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Religious Aspects of the Spanish Voyages in the Pacific during the Sixteenth Century and the Early Part of the Seventeenth
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 December 2015
Extract
The Conquest of Mexico was under way when Magellan’s fleet left San Lucar, September 1519, in quest of a western route to the coveted Spice Islands. On May 22, 1607, the two smaller ships of Quirós’ armada put in at Cavite in the Philippines, bringing to a close the last of the great Spanish exploration voyages in the Pacific. By that time the English and the Dutch had entered the ocean. The Sea of the South of which Balboa had taken possession in the name of his sovereigns was not to be an exclusive preserve of Spain any more. Spain was on the defensive in the New World. The great era of Spanish discovery in the Pacific Ocean was not to outlast the climax of Spanish power in the Americas. Quirós never lost his faith in the mission of Spain in the Pacific, but his entreaties, and those of the friars who were ready to accompany him for the spiritual conquest of the Pacific insular world, met with deaf ears. The Spanish authorities were under the impression that Spain had already seized more than she could grasp. In the Pacific the Spaniards were now satisfied with keeping up the Manila Galleon trade, the life line of the Philippines. The task of exploration was taken up by Spain’s competitors the Dutch, the English and the French.
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- Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1948
References
1 Portuguese ships were trading in the western part of the Pacific. Even after the Treaty of Saragossa of 1529 had established a line of demarcation in this area, Portuguese and Spanish interests came into conflict more than once.
2 Three ships under the command of Pedro Fernández de Quirós left Callao December 21, 1605, and reached the New Hebrides which Quirós took for the mythical southern continent. When leaving the island the ships became separated during the night of June 11, 1606. The capitana (flagship) refuted to America with Quirós on board, whereas the others proceeded westward. They discovered the Strait of Torres (which bears the name of one of the senior officers of Quirós) between Australia and New Guinea.
3 Father Celsus Kelly, O.F.M. is at present publishing in the Catholic Review of New Zealand a series of articles under the title: Catholic Missionaries in the Pacific.
4 Alvaro de Saavedra Cerón was sent in 1527 by Cortés in order to find out about the fate of the survivors of previous expeditions. This expedition was the first to leave the American continent. Saavedra reached the Moluccas, but died in his second attempt to recross the Pacific.
5 One example taken at random will serve to illustrate what happened on many occasions. The crew of the patache San Lucas that had become separated from Legazpi’s fleet were once unable to withdraw their sounding lead caught at the bottom of the sea. The situation was critical as it was the only one they had. In this predicament, a member of the crew promised Our Lady of Consolation her weight in wax candles. The author of the narrative adds that no sooner had the man made that promise than he was able to lift the lead as if nothing had happened. Colección de documentos inéditos relativos al descubrimiento, conquista y organización de las antiguas posesiones españolas de ultramar. Madrid (1885–1932), Vol. III, p. 17 Google Scholar. This collection will hereafter be indicated with the lettets D.I.U.
6 Zaragoza, Justo, Historia del Descubrimiento de las regiones austriales hecho por el general Pedro Fernández de Quirós. Madrid, 1876–82, Vol. I, p. 372.Google Scholar
7 Zaragoza, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 225.
8 The expedition which sailed from the port of Navidad in New Spain on November 1, 1542, under the command of Ruy López de Villalobos, had been planned by Pedro de Alvarado and Antonio de Mendoza. After the death of the adelantado in the Mixton War, the viceroy of New Spain took over the full responsibility for the fitting out of the fleet. Villalobos gave the Philippines their name in honor of the heir to the Spanish throne. After a long period of starvation in the archipelago, Villalobos surrendered to the Portuguese in the Moluccas. He died at Amboina, assisted by Saint Francis Xavier, the Apostle of Japan.
9 D.I.U., Vol. II, p. 56 Google Scholar. In this connection it is interesting to note that no medical certificate was required before embarcation.
10 D.I.U., Vol. II, p. 57.Google Scholar
11 Quirós did not make any distinction either in connection with the distribution of food. One of the reasons for this attitude may have been that Quirós was not an aristocrat himself like Villalobos and the other commanders of armadas.
12 Zaragoza, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 227. Rations were issued weekly.
13 Cf. Walsh, William T., Isabella of Spain, N. Y., 1930, pp. 273 ff.Google Scholar
14 The placing of the block in the yardarm served a similar purpose. It is reported that Quirós’ instructions about blasphemies were posted on the mainmast, so that those who could read might see them. They were also read by the ship’s drummer.
15 The rule was to take on one particular expedition friars belonging to the same order.
16 Alvaro de Mendaña conducted two expeditions to the Southwest Pacific. Both sailed from Peru. The first which left in 1567 resulted in the discovery of the Solomons. On his second expedition in 1595 Mendaña tried in vain to return to the Solomons, but landed on Santa Cruz island. An attempt to establish a settlement there failed and Mendaña died. With Quirós as chief pilot the ships sailed for the Philippines.
17 This order of Brother of Charity had been founded by Juan de Dios in Granada in 1540’ and had been introduced into the New World.
18 The Augustinians who went with Legazpi received from the Vicar general of their order in New Spain a warrant authorizing them to administer all sacraments to the men of the fleet. Blair, Helen and Robertson, J. A., The Philippine Islands, Vol. II, p. 166.Google Scholar
19 The six Franciscan friars of Quirós’ armada included four priests and two lay-brothers.
20 Padre prior (Legazpi’s fleet), padre vicario (Mendaña’s second armada) or padre comisario (Quirós’ voyage).
21 The word Pray does not seem to have been used for the Brothers of Saint John of God, but usually that of hermano.
22 When the fleet arrived at Navidad the only priest on the ship wanted to travel to Mexico by land saying that he was most anxious to return to a friary and would never again go on a voyage. In a sublime scene Quirós succeeded at first in persuading him to stay with the men until Acapulco. But the friar changed his mind later.
23 The main result of Miguel López de Legazpi’s expedition that left the port of Navidad November 21, 1564, was the establishment of a permanent settlement in the Philippines. Legazpi stayed in the archipelago until his death in 1572. The Spanish settlement in the Philippines was to be the origin of the famous Manila Galleon trade.
24 Fray Andrés de Urdaneta and his companions of the order of Saint Augustine said that had they known that the course of the fleet would be changed they would have stayed ashore. They agreed, however, to go with the expedition for the service of God and of the Church, the increase of the “Royal Crown” and the good of the fleet. It may be argued that they had no alternative as the ships were on the high seas, but it should be remembered that Urdaneta was there as an adviser not only in spiritual but also in navigation matters and very much depended upon his cooperation.
25 In order to ensure peace among the expedicionarios, the priests had sometimes to justify acts of summary justice of which they may have otherwise disapproved. Following the murder of the rebellious master of the camp of Mendaña’s second expedition by the captain-general’s own orders, there was a great turmoil in the camp on Santa Cruz Island. The padre vicario helped in restoring order and succeeded in gathering all the excited men to hear Mass. He told them afterwards that all that had been done had been necessary and that they should obey Mendaña. Zaragoza, op. cit., Vol. I, pp. 113–114.
26 Durng the storm which caught Mendaña’s armada on the return voyage in October 1568, a Franciscan friar behaved with great courage. In his account of the voyage, prepared probably in September, 1569, Mendaña writes to the King:
“Not a soul on the ship expected in this hour to escape from this peril; and the lamentations of the people were such that it broke one’s heart to listen to the piteous words the people said. One of’ the friars we had with us behaved very well, for, after having sung the Credo with those who were with him below deck, he encouraged them to die like Christians, exhorting them to true contrition and repentance of their sins.” Zaragoza, op. cit., Vol. II, p. 43.
27 D.I.U., Vol. III, p. 37.Google Scholar
28 The title of “Protector of the Indians” was given to Juan de Zumárraga, first bishop of Mexico.
29 With Urdaneta and Legazpi’s representative went also the royal notary, Hernando Riquel, who was to record everything. The Spaniards wanted in this way to give the color of decency and legality to their dealings with the inhabitants of Cebu, as is indicated by the remark: “con lo qual la conciencia de Su Magestad y la suya en su real nombre quedaron descargadas (thus the conscience of His Majesty and his own (Legazpi’s) in his Royal Name remained unburdened).” D.I.U., Vol. II, p. 331.Google Scholar
30 Amherst, Lord, The Discovery of the Solomon Islands by Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568, London (1901), Vol. II, p. 256.Google Scholar
31 Blair & Robertson, op. cit., Vol. II, p. 115. It was decided to take him to New Spain for conversion.
32 In the council of Legazpi’s armada in which it was decided to kidnap a few natives from the island of Camiguin, in the Philippines, to serve as pilots, Urdaneta refused to discuss the matter. D.I.U., Vol III, p. 255.Google Scholar
33 D.I.U., Vol. II, p. 37.Google Scholar
34 Ibid., Vol. II, p. 188.
35 It is reported that when Quirós’ men landed on Virgen María Island near Espíritu Santo, the natives enquired by signs whence they came, who they were and what was the object of their visit. The Spaniards answerd: “Venimos de Oriente, somos cristianos, á vos buscamos y queremos que lo seais” (We come from the East, we are Christians, it is you we are looking for and we wish you to become Christians). Zaragoza, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 297. But this was a poeticized way of expressing Quirós’ views rather than those of his men.
36 Zaragoza, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 35.
37 Gente Hermosa Island, on modern charts.
38 Zaragoza, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 297.
39 Blair and Robertson, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 288.
40 Reverse of last folio of Spanish manuscript in Mitchell Library, Sydney, Australia. The manuscript has been edited and translated in Stevens, H. N., New Light on the Discovery of Australia as revealed by the Journal of Capitan Don Diego de Prado y Tovar, London (1930).Google Scholar
41 A viceroy of New Spain used to say that: “en cada fraile tenía el rey en Filipinas un capitán general y un ejército entero” (in each friar the King had in the Philippines a captain-general and a whole army). Quoted in Blair and Robertson, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 42.
42 D.I.U., Vol. II, p. 188.Google Scholar
43 Taumaco is an island of the Banks Group, north of the New Hebrides.
44 Zaragoza, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 283.
45 Ibid., Vol. I, p. 315.
46 Zaragoza, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 283.
47 Antonio Pigafetta, an Italian, who accompanied Magellan on his voyage, thanks to the favour of Charles V, was an eyewitness to many events and wrote the best narrative of the celebrated voyage.
48 The mass baptism of the population of Cebu in 1521 was to have curious consequences forty-four years later. Shortly before Legazpi and his fleet arrived there, a council was held and it was agreed upon that the best place to establish a settlement was Cebu. The island was known to be prosperous, and if the inhabitants resisted or refused to give provisions, the Spaniards would be justified in making war upon them, as renegades and disloyal subjects of the King. D.I.U., Vol. II, p. 235 Google Scholar. Legazpi and his companions very rightly supposed that the Cebu people, who had been without any contact with Spaniards since Magellan’s time, had returned to their old superstitions and forgotten that once upon a time their ruler had acknowledged the suzerainty of the King of Spain. Moreover, their ancestors had murdered several Spaniards in a banquet shortly after Magellan’s death. The Spaniards do not seem to have taken into account—or preferred to ignore—that they were dealing with primitive people, who had no responsible government keeping records. Later, when Legazpi reminded the people of Cebu of what had happened in Magellan’s time, they appeared to remember vaguely the events which had been preserved by oral tradition, but said that they were children when they took place. D.I.U., Vol. II, p. 345.Google Scholar
49 The method of mass baptism was also used in America in the early days. We are told that Bishop Zumárraga wrote in 1531 that since 1524 the Franciscans had baptized more than a million Indians in New Spain, and that Toribio de Motolinia reported that some of the first Franciscan friars to come to New Spain baptized as many as 1,500 Indians, children and adults in one day. Haring, C. H., The Spanish Empire in America, New York (1947), p. 186 Google Scholar, from Richard, Robert, La Conquête spirituelle du Mexique, Paris (1933)Google Scholar.
50 The reconversion of the people of Cebu by the second method proceeded very slowly after the Spaniards had returned in 1565. Fray Diego de Herrera, one of the Augustinian friars who had accompanied Legazpi, wrote to the King in 1570 that only about one hundred people had been baptized in Cebu. Blair and Robertson, op. cit., Vol. III, p. 69.
51 Zaragoza, op. cit., Vol. II, p. 37.
52 Zaragoza, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 323.
53 This was all for the good of the children. When one of them seemed to beg to be sent back home, Quirós bade him be silent, saying: “Silence child, as you do not know what you are asking for; greater benefits than the sight and intercourse of heathen parents and friends are awaiting you.” Ibid., Vol. I, p. 346.
54 Ibid., Vol. I, p. 273.
55 Ibid., Vol. II, p. 242.
56 Captain Vaez de Torres and Don Diego de Prado y Tovar were in command of the two ships that passed through the Strait of Torres and sailed along the southern coast of New Guinea, after they had become separated from Quirós’ ship at Espíritu Santo (1606).
57 Torres’ letter to the King. Stevens, H. N., New Light on the Discovery of Australia as revealed by the Journal of Captain Don Diego de Prado y Tovar, London (1930), p. 152.Google Scholar
58 In a letter sent from Manila to the King in July 1607, Torres wrote that he had taken with him people belonging to various tribes in order to present a better report to His Majesty about the voyages, but that these people were still difficult to understand. Stevens, op. cit., p. 230.
59 This was not always successful. In June 1528, Saavedra’s men captured three “black and ugly” natives in an island off New Guinea. Two escaped, but the other was taken to the Moluccas and became a Christian. When the ship called at the same island in the following year, the native was sent ashore to ask for provisions, but his people did not recognize him and killed him. Markham, Clements, Early Voyages to the Strait of Magellan, London (1911), pp. 126–7.Google Scholar
60 As the little boy was only seven when kidnapped, he could not remember very much of his country, but only tell what Quirós had taught him.
61 It is outside the scope of our essay to deal with the colonization of the Philippines and the conversion of many of their inhabitants which followed the settlement of the Spaniards in the islands. We want to deal here only with the missionary work which accompanied the •voyages.