• The history of the Philippines from 1565 to 1898, al

so known as the Spanish colonial period, was the p

eriod during which the Philippines were part of the
Spanish Empire as the Spanish East Indies within th
e Captaincy General of the Philippines. Forty-four y
ears after Ferdinand Magellan discovered the Philip
pines and died in the Battle of Mactan during his Sp
anish expedition to circumnavivate the globe, the S
paniards successfully annexed and colonized the isl
ands during the reign of Philip II of Spain, whose na
me remained attached to the country. The Spanish
colonial period ended with the Philippine Revolutio
n in 1898, which marked the beginning of the Amer
ican colonization of the Philippin
The Map of Juan de la Cosa of 15
00, the earliest undisputed repre
sentation of the Americas.
Naval Museum of Madrid, Madri
d, Spain.
The Cantino planisphere of 1502,
the earliest surviving chart showi
ng the explorations of Columbus
to Central America, Corte-Real to
Newfoundland, Gama to India an
d Cabral to Brazil. The Tordesillas
line is depicted at left.
Biblioteca Estense, Modena, Italy.
• The Age of Discovery, or the Age of Exploration (ap
proximately from the beginning of the 15th century
until the middle of the 17th century), is an informal
and loosely defined term for the period in Europea
n history in which extensive overseas exploration e
merged as a powerful factor in European culture an
d which was the beginning of globalization. It also
marks the rise of the widespread adoption of coloni
alism and mercantilism as national policies in Europ
e. Many lands previously unknown to Europeans w
ere discovered by them during this period, though
most were already inhabited. From the perspective
of many non-Europeans, the Age of Discovery mark
ed the arrival of invaders from previously unknown
continents.
• Global exploration started with the Portuguese disc
overies of the Atlantic archipelagos of Madeira and
the Azores in 1419 and 1427, the coast of Africa aft
er 1434 and the sea route to India in 1498; and fro
m the Crown of Castile (Spain), the trans-Atlantic vo
yages of Christopher Columbus to the Americas bet
ween 1492 and 1502 and the first circumnavigation
of the globe in 1519–1522. These discoveries led to
numerous naval expeditions across the Atlantic, Ind
ian and Pacific oceans, and land expeditions in the
Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia that continued i
nto the late 19th century, followed by the explorati
on of the polar regions in the 20th century.
European overseas exploration led to the rise of global tra
de and the European colonial empires, with the contact be
tween the Old World (Europe, Asia and Africa) and the Ne
w World (the Americas and Australia) producing the Colu
mbian exchange, a wide transfer of plants, animals, food,
human populations (including slaves), communicable disea
ses and culture between the Eastern and Western Hemisp
heres. The Age of Discovery and later European exploratio
n allowed the mapping of the world, resulting in a new wo
rldview and distant civilizations coming into contact, but al
so led to the propagation of diseases that decimated popu
lations not previously in contact with Eurasia and Africa an
d to the enslavement, exploitation, military conquest and
economic dominance by Europe and its colonies over nativ
e populations. It also allowed for the expansion of Christia
nity throughout the world: with the spread of missionary a
ctivity, it eventually became the world's largest religion.
 Magellan’s expedition
One of Ferdinand Magellan’s five ships—the Victoria
—arrives at Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Spain, thus co
mpleting the first circumnavigation of the world. The
Victoria was commanded by Basque navigator Juan S
ebastian de Elcano, who took charge of the vessel aft
er the murder of Magellan in the Philippines in April
1521. During a long, hard journey home, the people
on the ship suffered from starvation, scurvy, and hara
ssment by Portuguese ships. Only Elcano, 17 other Eu
ropeans, and four Indians survived to reach Spain in S
eptember 1522.

•
• On September 20, 1519, Magellan set sail from Spai
n in an effort to find a western sea route to the rich
Spice Islands of Indonesia. In command of five ships
and 270 men, Magellan sailed to West Africa and th
en to Brazil, where he searched the South American
coast for a strait that would take him to the Pacific.
He searched the Rio de la Plata, a large estuary sout
h of Brazil, for a way through; failing, he continued s
outh along the coast of Patagonia. At the end of Ma
rch 1520, the expedition set up winter quarters at P
ort St. Julian. On Easter day at midnight, the Spanis
h captains mutinied against their Portuguese captai
n, but Magellan crushed the revolt, executing one o
f the captains and leaving another ashore when his
ship left St. Julian in August.
• On October 21, he finally discovered the strait he h
ad been seeking. The Strait of Magellan, as it beca
me known, is located near the tip of South America,
separating Tierra del Fuego and the continental mai
nland. Only three ships entered the passage; one h
ad been wrecked and another deserted. It took 38
days to navigate the treacherous strait, and when o
cean was sighted at the other end Magellan wept w
ith joy. He was the first European explorer to reach
the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic. His fleet accom
plished the westward crossing of the ocean in 99 da
ys, crossing waters so strangely calm that the ocean
was named “Pacific,” from the Latin word pacificus,
meaning “tranquil.” By the end, the men were out o
f food and chewed the leather parts of their gear to
keep themselves alive. On March 6, 1521, the expe
dition landed at the island of Guam.
Ten days later, they dropped anchor at the Philippine island
of Cebu–they were only about 400 miles from the Spice Islan
ds. Magellan met with the chief of Cebú, who after convertin
g to Christianity persuaded the Europeans to assist him in co
nquering a rival tribe on the neighboring island of Mactan. In
subsequent fighting on April 27, Magellan was hit by a poiso
ned arrow and left to die by his retreating comrades.

• After Magellan’s death, the survivors, in two ships, sailed o

n to the Moluccas and loaded the hulls with spice. One shi
p attempted, unsuccessfully, to return across the Pacific. Th
e other ship, the Victoria, continued west under the comm
and of Juan Sebastian de Elcano. The vessel sailed across t
he Indian Ocean, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and arri
ved at the Spanish port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda on Septe
mber 6, 1522, becoming the first ship to circumnavigate th
e globe. The Victoria then sailed up the Guadalquivir River,
reaching Seville a few days later.
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History
In the late 16th century Manila was a walled Muslim settlement whose ruler levied customs duties
on all commerce passing up the Pasig River. Spanish conquistadors under the leadership of Miguel
López de Legazpi—first Spanish governor-general of the Philippines—entered the mouth of the rive
r in 1571. They destroyed the settlement and founded the fortress city of Intramuros in its place. M
anila became the capital of the new colony. Outside the city walls stood some scattered villages, ea
ch ruled by a local chieftain and each centred on a marketplace. As Spanish colonial rule became es
tablished, churches were built near the marketplaces, where the concentration of population was g
reatest. Manila spread beyond its walls, expanding north, east, and south, linking together the mar
ket–church complexes as it did so.

The propagation of Roman Catholicism began with the Augustinian friar Andrés de Urdaneta, who
accompanied the expedition of 1571. He was followed by Franciscan, Dominican, Jesuit, and other
Augustinian priests, who founded churches, convents, and schools. In 1574 Manila was baptized un
der the authorization of Spain and the Vatican as the “Distinguished and Ever Loyal City” and beca
me the centre of Catholicism as well as of the Philippines.

• At various periods Manila was seriously threatened, and sometimes occupied, by foreign powers.
It was invaded by the Chinese in 1574 and raided by the Dutch in the mid-17th century. In 1762, d
uring the Seven Years’ War, the city was captured and held by the British, but the Treaty of Paris
(1763) resulted in its restoration to Spain. It was opened to foreign trade in 1832, and commerce
was further stimulated by the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.
• The Manila area became the centre of anti-Spanish
sentiment in the 1890s, and the execution of Filipin
o patriot José Rizal in the city in December 1896 sp
arked a year-long insurrection. During the Spanish-
American War the Spanish fleet was defeated at Ma
nila Bay on May 1, 1898, and on August 13 the city
surrendered to U.S. forces. It subsequently became
the headquarters for the U.S. administration of the
Philippines.
The U.S. period was one of general social and economi
c improvement for the city. U.S. policy encouraged gra
dual Filipino political autonomy, and to help achieve th
is goal public schools were established in Manila and t
hroughout the archipelago. The University of the Philip
pines, founded in 1908, became the apex of the educa
tional system. The city developed into a major trading
and tourist centre.

• Upon the outbreak of World War II, Manila was decla

red an open city and was occupied by the Japanese in
January 1942. The city suffered little damage during t
he Japanese invasion but was leveled to the ground d
uring the fight for its recapture by U.S. forces in 1945.