Background , founder of
Manila as the capital city of the Philippine islands, located in Manila at the
San Agustin Church inside the historic walled city of
Intramuros The
Spaniards had been exploring the
Philippines since the early 16th century.
Ferdinand Magellan, a
Portuguese navigator in charge of a Spanish expedition to circumnavigate the globe, was killed by warriors of
datu Lapulapu at the
Battle of Mactan. In 1543,
Ruy López de Villalobos arrived at the islands of
Leyte and
Samar and named them
Las Islas Filipinas in honor of
Philip II of Spain, at the time
Prince of Asturias. Philip became
King of Spain on January 16, 1556, when his father, Charles I of Spain (who also reigned as
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor), abdicated the Spanish throne. Philip was in
Brussels at the time and his return to Spain was delayed until 1559 because of European politics and wars in northern Europe. Shortly after his return to Spain, Philip ordered an expedition mounted to the
Spice Islands, stating that its purpose was "to discover the islands of the west". In reality its task was to conquer the Philippines for Spain. The population of
Luzon and the
Visayas at the time of the first Spanish missions is estimated as between 1 and 1.5 million, overall density being low.
Conquest under Philip II Philip II, whose name has remained attached to the islands, ordered and oversaw the conquest and colonization of the Philippines. On November 19 or 20, 1564, a Spanish expedition of a mere 500 men led by
Miguel López de Legazpi departed
Barra de Navidad (modern Mexican state of
Jalisco) with
Augustinian friar and
explorer Andrés de Urdaneta in the Viceroyalty of
New Spain, arriving off
Cebu on February 13, 1565, conquering it despite
Cebuano opposition. Following Spanish law, Legaspi gave Cebuano leaders three days to accede to an offer of friendly relations before commencing a war of conquest. Approximately 200-400 of Legaspi's men were
Tlaxcalan soldiers, having allied themselves with Spain during the
Spanish conquest of Mexico. Some of the Tlaxcalans settled permanently on the islands, and numerous
Nahuatl words were absorbed into the
Filipino languages. More than 15,000 soldiers arrived from New Spain as new migrants during the 17th century, far outnumbering civilian arrivals. Most of these soldiers were criminals and young boys rather than men of character. Hardship for the colonizing soldiers contributed to looting and enslavement, despite the entreaties of representatives of the church who accompanied them. In 1568, the Spanish Crown permitted the establishment of the
encomienda system that it was abolishing in the
New World, effectively legalizing a more oppressive conquest. Although slavery had been
abolished in the
Spanish Empire, it took around a century for it to be
fully abolished in the Philippines due to the pre-colonial
alipin system of slavery already existing in the islands. ,
Criollo, Native Filipinos (Indios) and
Aetas, detail from
Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas (1734)|left Due to conflict with the
Portuguese, who
blockaded Cebu in 1568, and persistent supply shortages, in 1569 Legazpi transferred to
Panay and founded a second settlement on the bank of the
Panay River. In 1570, Legazpi sent his grandson,
Juan de Salcedo, who had arrived from
Mexico in 1567, to
Mindoro to punish the Muslim
Moro pirates who had been plundering Panay villages. Salcedo also destroyed forts on the islands of
Ilin and
Lubang, respectively south and northwest of Mindoro. In 1570,
Martín de Goiti, having been dispatched by Legazpi to Luzon, conquered
Maynila. Legazpi followed with a larger fleet comprising both Spanish and a majority
Visayan force, This large force caused the surrender of neighboring
Tondo. An attempt by some local leaders, known as the
Tondo Conspiracy, to defeat the Spanish was repelled. Legazpi renamed Maynila
Nueva Castilla, and declared it the capital of the Philippines, which also encompassed Spanish territories in
Asia and the
Pacific. Legazpi became the country's first governor-general. Though the fledgling Legazpi-led administration was initially small and vulnerable to elimination by Portuguese and
Chinese invaders, the merging of the Spanish and Portuguese crowns under the
Iberian Union of 1580-1640 helped make permanent the mutual recognition of Spanish claim to the Philippines as well as Portugal's claim to the
Spice Islands (Moluccas). In 1573, Japan expanded its trade in northern Luzon. In 1580, the
Japanese lord Tay Fusa established the independent
wokou Tay Fusa state in non-colonial
Cagayan. When the Spanish arrived in the area, they subjugated the settlement, resulting in the
1582 Cagayan battles. With time, Cebu's importance fell as power shifted north to Luzon.In the late 16th century the population of Manila grew even as the population of Spanish settlements in the Visayas decreased. a
Nantais,
French immigrant to the Philippines. He established the
Jala Jala hacienda in
Morong district, modern day
Rizal province. He is wearing early 19th century
Philippine fashion in the image. In time, the Spanish successfully took over the different local states
one by one. Under Spanish rule, disparate
barangays were deliberately
consolidated into towns, where
Catholic missionaries were more easily able to convert the inhabitants to
Christianity. The missionaries converted most of the lowland inhabitants to Christianity. They also founded schools, a university, hospitals, and churches. To defend their settlements, the Spaniards constructed and manned a network of
military fortresses across the archipelago. Slavery was also abolished. As a result of these policies the Philippine population increased exponentially. Spanish rule brought most of what is now the Philippines into a single unified administration. From 1565 to 1821, the Philippines was governed as part of the Mexico-based Viceroyalty of New Spain, later administered from
Madrid following the
Mexican War of Independence. Administration of the Philippine islands were considered a drain on the economy of Spain, and there were debates about abandoning it or trading it for some other territory. However, this was opposed for a number of reasons, including economic potential, security, and the desire to continue religious conversion in the islands and the surrounding region. The Philippines survived on an annual subsidy provided by the Spanish Crown, and was usually paid through the provision of 75 tons of silver bullion being sent from
Spanish America on the
Manila galleons. Financial constraints meant the 200-year-old fortifications in Manila did not see significant change after being first built by the early Spanish colonizers. . Some Japanese ships visited the Philippines in the 1570s in order to export Japanese
silver and import Philippine
gold. Later, increasing imports of silver from New World sources resulted in Japanese exports to the Philippines shifting from silver to consumer goods. In the 1570s, the Spanish traders were troubled to some extent by Japanese pirates, but peaceful trading relations were established between the Philippines and Japan by 1590. Japan's
kampaku (
regent)
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, demanded unsuccessfully on several occasions that the Philippines submit to Japan's
suzerainty. On February 8, 1597, Philip II, near the end of his 42-year reign, issued a
Royal Cedula instructing
Francisco de Tello de Guzmán, then
Governor-General of the Philippines to fulfill the laws of tributes and to provide for restitution of ill-gotten taxes taken from indigenous
Filipinos. The decree was published in Manila on August 5, 1598. King Philip died on September 13, just forty days after the publication of the decree, but his death was not known in the Philippines until middle of 1599, by which time a referendum by which indigenous Filipinos would acknowledge Spanish rule was underway. With the completion of the Philippine referendum of 1599, Spain could be said to have established legitimate sovereignty over the Philippines. of a rural parish in colonial Philippines, joining the Holy Week procession. Illustration, During the initial period of colonialization, Manila was settled by 1,200 Spanish families. In
Cebu City, at the Visayas, the settlement received a total of 2,100 soldier-settlers from New Spain, beginning
Mexican settlement in the Philippines. Spanish forces included soldiers from elsewhere in New Spain, many of whom deserted and intermingled with the wider population. Though they collectively had significant impact on Filipino society, assimilation erased prior caste differences between them and, in time, the importance of their national origin. . Armed guards who protected the wine and tobacco monopoly in the Philippines.|left However, according to genetic studies, the Philippines remained largely unaffected by admixture with Europeans. Latin Americans outnumbered Europeans, the Spanish in general, and the Chinese outnumbered the Europeans as well, as the majority of Filipinos are native Austronesians. Spain maintained a presence in towns and cities. At the immediate south of Manila, Mexicans were present at
Ermita and at
Cavite, where they were stationed as sentries. In addition, men conscripted from
Peru, were also sent to settle
Zamboanga City in
Mindanao, to wage war upon Muslim defenders. There were also communities of Spanish-
Mestizos that developed in
Iloilo,
Negros, and
Vigan. Interactions between
indigenous Filipinos and immigrant Spaniards along with Latin Americans eventually caused the formation of a new language,
Chavacano, a creole of
Mexican Spanish. They depended on the
galleon trade for a living. In the later years of the 18th century, Governor-General
José Basco introduced economic reforms that gave the colony its first significant internal source income from the production of
tobacco and other agricultural exports. In particular, irrigation, dams and canal networks were constructed around friar estates and lowland agricultural zones, transforming landscapes into productive areas that supported colonial administration, food production, and labour extraction. These hydraulic systems helped consolidate territorial control in certain regions by linking local agrarian production to colonial economic and governance structures. Comparative archival research highlights how these
irrigation systems were central to Spanish colonial governance and had lasting implications for the spatial organization of power and settlement in the archipelago. In this later period, agriculture was finally opened to the European population, which before was reserved only for indigenous Filipinos. During its rule, Spain quelled
various indigenous revolts, as well as defending against external military challenges. The Spanish considered their war with the Muslims in
Southeast Asia an extension of the
Reconquista.
War against the Dutch from the west, in the 17th century, together with conflict with the Muslims in the south nearly bankrupted the colonial treasury. Moros from western Mindanao and the
Sulu Archipelago also raided the coastal Christian areas of Luzon and the Visayas. Settlers had to fight off the
Chinese pirates (who lay siege to Manila, the most famous of which was
Limahong in 1573). == Dutch attacks ==