001 The Conquest

To trace the complete history of the conquest of the Philippines would be like biking nonstop along the Tour de France. It's possible, but take one wrong step and you'd fall to pieces. For one thing... some of what has been written about the conquest has to put it frankly contradicted the actual reports written at the time of the events what's worse is that pretty much all the contemporary accounts and reports on it

were written by the Spaniards themselves, leaving the Filipinos virtually voiceless and giving us a version told only from the Spanish perspective, which many times has been at best condescending to the Filipinos.

Of course, just because a document is biased does not mean we can't find any facts lying underneath. For the first episode of Philippine History Z, I will narrate the events leading up to the Spanish conquest of the Philippine Islands, based on my own reading of Spanish primary sources, as well as writings of historians. I will also talk about the state of the Philippines at the time of the conquest, as well as the groups that managed to avoid the Castilian grasp. This is Philippine History Z.

single European face was seen in them, living in the archipelago now known as the Philippine Islands was a hodgepodge of different sovereign settlements with their own laws, languages, and cultures. Spanish accounts portray these groups as no different than many other tribes that they encountered in the Americas, with their own leaders, which some tribes referred to as Datus, fixed borders, loyalties.

etc. This assumption was passed on to the Filipinos themselves and it has still carried on to this very day. Tagalog documents, however, reveal a slightly different story. Historian Damon Woods did a philological analysis of Tagalog testimonies commissioned by the Spanish government during the early Spanish period in an effort to form colonial policy.

he found that pre-Hispanic Tagalog society was a lot more flexible than the Spaniards assumed. Identities were defined not by the land that people were born in, but by their personal relationships with one another. Essentially, one didn't say, I am a man of Manila, but I am one of these people. When the Spaniards tried to look for the equivalent of a monarchy, these groups would just recommend the most influential members that they trusted.

You could say that pre-Hispanic Tagalog society was basically run under what I would personally call a barkada system. Barkada being the Tagalog term for gang. Your group or posse was basically your tribe. and those whom you trusted the most could convince you to even go to war for them. You could say that pre-Hispanic tribes were a little like modern college fraternities, where each tribesman was the other's broad.

or fraternity brother. I imagine that this is why the Philippines has always been so prone to personalistic politics, with a political family established in each region. Everyone has his own club. and was sensitive to any criticism of his leader. Of course, it should be noted that this only applied to Tagalog groups, and maybe not even all Tagalog groups. It didn't necessarily describe

other pre-Hispanic Filipinos like the Visayans, Cebuanos, etc. Similar research would need to be done using documents in their respective languages. In any case, They were all different tribes with their own rules and customs. Furthermore, these groups all had their own religions and deities. In the Tagalog regions, for example, Many groups believed that the world was created by Bhatala, which was likely derived from the Sanskrit term Bhatara, or Great Lord. For centuries,

The natives of these islands would trade with merchants from neighboring countries like India and China. According to historian William Henry Scott, Chinese Filipino contact dates back to at least... 972 AD, when traders from Ma'i, known today as Mindoro, went to China to present exotic items of luxury like myrrh to the emperor as tribute.

This didn't mean that Ma'i became a colony of China. They were still an independent state, although they basically acknowledged that the Chinese emperor was superior to their rulers, which was more or less how Chinese diplomacy worked back then. Later, China started sending its own traders to Mindoro, Palawan, and other islands in the Philippine archipelago. Arab missionaries would later follow.

and make their own way to the Philippines where they introduced Islam. The new religion soon spread across the archipelago, especially in the islands of Mindanao and Sulu, where a sultanate would be established. Like every hodgepodge of sovereign entities with conflicting interests, three Spanish Filipinos traded with each other, intermarried with each other, and went to war with each other, enslaving the vanquished. And some,

what would be called the Philippines was just another region with its own history. This would be the case until a series of treaties in Europe changed the course of history for all these groups.

In 1493, after use of Christopher Columbus and the New World reached Spain's king Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I, they sought to block other European powers, especially fellow Catholic Portugal, whose king... John II claimed that by papal decree, new trade routes to non-Catholic lands belonged solely to him. To avoid war, both sides consulted with the pontifex himself.

The Spanish-born Alexander VI was also the patriarch of the notorious Borja clan. Don't know who the Borjas are? They were a family that did all sorts of crazy stuff, from political intrigue to murder. and even incest. In other words, they were a real-life version of Game of Thrones, and in fact, there was even a TV show about them. The Pope released two papal bulls.

The first was the Inter Caytera of 1493, which placed a north-south demarcation line along 100 leagues west and south of the Cape Verde Islands. All non-Christian lands west... and south of this line belonged to Spain, while the rest belonged to Portugal. This was followed by the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, which moved the line 370 leagues west.

In the end, most of South and Central America, except for Brazil, would go to the Spanish. Then in 1512, the Portuguese reached the Molokas Islands in Indonesia.

The Moloccas were rich in cloves, pepper, nutmeg, and other spices, which were very much in demand in Europe. As a result, other European powers sought to find their own roots to the Moloccas. which were dubbed the Spice Islands. Five years later, after spat with the king of Portugal over wages, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sought the support of Charles V.

who was both the King of Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor, for his own trip to the Spice Islands. Magellan argued that the Moluccas lay on the Spanish side of the demarcation line established by Tordesillas. and the king immediately approved Magellan's proposal. On August 10, 1519, with a total of five ships and 237 men, Ferdinand Magellan departed from Seville in Spain

for the Spice Islands. Over the following year, Magellan would survive a mutiny and lose two ships, while also passing the 373 mile long strait that now carries his name. to become the first known European to cross the fast ocean that he would dub the Pacific, due to its relative calmness compared to the stormy Atlantic. Given that the Pacific is notorious for its typhoons, I think that Magellan was, pardon my language, a lucky bastard

On March 16, 1521, Magellan reached the first among the islands that would eventually be called the Philippines, the island of Samar, or Zamal, as Magellan's Italian chronicler antonio pigafetta called it after arriving on the island of homonhon on the feast day of st lazarus he named the archipelago las islas de san lazaro the st lazarus islands

and claimed it for Spain. On April 7, Magellan's crew arrived in the island of Cebu, where they were welcomed by its ruler, Humabon, who not only accepted Spanish rule, but also converted to Christianity, taking the name Carlos, after the King of Spain. His wife, the Queen, also converted to Christianity, taking the name Juana.

Then gave her a statue of the baby Jesus, which she accepted. Later, Zula, a friendly ruler from the island of Mactan, told Magellan about Lapu-Lapu, another tattoo. in Mactan, who refused to bow down to the Spanish crown or convert to Christianity. Now, it's quite possible that Zula, or maybe Humabon, who was a rival to both Datus, simply wanted to play Lapu-Lapu. and Magellan against each other. In any case, on April 27, 1521, Magellan was killed in a showdown with Lapu-Lapu's forces.

For years, the story of Magellan and Lapu-Lapu's battle would be romanticized by Filipinos. Many Filipino students including myself, grew up hearing stories about how Lapu-Lapu personally struck the fatal blow against the evil Ferdinand Magellan. In fact, today in Mactan stand two monuments, one to Magellan and another to a young... The problem is that the only accounts to survive about the battle were those of the Europeans like Bigafetta.

who portrayed the natives as ganging up on Magellan as he faniantly bought them off. Still, despite his biases, it's certainly clear that the natives of Mactan killed Magellan, though whether Lapu-Lapu himself did it remains a mystery. On one hand, Pigafetta only mentions Lapu-Lapu twice and doesn't say anything about the latter killing Magellan personally, something that you would expect him to write since Lapu-Lapu was the chief.

There's also the fact that Lapu-Lapu was a contemporary of Humabon who already had an adult son. Thus, Lapu-Lapu would have actually been a lot older than what was frequently depicted. maybe in his 50s or 60s, and thus less likely to be in a condition to fight. On the other hand, Pigafetta's account never indicates anything about Magellan meeting Lapu-Lapu personally.

So neither the Italian nor the Portuguese may have known how Lapu-Lapu looked like. For all they knew, one of those that struck the fatal blow on Magellan was a strong, middle-aged Lapu-Lapu. At the very least, based on known information, Lapu-Lapu was the first native leader of what would become known as the Philippines to successfully fend off conquests from a group from outside the islands.

It would be a stretch to claim that Lapu-Lapu was the first native Filipino to successfully resist foreign rule, as back then, all these groups were as foreign to each other as the Europeans were to them. Does this diminish lapu-lapu status as a Philippine hero? Personally, I don't think so. A lot of countries are formed through the unification of smaller kingdoms.

which ended up merging their histories and cultures. Take for example China, which started out as different smaller kingdoms until they were unified by the emperor of Qin. Similarly, As soon as Filipinos started obtaining a national consciousness that united them with each other regardless of origin, our different histories all became one history.

So I think all Filipinos can celebrate Lapu-Lapu as a hero against Western imperialism, while still acknowledging that there was still no united Filipino identity at the time. By the end of the battle, eight of magellan's men had died in addition to magellan himself four of whom were native converts while fifteen of lapu lapu's men died to make things worse

their old ally humabon decided to turn his back on the survivors and attack them eventually the survivors of magellan's expedition arrived back in seville on september Of the 270 men that left for the Spice Islands, only 18 came back alive. While Magellan and his crew never found a new trade route to the Spice Islands, they found a new territory that Spain would eventually add to its growing empire.

Other Spanish ships would make their own attempts at conquering the Philippine Islands, although there is not really much to say about them. This was because these attempts were, to be honest, dunce, mainly due to a lack of resources.

as well as attacks by the Portuguese. However, one voyage in particular stands out. Nearly 22 years after Magellan's death, Ruy Lopez de Villalobos arrived in Mindanao following his route though billiolobo's attempt at conquering the island would fizzle out as well it was he who as a tribute to the crown prince of spain charles son philip the second christened the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas or the Philippine Islands. Then in 1564, when Philip himself took the throne,

he decided to give the archipelago another try. After all, who wouldn't want to check out an entire archipelago named after him? So on November 20, 1564,

a fleet led by General Miguel Lopez de Legazpi left Puerto de Navidad, New Spain, aka Mexico. Nobody, including the general himself, knew where they were supposed to go. as he was ordered not to read the instructions given to him by New Spain's Real Audiencia, Mexico's top governing body, until they were 100 leagues ahead at sea. Five days later,

When Legazpi finally read the instructions, the entire crew was shocked to find out that they were sent to explore the Western Islands, another name for the Philippine Islands. After previous failed expeditions, Not everyone was excited about giving the islands a second thought. The clergy on board felt as if they had been lied to. The Augustinian friar and the ship's navigator, Andres de Uldaneta,

who had traveled in one of those previous failed expeditions, had claimed that the Philippine Islands laid on the Portuguese side of the demarcation line. Nevertheless, in the end, they couldn't exactly say no. I mean, the king's word was God's after all. Furthermore, Legazpi and his men were instructed not to anger the natives, but befriend them.

I imagine that their experiences in South America, where the natives did not just simply bow down to the conquistador's feet, may have convinced the king that it was probably just best to get the natives' trust and friendship. In any case, At this time, the king's primary aim, at least formally, was to spread Catholicism to the natives, who were considered heathens.

Legazpi's expedition officially arrived in the Philippines. I've read conflicting accounts on where exactly they landed first. A lot of sources say that Legazpi first arrived in Cebu. But the official Spanish account say that they first arrived in Sibabao, or modern-day Samar. Whether later historians found other accounts not included in the official Spanish documents, I can't say.

In any case, it's pretty much agreed that Legazpi arrived in the Philippines on February 13, 1565. For the next several days, Legazpi's fleet would go to several different islands where they were able to meet and trade with several native tribes. While they were sometimes met with hostility, the Spaniards would secure friendship with other tribes.

This they did by performing the ancient tradition of Sanduguan, or one-blooded with the tattoos. The Sanduguan was a blood compact, where both parties drew blood from their arms and poured it in a cup of wine.

which they drank, forging their new brotherhood and camaraderie. On March 19, the Spaniards reached the bay of Bohol Island. At the advice of a Borneo interpreter, Legazpi sent a soldier to meet with its tattoo, Katuna, or Si Katuna, as written by European chroniclers, probably due to them not knowing the use of the definite Article C, which is usually placed before a proper noun.

Many tribal leaders had their names written like this, like Lapu-Lapu or Si Lapu-Lapu, as Pigafetta wrote. The Boholanos, like some of the other groups Legazpi met, were at first suspicious and reluctant to let their Datu board Legaspi's ship. Eventually, on March 22, Katuna, along with several other natives, met the general on his ship.

Legazpi then learned the reason for Katuna and the other natives' initial resistance. Two years before, a group of Portuguese and natives from Ternate, one of the Spice Islands, came to the Philippines, sacking villages and taking slaves, while calling themselves Spaniards. After Legazpi told Katuna that the Spanish crown was not the same as the crown of Portugal,

Bohol's Datu agreed to make a blood compact with them. With the Spaniards now in friendly terms with the Boholanos, Legazpi decided to continue what Magellan started years ago, a conquest

of cebu he believed that since the cebuanos had already converted to christianity and pledged allegiance to the king of spain they were still subjects of the spanish crown According to the official Spanish report, on April 27, exactly 44 years since Magellan's death, the Spaniards returned to Cebu, though some historians have said that it happened on the 28th. By this time, the datu of Cebu was Tupas, a nephew of Humabon. Unlike his uncle with Magellan, Tupas refused to even meet with Legazpi.

most likely out of fear of retribution for humabot's attack on the surviving members of magellan's crew the next day legazpi ordered his ships to fire upon the cebuanos boats The Cebuanos then burned down their houses and fled to the hills. When they were gone, the Spaniards found in one of the burned-down houses a statue of the child Jesus, the same statue that Magellan and Pigafetta

gave to Queen Juana many years before. Legazpi saw this as God's sign permitting the Spaniards eventual conquest of the archipelago. Later, on that same site, the augustinians built a church that they named the st augustine church later renamed the minor basilica of the holy child of cebu where the statue remains today filipinos know it as the santo niño or the holy child the oldest catholic relic in the philippines the spaniards had captured more than twenty natives one of whom was

According to the Spanish account, Tupas's brother came to offer himself to the Spanish crown in exchange for his daughter's release. Legazpi told him that she was not a prisoner and that he just wanted to talk to Tupas. Eventually, Tupas himself would come and accept Legazpi's friendship, also accepting Spanish rule. He had his niece marry one of Legazpi's soldiers, the first such marriage in the archipelago.

tupas himself would later convert to christianity taking the name felipe after the king of spain Legaspi proceeded to explore the rest of the archipelago and establish relations with its natives. In 1569, this became a full-fledged, royally sanctioned conquest. with the king of Spain appointing Legazpi as the first governor general and captain general of the Philippines. They didn't actually use the term colonization, however, just pacification.

despite the fact that the Philippines was no less turbulent than Europe. Some tribes accepted Spanish rule willingly, just as Tupas and Catuna did, while others responded with violent resistance.

In 1571, the Spaniards learned of a prosperous village called Manila, which was situated along the Pasig River. It was ruled by co-monarchs Raja Matanda and Raja Soliman. Beside Manila lay the Kingdom of Tondo, which was ruled by Raja Lacanduna, Solomon's uncle. Like Tupas, Solomon was not going to give up Manila without a fight. A battle ensued.

which ended with the Spaniards setting the town on fire, and Soliman and his army retreating to the Pasig River. Seeing how strong the Spaniards were, La Candura decided to befriend them and accept Spanish rule. He then approached his nephew, whom he convinced to do the same. On May 18, 1571, Datu Soliman and Lacandula signed a peace treaty with Legazpi. allowing the Spaniards to establish our city in Manila. Afterwards, 2,000 warriors from the Macabebet tribe of Pampanga sailed to Tondo.

to taunt Lacandula and Soliman for surrendering to the Spaniards. The two Datus said that if the Macabebes killed at least forty Spaniards, they would join them. When the Spaniards confronted him, The brash young Makabebe chief said to them, I shall never make peace with you, even if lightning cut me in half and my wives abandon me. I will wait for you in Bangkusay.

The Spaniards accepted the Banca Bebe's challenge, and the result was the fateful yet completely one-sided June 3rd, 1571 Battle of Bancusay. A naval clash, where the Macabebes placed the superior Spanish Armada. After the battle, the Macabebe chief was executed. This marked the last defense of Manila's sovereignty. The Spaniards were here to stay. and they were not leaving anytime soon. On June 24, 1571, the city of Manila was officially founded as the capital of the Philippine colony.

For many years, Filipinos were taught that it was Soliman himself who led this last charge, even though he survived past that, even helping the Spaniards conquer Pampanga. It didn't help that the young Makabebe had erroneously been named as Tariq Soliman. In recent years, it has been recognized that it was this young, nameless Makabebe leader who died in Bangusay. And in 2016, the Philippine National Historical Commission unveiled a marker at Macabebe Pampanga in his honor.

Over the next several centuries, the Spanish would continue to expand their rule across the islands, sometimes through treaties, others through violence. The question is... just how peaceful or violent the conquest was. From Spanish accounts, it seems that the Spanish managed to conquer the Philippines with little resistance from the natives.

I should stress, however, that this is all based on accounts by the conquistadors themselves as they would have been the only ones that would have been able to leave behind any writings. Although the natives had their own writing system, Any text that they wrote would have most likely been destroyed by the Spanish as they sought to remove any trace of pre-Hispanic native culture from the islands, particularly religious practices.

It's no surprise then that Philippine history seems more biased towards the Spanish. Without any account from the natives to conquer this mostly pro-Spanish view of the conquest, you should at least... cast some doubt on it, and not accept it, point blank. The most objective observation we can take from all of this is that the Spaniards met La Candula, Soliman, and other leaders, and somehow...

They managed to get them to give up their sovereignty. Another thing worth discussing is whether the conquest of the Philippines would actually be considered a conquest if it was as peaceful as the Spanish portrayed it. Most Spanish writers during the Spanish regime and most Filipinos today certainly thought so. However, some Filipino nationalists in the 19th century

who believed in the Spanish view of the conquest being peaceful, promoted an alternative view. In his footnotes to his edition of the historical work, Antonio de Morgas, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, Jose Rezal explained that except for a few exceptions, most Filipino tribes accepted Spanish rule through peace treaties and friendship, believing that the Spaniards would help them develop their civilizations.

Since the word conquest brings to mind one foreign power overcoming and ruling over another by military force and threats, he believed that the Spanish takeover of the Philippines could not be considered In his manifestos, the revolutionary leader Andres Bonifacio made a similar argument, claiming that the Spaniards basically came to the Filipinos as friends and offered them progress.

and civilization, convincing them to willingly give up their sovereignty. So if the Filipino nationalists like Rizal and Bonifacio were correct, Spanish rule over the Philippines was mostly based not on violent conquest, but on trust and friendship, and under the natives' expectations that the Spaniards would bring their societies to greater heights.

It was similar to how nations today willingly join an international body like the United Nations or the European Union and agreeing to the rules that go with membership. This was at least how Filipinos like Rizal and Bonifacio saw it. the next several centuries would see whether the Spaniards would keep their end of the bargain. In any case, regardless of whether you believe it was a conquest or not,

by the 17th century, Spain was mostly the master of the Philippine archipelago. Mostly. Until the end of Spanish rule, Many groups remained independent of their control. Most of these groups lived in highland areas like the mountainous Cordillera region, as well as in many parts of the island of Mindanao.

and a few other places where the Spanish were unable to make any progress until they had better technology in the late 19th century. It didn't help that these groups knew more about the terrain than they did. With the exception of the Moros and the Aitas, whom the Spaniards called Negritos, all these different groups were collectively labeled as Igorots. It wasn't a surprise that they were joined

by some lowland chiefdoms that were forced to flee to the mountains when the Spanish took over. Of all the unconquered natives, the ones that stood out the most were the Moros. When the Spaniards first arrived, they saw that in addition to animism, Islam also had a large presence in the archipelago. The Spanish saw their conquest of the Philippines

as a continuation of the war between the Cross and Crescent back in Europe and the Holy Land. This was, after all, still the era of the Inquisition and not long after the Crusades. Thus, the Spaniards branded all the muslims regardless of their tribe as moros after the muslim moors who had ruled spain years before basically every muslim native regardless of where they were from was seen

as a Moro. Manila itself was a Moro settlement and Soliman and Lacandula were Muslim. Islam was particularly strong in the southern island of Mindanao. where groups like the Maranao, Tausug, and Maguindanao were able to completely repel the Spaniards until the final days of the Spanish era. Unlike the small scattered native tribes in the Visayas and Luzon Islands,

The Moros of Mindanao were far more organized politically and culturally, particularly the Sultanates of Maguindanao and Sulu. Even by the time of Legazpi's arrival, Sultans and these sultanates could easily call on their respective Datus to mobilize and organize their armies into one powerful fighting force. The Datus personally led their troops to battle.

and sacrificed their lives to defend their independence. In addition, Sulu and Maguintanao also had agricultural settlements that could provide them with a large food supply. as well as coastal settlements with ships that could fend off Spanish ships while maintaining trade with other ports. This led Spaniards to burn as many Muslim plantations and ships that they could find.

also strengthened by their relations with their neighboring Muslim kingdoms cemented through marriage and alliances. Lastly, the Muslims' zealous determination to defend Islam and their independence became a major motivation for resistance regardless of how much they hated each other and indeed they often went to war with each other sultans as well as datus formed strong alliances

out of the simple fact that they hated losing their religion and liberty more. Once the Spaniards reached Mindanao, it didn't take long for them to realize that they were no longer dealing with the small, independent tribes that constantly fought each other in Luzon and Visayas, but actual, modern city-states. Personally, wala na tomorrow.

it's hard not to feel intense pride for how they, as well as other independent groups, successfully resisted colonialism for so long. As a matter of fact, I'd argue that their respective resistance should be celebrated just as much as the Philippine Revolution against Spain in Luzon and Visayas. A consequence of the Spanish conquest of the Philippines

was the loss of many cultures and civilizations that existed before the spanish arrival and subsequent hispanization and christianization of the islands though lots of pre-hispanic practices have lasted to this day Much of what we know about pre-Hispanic Filipinos comes from Spanish accounts written in Spanish perspectives, as well as from some Chinese accounts. Unfortunately, native literature written by our ancestors disappeared.

when we were forced to replace our old native writing system with a new romanized alphabet. Perhaps the biggest effect of the conquest, however, is how it created a wide gap in the respective historical paths taken by the conquered and unconquered, leading to developments of completely separate national and ethnic identities that clash with each other to this day. Support for autonomy or even separatism from the Philippines is strong among some of these groups, especially the Moro.

Now, before we end this episode, I just want to clear up a tiny issue regarding the conquest. Earlier, I pointed out how Urdaneta opposed the conquest of the...

Philippines because he believed it was part of the Portuguese side of the demarcation lines established by the people bulls and as it turns out he was right If you look at the map showing the demarcation lines created by Inter Cayetera and Tordesillas, a link of which I will include in the show notes of this episode, you'd see that the Philippines is located...

way to the east of all the lines. All that Spain was supposed to get were the Americas and tiny specks of the Arctic and Antarctic. Of course, I doubt that the Spaniards intended to screw over the Portuguese. It wasn't like Google Earth was a thing yet. Geographic knowledge still wasn't as updated as it is now. For several years between Magellan's death and Legaspi's arrival,

There was indeed some disagreement over the demarcation lines. This was settled in 1529, when both Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Zaragoza, where Spain essentially relinquished most of Asia including the Philippines and the Spice Islands. Nevertheless, other than giving up the Spice Islands, King Philip essentially just simply thumbed his nose on the Portuguese and went

through with the conquest. Apparently the Portuguese didn't mind, as they never even bothered to occupy the archipelago since Magellan first arrived there. Spain may never have succeeded in reaching their original goal. But for the next 400 years, the Spanish flag would maintain a heavy presence in their new Philippine colony. Music for this episode is by Kevin MacLeod.

and Alexander Nakarada with sound effects from freesound.org. For a full list of music and sound credits, as well as the sources of this episode, check out the show notes. on the podcast's official site, philippinehistoryz.buzzsprout.com. In the next episode, I will give you an overview of the state of early colonial Philippines.

up to the early 19th century touching on aspects such as political structure economy and of course religion in particular the role of the friars who would end up the primary target of Philippine nationalists from the mid to late 19th century. Once again, this is Philippine History Z. See you in the next chapter.