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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 December 2015
Magellan’s abortive attempts to introduce baptism among the natives of the island of Cebu during the month of April of 1521 and the more successful efforts of the Spanish missionaries to preach the Gospel following the arrival of the Legazpi-Urdaneta expedition at Cebu on February 13, 1565 occurred during the initial and the culminating chapters respectively of the “spiritual conquest” of those native peoples of America and the Far East who were to enter the orbit of Spanish culture. During April of 1521, as Magellan was transforming himself into a lay missionary, Hernán Cortés was making the final preparations for the siege of Tenochtitlán. Its successful issue on August 13, 1521 laid the foundation not only of the Spanish Empire in the New World, but also it provided the Spaniards with the base of operations from which eventually they could extend their power to the Philippines. It was Cortés’ conquest of the Aztec Confederation in 1521 which enabled the Catholic missionaries of Spain to undertake one of the most extensive expansions in the history of the Christian Church. In 1565 the Spanish Church for its Philippine enterprise was able to draw upon a vast storehouse of missionary experience acquired in both North and South America. Magellan’s apostolic labors, ill-starred and brief though they were, exemplify many of the permanent features of the Spanish missionary enterprise. The Magellan episode also illustrates how his successors after 1565 did in fact profit from the Circumnavigator’s errors of judgment and tactics.
The author, John Leddy Phelan, is a Fellow in Philippine Studies at the Newberry Library where he is doing research on a book dealing with the “spiritual conquest” of the Philippines, 1565–1648. In THE AMERICAS, X (January, 1954), 354, there is a notice about the Philippine Studies Program which is being subsidized by the Carnegie Foundation.
1 For a stimulating evaluation of the Spanish-Portuguese missionary achievement overseas see Latourette, Kenneth Scott, A History of the Expansion of Christianity (7 vols.; New York and London, 1937–1945), III, 2–10.Google Scholar
2 The letter whose date is May 28, 1527 was given by Cortés to his cousin, Alvaro de Saavedra, who commanded an ill-fated expedition to the Philippines. For the text of the letter see Navarrete, Martín Fernández de, Colección de los viajes y descubrimientos que hicieron por mar los Españoles desde fines del siglo XV (5 vols.; Madrid, 1858), V, 461–462.Google Scholar
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12 For an authoritative account of the Mexican missionary background see Ricard, Robert, La “conquête spirituelle” du Mexique, essai sur l’apostolat et les méthodes missionnaires des ordres mendiants en Nouvelle Espagne de 1523 á 1512 (Paris, 1933), pp. 103–116.Google Scholar
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26 Ibid.
27 Ibid., pp. 447–449. As late as 1602 Pedro Chirino, then Jesuit representative at the Courts of Madrid and Rome, vainly attempted to arrange that only natives of the royal encomiendas be assigned to the Jesuit missions. The royal treasury had a better reputation for meeting its obligations than the private encomiendas. Colin, , op. cit., II, 329.Google Scholar
28 Blair, and Robertson, , op. cit., XI, 272–273; XIV, 155, 194; XXIX, 69 Google Scholar. Wine for the Mass usually came from Mexico or Goa. Carrillo, Hierónimo de Bañuelos y, “Relation of the Philippine Islands” in ibid., XXLX, 68–69.Google Scholar
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31 Governor Sande to Philip II, Blair, and Robertson, , op. cit., IV, 84.Google Scholar
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35 Ibid., pp. 71–72.Google Scholar
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38 Ibid, ., I, 481.Google Scholar
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40 Zaide’s conclusion about the baptism of Tupas creates a somewhat misleading impression. “Following the example of their king and prince, the Cebuans readily discarded their native religion and embraced Christianity.” To use Churchillian language, Tupas’ conversion was not the beginning of the end of passive opposition of the Cebuans to the friars, but it represents only the end of the beginning of opposition. Zaide, , op. cit., I, 147.Google Scholar
41 Herrera to Philip II, Blair, and Robertson, , op. cit., III, 72.Google Scholar
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43 Letter of Jesús, Pablo de O. F. M., in Archivo ibero-americano, III (July-October, 1916), p. 402 Google Scholar. The letter has no date, but it was written while its author was custodian of the Franciscan mission in the islands (1580–1583). I suggest that 1583 is a plausible date in view of the fact that he wrote Pope Gregory in 1590 that not much progress had been accomplished until the arrival of the Franciscans (1578).
44 The figure of 250,000 baptisms is contained in the report from the Manila community that Alonso Sánchez, S. J., carried to Spain in 1586. Blair, and Robertson, , op. cit., VI, 185–186 Google Scholar. The 250,000 figure may be a somewhat optimistic estimate based on anticipated baptisms for the following years. The Manila colony through its envoy, Sánchez, petitioned for a whole series of concessions from the Crown. The bigger the spiritual harvest of which the new colony could boast, the more generous might be Philip II. Sánchez’s figure of 250,000 could be reduced to 200,000 without being false to the achievements of the missionaries. Grijalva claims 146,400 natives under the care of the Augustinians as of 1586. This figure may be accurate not only because of the general reliability of its author but also because this figure is demographically plausible and in conformity with the number of friars then in the Philippines (96) and the methods employed in pre-baptismal instruction. Grijalva, , op. cit., pp. 167, 171, 194, 205 Google Scholar. If the Grijalva figure is accepted, then it is highly improbable the Franciscans had baptized 110,000. There is substantial evidence to indicate that the Franciscans had baptized not more than 30,000 by 1586. See the following footnote.
45 Ortega, Francisco de O. S. A., “Report Concerning the Philippines” in Blair, and Robertson, , op. cit., IX, 95–119 Google Scholar. Gonzaga’s figure of 300,000 baptisms for the Franciscans as of 1586 must be ascribed to a misquotation or a misprint, probably a scribe’s error. Gonzaga’s Philippine informant meant 30,000, not 300,000. Gonzaga, Francisco O. F. M., De origine seraphicae religionis (Rome, 1587), I, 352 Google Scholar. In 1597 the Franciscans reported 60,892 natives under their care. Alcalá, Marcos de O. F. M., Chronica de la santa provìncia de San Joseph de los religiosos descalzos (Madrid, 1736), pp. 68–74 Google Scholar. The first edition was published in Madrid, 1616. An increase from 30,000 in 1586 to around 60,000 in 1597 dovetails with the over-all expansion of the missionary enterprise during these years. A decrease in the same period from 300,000 to 60,892 is sheer fantasy divorced from the demographic realities of the time. The Archbishop of Manila reported to the King in 1622 that the Franciscans were then administering to 93,400 souls—an increase of about 30,000 between 1597 and 1622 which is about the same ratio that occurred between 1586 and 1597. Archbishop Miguel Garcia Serrano to the King, Blair, and Robertson, , op. cit., XX, 229–236.Google Scholar
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50 Ibid.
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53 Ibid., II, 134.
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