Juan de Salcedo

He joined the Spanish military in 1564 at age 15, on their voyage of exploration to the East Indies and the Pacific, in search of rich resources such as gold and spice, and to find a passage to the islands were the previous Spanish expeditions led by Ferdinand Magellan had landed in 1521, and Ruy López de Villalobos in 1543. Conquest of the Philippines In 1567, at age 18, Salcedo the youngest soldier in the Spanish infantry, led an army of about 300 Spanish and Mexican soldiers (Filipino and Spanish historian, Carlos Quirino estimated that over half of the expedition members where Mexicans of various mixed ethnicities, mainly Criollo, Mestizo and Indio, with the remaining being Spaniards from Spain) and 600 Visayan allies along with Martín de Goiti for their conquest of Manila (then under the Islamic occupation by the Sultanate of Brunei). There they fought a number of battles against the natives and their leaders, mainly against the chieftain Rajah Tarik Sulayman (a name derived from Arabic طارق بن زياد "Tāriq"), Islamic settlements in Philippines were abundant before and during the Mexican-Spanish conquest. The Spanish soldiers coalesced in 1570 and 1571, to attack the native tribes and the Islamic settlements in the island of Luzon, in order to take control of their lands. Expedition to Luzón In May 1572, Salcedo led an exploration expedition of 45 Spaniards and a mass of Filipino auxiliaries. They journeyed northward and founded several Spanish settlements, including the Ilocos. They also defeated a flotilla of three Japanese pirates in the process, and occupied the village of Vigan when their chief resisted their pass, although Salcedo ordered to respect the women and children. Leaving 30 of his men at Vigan, Salcedo proceeded to sail around the northern Luzon coast, and down the eastern shore, with 15 men in 2 open boats. Being advised the currents would compromise him, he returned and explored Cagayan. There he was challenged by an Ilabay warrior to a duel which turned out to be an ambush, but Salcedo alone faced and defeated many of the ambushers, which apparently numbered up to 300, until he could be rescued. He later made peace with their people. He returned to Manila 3 months later with 50 pounds of gold, Later life After the war, he returned to the Ilocos to govern the settlements. There he would spend his final years. Salcedo died suddenly in March 1576, after a short illness, probably of dysentery or malaria, at the age of 27. == Personal life ==

Salcedo was born in 1549 in the Kingdom of Mexico in the viceroyalty of New Spain. He was the son of Pedro de Salcedo and Teresa López de Legazpi. He had one older brother named Felipe de Salcedo, who was also a soldier in the Spanish army, and who accompanied him and his grandfather during their campaigns to the Philippines. Their mother was the daughter of Miguel López de Legazpi and Isabel Garcés. Salcedo was married to Princess Kandarapa, the native Princess of Tondo in 1572, at the age of 23. According to Philippine historical documents and a written account by Don Felipe Cepeda, Salcedo's aide, who returned to Acapulco, recount that after the Spanish conquest of Luzon with Mexican and Visayan assistance, and their consequent takeover of the Pasig River delta polity of Hindu Tondo, which was the previous preeminent state in Luzon before the Brunei Sultanate established their puppet-kingdom, Islamic Manila, to supplant Tondo, Juan de Salcedo, then about 22 years old, fell in love with the 18-year-old "Dayang-dayang" (a native Filipino word for "Princess") Kandarapa, so named after the lark of the rice fields, whose song she imitated by her beautiful singing voice, Juan fell in love, upon seeing the femininity of her figure while she and her handmaidens were bathing in the Pasig River. Salcedo had developed an admiration of Kandarapa's natural physical beauty, including her long black raven hair, exotic golden-brown skin features, and lavish royal lifestyle. He also appreciated the Princesses "Indio" (a Spanish word for indigenous Malay and Miguel López de Legazpi wanted his Mexican born grandson, Salcedo, to marry a pure Spanish woman. The Rajah of Macabebe who got word of the budding romance from Rajah Sulayman a fellow Muslim Rajah, of Manila, became enraged and he cried out: The chieftain Rajah Tariq Sulayman then waged the Battle of Bangkusay against the Spaniards, to counter-act which, Spanish general Miguel López de Legazpi dispatched Martin de Goiti and Juan de Salcedo to the battlefield where they slayed Sulayman through a cannon shot to the chest, thereby falling overboard to be eaten by the crocodiles he swore by. The Spanish were afterward overloaded with loot and prisoners. Among the detainees were Lakandula's son and nephew, whom López de Legazpi freed while concealing his knowledge of the rajahs of Tondo's betrayal. De Goiti sailed into Bulakan through the twisting channels of the Pampanga, bringing Lakandula and Rajah Sulayman with them to urge the inhabitants to submit. López de Legazpi imprisoned Lakandula after he returned to Tondo without authorization despite his eloquence in persuading the other datus (chieftains) to join the Spaniards. When de Goiti and Salcedo returned, of course, Salcedo petitioned for Lakandula's freedom, and he was released. and associated with Zen Buddhism as well.) However, princess Kandarapa mistakenly thought that Salcedo had been unfaithful to her as a result of the disapproving López de Legazpi sending his Mexican grandson on far flung expeditions to deter his love for Kandarapa, and even lying that his grandson had married the daughter of the Rajah of Kaog, Santa Lucia. == Legacy ==

His remains are laid to rest on a knight's tomb in San Agustin Church in Intramuros in the Philippines. == See also ==