Captaincy General of the Philippines
Philippines, 1565–1898. Draft, not yet reviewed
The Captaincy General of the Philippines was an administrative district of the Spanish Empire in Southeast Asia governed by a governor-general. It was founded in 1565 with the first permanent Spanish forts. In 1821, following the independence of the Mexican Empire, all control was transferred to Madrid. It was succeeded by the short-lived First Philippine Republic following its independence through the Philippine Revolution.
Seat of power: Manila
Rulers
Miguel López de Legazpi
Governor-General of the Philippines, 1566–1572
Legazpi established the first Spanish settlement in the East Indies after his expedition crossed the Pacific Ocean, arriving in Cebu. He became the first governor-general of the Spanish East Indies, which was administered from New Spain for the Spanish crown. He made Cebu City the capital of the Spanish East Indies and later transferred it to Manila in 1571.
Portrait of Miguel López de Legazpi: Celestí Sadurní i Deop, Public domain, file
Francisco de Sande
Governor-General of the Philippines, 1575–1580
One of his first acts of political advocacy was to disestablish vast encomiendas of wealthy Spaniards in the Philippines. He established the Royal City of Nueva Cáceres, now known as Naga City.
Santiago de Vera
Governor-General of the Philippines, 1584–1590
In 1584, three judges arrived from Mexico and started the justice court with De Vera serving as the chief justice. Santiago de Vera made an order that all construction in Manila should be of stone.
Francisco de Tello de Guzmán
Governor-General of the Philippines, 1596–1602
Despatches from New Spain ordering the reestablishment of the Audiencia of Manila arrived in Manila in May 1598, and Governor Tello was named its governor. The Jesuit seminary of San José was founded in 1601.
Juan de Silva
Governor-General of the Philippines, 1609–1616
He developed a reputation for bravery and determination in his fight with the Dutch in the Far East.
Juan Niño de Tabora
Governor-General of the Philippines, 1626–1632
After arriving, Niño de Tabora ordered that a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary, carved in New Spain, be welcomed into the colony with pomp and ceremony. In 1627 he was in command of a naval squadron sent to Formosa to resupply the Spanish fort there and to attempt to dislodge the Dutch from their fort on the island.
Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera
Governor-General of the Philippines, 1635–1644
He is remembered as one of the two greatest Spanish military leaders in the Philippines. He arrived in Manila with a large reinforcement of soldiers from Peru and Panama.
Portrait of Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Diego Fajardo Chacón
Governor-General of the Philippines, 1644–1653
His valor in war led to promotions, both military and political. He had been reared in the family of Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, whose captain of the guard he had been.
Portrait of Diego Fajardo Chacón: Diego Fajardo Chacón, Public domain, file
Sabiniano Manrique de Lara
Governor-General of the Philippines, 1653–1663
The attacks of Koxinga on Manila in 1662 prompted him to secure help from the Spanish soldiers settled at Zamboanga.
Diego de Salcedo
Governor-General of the Philippines, 1663–1668
He reinforced the army of the archipelago and promoted trade with America. In a letter written in 1664, Salcedo stated that the treasury only had 35,000 pesos.
Gaspar de la Torre y Ayala
Governor-General of the Philippines, 1739–1745
Gaspar de la Torre arrived with the mission to urge the Sultan of Sulu to fulfill an earlier peace treaty and to allow missionaries to carry out their evangelizing work. In 1744, he faced a revolt led by Francisco Dagohoy, who took up arms on the island of Bohol. The Dagohoy Rebellion became known as the longest rebellion against Spanish authorities in Philippine history.
Portrait of Gaspar de la Torre y Ayala: Unknown author, Public domain, file
José Antonio Raón Gutiérrez
Governor-General of the Philippines, 1765–1770
He is known as an able administrator despite being perceived as corrupt. He was responsible for the expulsion of Jesuits in the Philippines, pursuant to the royal decree made by Charles III of Spain in 1767.
Simón de Anda y Salazar
Governor-General of the Philippines, 1770–1776
Anda escaped from Manila with much of the treasury and documents, assumed full authority on behalf of the Real Audiencia of Manila, established the provisional government and raised an army in Bulacan, and continued the military campaign against the British.
Portrait of Simón de Anda y Salazar: Unknown author (currently held at the collection of Bernardo Estornés Lasa), Public domain, file
Rafael María de Aguilar
Governor-General of the Philippines, 1793–1806
Aguilar was the longest serving Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines. His administration was driven by the reforms initiated by the Enlightenment in Spain. In 1796, two regiments of professional native troops were formed, the first time the native contingent of the colonial armed forces was professionalized.
Mariano Fernández de Folgueras
Governor-General of the Philippines, 1816–1822
When Rafael María de Aguilar y Ponce de León died in 1806, he succeeded as the acting governor-general of the islands. On September 16, 1807, he witnessed the Basi Revolt in Ilocos, which culminated twelve days later when the Spanish successfully quelled the rebels. In 1809, he gave permission to English traders to establish the first commercial houses in the Philippines.
Culture
- In 1584, the Real Audiencia of Manila was established by King Felipe II.
- The walled city was also considered the religious and educational center of the Spanish East Indies.
- Intramuros was also an economic center as the Asian hub of the Manila galleon trade, carrying goods to and from Acapulco in what is now Mexico.
Picture
Intramuros is the historic walled area of Manila and served as the seat of government of the Captaincy General of the Philippines.
Image: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
Sources
- Captaincy General of the Philippines (Wikipedia)
- Captaincy General of the Philippines (Wikidata)
- About the picture (Wikipedia)
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.