother Seif ur-Rijal.

1578 To ensure the Spanish hold on conquered territories in the Philippines, the Spaniards
decided to interfere in the Brunei dynastic quarrels and invaded Brunei and forced Sultan Seif ur-
Rijal to flee.

April 20, 1578

Gov. Gen. Francisco De Sande declared Brunei a vassal state of Spain.

 SECONDSTAGE (1578-1597) “Spanish to Establish Colony in Mindanao”

 It was marked by Spanish attempts at establishing a colony in Mindanao, reducing the
Muslim Moro rules in Mindanao to vassalage, and expelling foreign preachers of Islam
while encouraging the introduction of Christian missionaries.

Captain Esteban Rodriguez De Figueroa

He went to Jolo in 1578 then proceeded to Pulangi River in Mindanao but was unable to
contact the Maguindanao chiefs because of insufficient provision and strong river currents. He
was killed (struck in head by a kampilan) in Maguindanao on April 20, 1596.

Spanish policies toward the Moro were fully spelled out in the instruction of Gov. Gen.
Francisco De Sande to Captain Esteban Rodriguez De Figueroa in May of 1578. Rodriguez was
commissioned to subdue the Moro Sultanates of Sulu and Mindanao

1. Get them to acknowledge Spanish sovereignty over territory.

2. Promote trade with them, limiting their trade to the Philippine Island and exploring natural
resources of Moro land with the view to their commercial exploitation.
3. Bring an end to Moro raids on the Christianize settlements of the Visayas and southern
Luzon.
4. Hispanize and Christianize the Moros, along the same lines followed with respect to other
lowland Filipino (Indios) groups.

Captain Gabriel De Rivera

He arrived at the Pulangi River on March 13, 1579 at the Pulangi River but failed to
contact Datu Dimasangkay.

Juan Ronquillo
In 1597, he was sent to the Spanish fort establish in Tampakan but was eventually forced
to abandon the fort because of the following reasons.
1. Difficulties in communication
2. Inadequate supplies
3. Constant loss of his men
PANDITA
It refers to those Muslim religious teachers during Spanish time
 THIRD STAGE (1599-1635) “Retaliatory of the Moros”
 It witnessed the retaliatory actions of the Muslim Moro.
 The Moro decided to start counter offensive attacks on Spanish-held territories in the
eastern Visayas and some parts of Luzon; they took the advantage of the threat posed by
the Dutch.
 The ternate aided the Maguindanao against the Spaniards.

1599 Magindanawn and Yakan Moros attacks in coastal towns of Panay, Negros, and Cebu.

Juan Gallinato
He attacks Jolo in 1602 to counteract Moro attacks.

Datu Buisan
On October 29 1603, he attacked the town of Leyte, burn the church, took captives,
amassed a large booty, sailed away to destroy other nearby ports, then returned and entered into
a blood compact with Leyte Datus.

Sultan Said Den Berkat (Sultan of Ternate)

He was captured in 1606 by the Spaniards and was brought to manila as prisoner.

Prior to Dutch demand for slaves, captives taken functioned as:

1. Rowers of the caracoas or praws (Moro war-boats)
2. Household retainers
3. Agricultural workers

Rajah Bongsu
He headed the attack on the view shipyard in Camarines. The Muslim Moro were able to
capture guns and ammunitions, iron and brass pieces, burn the dockyard and ships, threw great
amount of rice into the sea, and brought with him 300 captives including a Spanish lady named
Dona Lucia.

 FOURTH STAGE (1635-1663) “Abandonment of Spanish Fort in Zamboanga”

 The fourth stage saw an acceleration of Spanish efforts in 1630’s, ‘40’s and ‘50’s to
control Mindanao and Sulu, partly in response to Dutch activity.
 It began with the Spanish fortifications of Zamboanga in 1635 and ended with its
abandonment in 1663.
 The Spaniards decided to conquer the Sultanates of Magindanaw and Sulu.

“Fall of Lamitan” in 1637

The capital of famous Magindanaw Sultan, Qudarat, fell to Spanish arms in 1637.

“Fall of Jolo” in 1638

Jolo, defended by Sulu Moros aided by Moros from Basilan and warriors from Makassar (in
Sulawesi), fell in 1638.

Peace Treaties with Magindanaw in 1645 and Sulu in 1646

The Moros simply withdrew into the interior portions of their islands and waited for the
Spaniards to go away. In time, the Dutch threat and fear of Moro retaliation against Spanish-
controlled towns elsewhere in the Philippines obliged the Spaniards to conclude.
Sultan Qudarat
Treaty with Sultan Qudarat recognized that his sphere of influence extended along the entire
coastal area from Sibugay Bay (in Zamboanga Peninsula) to the Gulf of Davao, and into the
interior to include the Mranaw territory and the upper reaches and tributaries of the Pulangi River.
Aside from the present Republic, the Philippine has never had a more extensive state, governed
by Filipinos, than the Sultanate of Magindanaw in Qudarat’s time.

Declaration of Jihad in 1656

Insults to the Sultan’s person, persistent efforts at Christian conversion and their
provocations prompted Qudarat to declare jihad (struggle) against the Spaniards in 1656, and to
call on the Sultans of Sulu, Ternate and Makassar to help drive away European invader. The war
was bloody and inconclusive.

Withdrawal from Zamboanga in 1663

It ended only because the Spaniards in withdrew their forces from the Moluccas and
Zamboanga to Manila to meet an anticipated (but never realized) attacked by Koxinga.

Koxinga
A powerful Chinese warlord in Taiwan, thereafter, for over half a century, relative peace
existed between the Spaniards and the Moros.

 FIFTH STAGE (1718-1762) “Reoccupation of Zamboanga”

 The fifth stage of the Spanish-Moro Wars began when the Spaniards moved to reoccupy
their abandoned post at Zamboanga in 1718 and rebuild its fort the following year.
 The fifty-five year interlude between the Spanish withdrawal and strengthen Islamic
institutions. This was adverse to Christian missionary ambitions, especially those of the
Jesuits who agitated the re-establishment of Spanish power in Mindanao.

Sultan of Sulu, Azim-ud0Din I, “The Catholic Sultan of Sulu”

He permitted Jesuits to open mission in Jolo. This led to the Sultan’s being deposed by his
brother, though Azim-ud-Din was able to flee to Manila where he was baptized in 1571. His
Catholic name was Fernando I.

Juan de Arechedera
He was the Bishop of Nueva Segovia, who was the interim governor general during the
alleged conversion of Sultan Azim-u-Din I to Catholicism on April 28, 1750 at Paniqui, Tarlac.

Arguments for his false conversion:

1. When he was a young man, he had gone to Java, where, in a Qur’anic school at the
outskirts of Batavia, he was bale to obtain a good Islamic education.
2. When the belongings of the Sultan were searched after his arrest, seven Arabic and
Islamic books, including Qur’an, were found, but not a Christian book.
3. In 1764, he was finally able to return in Jolo in 1764, he resumed his Islamic practices as
if, for all purposes.
4. In his old age, he was given a title reserved only for the caliphs of Islam,
AmirulMu’minin(Commander of the Faithful)

October 6, 1762
British invasion and brief occupation of Manila beginning in 1762 resulted once more in a
hiatus in hostilities between the Spaniards and the Moros.
Dawsonne Drake
He was the British Governor of Manila who entered into a treaty with Sultan Azim-ud-Din I.

 SIXTH STAGE (1851-1898) “The Decline of the Sultanates”

 Witnessed the decline of the Sultanates.
 The sixth stage and last stage in the Spanish-Moro Wars during the Spanish regime
occurred in the nineteenth century when the Sulu Archipelago became the focus of
European rivalry.
 The Spaniards were alarmed and felt that these activities of other European powers in the
Southern Philippines posed a threat to their hold on the Archipelago.

Gov. Gen. Antonio de Urbiztondo

He headed the Spanish attack on Jolo in 1851, captured the town, and claimed Sulu was a
protectorate, sealing the arrangement with a treaty forced upon Sultan Muhammad Pulalun.

By 1860, the Moro resistance on Mindanao had become so:

1. Weakened by war.
2. Intrigue that the Spaniards were able to organize a “Government of Mindanao.”
3. Provided for expansion of Jesuit missionary work on the Island so as to “secure the
conversion of the races which have not yet been subjected.”

January 22, 1878

Sulu Sultan Jamalul Azam leased his territories in North Borneo (Sabah) to the British North
Borneo Company represented by Gustavus von Overbeck.

Implications of Spanish-Moro Wars

1. The Spanish-Moro Wars polarized the Philippines into north and south.
2. The Spanish-Moro Wars divided the people into two religious communities, the Muslims
and the Christians.
3. It led to the so called minority and majority relations.
4. It drained the resources of both the Moros and the Spaniards

MARAHUI KOTA or FORT OF MARAHUI

In Spanish, letter “h” is silently pronounced; therefore it is read as “Marawi.” In 1895, Datu
Ama-i-Pakpak together with his valiant fighters defended this Kota against the invading military
might of the Spanish guardia civil headed by no other than the Spanish Governor General Ramon
Blanco.
 QUIZ 3: Critical Essay

INSTRUCTION: Answer the following question:

(The rubrics for this quiz will be posted in your Google Classroom)

Q1. Illustrate the situation of MINSUPALA during the Spanish colonization?

Q2. What are the implications of the Spanish-Moro war and how it affected the
relationship of people in the Mindanao archipelago?

Note: Your answer must be in document/Microsoft word format. And must reach at least 100
words each item. 12 font size, Times New Roman, Single Space and Justified.