0 PRIMERAS.qxp - Universidad de Córdoba

Population movement in the Spanish
Pacific during the 17th century:
Travellers from Spain to the Philippines
A N TO N I O G A R C Í A - A B Á S O LO
Universidad de Córdoba
Recibido: 26 de septiembre de 2007
Aceptado: 15 de octubre de 2007
Abstract
This work is part of a wider scope project which deals with the Spanish population movements
towards Spain´s Pacific domains from the 16th to the end of the 19th centuries. All the
attention is centered around the official inmigration: that which was registered in Seville´s
Casa de Contratación, nowadays kept at the Archivo General de Indias. Final results
evolve from the study of the conditioning factors of this human flow towards the East in
the 17th century.
Key words
Spanish / settlers / Philippines / 17th century.
La aportación pobladora de España a Filipinas en el siglo XVII
Resumen
Este trabajo forma parte de un proyecto más amplio, dedicado a estudiar la emigración
de España a sus dominios del Pacífico desde el siglo XVI hasta fin del siglo XIX. Este trabajo
se centra en la emigración oficial de España a Filipinas, la que se registró en la Casa de
Contratación de Sevilla y se conserva en el Archivo General de Indias. Los resultados
finales van precedidos de un estudio de los factores condicionantes de este movimiento
humano hacia Oriente en el siglo XVII.
Palabras clave
Españoles / pobladores / Filipinas / siglo XVII.
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I.
Antonio García-Abásolo
INTRODUCTION
This paper which I present today is included in a larger research project
devoted to the study of the Spanish emigration to the territories of Spanish
territories in the Pacific Ocean area from the 16th to the 19th centuries1. The
object of study are the persons who left with the intention of residing there,
either permanently or in order to occupy a post for a long period. They are the
ones we can consider to be the Spanish settlers in the Philippines. The dispatch
of troops is left out on purpose, especially the large contingents sent during the
wartime periods of the 19th century. However, the military men who left as
passengers for a post, bringing along their family and servants, are also considered
settlers and belong to this study. In fact, it could be misleading to consider this
last type of people only as military men, because, even if they did come for this
purpose, they are professionally very versatile, and their capacity to adapt led
them often to successfully engage in commerce during the first centuries of the
Spanish government.
Therefore, my findings provide me with the possibility of speaking about
the different aspects of the emigration in the 17th century, even though they
cannot yet be considered as definitive, especially during the final stage of the
Spanish presence in the Philippines. I will develop my study from the quantitative
to the qualitative, showing the data in graphs whenever possible, and analyzing
the most salient points deserving commentary.
My intention in the presentation, still within the general guidelines of the
larger research project, is to go from the quantitative data to the persons or, in
other words, from the number of passengers to the characteristics of the
emigration. That is, I will tackle the ratio between men and women, the age at
departure time, the profession and social status they had in Spain, the departure
place, and the reasons for migrating. The data about the Spanish settlers in the
Far East were gathered from last testaments, letters and other similar documents.
All this information makes possible to know their private life, especially for
1
Other works that I have already published belonging to this project are the following: «The Private
Environment of the Spaniards in the Philippines in the Colonial Period», Philippine Studies, Vol.
44, Manila, July 1996, pp. 349-373; «Pasajeros España-Filipinas (1800-1841)», in El Lejano Oriente
Español: Filipinas (siglo XIX), Castañeda Delgado, Paulino (ed.), Seville, 1997, pp. 721-737; «The
Contribution of Southern Spain to European Population Settlement in the Pacific», 18th International
Congress of Historical Sciences, Montreal, 1995, published in Las relaciones internacionales en
el Pacífico (siglos XVIII-XX), Madrid, 1997, C.S.I.C., pp. 185-200; «Pobladores españoles en Manila
1570-1600», Congreso Internacional Presencia Española en el Pacífico, García-Abásolo A. (ed.),
España y el Pacífico, Córdoba, 1997, Dirección General de Relaciones Culturales, Ministerio de
Asuntos Exteriores, pp. 143-155.
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the case of the settlers of the Manila community. Through their lives one can
look into the creation of that community, the relationship among the ethnic
groups, the different professional occupations, the level of wealth and religious
devotions. In a nutshell, there appears a whole new world, which ordinarily is
difficult to detect because it is not contained in official documents.
After spending several years researching on this kind of documents, I do
not hesitate to say that the authentic cultural transfer from Spain to the world
was carried through the settlers who left their birth places in order to establish
themselves in the West and East Indies. We can attribute to them the development
of customs, techniques, beliefs, and life styles, which oftentimes were typical
of their place of origin. These settlers formed an active and dynamic foundation,
which was capable of adapting to the new conditions and of receiving features
characteristic of the colonial environment2.
The data for this paper come from the Archivo General de Indias, especially
from the division of Contratación. Within the latter, the three most consulted
subdivisions were the Libros de pasajeros, Informaciones y licencias, and Autos
de bienes de difuntos. Other additional divisions that were also consulted are
Arribadas, Ultramar and Indiferente General. Aside from the Archivo General
de Indias, I have incorporated partially some documentation from the Archivo
Historico Nacional (Madrid).
The information gathered from those sources serves very well to meet my
objectives, since it makes possible studying the Spaniards in the Far East on
two accounts: the passengers who went to the Philippines, and the settlers who
lived in the Philippines. These can be studied because we have their last wills,
or they are mentioned in others’ last testaments, property inventories, auction
sales, records of law-suits. In short, it is a documentation that contains a great
deal of qualitative information, and that indirectly can also provide demographic
data.
I will divide my work in two sections. The first will be dedicated to show
the reasons behind the population movements toward Manila. The second part
will bring up the outcome of this flow by means of graphs, allowing us to get
to know a little better what kind of people were the ones willing to embark in
the galleons of the Pacific route.
2
Regarding the research possibilities of this kind of documentation and the methodology applied to
deal with it see García-Abásolo, Antonio: La vida y la muerte en Indias, Córdoba, 1992.
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II. FIRST PART: MOTIVATIONS FOR POPULATION MOVEMENT
FROM SPAIN TO THE PHILIPPINES
2.1. Stimulus to Emigration. State of Affairs in Spain
The 17th century is marked by an evident decline of Spanish emigration
around 1640-1650. This was related to the policy of the royal government that
was averse to granting exit permits from a Spain demographically in need.
Many people had left Spain in the 16th century: Many families with young
children, especially during the second half of the century; many single youth
in marrying age. Most likely those who left were those more capable of taking
risk and engaging in business. Spain suffered the quantitative and qualitative
effects of these migrations, and also those caused by the constant human
requirements of the foreign policy of the grand Habsburg monarchs.
Among the causes of the Spanish political decline in the 17th century,
there is a proliferation of contemporary references to the scarcity of population,
which caused, together with other types of reasons, a decrease in the productive
capacity of the Spanish kingdoms. The situation aggravated after 1640, due
to the revolts in Catalonia and Portugal, and above all, owing to the terrible
epidemics that followed in uninterrupted succession until the end of the century.
During the 16th and 18th centuries Spain also suffered plague epidemics,
however, the ones in the 17th had especially catastrophic consequences,
up to the point of being comparable with those that flogged Europe in the
14th century, which were the most terrible and devastating among those
known3.
Listing of epidemics in the 17th century:
1596-1602: It entered through Santander and spread throughout the whole
Spain up to Andalusia. There were 8.000 deaths in Seville and 2.138 in Córdoba.
Cabrera de Córdoba (Relaciones de las cosas sucedidas en la Corte de España)
gives the estimate of 500.000 deaths (for the whole of Spain).
1629-1631: Epidemic outbreak blamed on the Frenchmen (living in Spain),
which was an absurdity that reached the point of asking for a census of Frenchmen
in Madrid as one of the means in the program to combat the pest.
1647-1652: In 1647, Levante (the lower West of Spain) and Andalusia were
especially hit. In 1649 in Seville, it started in March and it lasted until July.
This city was stricken more than ever before, so that this epidemic marked the
end of Seville’s era of highest demographic and economic grandeur. No less
3
Domínguez Ortiz, Antonio: La sociedad española del siglo XVII. Madrid: CSIC., 1963. pp. 66 y ss.
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than 60,000 persons died, causing a very far-reaching depopulation. In Córdoba
there were 13,780 deceased, and later on the plague spread to Aragon, and to
all the North of Spain.
1676-1685: The epidemic spread through the same regions but in a less
violent fashion. In Andalusia, the greater number of casualties took place in
the East.
In Spain as a whole, the brutal familiarity with death during the 17th century
(1.250.000 persons died) had psychological effects, surfacing in the adoption
of more severe life-styles. Enduring testimony of the presence of death are the
canvasses of some Baroque painters, specifically those of Valdés Leal dealing
with the Last Things in the Hospital de la Caridad of Seville4. Yet not everything
had eschatological undertones. The same Seville that saw the hieroglyphic
paintings of the Last Things of Valdés Leal also contemplated the paintings of
Murillo showing the amiable and hopeful path of the practice of the works of
mercy, which was a very consoling view in a city where the pest had reduced
the population by half 5. Both painters enjoyed an unquestionable success in
Seville during the second half of the 17th century. Seville was a city capable
of harmonizing death and mercy, as it shows the work of the aristocrat Miguel
de Mañara, who mobilized the the upper class of Seville to bury the dead by
means of the Brotherhood of the Holy Charity.
2.2. One Cause for Depopulation: Spanish Emigration
to the Indies
Contemporary opinions then often considered that one of the reasons for
Spain’s depopulation had been the emigration to the New World, and it was
still so during the 17th century. Two interesting quotes can help explain the
veracity of this thesis, as well as the real capacity to be heard of those who
wanted to correct this tendency. In the 1597 Cortes, the deputy Martín de Porras
exposed the problem and its solution with clarity, and he is just one example
among many others:
4
5
Domínguez Ortiz, Antonio: La sociedad española del siglo XVII, pp.69 y ss. Also Orto y ocaso de
Sevilla. Seville, 1946, 2nd ed. Seville, 1981, pp. 131-134; and «La Sevilla del siglo XVII», in
Historia de Sevilla, Seville, 1984, pp. 67-82. Regarding the iconography of Valdés Leal for the
Hospital de la Caridad see Brown, Jonathan: Images and Ideas in Seventeenth Century Spanish
Painting. Princeton, 1978.
Valdivieso, Enrique: Valdés Leal. Seville, 1991, pp. 8-9.
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«(beseeches his Majesty) deign to put a stop in the drain of people abroad
from these Kingdoms, aware that they are not lacking in anything more than
in people, and to command that no one may travel to the Indies for some
years, except for friars to preach doctrine, and civil servants for the governance
of the land, applying great responsibility that the others may not go, since
those latter kingdoms cannot be populated without depopulating the former
one».
Well within the 17th century, in the Cortes of 1623, there was again an
insistence on the necessity of controlling the emigration toward the Indies, in
the Memorial presented by Juan Álvarez Serrano, a native of Andújar, and a
professor at the University of Seville.
«(he refers to) the obvious harm of so many people without license going
to the Indies, with the effects that those Kingdoms are ruined and Spain is
wasted away, and the dukes, counts, and marquises suffer the depopulation of
their estates and the decline of their income, because many leave and stay there
without anybody stopping them from going every year in two fleets and a navy,
and in courier ships, or in other types of ships».
In the second half of the 17th century, the intention of leaving for the New
World must have been more frequent, as a result of the increase of the effects
of epidemics and their consequences. However, studies on the emigration to
Indies show that the emigration of Spaniards to America declined in the 17th
century, even though the contradiction between the intentions and the facts
need not be a paradox. The answer to this puzzle may be that the people leaving
were really desperate cases, and in fact the increased official control responded
to a greater number of illegal departures, which are obviously difficult to
gauge 6.
2.3. The Crossing of Oceans
Candidates to residency in the Philippines, both Spaniards and Mexicans,
must have considered the difficulties of having to cross to one or two oceans
respectively. The trips were long, in ships hardly designed to take care of a
crew, and very tough, therefore, to carry ordinary passengers. These rather hard
conditions were even extraordinarily harder in the route Manila-Acapulco,
which probably was the most toilsome route in modern times. There is no lack
of accounts attesting to this effect among those that managed to survive this
6
Dominguez Ortiz, Antonio: La sociedad…, pp. 86-90.
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experience and had the capability of putting them in down in writing. On the
other hand, those who were well acquainted with this route had not need of
anyone telling them in writing what they already knew so well.
Perhaps, one of the most vivid accounts is the one of Gemelli Carreri, who
traversed the route from Manila to Acapulco between June of 1697 and January
of 1698: seven months confined to a galleon. It is best to transcribe his account
literally, both because he was an Italian, and therefore, an observant and sensible
person, as well as because it proves how the experiences of this kind of trips
were left indelibly marked in the protagonists.
«The trip from the Philippines to America can be considered as the longest
and most terrible in the world, because of the vast ocean that must be crossed
(which encompasses almost half of the earth’s globe, navigating always against
the wind), and because of the tremendous tempests that are unleashed there,
one after another, and because of the grave illnesses that strike the persons
navigating during six or seven months at sea, having to bear with temperatures
sometimes cold, or hot or temperate, which are enough to ruin a man of steel,
and it is more than enough to destroy a man of flesh and bones, who is not well
fed in high sea».
To tell the truth he also mentions, to alleviate the reader, that there were no
lice in the Orient, which was an ordinary pest in ship travels. He continues his
relation explaining the reasons why some people ventured to make those trips,
and even to repeat them.
«In spite of the terrible sufferings of this remarkable trip, the appetite for
riches makes many dare the trip for four, six, and even up to ten times. Even
the sailors who in high sea curse the trip, when they arrive to Acapulco, forget
their sufferings (like women after giving birth), craving the 275 reales de a
ocho that the king pays them upon returning. The total pay is 350 reales de a
ocho, but they receive only 75 in Cavite, when they leave for America, because
if they would receive half of their wages then, very few would return to the
Philippine islands to get the rest. Undoubtedly, merchants gain 150 or 200%
per trip, agents get 9%, which totals a good amount over the 200.000 or 300.000
reales de a ocho. In fact, it is a great satisfaction to return home in less than a
year with a clean profit of 17.000 o 18.000 reales de a ocho, aside from other
personal enterprises, because with that amount he can live peacefully the rest
of his life. In Acapulco, after a trip of 204 days and five hours, those who arrived
embraced each other with tears of joy».
Side by side with this experience, the trip to Manila turned out to be more
comfortable, only by contrast to the return trip, because with a lot of difficulty
can we apply that adjective to a galleon trip of more than two months in the
Pacific.
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«From Acapulco to Manila there is no need to take unnecessary detours,
because after going down from 17(to 13), the same parallel of Manila is followed,
with favorable winds, so that the trip last for two and a half or three months at
most without any storm».
Gathering the separate testimonies of two pilots in his boat, Gemelli made
the following calculations about the distance traveled in his trip from Manila
to Acapulco7.
Travelling distance
125º
130º
2.500 leagues
3.000 leagues
12.500 km
15.000 km
For Acapulco-Manila
118º
2.200 leagues
11.000 km
2.4. Testimonies on human contributions from México
to the Philippines during the 17th Centur y
As the title of this work indicated, its objective is to get to know the people
travelling in the Acapulco-Manila route, and among them, more specifically
those that were enlisted in the Casa de Contratación of Seville in order to go
to the Philippines. This was not the only type of emigrants that arrived in the
Philippines. From the beginning, there is also the presence of Mexican
Spaniards, either Creole or from the peninsula, blacks and even Mexican
Indians. As a matter of fact, this contribution is noticed in many aspects of
the present-day cultural legacy of the Philippines, from architecture to
gastronomy. However, it is very difficult to find documentation that allows
studying these passengers, unlike in the case of passengers from Spain for
whom we have the books of passengers, the required pre-departure information
and license papers.
It is significant to observe the insistence of the governor generals that the
Viceroys of México did not pay attention to the Philippines as it was expected.
They especially remarked that not as many families have migrated from México
to the Philippines in the 17th century when compared to those who did in the
last quarter of the 16th century.
The period with the largest emigration, and with greatest women participation,
happened between 1571 and 1630. This occurrence is also similar to the
7
Carreri, Gemelli: Giro del Mondo. Venice, 1719 from texts selected and commented by Leonard,
Irving A.: Viajeros por la América Latina colonial. México, 1992, pp. 131-139.
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emigration to the Spanish America, and this means that it was more an emigration
of settlers precisely when there was more need for it. Non statistical documentation
refers that, during the 17th century, there were not as many families from México
that went to the Philippines as it had occurred during the earlier times. The
Viceroys of New Spain made many repeated appeals: They had great difficulty
in finding persons who would like to go to the Philippines.
The main interest of the Mexicans for the Philippines was the commerce of
Chinese goods8, that put into motion an important flow of silver investments
since the last quarter of the 16th century. According to Viceroy Martín Enríquez,
the profits of Mexican investments in the Galleon trade was higher than those
from gold business: 300% as compared to 100%. Gemelli Carreri confirmed
this opinion towards the end of the 17th century, establishing that the commerce
of Chinese products earned profits of 200%. The extraordinary speed with
which the American silver was brought to Acapulco since the 1670s, was already
an unstoppable process, in spite of the concern of the Viceroys and of the crown,
that were forced to overlook the 17th century frauds because, as soon as the
tariffs and the government control became more strict, there arouse threats of
abandoning Manila on the part of the Spanish population, both from the Península
and the Mexican Creoles.
Those were the consequences caused by the strict policy of Pedro de Quiroga’s
visit, which was backed up the Viceroy Marquis of Cadereyta: The trips between
Acapulco and Manila became less regular between 1636 and 1640. Acontemporary
witness declares that many citizens of Manila moved to stay in their land-estates
and devoted themselves to farming, while others joined the army, and the majority
requested license from the king to return to Spain9.
Besides, it is frequently noted that, among the passengers who left Spain
for the Philippines, many stayed behind in México. This occurrence was always
a danger because there was a greater attraction toward the Viceroyalty of New
Spain than to that of the exotic Islas del Poniente. The latter did not enjoy very
good reputation in México, considering the difficulties experienced by Mexicans
and Spaniards to adapt to the living conditions of the Philippines. Moreover,
it was a danger that surfaced from the first moment, as it can be proven by the
precautionary measures taken by Governor Gonzalo Ronquillo, who brought
8
9
A group investigating the more than three centuries long relationships between the Chinese and
Spaniards in the Philippines was set up, and is being presently coordinated, by myself. This project
is sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology.
On the problems of the visit of Quiroga and the effects of the strict policy in the threats of leaving
by the citizens of Manila see Real Cédula to the Viceroy of México, marqués de Cadereyta, Madrid,
September 2, 1628, AGI, Filipinas 330, L 4, F 73v-75r.
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his expedition of settlers passing by Panama, in order to avoid concretely the
effects of the Mexican attraction10.
At any rate, we do not have any documentary support to calibrate the
proportions of this alleged bloodshed of Spanish settlers in México on their
way to the Philippines. In the last analysis, it may be advisable to consider the
possibility that such an assumption may have been used for too long without
enough evidence. It is necessary to keep into account that the passengers who
prepared to board in Seville, had to go through a very exacting paper work, that
cost time, money and connections; and that the majority of those who registered
for the Philippines, excluding the large settlers expeditions of the 16th century,
did so as members of the entourage of government officials or of groups of
friars, and therefore, they were under vigilance. Furthermore, the fact that this
tendency was known from an early time also increased government control:
There is evidence that fugitives were pursued and returned to their original
itinerary, even though some may have succeeded to get lost in the Viceroyalty
of New Spain. In short, there are also reasons to think that the Spanish settlers
that registered in the Casa de Contratación to go to the Philippines, made it in
the islands.
With respect to the religious, it is verified by the graphs that there was an
increase of arrivals toward the end of the 16th century, and it is understood that,
what it is known as the golden age of the missions between the years 1578 and
1609, had to be supported by a large increase of religious. Since the decade
1630-1640, the Augustinians decreased their particular leadership in the
Philippines, as a consequence of the problems derived from the «alternativa»
and from mere bad luck, because they underwent many casualties in the
transpacific trips. In 1630, governor Juan Niño de Tavora asked the king in a
letter that no further doctrinas may be awarded to the Augustinians, and he
includes a harsh criticism towards them. It seems that the evil came, at least
partially, from a sector of mestizo and Creole Augustinians that lacked the
necessary preparation11.
10
11
García-Abásolo, Antonio: «El Poblamiento español de Filipinas». In García-Abásolo, A. (ed):
España y el Pacífico, Cordoba, 1997, Dirección General de Relaciones Culturales, Ministerio de
Asuntos Exteriores de España, pp. 143-155. English edition, «Spanish Settlers in the Philippines
(1571-1599)», Cuadernos de Historia, num.1, 1998, Manila, Instituto Cervantes, pp. 119-132.
Niño de Tavora to the king, Manila, August 4, 1630, AGI, Filipinas 8. Rodríguez, Isacio: Historia
de la Provincia del Santísimo Nombre de Jesús de Filipinas. Vol. XIX, Valladolid, 1987. I thank
Dr. Isacio Rodríguez for his observations on the sending of Augustinian missionaries to the Philippines
during the 17th and 18th centuries.
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III. SECOND PART: HUMAN MOVEMENT FROM SPAIN TO THE PHILIPPINES
DURING THE 17TH CENTURY. GRAPHS *
3.1. Model Card of the Database of the Settlers in the Pacific:
Graph n.º 1
In order to understand better the characteristics of the work being presented,
it is necessary to show a data card of the database file which constitutes the
basis for the graphic-statistical study now delivered. As it can be noted, each
passenger-settler is identified by means of nine variables, which can be used
to create sequences in a computer, and a field of general observations, to gather
additional information of a qualitative nature, which cannot be presented as
sequences. Therefore, the basis of this work is a well known passenger-settler
and not just a mere number within a large group. On the other hand, the current
time length of the database (1571-1841) allows for comparative analysis of
the results corresponding to the 17th century, which is the objective of our
study.
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3.2. Passengers in the 17th centur y: Graph n.º 2
PASSENGERS OF PHILIPPINES 1571-1841
800
700
Men
600
Women
500
400
300
200
100
0
1
-4
30
18 0-29
2
18 -19
10
18 0-09
0
18 0-79
7
17 -69
60 9
17 0-5
5
17 0-49
4
17 -39
30 9
17 0-2
2
17 0-19
1
17 -09
00
17 0-99
9
16 -89
80
16 0-79
7
16 -69
60 9
16 0-5
5
16 -49
40 9
16 0-3
3
16 0-29
2
16 -19
10 9
16 0-0
0
16 -99
90 9
15 0-8
8
15 1-79
7
15
PASSENGERS OF PHILIPPINES 1600-1699
800
700
Men
600
Women
500
400
300
200
100
0
9
-9
90
16
9
-8
80
16
9
-7
70
16
9
-6
60
16
9
-5
50
16
9
9
-3
-4
40
16
30
16
9
-2
20
16
9
-1
10
19
9
-0
00
16
Two graphs are shown together: that of passengers between 1571 and 1841,
and that of the passengers for the 17th century. For both there is distinction
between men and women; the number of clerics among the men is shown as
well.
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In the total number of passengers recorded, 2.472 correspond to the 17th
century, amounting to 49% of the total, and averaging 25 passengers per year.
In absolute terms, therefore, it was the 17th century that brought more Spanish
settlers to the Pacific, although in the last 30 years of the 16th century there
occurred the highest relative contribution, reaching 27% of the total and an
annual average of 45 passengers.
For purposes of a statistical analysis of the population movement during the
17th century, it is more interesting and practical to group the passengers in
periods of 10 years. Thus, trends are better outlined, which is precisely the
objective and interest for this kind of work. At first glance an unequal distribution
between men and women can be observed, which is much more remarkable than
in the beginnings of the Spanish emigration to the Americas, since in the latter
case it started to level off toward the end of the 16th century, when the type of
family emigration which the laws favored consolidated. The legislation was the
same for the Philippines, however, the difference between men and women
remaining constant since the 16th century until the end of the Spanish period.
The absolute numbers indicate an overwhelming imbalance in favor of the
male population. However, it is necessary to make an essential adjustment when
analyzing qualitatively the Spanish settlement in the Philippines. There is a
need to keep in mind the character of the Philippines as an eminently missionary
province, with uninterrupted and abundant arrival of friars. In reality, I think
that it could be said that while the religious during the 16th century failed in
their attempts to make America become a Missionary State, they were successful
in the Philippines. The religious controlled the colonization effectively leaving
their imprint well marked, carrying out the evangelization even as far as
continental Asia. They did their work of cross-cultural influences, in the arts,
technology, and even oftentimes in administrative matters. If the Church and
the missionaries were a guarantee of the preservation of order in America until
the end of the 18th century, it can be said that in the Philippines it is possible
that their activity may not have yet ended.
The emigration of families is clearly seen at the end of the 16th century, in
fact it was fostered to be so, as it is verified especially in the expedition organized
by Gonzalo Ronquillo in 157812, although it is not the only case. But it was
prolonged, retaining a good proportion of women’s presence until the third
decade of the 17th century. This is important, because it means that the feminine
presence is abundant when the community of Manila and its cultural patterns
12
On the expedition of Ronquillo see García-Abásolo: «El poblamiento español de Filipinas (15711599)».
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are being structured and settled. The transfer of life style was more feasible
during those years than in other times in the Philippines and Manila, and this
has to be understood in this way because the feminine migration is equivalent
in all respects, in this environment and in the Spanish America, to the emigration
of families: The family was the authentic vehicle of transmission of lasting
cultural patterns.
After these years, the feminine presence declines and only rises again on
occasion of bureaucrat passengers that bring along their families. It was also
frequent that in the expeditions of religious there were some families among
their habitual servants, that ended up settling down in the Philippines. However,
I have not found any such a case in the 17th century: 115 male servants
accompanied the religious throughout the century. In the case of officials it is
possible to bring out some passengers as a group, that can be used to prove the
noteworthy presence of women:
Jerónimo de Salazar, fiscal of the audience of Manila, embarked in 1596
with his wife and eight servants.
The lawyer Alvaro Rodríguez , judge of the audiencia, brought eight servants
of the same year. Fray Domingo de Salazar was accompanied by twenty two
religious and almost 20 servants.
Hernando de los Ríos Coronel, solicitor of the city of Manila, who returned
to the Philippines in 1610, brought along twelve servants, some of whom were
married couples with young children.
Alvaro de Mesa y Lugo, judge of the Audiencia de Manila, traveled to the
Philippines in 1617 with his family and servants, making a group of ten persons
with some women among them.
Juan Ruiz de Escalona, treasurer, left for Manila in 1617 with his wife, three
children, and servants.
Fernando de Escaño, judge of the Audiencia de Manila, took a trip to Manila
in 1670 with a group of eight persons, several of whom were women from his
family and his attendants.
3.3. Passengers’ Distribution by Age: Graph n.º 3
The age of the passengers seldom appears in the documentation. I have been
able to find the age of 10% of the identified passengers to the Philippines
throughout the 17th century. The graph is divided in five- year periods, to make
the evaluation clearer. It can be noticed that the Spanish stock was made up
mostly of young people, as it can be expected. The majority of the group is
below 30 years old (79%). However, it is also important to point out that there
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DISTRIBUTION BY AGE
>40
Women
31 to 40
Men
25 to 30
21 to 25
16 to 20
11 to 15
6 to 10
≤5
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
is a high percentage of people above 30 years (21%) and it is also high even for
those above 40 years (6%), which was the average life-expectancy during those
years.
It must be said that almost all the data on age gathered here refer to the
non-ecclesiastical passengers. In fact, the large number of children below 15
years (10%) speaks of emigration models characteristic of families, and this
is further proven by the high percentage of children below 5 years (4%). The
ratio between girls and boys is also a very interesting piece of information: it
is even until the age of five, and it is between the ages of 6 to 15 that the
number of girls is twice that for boys. This is important information because,
in spite of what has just been said, the community of Manila was always in
need of Spanish women.
3.4. Distribution of Passengers According to their Origin:
Graph n.º 4
This graph shows clearly the very prominent presence of Castilians,
Andalusians, Extremadurans, that constitute 81%. The other 19% is made up
by passengers from all the other Spanish regions, even from those areas which
are not commonly associated with emigration to the Indies. The 1% of Greeks,
Italians, and Portugueses came from the seamen hired in the galleons, just like
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DISTRIBUTION BY ORIGIN
America
Andalusia
Aragon
Asturias
Castile
Catalonia
Estremadura
Philippines
Galicia
Greece
Italy
Japan
Murcia
Basque Country
Portugal
La Rioja
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
the 2.3% of Orientals are persons who go back after being part of the entourage
of bureaucrats, friars and other people going to Spain out of duty.
It is also interesting to note that the majority of the women that passed to
the Philippines during the 17th century were Andalusians. This fact is explained
by the proximity to the embarking port, the familiarity with the sea, the closeness
to that world of news coming with the fleets going to the Indies. Those reasons
are even more proven by the fact that among the Andalusian women the majority
were from Seville.
3.5. Social-Professional Make-up of the Passengers
to the Philippines: Graph n.º 5
It is an impossible task to make a complete statistical study of the professions
of the passengers to the Indies based on the available documentation. This
information rarely appears because the majority of the passengers were wage
earners; that is, people hired in the country side or in the city, and farmers
owning a small piece of land, which perhaps they had mortgaged so they could
cover the expenses incurred for having to travel to the Indies. Most likely, the
officials in the Casa de Contratación did not consider it necessary to reflect this
common socio-political circumstance of the majority of those applying for
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DISTRIBUTION SOCIO-PROFESSIONAL
Military man
Seaman
Servants
Clerics
Craftsmen
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
license to go to the Indies. We know that in the 17th century, the representatives
in the Cortes asked the king not to allow that wage earners in good health for
working would leave Spain for the Indies.
In the movement of passengers to the Philippines in the 17th century there
is, however, an abundance of data regarding jobs and professions. This is due
to the fact that 78% of the passengers found were clerics and religious. There
is also a high proportion of servants (17.4%). The term «servant» is equivocal,
because it meant both a job as well as a means to go to the Indies: each passenger
who applied for a license to travel could also ask at the same time permission
for one or several servants, who at times were their relatives, ending up by
forming a sort of entourage. Some were servants in the usual sense of the word,
that is, people at the service of another; and others were temporary servants,
hired close to the embarking port, near Seville, in order to be of help during
the voyage. That is why the majority of the servants were Andalusian, and even
mostly from Seville.
Among the 0.5% of the craftsmen there are several ship carpenters, which
was an occupation very much in demand and requested from the Philippines,
where there were shipyards and good types of wood. The galleons made in the
Philippines were very appreciated in México from the start. The military deserved
better to be classified as men of war, and of expected war; but in fact, the
frequent activity of the officers in the Philippines was trading Oriental products.
As it was to be expected in a set-up like Manila’s, the presence of the military
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marked the life of the community. Governor Niño de Tavora made the king
note it, maybe in rather exaggerated manner, in 1629 in the following terms:
«Since it is a garrison, this city is full of militia that always carries their
weapons on the shoulder. The majority of these people are restless and wicked,
the rejects of Spain and New Spain»13.
I have studied the life of many of these army men, officers in the garrisons
of the Philippines, that ended up becoming rich businessmen.
1605 Captain Hernán Sánchez, trader with México.
1608 Alonso Arias de Granda, trader with México.
1608 Pedro de Zúñiga, businessman specialized in dealings with Japan.
1636, Juan Cardoso, Mayor Sergeant of Manila who founded and operated
a company with a brother of his residing in México. The company was started
in 1627 with a capital of 22,000 pesos, equally divided among the two, and it
yielded abundant benefits. Juan Cardoso died in 1636 in his return trip from
Manila to Acapulco, when he was going to enjoy his earnings.
IV. CONCLUSION
Considering the characteristics of the Spanish settlement in the Philippines,
we would have to conclude that it is difficult to identify the cultural contribution
exported there, because it must have been mitigated in such an exotic population
as the one gathered in Manila. It could even be said that those contributions,
even though they were notably Castilian, Andalusian or Extremaduran, were
diversified from the start in such a manner that it is not possible to venture to
look for cultural identities, in the speaking style in which idioms were used,
like Boyd-Bowman did for America. Besides, it is always necessary to count
on the Mexican contribution, which was active from the first moment providing
richness and diversity.
The human group created in Manila was a fantastic anthropological jigsaw
puzzle, considering the variegated mixture of native and foreign ethnic groups
that assembled there between 1570 and 1600, that is, during the first generation
of settlers in the Philippines. At any rate, it can be seen through the data gathered
that the number of passengers native of Castile were almost twice the natives
of Andalusia. Likewise, we can say that Castilians, Andalusians, and Extremadurans
dominated completely the European landscape of Manila, which it also included
some samples of the other Spanish regions and Mexicans.
13
Juan Niño de Tavora to the king, Cavite, August 1, 1629, AGI, Filipinas 21. Rodríguez, Isacio:
Historia de la Provincia del Santísimo Nombre de Jesús de Filipinas, Vol. XIX, Valladolid, 1987.
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On the other hand, the Spanish community of Manila did not undergo a
process of race mixing, as it has happened in the Americas. Thus, the mestizo
family as an element for acculturation in the Philippines has to be regarded in
a very broad sense, like something very Western, or at least like the Spanish
way of considering what is Western. Although what has been just said should
be no obstacle to finding exceptional isolated cases of cross-cultural influences,
like for instance in the manner in which devotions are understood. In any case,
and even though it is not possible to be accurate, a superficial survey of the
Philippines shows immediately many vestiges of a wonderful and original
common patrimony Spanish-Philippine, or Spanish-Mexican-Philippine, which
at present is happily the object of attention and solicitude on the part of scholars
and governments.
✒
ANTONIO GARCÍA-ABÁSOLO
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