Vicente Argent arrived at Manila in 1630. In alternating periods of his life he was a missionary among the Indians, and an official of his order at Manila; from January, 1643, to January, 1646, he was minister provincial. In 1656 he sailed for Mexico, but died at sea, before reaching Acapulco. (These notices are obtained from Huerta’s Estado.)
[11] Another copy of this episcopal decree (found in one of Corcuera’s letters dated June 30, 1636) gives the name as here, but adds, “(I mean Santa Monica)”—an error of Corcuera’s transcriber.
[12] These last two names, with Fray Gaspar de Santa Maria and Fray Alonso de San Joan above, are apparently those of Recollect priests; but there is no available information regarding them.
[13] i.e., “by the very act, immediately incurring canonical censure, already imposed.”
[14] A reference to the canons of Clement V, which are contained in the collection called Clementinas, published by John XXII.
[15] Reference is here made to a long and vexatious controversy over the spiritual jurisdiction of Santa Cruz and Quiapo, between the Jesuits and the diocesan authorities; it was settled in favor of the Society, but not until 1678. See Murillo Velarde’s account of this dispute, in his Historia, fol. 89 verso-91. Cf. Colin’s Labor evangélica (ed. 1663), p. 813; and La Concepción’s Hist. Philipinas, pp. 281, 286. Santa Cruz is on the shore of the Pasig River opposite Manila; above it lies Quiapo, and below it Binondo (an island formed by two bayous from the Pasig). As previous documents have often mentioned, Binondo was inhabited chiefly by the Chinese, as also was Santa Cruz.
[16] Diego de Bobadilla was born at Madrid, September 19, 1590; and at the age of sixteen entered the Jesuit order. He came to the Philippines in 1615, and spent fifteen years as an instructor in the Jesuit college at Manila, and five years as its rector. In 1637 he went to Rome as procurator for his order, and returned in 1643 with a band of forty-two missionaries. Again he became rector of the college, and in 1646 was elected provincial. While making an official visitation of the Mindanao missions, he died at Carigara, February 26, 1648. See Murillo Velarde’s sketch of his life, Hist. Philipinas, fol. 159, 160.
[17] Francisco Pinelo, who had been prior of the Dominican convent at Tabora, Portugal, came to the Philippines in 1632, where for some time he was vicar of San Telmo at Cavite. Afterward he went to Europe on business of the order—part of which was to secure the dissolution of the Congregation of St. Paul, formed by Fray Diego Collado, in 1636, with the Dominicans who came then with Corcuera (who were called Barbones; see Diaz’s account ante, p. 161). Pinelo remained in Spain, dying in the convent at Segovia, January 23, 1643. See Reseña biográfica, i, pp. 391, 420.
[18] There is an evident play on words in this passage. The original reads: “Que le auian hecho papa ó papilla y que con el les auian querido dar papillas.” “Papilla” is the diminutive of “papa”—meaning “pope,” or “pap”; and the phrase dar papilla is used to mean “deceiving by insidious caresses.”
[19] Referring to Juan de Zumárraga, guardian of the Franciscan convent at Abrojo, Mexico; who was appointed (December 12, 1527) the first bishop of the new diocese of Mexico, and protector of the Indians. He filled these offices ably, although his energy and zeal made him numerous enemies. He was made archbishop when the diocese of Mexico was raised to an archdiocese (by papal bull of July 8, 1547); but on account of his great age he declined the honor, and died (June 3, 1548) a few days after those documents arrived, being eighty years old. A cloud upon his memory is the ruthless and vandalic destruction, under his direction, of the Aztec images, manuscripts, and other records, both public and private, for which his agents made close search, not only in the City of Mexico but in all the larger cities and towns—a cruel and irreparable loss to scholars and historians. See Bancroft’s History of Mexico, ii, pp. 297–300, 556–559.