HIS101

Module 3
The Philippines Becomes
Spanish Colony
❏First Voyage Round the World by
Antonio Pigafetta
❏Instruction to Miguel Lopez de Legaspi
❏Relation of the conquest of the iland of
Luzon
Factors that lead to expansion and
exploration in Europe:

1. The economic motive of finding direct

access to the profitable oriental trade
of luxury goods
2. Scientific and technological progress
specifically shipbuilding, cartography,
and navigational instruments
significantly contribute to the success
of the exploratory expedition
3. The quest to explore unknown and
distant lands also involves the religious
mission of spreading the Christian faith
Excerpt from the First Voyage Around the World by Antonio Pigafetta

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese sailor who defected t o Spain after his service to
the Portuguese crown was not properly recognized. He had seen action in the far East when
he participated in the capture of Malacca by the Portuguese forces in 1511
The expedition was entitled First Voyage Around the World; its author was the
Italian Antonio Pigafetta, who took part in the said expedition. The expedition
led by Magellan was composed of a fleet of five (5) ships and around 250
men who were mostly Castillans. They started off from San Lucar
Spain.
Primary Source

At dawn on Saturday, March 16, 1521, we

came upon a highland at a distance of three
hundred leagues from the island of Ladroni
- an island named Zamal (Samar) monday
afternoon, we saw a boat coming towards
us.
In order to show them more, the captain-
general took them to his ship and showed them
all his merchandise-cloves, cinnamon, peper,
ginger, nutmeg, mace and all things in the ship.
The island where we were is called humunu
(now Homonhon). There are many island in that
district and therefore we called them
archipelago of San Lazaro, as they were
discovered on the Sabbath of St. Lazarus.
Magellan also met some local chiefs with whom he
had a cordial relationship. Afterwards on eastern
sunday the first recorded mass in Philippines history,
was held in the small island called “Mazaua.
Interpretations of Pigafetta’s account have differed as
to the place of the first mass; whether it was the small
island of Limasawa, south of Leyte or Butuan in
northern Mindanao. Scholars have presented
evidence which tended to favor Limasawa over Butuan
On April 26, Zula a chief of the Island Mactan, sent one
of his sons to present two goats to the captain general
and to say that he will send him all that he had
promised, but not able to send it to him because of the
other chief Lapulapu, who refuse to obey the King of
Spain. He requested the captain to send him only a
boatload of men and fight against the other chief. The
captain decided to go through with three boatloads.
We begged him repeatedly not to go, but he, like a
good shepherd, refused to abandon his flock
After Magellan’s demise, the remaining members of the
expedition tried to make their way back to Spain but only
the little ship Victoria commanded by Sebastian del Cano
was able to return safely. The eighteen survivors arrived in
Seville in 1522, completing the first continuous
circumnavigation of the world. Several expeditions were
sent by Spain in the next four decades in order to establish
their claims over the Moluccas and each one of them made
a stop in the Philippine islands. One expedition led by Ruy
de Villalobos gave the island the name Las Phelipinas in
honour of the Spanish crown Prince Philip II.
Excerpt from “Instruction to Miguel Lopez de Legaspi from the
Royal Audiencia of New Spain

King Philip II, one of the most powerful European monarchs of

his time, decided to relinquish his claims to the Moluccas to
Portugal and colonized the Philippines instead. An expedition
under the leadership of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi was organized
in Mexico.
It set sail on November 20, 1564 from the port of Navidad with instruction handed by
the Royal Audiencia of Mexico. The Philippine from Mexico also known as New Spain, a
viceroyalty of the Spanish empire.The expedition reached Samar on February 14, 1565.
Legaspi and his crew went around the Visayas Islands in the Central region of the
Archipelago and were met by the natives with suspicion and indifference
The island of Bohol, Legaspi performed blood
compact with chief Sikatuna which signified a
friendly relationship. Miguel Lopez de Legaspi
eventually became the first governor-general of the
Philippines. Legaspi arrived in the island of Cebu on
April 27, 1565.
He defeated the recalcitrant Cebuanos and
established his settlement there, calling it Nombre
de Jesus after the wooden image of the holy child
was discovered by one of his men.
Excerpt from “Relation of the Conquest of the
Island of Luzon”

De Goiti found the port and town of Maynilad located along

the mouth of Pasig river. Peace was negotiated between
the Spaniards and natives og Maynilad led by its muslim
chief Raja Soliman but hostilities soon ensued and the
town was sacked by the Spaniards with the help of their
Visayan allies. Legaspi himself transferred to Maynilad in
1571 and made it the capital of the new colony.
Summary
1. European exploration and expansion was driven by
the search for access to the profitable Oriental trade,
the religious mission of spreading the Christianity and
was made possible by technological advances in
navigation.
2. The Spaniards had three main aims in taking over
the Philippines island, namely, the expansion of trade,
the conversion of natives to Catholicism and the
extension of territories ruled by the king of Spain.
3. The subjugation of the native population mainly in
lowlands and coastal areas of Luzon and Visayans was
affected through a combination of local alliances,
military intrusion and religious persuasion.
4. In 1571, Manila became the center of Spanish
colonial power in the Philippines. Strategically located
in the heart of the economically productive and thickly
populated Tagalog and Kapangpangan region in Luzon,
the city grew to become the paramount city of the
archipelago.
Assign
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Assignment: Required Readings

1. Decree Regulating Services of Filipinos

2. Encomiendas Assigned By Legazpi
3. Letter of Bishop Domingo de Salazar on abuses
committed by the Spaniards
4. Order issued by Governor Gomez, Perez
Dasmarinas for collection of the tributes
5. Opinion of Fray Martin de Rada on tributes from
the Indians
Recitation!
Sept. 8, 2022
Thank you and keep
safe everyone