The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 — Volume 05 of 55 / 1582-1583 / Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century

by Unknown

[1] Fray Santa Inés says (Crónica, i, p. 16) that the use of this phrase (Spanish, Islas del Poniente) arose among Spanish traders—partly because, to reach the Philippines, they followed the course of the sun westward from Spain; and partly to sustain the contention that those islands were “in the demarcation of Castilla, or the Western Indias, and not in that of Portugal, or Oriental India.”

[2] The Inquisition was first introduced into Portuguese India in 1560; and into Spanish America in 1569 (at Panama). In 1570 it was established in Mexico, of which the Philippines were a dependency in religious as well as civil affairs. Felipe II’s decree (January 25, 1569) establishing the Inquisition in the Indias, with other decrees regulating the operations and privileges of that tribunal, may be found in Recopilación leyes Indias (ed. 1841), lib. i, tit. xix. Regarding the history and methods of the Inquisition, the following works are most full and authoritative: Practica Inquisitionis hereticoe pravitatis (ed. of C. Douais, Paris, 1886), by Bernard Gui—himself an inquisitor; it was composed about 1321. Historia Inquisitionis (Amstelodami, 1692), by Philippus van Limborch; English translations of this book were published at London in 1731, 1734, 1816, and 1825. Anales de la Inquisicion de España (Madrid, 1812–13), by Juan A. Llorente, who was secretary to the Inquisition in Spain, and chancellor of the University of Toledo; translations of this book were published in English (London, 1826; and New York, 1838), and in other languages. Historica critica de la Inquisicion de España (Madrid, 1822), also by Llorente. History of the Inquisition (London and N.Y., 1874), by W.H. Rule. The Jews of Spain and Portugal, and the Inquisition (London, 1877), by Frederic D. Mocatta, a Jew. History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages (N.Y., 1886), by Henry C. Lea. Les sources de l’histoire de l’Inquisition dans le midi de la France au treizième et au quatorzième siécle, by C. Douais, editor of Gui’s work; it includes the Chronique of Guilhem Pelisso, “the first written account of the Inquisition.”

[3] Relaxado (feminine, relaxada): a person abandoned by the ecclesiastical judge to the secular arm [al brazo seglar]; referring to the obstinate heretic who refused to abjure and do penance, or to him who after abjuration should relapse. Confeso (“confessed”) meant a Jew converted to the Christian faith.

[4] An oath taken by a person who has no bail, that he will return to prison when summoned.

[5] Referring to the established judge of ecclesiastical causes, the vicars of the bishops, or sometimes to the bishops themselves.

Foundation of the Audiencia of Manila

Don Phelipe, by the grace of God, king of Castile, of Leon, of Aragon, of the two Sicilias, of Ihm, of Portugal, of Navarra, of Granada, of Toledo, of Valencia, of Galicia, of Mallorcas, of Sevilla, of Cerdeña, of Cordoba, of Corcega, of Murcia, of Jaen, of the Algarves, of Algeçira, of Gibraltar, of the islands of Canaria, of the eastern and western Yndias islands, and the Tierra Firme of the great ocean; archduke of Austria; duke of Bergoña, of Brabante, and Milan; count of Absburg, of Flandes, of Tirol, and of Barcelona; lord of Vizcaya and of Molina; etc. Whereas, in the interests of good government and the administration of our justice, we have accorded the establishment in the city of Manila of the island of Luçon of one of our royal audiencias and chancillerias,[1] in which there shall be a president, three auditors, a fiscal, and the necessary officials; and whereas we have granted that this Audiencia shall have the same authority and preeminence as each one of our royal audiencias which sit in the town of Valladolid and the city of Granada of these our realms, and the other audiencias in our Yndias: now therefore we order to be made and sent to the said island our royal seal, with which are to be sealed our decisions which are made and issued by the said president and auditors in the said Audiencia. Moreover, as to the course of procedure which they are to follow in the performance of their duties, we have ordered certain rules to be drawn up, as follows:

House of Audiencia

1. First, we ordain and command that in the said city of Manila there shall be a house of Audiencia, where may sit and reside our said president and auditors, and where our royal seal and register may be kept, and in which shall be the prison and its warden, and the smelter for precious metals. If there should, however, be no accommodation for living in the said house, the auditors shall lodge in other houses, which they shall occupy with the consent of their owners, paying them rent; and the Audiencia shall be held in the house where the president dwells, and therein shall be the prison and its warden.