Monastic Supremacy

Service to God and to King

The Patronato Real
Struggle for control and jurisdiction
over the Spanish Church (and its
colonial branches) with popes
The church's organization, personnel,
and role in society were all defined
early in the colonial era.
The Two Sovereigns
Temporal & Spiritual Sovereignity
Nationalism & Religiosity
Justification for colonization
The role of the Church and its clergy
Clerical Ascendency
Clergy >>> Kings officials
Great demand for priests
Descent of decadence in the religious
in Mother Spain
Friar Acquisition of
Land
Friars to Encomenderos
Means of acquisition
1. Royal Bequest
2. Donations and Inheritances
3. Buying of land
4. Foreclosure of Mortgages
5. Land-grabbing
Royal Bequest
Friars suggested that the King grant them
some estates in the native villages so that the
missionaries could become self supporting.
Royal Lang Grants
This proposal ran counter to the royal order
that the clergy should not own lands in the
Indian villages.
Friars became encomenderos
Donations and
Inheritances
Deathbed bequests by pious Filipinos
Donations to friars in gratitude for their
ministrations
Down payment for a place in heaven
Priests were prohibited from inheriting
property from those they habitually confessed
by order of the King
Buying of Land
Friars bought land from the natives using the
money obtained from church fees, trade, and
from profits gained from the produce of lands.
With their prestige and power, they pressured
natives to sell them their lands at very low
prices.
Foreclosure of Mortgages
Natives lacked capital for extensive
cultivation
Partnerships were formed between the
farmers and friars wherein the friars provided
capital while the farmers worked on the fields.
Friars began to demand that their advances
be regarded as loans payable at a fixed rate of
interest.
Farmer debt ran into debt leading to
foreclosure of lands.
All lands within one thousand meters of the
principal market place of every town are
considered communal property of the town
residents
- Statute that was ignored
Land-grabbing
Usurpation
Additional hectares of land outside original
boundaries of friar property were gobbled up
each time a new survey was conduction.
Priests claimed lands and had them titled.
Original native settlers were declared
squatters.
titulos reales
 7

MISSION
RIVALRIES
How it started
Friar Andres de Urdaneta
Augustinian friar who accompanied
Legazpi on his memorable trip that
resulted to the conquest of the
Philippine Islands by Spain
- Organized the work spreading the
doctrine of Christianity
Friar Domingo de Salazar
Dominican, ambitious and
apparently somewhat arrogant first
bishop of Manila
 Arrival
Augustinians 1565
Franciscan - 1578
Jesuits - 1581
Dominicans 1587
Recollects (Discalced
Augustinians)
-
1606
 Extent of Power
Augustinians - Visayas, Pampanga, part of
Pangasinan, and the Ilocos coast
Dominicans - Pangasinan and the valley of the
Cagayan River in Northern Luzon
Franciscans - Camarines and Southern Luzon,
including the region of Laguna de Bay.
Recollects Mindanao, Palawan, Mindoro

All of these orders had their principal convents

and monasteries in Manila
 Influence and
Contributions
Augustinians Univ. of San Agustin (Iloilo); San
Agustin Church in Intramuros (oldest)
Franciscans San Lazaro Hospital, Saint Francis
Jesuits - Ateneo, Xavier
Dominicans UST, Letran
Recollects University of Negros Occidental-
Recoletos (1941) in Bacolod City; Univ. of San
Jose Recoletos (1947) in Cebu City; San
Sebastian College Recoletos (1966) in Cavite
City; Colegio de Santo Tomas-Recoletos in San
Carlos City, Negros Occidental; Colegio San
Nicolas de Tolentino - Recoletos in Talisay City,
Negros Occidental; and San Pedro Academy in
Caidiocan, Valencia, Negros Oriental.
Property Acquisitions

...fundamental cause for the

corruption of friars.
 How it started?
Contention of the religious
Suggested that it would be best if the
king grant them some estates in the
native villages
King revoke his previous decree
Bishop Domingo Salazar March 21,
1591
Exemption from the pope from their
monastic vows
Opportunity to amass large tracts of
 How they do it?
Royal bequest
Bought land from the states
Donations and inheritances from
pious Filipinos (Deathbed bequests)
Bought land from the natives
church fees, trade, from the profits of
land produce
Bought lands at very low price
 How they do it?
Land acquired through foreclosure of
mortgages
Laws:
Setting a limit to the amount that could
be lent to the natives
Reservation of all land within one
thousand meters of the principal market
place of every town as communal
property
 How they do it?
Land-grabbing
Corrupt surveyors
Claimed pieces of lands drew maps
had them titled set themselves as
owners
Natives declared as squatters
they lack titulos reales
From Friars to Encomenderos
Our Friar who art our Landlord
Friars (Landlord)
Inquilinos (Lessees/Middleman)
Kasamas (Subtenants)
Indios, slaves
 Friar Abuses
Taxes
Tributes
Exhorbitant rents
Arbitrary increases on the previous
Forced labor
Personal services
Petty cruelties
 Jesuit ranches in 1745
In Lian and Nagsubu, Batangas
Friars charged locals for personal use
of wood, rattan, and bamboo from
their own land
 Bulacan
Friars claimed land as their own
The following were prohibited:
Fishing in the rivers
Cutting firewood
Gathering of fruits from the forrest
Carabao gazing
Cavite, Manila, and Bulacan
Friars claimed land through which
rivers passed
Permission was needed to allow for
water irrigation
 Bitter protest on friar
landlords
Friars increase taxes on productive
farms
Surtax on planted trees
Land owners lowered prices to lower
the taxes
Side-lines and other abuses
Fees for all sorts of rites
Including baptism and burial
Native paid even if to lose their last possessions
Selling of rosaries, scapulars and other objects
Requirement of offering of food and services
for the covenant table
Corporal punishment
Girls were compelled to pound rice in convents
Many of them were raped
Exempted from taxes
 Economic power &
commercial activities
 Friar
Supremacy
 Church vs. State
Knowledge of Friars outweighed that of government
officials
Friars had a more secure term in the church; this in
turn made the government dependent on them
Friar control spans from birth until death
Taxation
Health
Public works
Censor
Elections
Police and Army
Schools
Almacen de la Fe
Literally means, Faith Warehouse
Friars gained Economic Power
though:
Conversion to Christianity
Investments
Internal trade within the
population
Participation in government
activities
Spiritual control
 Friars Dominate
Indispensable to Spain
Arrogance of Friars
Friction between Governor Generals
and the Friars
Friar Conflicts
 Conflict with Governors
Governors complain to Spanish Monarchs
Gov. Dasmarinas (1952)
Indians recognize friars as kings
Friars use Indians as slaves
Friars have the say with regards to everything
Approval of the friars are needed

Gov. Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera (1636)

Objected to the increase of religious in the
Philippines
Friars monopolized business
 Casualties
Gov. Diego de Salcedo (1669)
Imprisoned and died
Gov. Juan de Vargas
Stood for 4 months in Manila wearing
sackcloth and rope
Archbishop Pardo
Gov. Fernando Manuel
Ordered clergy to return owed money
from government
Stabbed to death
 Conflict over Land Titles
Examination of land title ordered by
the King
Forgery
Ecclesiastical immunity
Oidores
Juan Sierra
Juan Ozaeta y Oro
 Conflict with the Pope

Refusal to submit to authority of

bishops
Claimed to be under exclusive
control of own orders
Conflict with Secular Clergy
Religious orders do not include
Filipinos
Seculars became assistants to
regular friars
No territory/ parish
Monastic Supremacy
TODAY
 Since the Philippines is a majorly Catholic
country, Church traditions of monastic
habits are still in effect in our country.
Most politicians ask to be endorsed by
the Church officials, the Church demands
in political decisions, Church leaders hold
positions in the government cabinet or
advise the presidents, and leaders of our
country ask guidance from priests,
bishops, and the like.
Former President Gloria Macapagal-
Arroyo asked guidance from the Pope
about her decision on abolishing the
death penalty in the Philippines.
President Benigno Aquino III appoints Bro.
Armin Luistro FSC to be the DepEd secretary
Church demands the teaching of sex
education, not to be done in current events.
Those running for office ask endorsements from
religious leaders, not only in the Catholic realm.