Cashiering the Last Conquistador: The Juicio de Residencia of Don Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera,...

Cashiering the LastConquistador: The Juicio deResidencia of Don SebastiánHurtado de Corcuera, 1639-1658

WILLIAM J. MCCARTHY

As one of the most autonomous officials ofthe Spanish empire, the governor and captaingeneral of the Philippines represented variousaspects of Spanish colonial administration,including the potential for unchecked behaviorat locations far from the metropole, the abilityto profit personally from office, and theembodiment of the adage: "obedezco pero nocumplo." Arguably, Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera(1635-1644) was the most headstrong governor ofthe entire colonial period, known both as "sonof the devil" and "the last Conquistador," aswell as having been praised for hisadministrative acumen.1 His colorful tenuredemonstrates the rampant initiative available toindividuals in this position. Moreover, hisintransigent behavior reveals his audacity andambition, while his corruption and

1 ? Onofre D. Corpuz, The Bureaucracy in the Philippines(Manila: University of the Philippines, Institute ofPublic Administration, 1957), 128.

2 COLONIAL LATIN AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW WINTER 2013

acquisitiveness expose the very limits of graftand corruption. In the instance of Hurtado deCorcuera, he also had the potential of utilizingthe juicio de residencia to call audacious officialsto account.

The governor general's career in thePhilippines is examined primarily through hisresidencia materials, which support the notionthat Hurtado de Corcuera operated in his ownfavor during his tenure and added to his ownconsiderable wealth. The list of charges andcollection of depositions provide a glimpse intoa particularly rancorous trial and, quitepossibly, one of the lengthiest list oftransgressions committed in a colony notoriousfor excess. As a frontier outpost, thePhilippines was considered by many asrepresentative of a culture of corruption, or a"fetid climate,"2 where a series of extremesoften impacted people's lives—heat, opportunity,power, and corruption.

Subordinate to the viceroy of New Spain,the governor's authority in Manila wascircumscribed further by the Audiencia deManila, the Junta de Repartimientos, thearchbishop of Manila and, on occasion, by theviceroy of the Estado da India. Despite thesecompeting interests, he acted independentlywithout very much trouble.3 According to Robert2 ? Xavier Huetz de Lemps, L'Archipel des Épices: la corruption del'Administration Espagnole aux Philippines, fin xviiie–fin xixe siècle (Madrid:Casa de Velásquez, 2006), 264-70.3 ? The Real Audiencia was established in 1583. The Junta deRepartimiento, established in 1604, was charged with theresponsibility of ensuring equitable distribution of

WILLIAM J. MCCARTHY 3

Reed, "the governor-general of the Philippinespossessed such broad authority and remained sogeographically isolated from metropolitanofficials that many scholars have likened him toan independent monarch."4

Spanish colonial administration throughoutthe empire has been characterized as strivingfor a balance between authority andflexibility.5 The Philippines represented theextreme version of this tendency, and theequilibrium often reached in other places wasless likely to materialize there. Due to thecolony's location in Asia, ideas of authority,commerce, slavery, and service often differedfrom those in America.6 Its distance far fromSpain also created an atmosphere of "looseness"that did not adhere precisely to the LatinAmerican model. In fact, Peter Borschberg warnslading space on the Acapulco-bound galleons. ThePortuguese viceroy occasionally held the upper handadministratively, for instance with regard to theattempted creation of joint naval exercises.4 ? Robert Ronald Reed, Colonial Manila: The Context of HispanicUrbanism and Process of Morphogenesis (Berkeley: University ofCalifornia Press, 1978), 36.5 ? Josep Maria Delgado Ribas, Dinámicas imperiales, 1650-1796:España, América y Europa en el cambio institucional del sistema colonialespañol (Barcelona: Editions Bellaterra, 2007), 22;expanding upon the ideas discussed in John Leddy Phelan,"Authority and Flexibility in the Spanish ImperialBureaucracy," Administrative Science Quarterly 5:1 (1960):47-65.6 ? William Henry Scott, Barangay: Sixteenth Century PhilippineCulture and Society (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila UniversityPress, 1994), chaps. 3, 4, and 7; and Anthony Reid, TheLands Below the Winds, volume 1 of Southeast Asia in the Age ofCommerce, 1450-1680 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990),chaps. 1, 3, and 4.


against analyzing the colonial Philippines tooclosely within the context of Latin Americanhistory, and suggests that important factorsstrongly differentiate the two: first, thenature of Asian commerce and, second, theprominent goal of the Spanish in the Philippinecolony during the first decades to convert andsubdue China.7 Additionally, the Philippineclimate did not compare favorably to that ofMexico, and as a result, agriculture remained ofminimal importance and rendered the SpanishPhilippine community utterly dependent uponcommerce for economic survival.8

Since the foundation of the colony,Philippine governors were charged primarily withengineering the financial success of the colony,with particular attention paid to the seminalcommerce in Chinese goods and the defense ofManila. In addition, during the first fewdecades of occupation, there was a fairlyenergetic attempt to maintain a presence in the

7 ? Peter Borschberg, ed., Iberians in the Singapore-Melaka Areaand Adjacent Regions (16th to 18th Century) (Wiesbaden: HarrassowitzVerlag, 2004), Introduction. While the Asian factors areundoubtedly significant, an administrative analysis ismore effective within the framework of the Latin Americanexample. 8 ? Luis Alonso Álvarez, "La inviabilidad de la haciendaasiática: coacción y mercado en la formación del modelocolonial en las Islas Filipinas, 1565-1595," in Imperios ynaciones en el Pacífico: Filipinas, la formación de una colonia, ed. MariaDolores Elizalde, Josep M. Fradera, and Luis AlonsoÁlvarez (Madrid: Consejo Superior de InvestigacionesCientificas, 2001), 183. See also William J. McCarthy, "ASpectacle of Misfortune: Wreck, Salvage and Loss in theSpanish Pacific," The Great Circle 17:2 (1995):95-108.


Moluccas, providing a defensive flank for theSpanish American empire, objectives that laterwere more or less abandoned but that formed aninitial impetus for ambitious settlement.9 Fromthe time of the appointment of the very firstgovernor-captain general, Miguel López deLegazpi, those holding this office were"empowered to administer...civil and criminaljustice." Additionally, Philippine governorswere given considerable authority over colonialofficials:

Without any delay or hesitation, andwithout any further requirement orconsultation on our [the king's] part…you are empowered to appoint and shallappoint to the offices of governor,captain-general, constables, and otheroffices annexed and suitable to yourgovernment. You may dismiss and removethese subordinates, whenever youdesire, or consider it best to do so.10

Consequently, the Philippine governorsgained power continually, a situation noticed

9 ? Luis Alonso Álvarez, "Formación y desarrollo delproyecto colonial español en las Islas Filipinas, 1565-1762," in De Tartessos a Manila: siete estudios coloniales y poscoloniales,ed. Glòria Cano and Ana Delgado (Valencia: Universitat deValència, 2008), 155.10 ? "King to Legazpi, Madrid, 14 August 1569," in EmmaH. Blair and James A. Robertson, eds., The Philippine Islands,1493-1803: Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands andTheir Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions...(Cleveland: Arthur C. Clarke, 1903-1909), 3:62-66.


both in Madrid and Mexico City. Severalalterations were made over the years regardingthe powers and succession of governors in anattempt to ascribe additional authority to themembers of the audiencia and to give them powerduring times when the position of governor wasvacant. In the latter instance, for example, theMarques de Ensenada attempted without success toseparate permanently administrative and militarypowers during the 1750s. Nevertheless, the Crown"gave an amplification of powers to the governorin the interest of achieving Buen Gobierno."11

Unique conditions in East Asia, includingpressing military needs due to the incursions ofother European powers and lamentably slowcommunication with Madrid, explain thedevelopment of this system.

Numerous examples illustrate the power ofthe governors from the time of the founding ofthe colony to the tenure of Sebastián Hurtado deCorcuera in the late 1630s. From the start,Philippine governors had more power over theawarding of encomiendas than did their SpanishAmerican counterparts.12 Governor Gómez PérezDasmariñas (1590-1593) demonstrated hisimperiousness by having a soldier executed forstriking his lieutenant and disarming thecivilian population to minimize disturbances in11 ? Miguel Luque Talaván, "Las instituciones de derechopúblico y de derecho privado en la Gobernación y CapitaníaGeneral de las Islas Filipinas, siglos XVI-XIX," in Historiageneral de Filipinas, ed. Leoncio Cabrero (Madrid: Ediciones deCultura Hispánica, 2000), 350.12 ? Patricio Hidalgo Nuchera, Encomienda, tributo y trabajo enFilipinas, 1570-1608 (Madrid: Universidad Autónoma, 1995), 55.


the streets of Manila.13 In 1603, the newlyarrived Archbishop Miguel de Benavides calledfor a visitation when he found that "thegovernors and other officials are at libertyhere to do as they please."14 Governor Juan deSilva recklessly prepared the 1616 fleetdesigned to sweep the Dutch from the region, anaction that elicited a serious response fromother leaders: "The Audiencia Real, the Bishop ofManila, leaders of the regular orders and thesecular cabildos could not simply stand aside anddo nothing in the face of a tragedy waiting tohappen. They sat de Silva down and seriouslyremonstrated him on the sheer folly of hisventure."15 Philippine governors were oftenvolatile men in a difficult situation and soughtto wield as much power as their personalitieswould permit.

The device of the juicio de residencia wasdeveloped to help rein in the behavior ofCastilian officials, and incoming governors wereinstructed to pay strict attention to conducting

13 ? Horacio de la Costa, The Jesuits in the Philippines, 1581-1768(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1961), 123. 14 ? Nicholas Cushner, Spain in the Philippines (Quezon City:Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1971), 157, quoting"Memorial del Arcobispo electo de Philipinas, 16 diciembre1603."15 ? Peter Borschberg, "Security, VOC Penetration andLuso-Spanish Co-operation: The Armada of PhilippineGovernor Juan de Silva in the Straits of Singapore, 1616,"in Borschberg, Iberians in the Singapore-Melaka Area, 46. Thearmada sailed but neither rendezvoused with the Portugueseally, nor engaged the Dutch.


the evaluation of the outgoing governor.16 Begunduring the fifteenth century, with reference tothe office of corregidor (the royal representativein the towns), the residencia was the trial of theoutgoing official used to identify anymalfeasance before permitting appointment to asubsequent post. The official underinvestigation remained in situ for a specifiedlength of time in order to allow complaints tobe lodged against him from any quarter. CharlesV applied the procedure to governor-generals inthe colonies as he added imperial possessions tohis realm.

In the Philippines, the institution longretained its power to check imperious governors.Historian Charles Henry Cunningham stated thatthe residencia was "almost the sole incentive torighteous official conduct" for distant colonialofficials.17 Historian Onofre D. Corpuz offersthe observation that "…the proceedings of the[Philippine governor's] residencia could be veryvexatious, for he was accountable for almosteverything that took place during hisadministration, and he was therefore vulnerableon innumerable counts."18 Consequently, residenciasof Philippine governors were often particularlyharsh, and numerous governors were imprisoned,exiled, or even removed from office. Theseventeenth-century traveler Giovanni Francesco

16 ? Cushner, Spain, 155-56.17 ? Charles Henry Cunningham, The Audiencia in the SpanishColonies as Illustrated by the Audiencia of Manila, 1583-1800 (Berkeley:University of California Press, 1919), 121. 18 ? Corpuz, The Bureaucracy in the Philippines, 48.


Gemelli Careri called the residencia of thePhilippine governor a "dreadful trial," often"breaking the hearts" of the governors. At leastthree died from the strain: one seventeenth-century governor died while being transported asa prisoner to New Spain; Simón de Anda y Salazardied in 1776 after he was fined 4,000 pesos forhaving conducted an overly rigorous residencia ofhis predecessor;19 and Jesuit Pablo Pastellsattributed the death of Don Gonzalo Ronquillo tothe rigors of his 1583 residencia.20

The religious establishment also resentedthe authority of the governor. The regularorders depended upon the governor almost alonefor largesse, much more so than theircounterparts in the New World colonies.Philippine governors retained the right toappoint parish priests, as well as appointingcertain orders to certain mission regions. Thosebenefices in and around Manila were the mostattractive, and the bulk of them went toAugustinians.21 In the Philippines, the subsidy,19 ? Anda y Salazar also was convicted of allowingofficers of the hacienda to leave the islands withoutpermission. "These and other charges proved against himwere said to have caused his pre-mature death in 1776."Cunningham, The Audiencia, 136, 139. Also see Cushner, Spain,chap. 7.20 ? Francisco Colín, S.J., Labor evangélica, ministeriosapostólicos de los obreros de la Compañía de Jesús, fundación, y progressos[sic] de su Provincia en las Islas Filipinas (Barcelona: Imprenta yLitografía de Henrich y Compañía, 1900-1902), libro I,cap. xxiii, 170, n. 1.21 ? John Leddy Phelan, The Hispanization of the Philippines: SpanishAims and Filipino Responses, 1565-1700 (Madison: University ofWisconsin Press, 1959), 36, 172-76.


or socorro from the Mexican treasury was designedonly for expenditures associated with militarydefense. There was virtually no income forSpaniards. The Crown only paid for theirtransport to the colony. Thus, the priests hadto rely exclusively upon their tributaries inthe parishes for sustenance and on grants fromthe Crown for the construction of residences,schools, and other obligations. Governor Hurtadode Corcuera, for example, accorded the privilegeof manufacturing and selling of playing cards tothe Jesuits due to the general lack ofopportunity to generate income in the colony.

The authority of the Catholic Church inthe Philippines frequently and successfullychallenged and rivaled that of the governors fora variety of reasons. First, Church officialsenjoyed a comparatively long tenure compared togovernors and other officials who came and went.Second, with such frequent trouble betweengovernors and oídores, often Church officialsstepped in to negotiate conflict. Third, thefamiliarity of the clergy with local customs andlanguages gave them an advantage. Fourth, theyalso had a free hand in complaining directly tothe king or to officials of their order back inSpain about the secular officials. The latterresulted in the proliferation of informes, whichconstitute a running chronicle of complaintsagainst Philippine governors.22

The king and the viceroy of New Spainappointed archbishops, with the obsequiousapproval of Rome, and embodied the frequent22 ? Corpuz, The Bureaucracy in the Philippines, 55.


confusion of authority between Church and Statein the Spanish empire. Often regular clergythemselves, archbishops were disposed to takesides on issues of preference, and heateddisputes arose over the privilege of visitation—a complicated situation in the Philippines dueto the regular clergy's retention of theadministration of parish churches throughout thecolonial period. In one example, Governor Pedrode Arandía (1754-1759) upon his arrival in 1754immediately entered into hostile relations withthe regular orders over the matter of razingnumerous churches that lay just outside the citywall and which might provide bastions forinvading enemies, a policy strenuously opposedby Archbishop Pedro de la Santísima Trinidad.23

In the late 1670s and 1680s, the mostnotorious dispute occurred between Governor Juande Vargas (1678-1684) and Archbishop FelipePardo. Vargas had exiled Pardo, ostensibly forignoring royal decrees, and when the succeedinggovernor, Gabriel de Curzulaegui, restored him,he persuaded the incoming governor to heightenthe antagonism of Vargas' residencia, which lastedfor four years.24 Heated disputes also arosebetween the governor and the office of theInquisition in 1668, and between GovernorFernando de Bustamente and the Church in 1717,as the newly arrived Bustamente attempted to

23 ? Marta María Manchado López, "Las relaciones entre laautoridad civil y las órdenes religiosas en Filipinasdurante el gobierno de don Pedro Manual de Arandía,"Anuario de Estudios Americanos 53:1 (1996):38.24 ? Corpuz, The Bureaucracy in the Philippines, 55.


call in debts owed to the treasury andinvestigated irregularities—some of whichinvolved the Church. In the resulting riots,Bustamente himself was killed in 1719.25

Arriving Philippine governors frequentlystepped into a nest of contention and punitivezeal as they conducted the residencias of theirpredecessors. Presumably, each arrived in thePhilippines bearing something of a burden tocreate a miracle to salvage the colony. Inaddition, resentful audiencia officials sometimesmet incoming galleons at the embarcadero of SanBernardino and traveled the last leg of thejourney into Manila Bay in the company of thearriving governor, thereby gaining access beforethe sitting governor had the chance to do so.

Hurtado de Corcuera, the most notoriousand one of the most acclaimed Philippinegovernors, provides the best example ofpugnacity and graft and of the resultingresentment that it generated. He is rememberedfor a number of questionable acts: refusing todispatch the 1635 galleons to Mexico; favoringthe Society of Jesus over other orders in thecolony; engaging in a showdown with ArchbishopGuerrero; repressing a sizable rebellion ofChinese in 1639; withdrawing the Spanish outpostat Formosa; claiming Macau for Spain when helearned of Portuguese independence; and leadinga successful military expedition to Sulu andMindanao in 1637-1638. Due to his victories overthe Muslim belligerents in the south of the

25 ? Corpuz, The Bureaucracy in the Philippines, 55-56.


archipelago, he is considered the last of theSpanish conquistadors.26

In addition to becoming a military hero,Hurtado de Corcuera took advantage of hisauthority by attempting to entirely remakecertain aspects of Spanish policy in theislands. While succeeding admirably in severalsuch endeavors, he was accused of bungling a fewothers and proceeded to make lasting enemies.The governor shamelessly enriched himself, thusarousing further resentment. Diego Collado, acontemporary Dominican priest and scholar at theUniversity of Santo Tomás in Manila, reportedlyreferred to the governor as "son of the devil"and "scourge of God."27

The truth about Hurtado de Corcuera liessomewhere between brigand and hero. Historiansof the colonial Philippines, for instance, have26 ? Referred to as "The Last Conquistador" in De laCosta, Jesuits, chap. 16, Cushner states that the "governorwas placed in the distinguished company of theconquistadors." Cushner, Spain, 163; see also William J.McCarthy, "Between Policy and Prerogative : Malfeasance inthe Inspection of the Manila Galleons at Acapulco, 1637,"Colonial Latin American Historical Review 2:2 (1993):163-83.27 ? Collado initially had established a cordialrelationship with the governor, as they traveled on thesame vessel from New Spain and agreed on the possibilityof a mission to China. Subsequently, Collado and othersbecame disenchanted with the governor's penchant for graftand over the controversy as to whether the religiousorders should be permitted to participate in the galleontrade. See Blair and Robertson, The Philippine Islands, 29:26.Excerpted from Diego Aduarte, Historia de la Provincia del SanctoRosario de la Orden de Predicadores en Philippinas, Japon y China (Manila:En el Colegio de Sancto Thomas, por Luis Beltranimpressor, 1640), 1639.


expressed divergent opinions on the matter.Cunningham is fulsome in his praise, presumablyin keeping with the values of his time. NicholasCushner is measured in his assessment but stilldoes not hesitate to praise the governor and hisachievements, while Onofre Corpuz places him inthe company of a very short list of competentgovernors.28 Isacio Rodríguez Rodríguez, anAugustinian priest and author of a multi-volumehistory of his order in the Philippines,condemned Hurtado de Corcuera as a thief.29

Hurtado de Corcuera, a member of the Orderof Alcántara, had proven his mettle by fightinga number of years in Flanders and by serving asmaestre de campo at Lima.30 He arrived from hisprevious post as governor of Panamá to Manila,anxious to tackle the most pressing problems ofthe Philippine colony, most notably its chronicinsolvency, inability to bring the Muslimpopulace of the southern islands of thearchipelago under some semblance of Spanishrule, and the prevention of slave raidingagainst the king's subjects. He made significant28 ? Cushner, Spain, chap. 16, 377-403; and Corpuz, TheBureaucracy in the Philippines, 128. Those worthy of being namedin this context (governors or acting governors) areAntonio Morga (oídor of the audiencia), Hurtado de Corcuera,Simón de Anda y Salazar, Leandro de Viana (real fiscal), andJosé Basco y Vargas.29 ? Isacio Rodríguez Rodríguez, personal conversationwith author during visit to the Colegio Real de los PadresAgustinos at Valladolid, February 1987. Isacio RodríguezRodríguez, Historia de la Provincia Agustiniana del Smo. Nombre de Jesúsde Filipinas (Manila: [n.p.], 1965).30 ? Cushner supports the claim that Hurtado de Corcuerawas and had been an excellent soldier. Cushner, Spain, 377.


headway against the Muslims via a markedlysuccessful campaign against Magindanau and Sulu;indeed, the loot exceeded the costs of theexpedition. Other issues of note during histenure included the ongoing Dutch threat toManila; financial woes that resulted from thefailure of the Acapulco galleon to sail (1635and 1637); the wreck of one of the largest evergalleons, ostensibly laden with Hurtado deCorcuera's private treasure (1638); therebellion of the Chinese community (1639); theexpulsion of Portuguese Catholics from Japan(1639); the independence of Portugal (1640); andthe loss of Formosa (1641).31

Regarding the colony's fiscalshortcomings, the new governor proposed to givethe Philippines a balanced budget within fouryears.32 Hurtado de Corcuera hoped to addressthe pressing budgetary shortfalls through anumber of expedients. He sought, but failed, toobtain an increase in the permiso, the amount ofcargo legally permitted to be shipped for saleon the galleons to Acapulco. He advocatedincreasing revenue from the Acapulco galleontrade by means of more invasive inspections;this too was eventually disallowed.33 He soughtto limit, or at least control, the trade withthe Portuguese at Macau, of which he was a31 ? For information on these events, see Cushner, Spain,158-66; and De la Costa, Jesuits, chap. 16.32 ? Cushner, Spain, 160.33 ? Philip IV to Palafox y Mendoza, Cédula sobre elcomercio Filipino, 30 September 1639, Archivo General deIndias, Seville (hereinafter cited as AGI), Filipinas 340,vol. 2, fols. 13-17.


participant.34 He kept personal custody of theroyal safe, closely monitored the sale of boletas(licenses) to ship merchandise on the galleons,and collected the medias anatas (fees) amountingto half a year's salary to be collected fromofficials upon assumption of duties, authorizedin 1633. He increased the importation of spicesfrom Ternate for trans-shipment to New Spain,thus increasing commercial profits by the saleof goods which did not have to be purchased fromthe Chinese. Finally, and with the most notablereturns, he significantly increased the sale ofresidency permits to the Chinese.35

Hurtado de Corcuera's looked first tocommercial matters, which he hoped would solvethe colony's fiscal difficulties. Second inimportance only to the defense of Manila, tradeprovided virtually the sole income for Spaniardsin the colony and, in successful years, returnedsizable profits. The commercial arena offeredthe most extensive potential for exercising (andexceeding) his authority and increasing hisprivate fortune. Regulation of trade depended onthe procurement and maintenance of the galleons:the assignation of lading space thereupon, theestablishment of prices and collection of duties(both on out-going goods and those brought from34 ? His residencia charges include his having sent aprivate trading ship to Macau, from which he profitedpersonally and entirely. Relacion de el ultimo estado quetiene en justicia, la Ressidencia de Don Sebastian Hurtadode Corcuera, Gouernador y Capitan General que fue de lasYslas Filipinas, 4 June 1658, AGI, Filipinas 2, ramo 5,núm. 173, Charge #20. 35 ? Cushner, Spain, 160-62.


China and other regional locations), andenforcement of the prescribed limits on thevolume of the trade.

The laws that addressed these factors wereissued piecemeal, most frequently in the form ofroyal cédulas, or decrees, while others wereissued as ordinances by the Philippine governorsthemselves. There was no comprehensive body ofregulations covering the trade until the 1734compilation of the Leyes de Indias, whichincorporated laws in force in the earlyeighteenth century.36 No attempt had been madeto regulate the trade until the early 1580s,when wealthy limeños sought, with their readysupply of silver, to participate in theattractive trade. At that time, a 1582 royalcédula forbade direct trade between Peru andManila because sailing from both New Spain andPeru would complicate the trade's oversight.Despite the ban, Peruvian viceroy Francisco deToledo sent a ship to Manila in 1590. Althoughthe ship was seized by the Portuguese in Asianwaters, the desire for more widespreadparticipation in the Manila trade wasbegrudgingly recognized; the complete ban on theLima-Manila trade was altered slightly to allow"excess" goods to enter Peru via Acapulco, but

36 ? Philippine Commerce and the Manila GalleonCollection, Real Tribunal y Consulado de Manila, BaltasarDoncel, BANC MSS 91/111z, Bancroft Library, University ofCalifornia, Berkeley. Renewed interest in the tradeoccurred with its notable increase in volume in the earlyeighteenth century. See Carmen Yuste-López, El comercio de laNueva España con Filipinas, 1590-1785 (Mexico: Instituto Nacionalde Antropología e Historia, 1984), 34-36.


even that trade became a problem for peninsularand other administrators, as limeño merchantsfrequently outbid other buyers at Acapulco orwere allowed to pre-arrange sales. Eventually,the Crown forbade commerce between Acapulco andLima, though it was clear by the early 1590sthat, if permitted, the Manila trade wouldaccept all comers.37

Various imposts were introduced in the1580s and 1590s. A 2 per cent fee assessed inManila for the building of the city wallremained in effect from 1591 to 1596. At theport of Acapulco, the almojarifazgo was collectedat a rate of 12 pesos per tonelada, until 1586when it was increased to 45 pesos and in 1591changed to a flat rate of 10 percent of theAcapulco value.38 A set of regulations wasissued in 1593 to prevent the drain of Peruviansilver to Asia and to obviate the need forextensive inspections of the galleons. Officialslimited the Pacific trade to the Manila-Acapulcoroute and to two ships per year, each carrying amaximum of 300 toneladas.39 The galleons could37 ? Woodrow Borah, Early Colonial Trade and Navigation betweenMexico and Peru (Berkeley: University of California Press,1954), 121, 124. 38 ? William Lytle Schurz, The Manila Galleon (New York:Dutton, 1939), 180-81.39 ? The exact size of this unit, especially in thePacific, is open to dispute. It is known that the Pacificgalleons (and the Portuguese East Indiamen) were thelargest afloat. Pierre Chaunu feels only sufficientlyconfident to claim that "on the whole, the trade wascarried in very large ships. They were certainly largerthan the largest in use in the Atlantic." Original textreads: "dans l'ensemble, le mouvement est le fait de tres


carry merchandise up to the value of 250,000pesos at Manila, and merchants could receive500,000 pesos in exchange at Acapulco.40 Theseregulations eliminated the need for closeinspection at Acapulco, which in any event wouldhave been a tedious process to remove thewrappings from the cargo intended to guardagainst ruinous shipboard conditions. Re-issuedin 1604 and 1619, these regulations remained ineffect until 1734, when the limit was raised to300,000 pesos.41

The Philippine governor had additionalresponsibilities in dispatching the Acapulcogalleons. Mandates were issued from time to timein conjunction with the selection of sailingdates, the conduct of the voyage, the manner ofassessment of fees, and the inspection ofcargoes. Moreover, those in charge of thesailing were continually ordered to honor aschedule that would minimize the chance of awreck due to adverse weather conditions: depart

gros navires, ils seront, bientot, plus gros que les plusgros en usage dans l'Atlantique." Pierre Chaunu, LesPhilippines et le Pacific des Ibériques (Paris: SEVPEN, 1958), 147.Unless otherwise noted, all translations are by theauthor.40 ? Cédula from Philip IV, Valladolid, a postrero de diciembre1604, AGI, Filipinas 2, doc. 269b [a re-affirmation of the1593 regulations]: "y que en ninguna manera exceda laquantidad de mercadurias que se traxere cada ano de lasdichas Philipinas a la nueva Espana de 250,000 pesos deocho reales como esta dispuesto, ni el retorno deprincipal, y ganancia en dinero de los quinientos milpesos."41 ? Schurz, Manila Galleon, 155; and Cushner, Spain, 128-29.


from Manila by the end of June and from Acapulcoin February. Captains of the voyages were alsosubjected to regulations, typically promulgatedby the governors, including such aspects of thevoyage regarding the conduct of persons onboard, the prevention of women traveling alonefrom Acapulco, the restriction of smoking andminimization of cooking fires, and theprohibition of veering off course. The latterwas a constant temptation as it was believedthat rich islands might be found in the northPacific, the so-called Isla de Oro and Isla dePlata. Other regulations eventually restrictedparticipation in the galleon trade to those with8,000 pesos worth of capital and elaboratedprocedures, which accompanied the registeringand loading of cargoes and the collection anddisposition of monies.42

Cargo space on the outbound Acapulcogalleons was the most sought after commodity incolonial Manila, and governors were in aposition both to control and profit.43 Sincecommerce was virtually the only occupationundertaken by Spaniards in Manila, and anyamount of merchandise shipped to Mexico was sureto find a buyer, a unique system was devised tofacilitate matters. Purchases of Chinese goodsgenerally were undertaken wholesale by means of42 ? Schurz, Manila Galleon, 155; Cushner, Spain, 128-29;and Charles R. Boxer, "Sailing Orders for the ManilaGalleons of 1635-1636," Terrae Incognitae 4 (1972):7-17.43 ? According to Corpuz, "Nothing can show this [misuseof prerogatives] more effectively than the…graft andcorruption which they practised in connection with thegalleon trade." Corpuz, The Bureaucracy in the Philippines, 50.


the pancada, designed to make Chinese goodsavailable at standard prices and to negotiatethose prices, somewhat the reverse of the systemthat operated at Canton.44 Goods were thenavailable for shipment to Acapulco. Referred toas the repartimiento, not to be confused with theAmerican institution of the same name, eachcitizen of Manila, including widows and orphans,was entitled to ship merchandise on thegalleons. The governor allotted each individuala certain number of boletas, or vouchers, whichentitled him or her to a specified amount ofcargo space. Merchandise could then be acquiredin the requisite volume and then shipped, or theboletas could be sold to a merchant more inclinedto go through the process of obtaining tradegoods. Suited to the financial and fiscalconditions at Manila, the system was notable forits universal access.45

Allocation of boletas depended upon severalfactors: wealth, social status, and length ofresidence in the colony. Despite its fairness,the system was liable to abuse by influentialpersons or ambitious speculators. At the outset,44 ? Schurz, Manila Galleon, 76-78. Pancada describes theprocedure of the Spaniards' trading in toto for theChinese goods each year, eventually replaced by the lateseventeenth century with a féria. According to John E.Wills, Jr., "the word is a Manila neologism of unknownorigin." Cambridge History of China Vol. 8, the Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644(Cambrdige: Cambrdige Universtiy Press, 1998), 356. It isused without discussion of the term's origin by Schurz,Manila Galleon, 74-78, and by Philip Curtin, Cross-Cultural Tradein World History (Cambrdige: Cambrdige Universtiy Press,1984), 143.45 ? Schurz, Manila Galleon, 158-64.


the majority of Manila's Spanish vecinos actuallydid ship merchandise, but soon the effects ofabuse and privilege came to be felt, and fewerand fewer names were found on the ships'manifests. Further, the Misericordia de Manila becamethe prominent investor in the galleon trade,serving as a lending institution for manymerchants.46

By 1604, the repartimiento had become so rifewith favoritism that the authority to allocatelading space was transferred from the governorto the newly created Junta de Repartimiento,comprised of the governor, the senior oidor(judge/legislator) of the audiencia, the fiscal(chief attorney of the colony), two regidores(members of the cabildo, or municipal council),and the archbishop of Manila.47 Nevertheless,the creation of the junta did not entirelyprevent abuses from arising due to the extremedesirability of the cargo space and the tendencyof governors or other individuals to intervenein the process. Furthermore, the junta could donothing to prevent speculation in boletas, norprevent frauds perpetrated against vulnerablewidows or young orphans eager for ready cash.

In 1635, soon after his arrival, GovernorHurtado de Corcuera usurped the entire authorityof the junta as part of his program to stabilizethe economy of the colony. For this action hereceived criticism from some quarters, whileothers lauded his attempt to break thestranglehold that wealthy interests (both lay46 ? Cushner, Spain, 139-52.47 ? Schurz, Manila Galleon, 156.


and clerical) had established over therepartimiento. It was, however, a presumptuousact, and began to earn him the enmity of severalsectors, particularly of the archbishop ofManila, whose alienation later proved adifficulty.

Hurtado de Corcuera also began to monitorthe shipping itself. His ambitious program beganimmediately; he ordered the already ladengalleons of 1635 not to sail, claiming that hehad seen warehouses at Acapulco loaded withunsold merchandise from Manila.48 In thisinstance, Hurtado de Corcuera's decision costManila a year's income, later constituting oneof the charges in his residencia. The followingyear, he personally supervised the lading,taking note of the fact that the amount ofregistered merchandise had been loaded longbefore the piles were diminished. Hurtado deCorcuera's decision not to send galleons toAcapulco again in 1637 proved to be the episodethat precipitated a continuous stream ofcomplaints against him by Mexican officials forhis intransigence, which constituted anotherformal charge against him. For the second time48 ? Libro de Govierno del Señor Don Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera,Philippine Collection, Lot 523, vols. 1-4, MS 21534 (1),Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.This decision did and does elude understanding, as anyamount of merchandise always found a buyer at Acapulco. Itis also notable, though, that merchants at Macau during aslightly earlier period claimed that there was more thansufficient silk available to satisfy markets in Japan,Goa, and Malacca, so that no additional trade needed to beconducted with Canton—perhaps a ruse to keep others,including other Portuguese, out of Canton.


in three years, he had taken action thateliminated the colony's only source of readyincome. In 1637, however, Hurtado de Corcuera'shad a more pointed reason for cancellation ofthe sailing than there had been in 1635, namelythe rigorous inspection of the cargo of the 1636galleons upon their arrival at Acapulcoundertaken by visitador Don Pedro de Quiroga yMoya. Quiroga evaluated the cargo at ten timesthe permitted amount, around 2,500,000 pesos,proceeded to seize the excess, and levied severepenalties.49 This episode so incensed thePhilippine governor and community that he tookthe calculated risk of sacrificing an additionalyear's income in hope of having the new policyof inspection rescinded. In any event, his voicewas heard, and Philip IV issued a cédulaforbidding further inspections.50 In theinterim, the colony suffered several years ofits worst economic plight—a situation for whichHurtado de Corcuera received more than his shareof the blame.

In addition to dealing with the colony'seconomy, Hurtado de Corcuera made efforts toincrease military efficiency and managed onenoted success. To make more effective use ofidle hands, he transferred many sailors toTernate to man the garrison there, while inManila he built a soldiers' hospital with achapel. His most dramatic success, and his

49 ? McCarthy, "Between Policy and Prerogative," 178.50 ? Philip IV to Hurtado de Corcuera, 8 December 1638,Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley,Reales Cédulas Philipinas, tomo VI, fol. 112v.


greatest triumph, was the military campaignagainst Magindanau and Jolo in 1637-1638. TheSpaniards maintained a garrison on the island ofMindanao at Zamboanga, but it did not preventthe customary slaving raids into the Visayasfurther to the north. The persons being seizedas slaves, while victims of a traditionalpractice, were now Spanish subjects and neededto be protected by the governor. However, therecalcitrance of the Muslims in the south of thearchipelago remained a grave challenge toSpanish rule.51

For several decades, hostility reignedunabated. The most notable raids from Magindanauinto the Visayas occurred in 1603, 1606, 1608,1613, and 1634.52 A memorable result of the 1603raid was the capture of a Jesuit priest, MelchorHurtado, by a fifty-vessel incursion to thevillage of Dulag at Leyte. The priest wasreleased at Cebu the following year and laterreturned to Magindanau as an ambassador ofGovernor Pedro de Acuña.53 Not harmed by hiscaptors, Father Hurtado even came to befriendthem in a rare instance of amiability. The 1608raid at Leyte was remembered for the raiding

51 ? Scott, Barangay, 175-76; Ana Maria Prieto Lucena, Elcontacto hispano-indígena en Filipinas según la historiografía de los siglos XVIy XVII (Córdoba: Universidad de Córdoba Servicio dePublicaciones, 1993), 236; and Anthony Reid, The Lands belowthe Winds, volume 1 of Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce (NewHaven: Yale University Press, 1988), 129-36.52 ? De la Costa, Jesuits, 292-312.53 ? De la Costa, Jesuits, 303.


party's arrival in seventy-seven caracoas and fortaking many captives.54

Sultan Kudarat was the most formidableopponent of the Spaniards during the protractedMoro wars. His prowess was legendary and hisraids into the Visayas many and effective.55

During the early 1630s, Kudarat's reputation wassuch that it looked as though the Spaniardswould never be able to incorporate Mindanao intotheir colony. In the particular raid thatprovoked Hurtado de Corcuera's retaliation,three Spaniards had been seized, in addition tothe group of indigenous Visayans. Hurtado deCorcuera mounted his expedition with greatenthusiasm, leading his men personally, andimpressing them with his courage:

His eating, sleeping and thoseadditional things pertaining to thetreatment of his person were that ofan ordinary soldier. First, he set hishands to the buildings andfortifications, helped all thefactions in the positions of greatestrisk, and because others rested, hehimself went around in the nightvisiting the barracks, and also the[sentry] posts of the hillside. Then

54 ? Copia de un capitulo de carta de la audiencia deManila escripto a su Magd en 8 de jullio de 1608, AGI,Filipinas 7, ramo 3, núm. 3y, fol. 83.55 ? His memory is revered in Mindanaoan memory to thisday. Ruurdje Laarhoven, Triumph of Moro Diplomacy: TheMaguindanao Sultanate in the 17th Century (Quezon City: New DayPublishers, 1989), 33; and De la Costa, Jesuits, 382.


the piety with which he responded tothe sick and visited the wounded, andregaled them as much as those whostormed the battlements and did notsuffer [injury] was admirable.56

The Spaniards defeated the enemy, brought back aparty of the Visayan captives, and returned to amemorable hero's welcome at Manila. The ensuingparade was long remembered as one of the mostlavish and festive occasions of the colonialera. The governor, while fêted at the time, waslater criticized for his extravagance in havingspent so much money and so many lives for solittle return.

In claiming to seek to protect the royalinitiative, Hurtado de Corcuera established ahostile relationship between himself andArchbishop Hernando Guerrero, who was seeking toretain the independence of the Church againstwhat he felt were the excesses of the patronatoas it was employed so far from Castile.Contention between governors and archbishops wasone of the perennial difficulties in the56 ? Sucesos de 1637-1638, Archivo Histórico Nacional(hereinafter cited as AHN), Madrid, "Diversos," Indias332, unsigned pamphlet. Cushner argues that the situationwas less heroic, that Hurtado de Corcuera invited therajah to parley and then attacked his party. Cushner,Spain, 162. He bases this contention on accounts ofArchbishop Guerrero, who was entirely hostile to thegovernor. The account quoted herein may be weighted insupport of the governor by his own influence; it isprobably the same document described by Cushner as adefense of Hurtado de Corcuera. Corcuera to King, 31 July1638, AGI Filipinas 8, ramo 8, doc. 258.


colonial Philippines. Part of the problem arosefrom the fact that the archbishop served asinterim governor when needed.57 In the early1590s, for example, Governor Gómez PérezDasmariñas clashed pointedly with Bishop Domingode Salazar. During the 1680s, the most notoriousdifficulties occurred between Governor Vargas deHurtado and Archbishop Felipe Pardo. Pardo, aDominican, requisitioned money from parishes andfrom the Jesuit returns on the Acapulco galleonto divert them to the enhancement of theUniversity of Santo Tomás. He also relegated theAugustinian Recollects entirely to the island ofMindoro, stripping them of some of their landselsewhere. For this effrontery, the audienciaexiled Pardo to Panganasinan in 1683, where heremained until pardoned by the succeedinggovernor, Gabriel de Curuzealegui y Arriola, thefollowing year. As a result of thiscontentiousness, Vargas' residencia lasted fouryears.58

Another conflict occurred between GovernorPedro Manuel de Arandía y Santisteban andArchbishop Pedro de la Santísima Trinidad in the1750s. Arandía spearheaded an initiative toincrease military security around Manila, inview of a recent increase in raids throughoutthe Visayas by southern Muslims. In so doing, heinsisted that several churches near Intramuros(the walled city) be dismantled, ostensiblysince they could be used as fortifications byinvaders. It appeared, however, that the57 ? Cushner, Spain, 156.58 ? Corpuz, The Bureaucracy in the Philippines, 37.


governor intended to punish several of theorders for their audacious behavior, as they hadbeen quite vocal about criticizing the allegedexcesses that the alcaldes mayores promulgatedagainst the indigenous population.59

The tense situation between Hurtado deCorcuera and Archbishop Guerrero in the 1630sled to several of the governor's most peevishand headstrong acts. The central dramaticepisode was precipitated by the arrest andexecution of an artilleryman, Francisco de Nava,who killed his slave concubine and soughtsanctuary in the Augustinian convent.60 Hurtadode Corcuera ordered his forcible removal fromthe convent, and he was tried and then hanged infront of the convent. The archbishop (who had infact initially ordered Nava either to sell ormarry the slave girl) resented the violation ofsanctuary. He put the city under interdict andthreatened to excommunicate the governor. As thebells rang out the imposition of the interdict,Hurtado de Corcuera ordered soldiers to go tothe archbishop's residence and place him underarrest. Finding the archbishop dressed in fullvestments and holding the Blessed Sacrament, thesoldiers deferred from placing their hands onhim. Eventually the elderly man fell over,

59 ? Manchado López, "Las relaciones entre la autoridadcivil y las órdenes religiosas," 2-5.60 ? Casimiro Díaz Toledano and Gaspar de San Agustín,Conquistas de las Islas Filipinas: la temporal por las armas de nuestroscatólicos reyes de España... (Valladolid: Luis N. De Gaviria,1890), chap. XVI:327-33, tells the basic story; it is alsotold in some detail by Cushner, Spain, 162-65.


dropping the monstrance and rendering himselfvulnerable to arrest.

Hurtado de Corcuera exiled the archbishopto the island of Corregidor. When he waspermitted to return to Manila, it was clear thatthe governor's authority had triumphed. The kingharshly reprimanded the archbishop:

If you had borne in mind what wasadvantageous to my service andconformable to the dignity of yourperson and office, you might well haveavoided all this. I therefore deem itnecessary to inform you (as I now do)that I consider myself to have beenuncommonly ill served in this wholeaffair.... You will do well in futureto conduct yourself with greatercircumspection and restraint....61

Moreover, the governor also claimed to haverecognized more than the issue of sanctuary in the matter:

It seems to me that Your Majesty hassent me here not to govern thePhilippines but to conquer thereligious because in the eleven monthsI have been here I have done nothingbut argue with them over jurisdictionand the royal patronage.62

61 ? Quoted in De la Costa, Jesuits, 382.62 ? Quoted in Cushner, Spain, 165.


Hurtado de Corcuera's treatment of theChinese population generated further strife, asit led to violent insurrection and later formedseveral of the charges in his residencia.63 Thecombination of his whirlwind attempts at fiscalreform and the growing number of Chineseinhabitants in the colony created the conflict.Goods and services provided by the Chineserepresented an essential part of the Spanishresidents' survival, but the relationshipbetween the two groups seemed vexed and mutuallyparanoic.64 A similar situation had arisen in1603, when the high numbers of Chinese led theSpaniards to arm themselves, in turn causingfear and rebellion among the Chinese. In orderto control this sizable population, in the1630s, Hurtado de Corcuera and his personalsecretary and contador Simon Delgado followed theestablished tradition of issuing residencypermits. The policy of selling permits hadfollowed in the wake of the 1603 Chineseuprising, employed as a means both of raising

63 ? Estimates say that upward of 40,000 were involved inthe 1639 uprising. Verdadera relacion de varios sucesos que se hanvisto en muchas partes del Oriente de Filipinas, China y la India desde el anode 1639 por noviembre hasta el ano de 1645…, António de SantaMaria, 1645, Archivo Franciscano Ibero-Oriental, SinicaFranciscano, vol. 2, MS Pe Antonio de Sta Maria: "Habiendosucedido en esta Ciudad de Manila el levantarse contraella mas de 40,000 Chinos…."64 ? María Fernanda García de los Arcos, "Grupos éthnicosy clases sociales en las Filipinas de finales del sigloXVIII," Archipel 57 (1999):70.


revenue and monitoring the numbers ofimmigrants.65

Christian converts and the indigent wereoccasionally excused from paying for thepermits.66 The administration, in fact, treatedChristian converts favorably. One such privilegewas the awarding of contracts to provision thegalleons. In 1638, for instance, contracts wereissued to Domingo Dizon for the purchase ofbeans, to Tianco for pork, and to Martin Chulxanfor several types of drugs, live hens, driedfish and shrimp, and white sugar. Anothercontract was awarded to Gin say Grande, leaderof the carpenters. for wood. His preferment wasunusual; he was presumably recognized for hisposition among the carpenters and access towood.67

65 ? Four thousand permits were sold in 1603 and sixthousand in 1605. Alberto Santamaría, "The ChineseParian," in The Chinese in the Philippines, 1570-1770, ed. AlfonsoFelix (Manila: Solidaridad, 1966), 76-81; and MilagrosGuerrero, "The Chinese in the Philippines," in Felix, TheChinese in the Philippines, 33. Regarding the variable legalstatus of the Chinese, see Tatiana Seijas, "NativeVassals: Chinos, Indigenous Identity, and Legal Protectionin Early Modern Spain," in Western Visions of the Far East in a Trans-Pacific Age, 1522-1657, ed. Christina H. Lee (Farnham, UK:Ashgate, 2012), chap. 8.66 ? Cuentas de Real Hacienda, 1638, AGI, Contaduría1218, ramo 3. See also charge #21 in Relacion de el ultimoestado que tiene en justicia, la Ressidencia de DonSebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, 4 June 1658, AGI, Filipinas2, ramo 5, núm. 173, fol. 5v: "Que tubo estrecha amistad ycorrespondencia con Chun quian, Sangley, infiel; al qualynterponia para muchos negociaciones, superyntendencia delas obras y juegos."


Demand for the licenses was so high thatgovernment officials were repeatedly accused ofprofiteering by selling an excess of licensesand pocketing a portion of the proceeds. Delgadoand Hurtado de Corcuera were both so charged inthe residencia. As a result, far more Chineselived in Manila and environs than wereofficially authorized to do so. In the uprisingof 1603, for instance, Spaniards claimed to havekilled 24,000 Chinese, far more than the Spanishadministration had licensed to live there.68

The Chinese, aware of the alarm theirnumbers caused among Spanish officials,attempted to curry favor. In 1637, for example,the community presented the governor with a giftof cash intended for the king of Spain, inappreciation for permission to live and work sopeaceably and profitably in the islands.69 Inaddition to failing to forward the gift to the67 ? Compras de Generos, AGI, Contaduría 1218, Cuentas deReal Hacienda desde 12 de enero de 1636 a 7 de enero de1639, Mar de Manila y Maluco; payments were made to DomingoDizon on 6 July 1638 (fol. 1105v), to Tianco on 3 July1638 (fol. 1106), to Chulxan on 8 July 1638 (fol. 1105v),and to Gin Say Grande on 31 August 1638 (fol. 1108).Several terms were used to refer to these Chinesemerchants: sangley xpiano (Manila-Chinese Christian); sangleyor sangy (Manila-Chinese); and sangley infiel (Manila-Chineseinfidel).68 ? Guerrero, "The Chinese in the Philippines, 1570-1770," 25.69 ? Blair and Robertson, The Philippine Islands, 29:28;Relacion de el ultimo estado que tiene en justicia, laRessidencia de Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, AGI,Filipinas 2, ramo 5, núm. 173, charge #37: "Sobre haueracetado y Reciuido de los Sangleyes una donacion de 12,946pesos."


king, Hurtado de Corcuera thereafter stepped upthe collection of licensing fees, added a 25peso head tax, and forced a number of Chinese torelocate and work in rice fields without pay.70

The increase in fees amounted to 3,909 licensessold by Delgado in 1638. This brought a profitof 5,374 pesos. In 1639, 3,682 licenses weresold for a total of 5,072 pesos.71 These issues—and the particularly large numbers of Chineseresidents at the time along with the unusuallysmall number of Spaniards—helped to bring aboutthe violent 1639 rising.

The governor also is alleged to haveenriched himself considerably at the expense ofthe king, the treasury, and the citizenry ofManila. Many individuals spoke against him athis residencia on such matters. He was said tohave acquired a vast amount of illegallyobtained treasure, including several items whichwere seized at the time of his arrest: a goldplate, diamonds, a jeweled monstrance, pieces of

70 ? Guerrero, "The Chinese in the Philippines," 30-32.71 ? Residencia de Don Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera,Manila, 24 January 1645, AGI, Escribanía de Cámara 409-B,fols. 244-45. Another document from the Cuentas de RealHacienda records 139,595 pesos, 6 tomines, 3 granos collectedfor 1638. Cuentas de Real Hacienda, 27 July 1638, AGI,Contaduría 1218, fol. 994v. This latter is perhaps a morerealistic figure, as the smaller sums were probablycollected by Delgado alone, and perhaps kept by him. Sucha supposition is borne out by a charge against him to theeffect that 5,029 Chinese arrived at Manila in 1639, andthat he collected 500 pesos from each of them, whereas hehad been authorized to collect only 100. Cargos contraSimon Delgado, 1645, AGI, Escribanía de Cámara 409-A, fol.4587.


enamelwork, and a reliquary. He alsocommandeered an elaborate gold plate and ewerwhich had been fashioned as a gift to the kingfrom the Chinese community.72 In addition, thegovernor appears to have been a regularpurchaser of diamonds and other precious stonesat less than their market value.73 The cargo ofone of the 1638 galleons lost en route to Mexicohad been composed primarily of the governor'sabundant personal treasure.74

Upon the arrival of Diego Fajardo Chacón,the Philippines' newly appointed governor,Hurtado de Corcuera began to suffer theconsequences of his widespread unpopularity.72 ? Guerra de Manila, almojarifazgo, salaries…, 30August 1645, AGI, Contaduría 1225, fol. 885.73 ? Relacion de el ultimo estado que tiene en justicia,la Ressidencia de Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, 4June 1658, AGI Filipinas 2, ramo 5, núm. 173, fol. 6,charge #22: "Sobre hauer comprador diferentes joyas deDiamentes y otras piedras, a menos precio del quevalian…."74 ? Marqués de Cadereyta to king, 8 July 1641, AGI,México 152, ramo 2, doc. 15. No doubt Hurtado de Corcuerasought to spirit it out of the colony before the end ofhis tenure as governor. The ships carried "gran cantidadde hazienda de su tio y suya." Hurtado de Corcuera is thereferenced uncle; his nephew was the captain of the voyage—young and inexperienced and perhaps in charge of thesafekeeping of the valuables. Charge 32 of the residenciaaccuses Hurtado de Corcuera of causing the wreck of thegalleon by appointing the nephew as captain. Relacion deel ultimo estado que tiene en justicia, la Ressidencia deDon Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, 27 April 1651, AGI,Filipinas 2, ramo 5, núm. 173, fol. 8v.: "Perdiose [la naoa la Nueva España] la del ano de 638 por auer la encargadoa D Juan Francisco de Corcuera su sobrino, soldado de pocaexperiencia."


Hurtado de Corcuera later argued that Fajardowas determined to attack him even before thelatter arrived in the archipelago. The out-goinggovernor was detained for five years at Manila,and his residencia can be seen to have beenparticularly harsh, even in the long series ofsome of the most acrimonious of such trials inthe empire. The most grievous violationsinvolved crimes against the royal treasury, andHurtado de Corcuera's list was veryincriminating.75

Beyond the accusations of cheating theroyal treasury, other charges included: unjustlyimprisoning individuals;76 allegedly sellingoffices, one to a nephew, and providingpositions for another twenty-nine relatives andadherents;77 invoking the name and authority of75 ? Relacion de el ultimo estado que tiene en justicia,la Ressidencia de Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, 4June 1658, AGI, Filipinas 2, ramo 5, núm. 173. Anotherdocument, from the original residencia materials, gives themuch smaller figure of 52,210 pesos, 7 tomines, 10 granos.Guerra de Manila, Almojarifazgo, salarios…, Manila, July1645, AGI Contaduría 1225, doc. 77, fols. 609-609v. It islikely to be only a partial figure. Cunningham gives thestill smaller figure of 25,000 pesos. Cunningham, TheAudiencia, 138.76 ? Relacion de el ultimo estado que tiene en justicia,la Ressidencia de Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, 4June 1658, AGI, Filipinas 2, ramo 5, núm. 173, fol. 1v,Charge #1: "Sobre prissiones ynjustas de los que refiere."77 ? Relacion de el ultimo estado que tiene en justicia,la Ressidencia de Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, 4June 1658, AGI Filipinas 2, ramo 5, núm. 173, fols. 1v,2v, Charges #4 and #9: "Bendio los oficios de Justicia, mary Guerra…y Obligo a Vender su oficio a un Regidor, quedespues compro un sobrino de Don Sebastian…;" and "Acomodo


the audiencia when taking unilateral actions;78

constructing excessive fortifications andfailing to consult the treasury on thismatter;79 and lastly, forcing Indians, women,and children to work arduously and withoutpay.80 There was also a good deal of resentmentover Hurtado de Corcuera's close associationwith Chun Quian, a non-Christian, who procureditems such as jewels and textiles for him atbargain prices and was awarded the titleen diferentes puestos, ocupaciones, y oficios, 29personas, parientes, criados, y allegados suyas."78 ? This perhaps best summed up his approach togovernance, although it should be said that at the time ofhis arrival the audiencia consisted merely of himself andone oidor, Marcos Zapata. The Philippine governor wasunique, as he served both as governor and president of theaudiencia, even as the exercise of such authority seemedegregious to the complainants; Relacion de el ultimoestado que tiene en justicia, la Ressidencia de DonSebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, 4 June 1658, AGI, Filipinas2, fol. 2, Charge #6: "Executo sin embargo de Apelacion ala Real Audienciea en los cassos particulares que seRefieren."79 ? Relacion de el ultimo estado que tiene en justicia,la Ressidencia de Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, 4June 1658, AGI, Filipinas 2, ramo 5, núm. 173, fol. 3,Charge #12: "Excessos en obras, y fortificaciones sinconsulta, y a costa de la Real hacienda…."80 ? Relacion de el ultimo estado que tiene en justicia,la Ressidencia de Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, 4June 1658, AGI, Filipinas 2, ramo 5, núm. 173, Charges #31and #50: "Malos tratamientos a Yndios, ymposiciones ycargas nueuas, hecholos trauajar en las fortificacionescon excesso, y quando se les pagayan algunos jornales,hera a menos precio, y en otras ocassiones trauahauan sindarlas paga, ni otra satisfacion." In this rendition, thecharges are conflated. Presumably charge #31 refers to thework and charge #50 to the pay.


"superintendent of works." Hurtado de Corcuera'sfavoritism in this case was purported to be asignificant cause of the 1639 uprising.81

The governor also procured many valuableitems for himself, taking a gold font from theroyal caxa and offering a pittance in return.82

On one occasion he removed monies in the amountof 104,609 pesos from the Casa deMisericordia.83 He traded with the Portugueseduring their war for independence, which theCrown had expressly forbidden. He even sent aship to Macau on his own account, with a creditof more than 30,000 pesos from the royaltreasury.84 His inattention to the Spanish

81 ? Relacion de el ultimo estado que tiene en justicia,la Ressidencia de Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, 4June 1658, AGI, Filipinas 2, ramo 5, núm. 173, fol. 5v,Charge #21: "Que estubo estrecha Amistad, ycorrespondencia con Chun quian, Sangley, infiel; al qualynterponia para muchos negociaciones, superyntendencia delas obras y juegos."82 ? Relacion de el ultimo estado que tiene en justicia,la Ressidencia de Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, 4June 1658, AGI, Filipinas 2, ramo 5, núm. 173, fol. 9,Charge #38: "Saco de la caxa Real una fuente y jarro deoro de su Magd…."83 ? Relacion de el ultimo estado que tiene en justicia,la Ressidencia de Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, 4June 1658, AGI, Filipinas 2, ramo 5, núm. 173, fol. 10v,Charge #46: "Saco de la caxa de la Misericordia 104,609pessos y los presto a la Caxa Rl…."84 ? Relacion de el ultimo estado que tiene en justicia,la Ressidencia de Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, 4June 1658, AGI, Filipinas 2, ramo 5, núm. 173, fol. 7,Charge #20: "Que teniendo nueuas del Alzamiento dePortugal por ceduas que hauia Reciuido de su Magd yhallandose en Manila algunos Portuguese de Macan con mas


outpost at Formosa was alleged to be the causeof its loss to the Dutch.85 The list highlightsinstance after instance of graft and abuse ofpower—notable in scope and scale. The variety ofcharges bears out the observation that aPhilippine governor was held responsible foreverything that occurred in the colony.

Convicted of 45 of the 59 charges, Hurtadode Corcuera was fined as much as 800,000 pesosand forced to spend five years imprisoned inManila by order of Governor Fajardo. In 1646, hewas permitted to travel to Mexico, where hebegan to fight the charges, initially byappearing before a series of judges. Finally, in1651, he appealed the matter to the Council ofthe Indies in Spain.86

Hurtado de Corcuera cited in his defense anumber of irregularities in the proceedings ofhis residencia and imprisonment, arguing thatGovernor Fajardo held personal malice towardhim. With regard to this last claim, he averredthat, first and foremost, Fajardo was hisstaunch or "capital enemy," and that the latterhad owed large sums of money for some time toYñigo de Corcuera, a relative of Hurtado de

de 800,000 pesos de hacienda disimulo estos auisos, y losdejo salir...."85 ? Relacion de el ultimo estado que tiene en justicia,la Ressidencia de Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, 4June 1658, AGI, Filipinas 2, ramo 5, núm. 173, fol. 7v,Charge #29: "Que por hauer desmantelado y tenermalfortificados y guarnecidas algunas fuerzas de Yslahermosa se perdio conquistadola los olandeses…."86 ? Consejo de Indias al Rey, 5 May 1651, AGI, Filipinas2, ramo 4, núm. 127.


Corcuera. He also related that Fajardo hadexpressed his enmity openly, including makingverbal comments during the course of his voyageto Manila in 1640, and had proceeded todemonstrate his hostility by consorting withHurtado de Corcuera's enemies. Hurtado deCorcuera also claimed that his imprisonment hadbeen conducted indecently and that the facilityhad been staffed with his known enemies.87

According to Hurtado de Corcuera's pleito tothe king, the death of his attorney interruptedthe Manila appeal proceedings, presumably in1644 or 1645, and the governor claimed that hiscase consequently suffered from lack of council,agency, and money. Fajardo proceeded to appointan oidor of the audiencia to defend the formergovernor, but this gentleman did so only withreluctance, expressing his distaste for theresponsibility. Moreover, the oidor was assistedby an individual that Hurtado de Corcueraclaimed lacked experience. Thus, Hurtado deCorcuera argued that the residencia had beenconducted unfairly and resulted in convictionswith exorbitant fines and sentences.88 The king,87 ? Consejo de Indias al Rey, 16 January 1648, AGI,Filipinas 2, ramo 3, núm. 86.88 ? Whatever the nature of the proceedings, it doesappear that the fines were exorbitant. By way ofcomparison, Governor Simon de Anda y Salazar was fined atleast 4,000 pesos in 1776, Jose Basco y Vargas was,according to Cunningham, "heavily fined" in 1787, andFelix Beringuer de Marquina was fined 56,000 pesos in1793. Cunningham, The Audiencia, 138-41. For Corcuera'samount, see Relacion de el ultimo estado que tiene enjusticia, la Ressidencia de Don Sebastian Hurtado deCorcuera, 4 June 1658, AGI, Filipinas 2, ramo 5, núm. 173.


however, decided that, despite theirregularities, Corcuera's defense had beenadequate.89

The Council of the Indies did notpronounce on Hurtado de Corcuera's appeal until1656. The council granted that Fajardo had beenhostile and that he had had dealings with knownenemies of Hurtado Corcuera. Moreover, thecouncil agreed that Corcuera's imprisonment hadbeen conducted "with indecency."90 The Councilof the Indies overturned his conviction andnullified the entire residencia. To Hurtado deCorcuera's detractors, it added to the sinisternature of his culpability. Nevertheless, theking rewarded him with the governorship of theCanary Islands, where he ended his days. Theformer governor of the Philippines had beenvindicated, but only at the cost of immensetribulations. Evidently, he avoided paying anyfines and was indeed able to spirit a good dealof wealth out of the Philippines. When theDominican missionary, Domingo de Navarrete,traveled through Mexico in the 1650s, he notedthe presence of several large trunks containingmerchandise belonging to the former governor.91

89 ? Consejo de Indias al Rey, 16 January 1648, AGI,Filipinas 2, ramo 3, núm. 86.90 ? Relacion de el ultimo estado que tiene en justicia,la Ressidencia de Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, 4June 1658, AGI, Filipinas 2, ramo 5, núm. 173, fol. 13:"Sumario de los Nulidades."91 ? John Stanley Cummins, ed., The Travels and Controversies ofFriar Domingo de Navarrete, 1618-1686 (Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, 1962), xxi.


During the latter part of the colonialera, corruption in the Philippines was almost agiven; every government and Church official wasthought to be more or less dishonest. Hurtado deCorcuera's reputation was one of degree ratherthan kind. Comments from as early as the 1580sdenounced Philippine officials. Xavier Huetz deLemps speaks of the climat délétère, a referenceboth to the humidity and the ubiquitous chaseafter wealth. Huetz de Lemps quotes a letterfrom 1893 to the effect that there is somethingunknown in the atmosphere of the Philippinesthat "transforms so often into knaves, thosewho, in Spain, pass for irreproachable."92 Inaddition, the court system was corrupt,according to Padre Ramón Alguesar, the parishpriest of Cabutuan, who compared "…the court ofthe province of Iloilo to a band of thieves or ahouse of prostitution."93 Steeped in the newsciences and pseudo-sciences of the nineteenthcentury, commentators looked for clues tobehavior in climate and race, findingshortcomings in both areas in the Philippines.94

92 ? "Je ne sais pas ce qu'il peut bien y avoir dansl'atmosphere des Philippines qui transforme si souvent enfripons ceux qui, en Espagne, passaient pour etreirreprochables." "Letter of Gobernador Civil de PangasinanMiguel Socias to the Ministre d'Outre Mer Antonio Maura,12 July 1893," quoted in Huetz de Lemps, L'Archipel, 255.93 ? Huetz de Lemps, L'Archipel, 70.94 ? Linda Newson, Conquest and Pestilence in the Early SpanishPhilippines (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2009),14-17, 255. Newson describes the climatalogical diseaseenvironment. For the Spanish proto-scientific discussionof the American climate and its deleterious effects oninhabitants, see Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra, Nature, Empire and


Further, it had been observed that almost noSpaniard ever went to the Philippinesvoluntarily—or went only with the thought ofstriking it rich and returning home quickly.While many sought to profit and leave, anelement of devotion to the colony existed amongofficials and clergy, if not merchants.

The story of the residencia of Don SebastiánHurtado de Corcuera shows the personalinitiative available to imperial officials farfrom Madrid, and possibly highlights a cultureof corruption in the Philippines, including theprocess of the residencia. In addition, residenciaproceedings demonstrate the harsh recriminationsfaced by many governors for their allegedmisdeeds, and the potential or occasionaleffectiveness in attempting to control excessiveconduct. As historian of the colonial audiencias,Charles Henry Cunningham includes Hurtado deCorcuera's in his list of the five harshestPhilippine residencias.95 A note of hostility marksNation: Explorations of the History of Science in the Iberian World(Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006), 75-78. For adescription of the nineteenth century association of thecolonial experience with intrinsic disease and decadence,see Alan Bewell, Romanticism and Colonial Disease (Baltimore:Johns Hopkins, 2003), 27-65 and 277-95. One of the mostprominent champions of climactic race theory was LouisAgassiz. See Edward Lurie, "Louis Agassiz and the Races ofMan," Isis 45:3 (1954):227-42.95 ? Cunningham, The Audiencia, 138-44. Cunningham selectsas the "most severe" residencias those of Gerónimo de Silva(1625), Hurtado de Corcuera (1644), Anda y Salazar (1776),Basco y Vargas (1787), and Beringuer de Marquina (1792).The regulations changed after 1799, stating that theresidencia was to be conducted by an oidor appointed by theking for this particular purpose. Thus, outgoing governors


many of the charges as well as the recordeddepositions. The litany of charges brings fortha picture of a rapacious, headstrong, andacquisitive individual, one who no doubt hadmade a considerable number of enemies during histenure as governor.96

Hurtado de Corcuera, the "LastConquistador," was not alone in this regard buthas received the reputation of a notablescoundrel. The matters raised in the trial alsohighlight many of the divisive issues of thecolony during a span of particularly volatileyears. Also significant, the residencia waseventually overturned in its entirety,suggesting either its undue harshness or thatPhilippine governors could "get away withmurder."97 In the case of Sebastián Hurtado deCorcuera, the juicio de residencia materials provideevidence of both rancor and license. Unusual inits excess, his case provides a cogent example

were not so likely to suffer from the hostility of theirenemies after their departure from office. Cédula of 24August 1799, 131, n. 30. [Need complete citation.]96 ? Personal venality was alleged as well, as he didthings like keeping a slave boy captured during hissojourn to Mindanao and Jolo, despite express royal ordersforbidding just such a thing. Seijas, "Native Vassals,153-64.97 ? Murder was, in fact, alleged in two of the chargesin Hurtado de Corcuera's residencia (charges 10 and 15). Theuse of the term is curious and inflammatory, as he wasactually accused of ordering the hasty trial, conviction,and execution of the soldier who had sought sanctuary inthe Cathedral church after having stabbed his formerconcubine to death, and of not pursuing several of his ownfavorites who were accused of murder.


of the potential for imperious behavior at thatdistant post.

Cashiering the Last Conquistador: The Juicio de Residencia of Don Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera,...

Documents

Transcript of Cashiering the Last Conquistador: The Juicio de Residencia of Don Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera,...