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Dionisio Capulong and the elite in early Spanish Manila (c. 1570–1620)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2018

JOHN N. CROSSLEY
JOHN N. CROSSLEY*
Affiliation:
Monash University, Australiajohn.crossley@monash.edu
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Abstract

When the Spaniards came to settle Manila in 1571 Dionisio Capulong was a young boy. His father was one of the rulers in the region and all were scions of the Muslim royal family of Brunei. The father astutely complied—to a certain extent—with the colonising Spaniards. His son subsequently pursued an ambivalent career alternately working for and rebelling against the Spanish colonisers. Ultimately he became a landowner in the Spanish mode. This is his story. Even from only Spanish reports one can discern great astuteness and opportunism, which enabled the elite to keep local supremacy. Tracing the career of Dionisio Capulong sheds light on the elite in pre-Spanish Manila and environs as well as on Manila's earliest Spanish years.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , October 2018 , pp. 697 - 715
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 2018 

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References

1 There are a handful of documents written in the local language, some of which will be cited below. The Inquisition had very little influence in early Spanish Manila, so that the views in Inquisition hearings that are so useful in Latin American history (as in e.g. the classics Israel, Jonathan I., Race, Class and Politics in Colonial Mexico (Oxford, 1975), p. 274Google Scholar or Liss, Peggy K., Mexico under Spain 1521–1556: Society and the Origins of Nationality, (Chicago, 1975), pp. 81–82)Google Scholar simply do not exist.

2 The situation is very one-sided and therefore very different indeed from that described in the opening remarks (and elsewhere) of Gruzinski, Serge, Man-gods in the Mexican Highlands: Indian Power and Colonial Society, 1520-1800, (Palo Alto, 1989)Google Scholar.

3 The Spanish Patronato meant that the distinction between church and state was minimal but in the case of the Philippines the clerics were often at odds with the civil administration and were not afraid to speak out especially on behalf of the local people.

4 Blair, Emma Helen and Robertson, James Alexander, The Philippine Islands 1493–1898, (Cleveland, Arthur H. Clark Co. Translated from the originals, edited and annotated. 55 vols, 1903–1909, republished as 55 vols in 19, Mandaluyong, Rizal, Philippines: Cachos Hermanos, Inc., 1973)Google Scholar. The volumes will be referred to as BR with a volume number in Roman numerals.

5 Bloomington, Indiana, Lilly Library, Philippine MSS. II (unnumbered manuscript), De la historia De las Philipinas, que trata de la conquista de las yslas philipinas desde el gouierno de el adelantado Miguel lopez de legazpi que la començo, Bloomington, Indiana, Lilly Library, Philippine MSS II, Book III, Chapter 8, fol. 159v. (This manuscript will be referred to as the Lilly Historia, LH for short.) A transcription, translation and notes are being prepared by John N. Crossley and Clive Griffin. A summary of the manuscript may be found in Crossley, John Newsome and Griffin, Clive, ‘The earliest (Spanish) history of the Philippines?’, The Journal of History, LXI (2015), 56–77Google Scholar.

6 See p. 1 of Scott, Henry, William, Cracks in the Parchment Curtain and other essays in Philippine History, (Quezon City, 1982).Google Scholar

7 LH, Book III, Chapter 8, fol. 159v.

8 ‘Expeditions to Borneo, Jolo, and Mindanao’, BR IV, p. 151.

9 ‘Relation of the voyage to Luzón’, [Diego de Herrera, OSA?], 8 May 1570, BR III, pp. 73–104, at p. 102: Those who saw Soliman's [the Young Rajah's] house before it was burned, say that it was very large, and that it contained many valuable things, such as money, copper, iron, porcelain, blankets, wax, cotton, and wooden vats full of brandy [probably tuba, a spirit made from sugar cane].

10 LH, fol. 80r: todos los hedifiçios de madera y cubiertos con çiertas hojas de palmas silvestres. (All the buildings [were] of wood covered with certain leaves of wild palms.)

11 ‘Relation of the voyage to Luzón’, BR III, pp. 73–104, at p. 94.

12 The Spaniards used “Moors” (or “Moros”) as a generic term for the non-Christians they encountered. While they were aware that some were indeed Muslims, Legazpi and his men happily traded with them despite the savagely anti-Islamic attitude of Spaniards in general following the fall of Granada in 1492.

13 Stanley of Alderley, Lord, translated, The first voyage around the world by Magellan, tr. from the accounts of Pigafetta and other contemporary writers, (London, Hakluyt Society, 1874), at p. 108Google Scholar. Lord Stanley has it as “Borneo” in his footnote. In much of the literature the settlement is called “Borneo” but it seems clear that Brunei is intended, see also Souza, George Bryan and Turley, Jeffrey S., The Boxer Codex, Transcription and Translation of an Illustrated Late Sixteenth-Century Spanish Manuscript Concerning the Geography, History and Ethnography of the Pacific, South-east Asia and East Asia, European Expansion and Indigenous Response, Vol. 20, (Leiden, 2016), p. 397, n. 1.Google Scholar

14 Nicholl's, Robert collection of resources for the history of Brunei is largely European-based from the sixteenth century on. Although he did publish Brunei in the Sixteenth Century, Bandar Seri Begawan: Brunei Museum, 1975Google Scholar, he was forbidden by the Bruneian government of the day to publish his extensive archive: Sources for the History of Brunei, two volumes, preserved in the City of Hull (UK) Archives, 1-630.

15 Legazpi was quite old when he went to the Philippines in 1565. He died in Manila in 1572.

16 See p. 79 of Majul, Cesar Adib, Muslims in the Philippines, Third Edition, (Quezon City,1999)Google Scholar, second printing 2009. (This latter edition is the one used for reference.). Majul refers to Retana's note on p. 574 of de Morga, Antonio, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, Nueva edición enriquecida con los escritos inéditos del mismo autor, ilustrada y prologada por Retana, Wenceslao E. (Madrid: Victoriano Suárez, 1909).Google Scholar

17 Majul identifies Siripada with Sultan Bulkeiah (Nakhoda Ragam); see p. 73 of Majul, Muslims.

18 Majul, Muslims, p. 52. Majul is very cautious and uses the word “probably” a great deal.

19 Stanley of Alderley, The first voyage, pp. 114–115.

20 See p. 42 of Santiago, Luciano P. R., ‘The Houses of Lakandula, Matandá and Solimán (1571-1898): Genealogy and Group identity’, Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, vol. 18, No. 1(1990), pp. 39–73Google Scholar.

21 Stanley of Alderley, The first voyage, p. 115. It is interesting that the Rajah treated the Spaniards courteously, as visitors and guests, rather than as adherents of a hostile religion, see also below.

22 Rajah Matandá means “old Rajah”. See also note 44.

23 There were strong Muslim settlements in the southwest including Sulu and much of the major island of Mindanao and the Spaniards never successfully controlled these throughout their rule.

24 There is dispute about just when places such as Brunei received Islam. See p. 48 of Majul, Muslims.

25 Majul, Muslims, p. 51 and also see Saleeby, Najeeb M., The History of Sulu, (Manila, 1966).Google Scholar

26 For a discussion of these see Majul, Muslims, pp. 48ff.

27 See p. 56 of de Morga, Antonio, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, translated and edited by Cummins, J. S., Second Series 140 (Cambridge, 1971)Google Scholar, originally published in 1609. Also see LH, fols 5v and 27r. Later when Legazpi came to Manila in 1571 he was met by “an Indio who knew me from Panay” (un yndio que me conocia de panae), ‘Carta de Miguel López de Legazpi al virey de Nueva España’, [1572] pp. 40–59 in Wenceslao E. Retana, Archivo del bibliófilo filipino: recopilación de documentos científicos, literarios y políticos y estudios bibliográficos. Madrid, M. Minuesa de los Ríos, 1895–1905, Vol. V, pp. 458–477 at p. 462.

28 los que la [sc. Manila] hauitauan eran moros avnque no del todo mahometanos (those that lived there [in Manila] were Moros although not fully Muslims), LH, fol. 78v.

29 Majul, Muslims, p. 80.

30 ‘Relation of the Conquest of the Island of Luzon’, Manila, 20 April 1572, BR III, pp. 141–172 at pp. 141–142.

31 Captain Diego de Artieda, ‘Relation of the Western Islands, called Filipinas’, BR III, pp. 190–208, at p. 196.

32 In May 1571 Legazpi served wine to the rulers in Manila. (See LH fol. 92v: Y mando el Adelantado que les diesen colaçion y bino de Castilla; And the Adelantado commanded that they be served a collation and wine from Castile.)

33 BR have a note (15, p. 233) to the effect that Herrera confuses “kasis” with “cacique”.

34 Present author's note: Although there are records of mosques in the south of the Philippines, I have found no record of sixteenth century mosques in Manila. Of course they would have been made of wood and therefore have not survived.

35 Note 16, p. 232, of BR omitted.

36 Diego de Herrera, OSA, ‘Letter to Felipe II’, Panay, 25 July 1570, BR XXXIV, pp. 229–235 at pp. 232–233. Since the first Spanish expedition to Manila arrived there on 18 May 1570, reports on Manila may have reached Herrera before he wrote this letter.

37 Later there was to be violent denunciation of Islam by the Spaniards, for example see the letter of Governor Francisco de Sande to the king of Borneo [Brunei] considered below (in Francisco de Sande, ‘Relation of the Filipinas Islands’, 7 June 1576, BR IV, pp. 21–97, BR IV, pp. 152–155, especially p. 154), and this was to continue under future governors.

38 De Morga, Sucesos (1971), p. 56; LH, fol. 30v.

39 See LH, Book I, Chapters 5, 7 and 8.

40 A local sailing boat common throughout the region and as far away as Malaysia and Indonesia.

41 ‘Relation of the voyage to Luzon’, BR III, pp. 73–104 at p. 73. LH, fol. 78r says he sent rowers, fighters, artillery, munitions and supplies and 120 [Spanish] soldiers chosen by the Master-of-camp [Goiti] (el gobernador le dio una muy buena fregata y con ella un junco bien proveído de gente de remo y guerra, artillería y municiones, y bastimento nescesario, y ciento y veinte soldados que el maestre de campo escogió; the governor gave him a very fine frigate and with it a junk equipped with oarsmen, fighters, artillery and munitions, and the necessary food supplies and a hundred and twenty soldiers that the master-of-camp chose).

42 The Muslim areas in the south of the Philippines were more organised.

43 . . . se quemo vna gran cassa llena de muniçion y donde se fundia artilleria y alg<un>os de las [sic, los] que las bieron dizen que era como la cassa de la fundiçion de Malaga (a large building full of munitions was burnt down; it was where cannons were forged and some of those who saw them say that it was just like the foundry in Malaga); LH, Book I, Chapter 19, fol. 80v. Also, BR XI, n. 171: Probably on the same site where the great Tagál cannon-foundry had formerly stood. . . Rizal [on de Morga].

44 De Morga, Sucesos (1971), p. 56, says that Rajah Matandá was chief of Tondo, but all other authorities say Lakandula was chief there and Rajah Matandá was chief of Manila. See, for example, p. 18, n. 21 of de Morga, Antonio, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, con estudio introductorio de Francisca Perujo, (Mexico City, 2007).Google Scholar

45 Rajah Matandá was “reported to have married a daughter of a Bruneian sultan and to have been of Borneo origin” (see Majul, Muslims, p. 79).

46 See p. 537 of de San Agustín, Gaspar, OSA, Conquistas de las Islas Filipinas, 1565–1615, Manila: San Agustín MuseumGoogle Scholar, first bilingual edition, translation Luis Antonio Mañeru, (ed) Pedro Galende, OSA, 1998, originally published in 1698. Also LH, fol. 79v.

47 LH, fol. 79v: Y llegados adonde estaua, le saludaron con çerimoniosas demostraçiones de criança, que ellos acostumbran. Y el maestre de campo les respondio a su modo; y luego los rrajas, en señal de paz perpetua, se sacaron vna poca de sangre de los braços y lo mismo hizo el maestre de campo. Y la que los rrajas se sacaron la bebio el maestre de campo, y la del maestre de campo bebieron ellos porque, como se a dicho atras, esta es la çerimonia de hazer amistades. (And having come to him, they greeted him with polite ceremonious displays, as was their custom. And the master-of-camp responded in his own way; and then the rajahs, as a sign of perpetual peace, took a little blood from their arms and the master-of-camp did the same. And the master-of-camp drank the blood they had drawn and the rajas drank his, since, as was previously said, this was the ceremony for making friendship bonds.)

48 Legazpi's men had already made such a blood compact in Northern Mindanao in 1567, see LH, fol. 57v.

49 Filomeno V. Aguilar Jr, ‘The “Pacto de Sangre” in the Late Nineteenth-Century Nationalist Emplotment [sic] of Philippine History’, Philippine Studies, Vol. 58, Nos 1/2, Festschrift in honour of Fr. John N. Schumacher, SJ, (June 2010), pp. 79-109 at p. 89.

50 LH, Book I, Chapter 19, fol. 80r.

51 See LH, fol. 79v. A ship from Brunei was also involved, firing on the Spaniards.

52 . . . el pueblo de Manila hera grande y el mas rrico de todas las Yslas Philipinas (. . . it was the largest and richest settlement in all the Philippine Islands), LH, fol. 80v.

53 LH, fol. 80v.

54 See LH, Book I, chapter 22, fol. 84v.

55 See p. 45 of Santiago, ‘The Houses’.

56 LH, Book I, Chapter 19, fol. 79v.

57 See e.g. p. 40 of Santiago, ‘The Houses’.

58 See e.g. LH, fol. 93v: Pero que la paz y amistad que de presente queria hacer, no querian que fuese de aquella manera [pacto de sangre] sino que se hiziese al modo y costumbre que se hazia entre los españoles porque, pues ya se habian ofreçido por vasallos del Rey de Castilla, quería[n] que se hiziese con las çerimonias y costumbre española[s]. (But in order to achieve the peace and friendship he then wanted they did not want to make a blood pack but only to do things in the manner and custom the Spaniards used, since they had offered themselves as vassals of the King of Castile, they wanted things to be done with the customary Spanish ceremonies.)

59 LH, fol. 79v: Rraja el Viejo . . . como prudente q<ue> hera, y tenia muchos años donde abia experimentado grandes altos y vajos de fortuna . . . . (The Old Rajah . . . prudent and old as he was, had experienced great turns of fortune . . . .)

60 LH, fol. 93v: quando en España se hazia amistad, y se daua obidiençia y rreconoçimiento de vasallaje al rey, se asentaua todo por escripto ante vna persona fidedigna, a quien en lengua castellana llaman escriuano, ante el qual y algunos testigos que se hallan presentes, se jura y promete, por los que hazen las paces, lo que se a de guardar y cunplir en ellas. (When a bond of friendship is made in Spain, and obedience, recognition and vassalage are pledged to the king, it is set down in writing before a reliable person, called an escribano [scribe] in Castilian, before whom and witnesses present, those making the peace swear and promise what they will obey and fulfil according to it).

61 Ibid.: los Rajas, Viejo y Moço, y Lacandora, con todos los mas prinçipales de Manila y su comarca. (The Rajahs, Old and Young, and Lacandola, with all the most principal men of Manila and its environs.)

62 See LH, fol. 92r.

63 Santiago, ‘The Houses’, genealogical chart on p. 48.

64 See San Agustín, Conquistas, p. 557.

65 Kapampangans are the inhabitants of Pampanga. Santiago, ‘The Houses’, p. 45 and vol. I, p. 138 of Francisco Colín, SJ, Labor evangélica de los obreros de la Compañía de Jesús en las Islas Filipinas, Nueva edición. Ilustrada con copia de notas y documentos para la crítica de la Historia general de la soberanía de España en Filipinas por el Padre Pablo Pastells, SJ, 3 vols, (Barcelona, 1900–04). This will be referred to as Colín-Pastells.

66 Legazpi had died in 1572.

67 ‘Expeditions to Borneo, Jolo, and Mindanao’, BR IV, p. 151.

68 See Sande, ‘Relation of the Filipinas Islands’, at pp. 24–31. He was regarded as a pirate by the Chinese authorities.

69 “[S]ome natives had come to [Martín de Goiti, the master-of-camp] from the shore, shouting at the tops of their voices that enemies were near, and that the king of Borney [Brunei] was coming down upon the Castilians. Now as Martin de Goite knew that this was the season of the brisas [northeasterly winds], and that it was impossible to come from Borney, which lies to the southwest, because the wind was dead ahead, and not believing in the possibility of other enemies, he laughed at the men, telling them that they were drunken”. See Sande, ‘Relation of the Filipinas Islands’, at p. 32. See also San Agustín, Conquistas, Book 2, Chapter XVII, pp. 655 ff.

70 See Sande, ‘Relation of the Filipinas Islands’, at p. 32. See also Santiago, ‘The Houses’, p. 43 names them as Rahang Bago (“new prince”), a son of Soleiman, the Young Rajah, and his cousin Lumanatlan.

71 See Sande, ‘Relation of the Filipinas Islands’, pp. 35–36; Santiago, ‘The Houses’, p. 50.

72 San Agustin, Conquistas, Book 2, Chapter XIX, p. 675.

73 See ‘Letter from Francisco de Sande to Felipe II’, 30 May 1579, BR IV, p. 144.

74 See p. 59 of Saunders, Graham, A History of Brunei, (London, 1994, second edition 2002 is the edition to which reference is made).Google Scholar

75 See Wikipedia: Lakandula, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakandula, accessed 25 February 2016.

76 It has been conjectured that Dionisio's mother may have been from Candaba. Since Candaba is a considerable distance from Manila (about 70 km) it is hard to see why anyone from Manila was a ruler there unless there was some family connection.

77 In his report of 13 July 1589, Governor de Vera mentions four other people each of whom he describes as a “chief of Tondo”, but they would appear to be people subservient to Magat Salamat (see de Vera, ‘Conspiracy Against the Spaniards’, BR VII, pp. 95–111 at pp. 103–111). These “chiefs” are named as Gabriel Tuambacar, [Carlos] Calao, Amarlangagui, and Joan [presumably Juan] Banal.

78 As is evident from the name he had taken, he was a Christian. He was not a relative of Legazpi.

79 See Santiago, ‘The Houses’, at pp. 44 and 47. Agustín de Legazpi (who had surely been baptised a Christian with that name) had married a Muslim woman who was “the daughter of Pangiran Salalila, an uncle of Seif ur-Rijal, the Brunei Sultan” (see Majul, Mulsims, p. 79).

80 De Vera, ‘Conspiracy Against the Spaniards’.

81 Juan de la Concepción, ORSA, dismisses this revolt in Vol. I, p. 432 of his Historia general de Philipinas. Conquistas espirituales y temporales de estos Españoles Dominios, establecimientos Progresos, y Decadencias (Manila, 1788–1792), 14 vols: . . . en estas inquietudes volvieron Raja Soliman, y Lacandola á sus rebeliones; no fueron de consecuencia (. . . in these troubled times Rajahs Soleiman and Lakandula returned to rebellion; it was of no consequence).

82 See e.g., Hernando de los Ríos Coronel in Part I, Chapter I, of his Memorial y relacion para su Magestad, del Procurador General de las Filippinas, de lo que conviene remediar, y de la riqueza que ay en ellas, y en las islas del Maluco, Madrid: Por la viuda de Fernando Correa, 1621, (English translation by J. N. Crossley available at http://www.users.monash.edu.au/~jnc/Rios/1621Memorial.pdf, accessed 14 November 2012 and ‘Letter from the Audiencia to Felipe II’, 25 June 1588, BR VI, p. 311, n. 61).

83 See Sande, ‘Relation of the Filipinas Islands’, p. 151.

84 Present author's note: The witness is identified as Magad-china from Balayan, which is near Laguna de Bay (see p. 148 of de Vera's account in Expeditions to Borneo, Jolo, and Mindanao. Francisco de Sande and others; Manila, 19 April 1578, to 10 June 1579 and ‘Relation of the Philipinas Islands’, Domingo de Salazar, and others; Manila, 1586-88, BR VII, pp. 29–51 at p. 40).

85 De Vera, ‘Conspiracy against the Spaniards’, p. 99.

86 See p. 253 of Sitoy, T. Valentino Jr., A History of Christianity in the Philippines, (Quezon City, 1985).Google Scholar

87 De Vera, ‘Conspiracy Against the Spaniards’, p. 99.

88 ‘Letter from the Audiencia to Felipe II’, 25 June 1588, BR VI, pp. 311–321 at pp. 311–312, n. 61.

89 De Vera, ‘Conspiracy Against the Spaniards’, p. 103. For a better transcription see Colín-Pastells, I, p. 173 also p. 174 for the mention of Dionisio.

90 See p. 59 of Saunders, A History of Brunei.

91 De Vera, ‘Conspiracy Against the Spaniards’, p. 104.

92 De Vera, ‘Conspiracy Against the Spaniards’, pp. 106–111. BR have several notes about the word “exile”. On (BR VII) p. 105, n. 13 they say: Exile thus inflicted was of two kinds. The Spanish phrase here is seis años de destierro precisos–the last word meaning that the culprit's residence was prescribed in a certain place. In the other form of exile, read: for precisos, voluntarios (“at will”), which may be translated “unconditioned–that is, he might choose his place of residence”. Note 14, p. 107, says: Span[ish], corte; a now obsolete use of the word, to signify a district of five leagues [around 28 km or 17 miles] around the court. It will be remembered that [Governor] Sande, in 1577, fixed the boundaries of the city of Manila within this limit. (See BR IV, p. 107.)

93 The value seems to be about $20,000–$35,000 in present day terms, see ‘Relation and Description of the Phelipinas Islands’, [Francisco de Sande]; Manila, June 8, 1577, BR IV, pp. 98–118, at p. 99: [Orejeras gold] is of sixteen or even eighteen carats, and of this are made all their trinkets and jewelry.

94 De Vera, ‘Conspiracy Against the Spaniards’, p. 107.

95 See García, R. R.; Díaz, H. F.; Herrera, R.; García, Eischeid J.; del Rosario Prieto, M.; Hernández, E.; Gimeno, L.; Rubio Durán, F.; and Bascary, A. M.; ‘Atmospheric Circulation Changes in the Tropical Pacific Inferred from the Voyages of the Manila Galleons in the Sixteenth–Eighteenth Centuries’, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 82 (11) 20012.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar, 2435 ff. See also Manila Galleons Voyage Records, IGBP PAGES/World Data Center for Paleoclimatology, Data Contribution Series # 2002-005, NOAA/NGDC Paleoclimatology Program, Boulder CO, USA at http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/pubs/garcia2001/garcia2001.html, accessed 14 November 2012.

96 Most of the books I have consulted say that Dionisio Capulong was also exiled to New Spain, for example, Sitoy, A History, p. 283. On the other hand pages on the World Wide Web since about 2002 (for example, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_of_the_Maharlikas and https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Philippine_History/The_Philippine_Revolution-Revolt_Against_the_Tribute_.281589.29) have not made this error. (The former web site claims he “was exiled from his town” [emphasis added].)

97 But see the comment in parentheses in the previous footnote, which suggests he may not have been allowed to stay in Candaba.

98 I have not been able to find first hand evidence of the pardon in the Archivo General de Indias or elsewhere. (It is claimed on all the web sites I have visited.) The 1589 galleon from Manila was lost but the 1590 galleon took despatches from the new governor, Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas, to Acapulco. (See García et al., ‘Atmospheric Circulation’, entries for 1589 and 1590.) In his 1591 letter Dasmariñas refers to his 1590 one saying “I could not enter into full details, because of the short time between my arrival and the departure of the ships” (G. P. Dasmariñas, ‘Letter to Felipe II’, BR VIII, pp. 142–168 at p. 142). So perhaps this is why there is no report of the pardon.

99 De Vera, ‘Conspiracy Against the Spaniards’, p. 107.

100 In early Spanish times the region was known as Tuy or Ituy. The Magat Valley is about 200 km or 120 miles north of Manila and not far north of Candaba, which is on the route the expeditions took. The Magat River runs north from the Dalton Pass, eventually joining the Cagayan River, which flows into the sea at the north of Luzon. For an account of the Magat Valley expeditions see Crossley, John N., The Dasmariñases: Early governors of the Spanish Philippines, (Abingdon, 2016), Chapters 6–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

101 Present author's note: Pangilinan incorrectly claimed, quoting Santiago, that Dionisio died in 1607 but the actual Santiago text is incorrectly referenced as 2001 when it should be to Santiago, Luciano P. R., Laying the Foundations: Kapampangan Pioneers in the Philippine Church, 1592-2001, (Angeles City, Philippines, Holy Angel University, 2002). (See p. 1Google Scholar of Michael Pangilinan, ‘Assessing the current status of the “pre-Hispanic” Kapampangan script’, paper presented at the Eleventh International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, 22–26 June, 2009, Aussois, France.)

102 Present author's note: This was an expedition under Governor Labezaris led by Captain Chacón, who had gone without guides (see Juan Manuel de la Vega, ‘Expeditions to the province of Tuy’, 3 July 1609, BR XIV, pp. 281–326, at p. 281).

103 De la Vega, ‘Expeditions to the province of Tuy’, at p. 282. De Vera had sent an earlier expedition to the Cagayan Valley led by Captain Pedro de Chávez, around April 1589 (see p. 943 of San Agustín, Conquistas), so Dionisio would surely not have set off till a few months after that. Note that Candaba is on the route from Manila to the Magat Valley since the expeditions there first went up the Great Pampanga River (see p. 73 of Crossley, The Dasmariñases).

104 Some sources say 31 May.

105 See p. 244 of Henry Scott, William, Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society, (Quezon City, 1994)Google Scholar. (I refer to the fifth printing 2004.) However Scott does not cite his source. Dasmariñas also got information from Augustinian friars who had previously been in the Magat Valley (see Crossley, The Dasmariñases, p. 75).

106 Email of Patricia O. Afable to the author on 5 February 2015.

107 See Crossley, The Dasmariñases, p. 92.

108 See vol. XV, p. 482 of Isacio Rodríguez Rodríguez, OSA, and Alvarez Fernández, Jesús, Historia de la Provincia Agustiniana del Santísimo Nombre de Jesús de Filipinas, Manila: Estudio Agustiniano; Valladolid: Ediciones Estudio Agustiniano, 22 vols, 1965-1984, republished Valladolid, 1983: Ediciones Estudio Agustiniano.

109 See de la Vega, ‘Expeditions to the province of Tuy’, at p. 299. For accounts of the expeditions see Crossley, The Dasmariñases, Chapter 8.

110 See de la Vega, ‘Expeditions to the province of Tuy’, at p. 293.

111 See de la Vega, ‘Expeditions to the province of Tuy’, p. 294.

112 See de la Vega, ‘Expeditions to the province of Tuy’, p. 298.

113 See de la Vega, ‘Expeditions to the province of Tuy’, p. 298.

114 The document is in the Archivo de la Universidad de Santo Tomas, Manila, Libro 22, fol. 139.

115 Archivo de la Universidad de Santo Tomas, Manila, Libro 22, fol. 203.

116 The Tagalog is transcribed into Roman letters, see below, and may well have been written by a Spaniard.

117 “The friars in the Philippines only followed the decision and practice of Mexico”, see José García Espallargas, CM, Philippiniana Sacra, X, No. 28 (1975), pp. 73–94 at p. 92. Clive Griffin (email of 24 October 2015) has pointed out that Nahuatl, which was the language spoken by the Aztecs and some other people in Mexico, was actually spread by the Spanish among Mesoamerican peoples who did not speak it prior to the conquest, in order to facilitate evangelisation using it.

118 See Crossley, John N., ‘Doctrina christiana: National Treasure, World Treasure’, The Journal of History, LXII (2016), pp. 135–161Google Scholar, and Wolf, Edwin J. II, (ed.), Doctrina Christiana: The First Book Printed in the Philippines. Manila, 1593. A Facsimile of the Copy in the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection. Library of Congress, Washington, (Washington, 1947)Google Scholar, available at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16119/16119-h/16119-h.htm, accessed 23 September 2015. Images of the Doctrina may be found on the Library of Congress web site at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=rbc3&fileName=rbc0001_2002rosen1302page.db, accessed 23 September 2015. (The text begins at image 5.)

119 More precisely KA PU LO [NG].

120 The last letter of words in Baybáyin was not written. (See Potet, Jean-Paul, Baybayin, the Syllabic Alphabet of the Tagalogs, Raleigh, NC: Lulu.com, 2014Google Scholar.) This makes it very easy to write Baybáyin but extremely difficult to read. I am indebted to Christopher Miller for the information about this signature (email 20 March 2016).

121 The Audiencia, the supreme governing council, had been abolished by Gómez Pérez but was re-established in 1598 under Governor Tello.

122 See de la Vega, ‘Expeditions to the province of Tuy’, p. 299.

123 See de la Vega, ‘Expeditions to the province of Tuy’, p. 299.

124 See Crossley, The Dasmariñases, pp. 117 ff.

125 See de la Vega, ‘Expeditions to the province of Tuy’, 3 July 1609, BR XIV, p. 300 and Archivo General de Indias, Seville, Filipinas,7,R.3,N.45.

126 Archivo de la Universidad de Santo Tomas, Manila, Libro 22, fol. 203.

127 Christopher Miller kindly pointed out the following: The first letter, “D” has two kudlits [vowel diacritics]: for “o” and “i”, so the “D” is read twice giving “Don Di”. The fourth letter has only <-o> below it for what is either a spelling mistake or, quite possibly, pronounced as “sho” cf. “shete” for “siyete” and many similar examples. (Email to the author of 11 March 2016.)

128 See p. 125, signatures 87 and 88 of Alberto Santamaría, OP, 2012, ‘El “Baybayin” en el Archivo de Santo Tomás (Algo de Paleografia Tagala)’, Philippiniana Sacra, XLVII, No. 139, pp. 103–144. (This article is a republication of his earlier article: ‘El “Baybayin” en el Archivo de Santo Tomás’, Unitas, XVI, No. 8, (1938), pp. 441-480.). The documents are Archivo de la Universidad de Santo Tomas, Manila, Libro 22, fols. 200–203, and fol. 213.

129 Archivo de la Universidad de Santo Tomas, Manila, Libro 22, fol. 139.

130 Email from Christopher Miller, 10 March 2016.

131 Archivo de la Universidad de Santo Tomas, Manila, Libro 22, fol. 203.

132 The same person as Huyca above: Guica, see Santamaría, ‘El “Baybayin” ’, p. 130.

133 Archivo de la Universidad de Santo Tomas, Manila, Libro 22, fols 212v–13v. Mónica Sayan's signature occurs in other Baybáyin documents, see Santamaría ‘El “Baybayin” ’, pp. 130, 132 and 140.

134 Thanks to Ricky Jose for this epithet. The word balimbing is used in present day Filipino for politicians who change their allegiance to the opposing party. The English equivalent is perhaps the Vicar of Bray.