Chapter V: Part 5

4. Another friar in the same province refused to absolve Auditor Don Diego de Viga, unless he would first express I know not what protestations and detestations. The auditor replied that, for what concerned the banishment of the archbishop, his conscience had not given him any uneasiness, because he had understood that he acted in regard to it in accordance with the laws and decrees of our king a sovereign so Catholic as is that of España; and that in affairs in which he had felt scruples, and had proceeded according to human judgment, there was nothing for which to employ the friar's zeal, and still less occasion for his trying to have him make those detestations and protestations. Nevertheless, the friar persisted [se estuvó en sus trece] in refusing to absolve him; and Don Diego, embracing the holy Christ and uttering fervent acts of contrition, said that he appealed to the mercy of God, and thus he died. He was buried in consecrated ground, although afterward, it is reported, the archbishop sent orders that his bones should be disinterred, and removed from consecrated ground.

5. Doña Josefa de la Cerda, the wife of Auditor Bolivar, died [44] in her exile, from anxiety and grief and despair. She asked for a confessor from the Society, which was not granted to her. The Dominican friar who served as parish priest in the village where she was an exile refused to absolve her unless she would comply with certain conditions, with which those fathers are wont to fetter and hinder souls. She was not minded to comply with these, or to make her confession to a religious of that order; and while a Franciscan who had been granted to her was on his way, she died. They spread the report that she had died impenitent, and buried her on the seashore.

6. The archbishop, since he came back from his exile, has not ceased to wage war on this city. He demanded aid for arresting the religious of the seraphic father St. Francis, who preached in favor of the royal patronage; item, for arresting those who were ministering in Mariquina, the fathers of the Society; item, for seizing Father Cano; and all these acts proceed from the fury and partiality of Father Verart.

7. The bishop of Sinopolis died, and orders were given that he be buried in [the church of] the Society of Jesus. This the archbishop and his friars took so ill that the latter refused to go to his funeral and burial, to the surprise and scandal of the whole city; and the archbishop prevented the cabildo from paying the last honors to the bishop in the church of the said order, declaring that it was polluted by [containing] the remains of Señor Grimaldos, who in the opinion of the said fathers died excommunicate.

8. The archbishop forcibly took from the fathers of the Society the administration of the village of Cainta and Jesus de la Peña, and gave it to the Augustinian fathers--thus revenging himself on those of the Society, whom he regarded as enemies; and for this cause he commanded them to tear down their buildings at Jesus de la Peña, to the foundations--the governor aiding him in this atrocious act, contrary to the laws and privileges of the royal patronage.

Appendix

1. The goods which the governor shipped as contraband, of which the accountant made a written statement, are two hundred and thirty-five packages.

2. The vessels which Endaya has built, with the authority that he possesses, are two pataches and a champan.

3. The amount which the governor received from the Marques de la Laguna, at Santa Rosa, was one hundred thousand pesos.

4. What the governor did with Blas Rodriguez [45] on account of the quantity of gold taels which he gave him.

5. Of the Dominican friar who went to look at the bulls of Don Fernando, that he might enter as a Franciscan.

6. How not even this gentleman has escaped from the anger of the archbishop and Verart.

7. Of the inundation in Cagayan; of the locusts, famine, earthquakes, and drouths; of disturbances, etc. [46]

8. Of the rosary entirely made of silver coins, [47] one hundred and fifty thousand in number, which, it is said, the blessed Dominican fathers gave to the governor.

9. Of the imprisonment of Roberto; and why and how the provisor went, with great clatter of weapons and constables, to arrest a brother of the Society.

10. How Father Pedroche, who had been banished from these islands, escaped from Acapulco, and came back dressed as a Recollect.

11. Of the Dominican friar who killed another in Cagayan. [48]

THE PARDO CONTROVERSY

Brief relation of events in the city of Manila, in the Filipinas Islands

The fiscal of the royal Audiencia of these islands, Licentiate Don Diego Viga, received two letters and an official report, with many depositions of witnesses, which were sent to him by the alcalde-mayor of the province of Ilocos. [49] These letters and documents were to the effect that by the continued residence of Bachelor Sebastian Arqueros de Robles, ecclesiastical head of the bishopric of Nueva Segovia, in the village of Vigan (which is the capital of the said province of Ilocos)--under the pretext of ministering ad interim to the natives of the village of Bangues, [50] which had for many years remained vacant--the natives were becoming uneasy and disturbed. This was hindering in the exercise of their duties not only the officers of justice, but also Licentiate Diego de Espinosa Marañón, the proprietary beneficed cura of the said village of Vigan, with whom the said acting bishop had notorious disputes. [According to the aforesaid documents], all the trouble arose from the fact that the said ecclesiastical ruler maintained his brothers and relatives in the said village, who with his authority and presence there were causing notable injuries and annoyances; and a decree was asked from the royal Audiencia, providing that the said acting bishop should nominate in the usual form persons for presentation to the benefice of Bangues, and that he should change his residence to the capital of his diocese, [51] and should not live at the village of Vigan, except during the period which is allowed to the ecclesiastical visitors by the holy Council.

This royal decree was accordingly issued, and the said acting bishop replied that his residence in the village of Vigan was by the order and command of the archbishop, and that he had no way in which to fulfil the decree; and he presented the warrant and order which he held for the said residence, and some informal certificates by a few religious. This royal Audiencia, considering the disturbances and troubles which might result from issuing the second royal decree, ordered that it be temporarily suspended; and that meanwhile the president, governor, and captain-general should discuss and confer with the archbishop as to measures for securing peace, and those most expedient for a good example to the community.

This verbal reply [52] which the said archbishop gave to the said governor gave occasion for the issue of a royal decree that the said archbishop should command the ecclesiastical ruler of Nueva Segovia to go to reside at the capital of his bishopric; but the latter would not obey, excusing himself with various pretexts. The said archbishop and his attorney-general [promotor fiscal] repeatedly urged that he be furnished with certified copies of the acts in virtue of which the royal decrees had been issued; and in the last petition, presented by the said attorney-general, he inserted the following clause:

"In order that his Majesty may apply the needed corrective, and remove the violence and oppression experienced by the ecclesiastical jurisdiction; for, if one of its ministers attempts to administer justice to a subordinate, the culprit finds shelter in the royal Audiencia--not only to free himself from ecclesiastical justice, but also that they may begin legal proceedings against, and even exile, his superior and judge, who rightly desires and strives to punish him. And all the above was made evident by the aforesaid acts; and it has come to our knowledge through trustworthy persons that, in the petitions which were presented for the issuance of the said decrees, the respect due to the archbishop and to his high office was forgotten; and that, in the investigations which were made for this purpose, inquiries were directed into the hidden faults of ecclesiastical persons, and attempt had been made to punish them with the first of the said decrees, without punishing the chief authors [of those evil acts], who were laymen. Moreover, decrees had been issued only against the ecclesiastical judge on account of their own hidden faults, or those of other persons, intimidating him therewith in order that he should not administer justice in future; and a satisfactory account ought to be given to the said archbishop of the reasons which had influenced this royal Audiencia to issue the decrees. After [the publication of] the royal and canonical decrees, the archbishop had a right to command the clerk of the court to give him the said copy; but for the sake of the quiet and comfort of this community, he had commanded him first to request the acts from this royal Audiencia, making the proper and necessary requisitions therefor, and asking that the said secretary of the Audiencia be ordered and commanded to give him the said copy."

As it was evident that the motives which existed for the despatch of the first royal decree were still further justified by such writings, the second was issued, which the said archbishop obeyed no better; on the contrary he said, in the reply that he made to this second royal decree, that he entreated the royal Audiencia to give little hope for aid to the ecclesiastics. [53]

The royal Audiencia, influenced by the report made to it by the fiscal, and considering the disrespectful and indecorous character of the attorney-general's communication, and that it was entirely directed against the reputation and equitable procedure of the supreme tribunal and its ministers, issued a royal decree that the archbishop should punish his attorney-general, and should be warned how much he had derogated from his own dignity by having allowed such lack of respect. To this the archbishop replied that the attorney-general did not deserve punishment, because the petition had been presented by his own order and mandate.

At this time the ecclesiastical cabildo presented themselves in recourse to the royal Audiencia, with a paper signed by their dean, [54] the dignitaries, the canons, and the other prebends, imploring the royal aid against the archbishop on account of the acts of fuerza and violence which were suffered by the cabildo, its members, and all the clergy. [55] They declared that the worst of these were due to the fact that the said archbishop had at his side a religious of the Order of St. Dominic, named Fray Raymundo Verart; [56] that the archbishop had retained him, ever since he came from Spain, under the title of counselor [asesor] and director; that he had gained such influence that he directed all the actions of the said archbishop; and that his decisions were so extraordinary that he kept all minds in a state of notable disquiet--to such a degree that he even refused recourse from the acts of fuerza, endeavoring to render the jurisdiction of the archbishop absolute, and to exclude his Majesty (as represented in the Audiencia) from his highest prerogative, that of aid to his oppressed ecclesiastical vassals. They represented that the archbishop acted as an advocate in the very suits in which he was judge; that he lived outside the city, in a hospital of Sangleys [57] which is in charge of the religious of St. Dominic, from which resulted injury and delay in the despatch of business; that he could think of nothing but his friars, and behaved as one of them--for on the day of election of provincial he had rendered obedience to the father who was elected, and in the procession he walked in the fifth rank--regarding himself as first of all a friar, although he was archbishop-elect; and that he treated the cabildo and its members ill, showing aversion to them.

With this petition for relief the dean and cabildo presented a mass of records in proof of their argument, asking that decrees be issued: one for the archbishop, that he should remove from his side the said Fray Raymundo; [58] and another for the father provincial of St. Dominic, that he should send the said religious to the remote parts of the missions in charge of his order, agreeably to the purpose and vocation for which he had come to these islands at the cost of the royal exchequer.

In this matter both first and second decrees were issued for the said archbishop and the father provincial of St. Dominic, neither of whom was willing to render obedience, the archbishop returning some very uncivil answers. [59] Finally, the latter took exception to Doctor Don Diego Calderon, assigning as the cause of this proceeding his remarks about the ecclesiastical jurisdiction; he also challenged Don Diego Antonio de Viga [the fiscal] for the mode of expression which he had used in his writings. By this expedient the proceedings of the Audiencia were suspended, for lack of judges--for at that time it contained only the two gentlemen, Don Francisco de Montemayor and Don Diego Calderon--until Doctors Don Christoval de Grimaldo and Don Pedro Sebastian de Bolivar y Mena, the recently-arrived [auditors], [60] could examine the question of the said challenge. At the petition of Doctor Don Estevan Lorenzo de la Fuente y Alanis, who also had just arrived, they declared that there was no cause for it; and without doubt it would result thus, since the challenge was not sworn to, or presented, in accordance with the regulations of the royal laws. They likewise commanded that the said archbishop be requested and charged to maintain in all things friendly relations with the [royal] ministers, not only in writing to them but in speech. When he was notified of this royal decree, he gave a very sharp answer, and concluded by saying that his own behavior would be governed in accordance with the actions of the ministers, as he thus tells them in all his replies.

This royal Audiencia, considering his insolent replies and disobedience to the royal decrees, and the scandals thus caused, and that the whole arose from the influence of Father Raymundo Verart, determined, for the more thorough justification and proof of the whole matter; that an investigation should be made by the auditor Don Pedro de Bolivar, with regard to the injuries and other pernicious consequences which were being caused to the public welfare, and which gave occasion to the complaint of the ecclesiastical cabildo about the assistance rendered to the archbishop by the said father Fray Raymundo Verart--[all the more] as his illustrious Lordship had, before the said father came to these islands, conducted himself in entire harmony and most friendly intercourse with the royal Audiencia, the ecclesiastical cabildo, and the other courts. The affair being in this condition, the said father provincial, Fray Baltasar de Santa Cruz, was summoned before the royal [court in] session, where they related to him the pernicious consequences to the public welfare which were accruing from the said assistance [of Father Verart], and were steadily increasing on account of his acts of disobedience. The said provincial was admonished to the fulfilment and execution of what was charged upon him in the said two royal decrees, making him responsible for all the difficulties that might result; but he resisted them at every point, repeating his [former] replies. This bold attitude caused the Audiencia, on even more justifiable grounds, to despatch a third decree, which the said father provincial, Fray Baltasar de Santa Cruz, persisted in disobeying.

In the midst of these proceedings, another decree against the said archbishop was claimed and demanded by Bachelor Diego de Espinosa Marañón, saying that his Lordship had denied the just appeal that he had made from an act which entailed [on him] an irreparable hardship; and a royal decree was issued for him that the said archbishop must grant the said appeal; or, even if he were not obliged to grant it, his acts must be sent [to the Audiencia], in order to know whether he committed fuerza in denying the appeal. [61] The said archbishop did not obey this decree; before this, he had not, at the outset, consented to let a receptor of this royal Audiencia enter to make known to him one of its acts; and the matter was not followed up (although in this recourse they went so far as to despatch the second decree), for Bachelor Diego de Espinosa Marañón desisted from it, at the instance of certain persons.

To the above-mentioned changes and indispensable acts of assistance granted by this royal Audiencia, is added that which was secured by the illustrious bishop-elect of Nueva Segovia, Doctor Don Francisco Pizarro de Orellana, who came before the royal Audiencia, saying that the archbishop had, in the credentials which he had given to the bishop, reserved for his own cognizance the case of Bachelor Diego de Espinosa Marañón--although this was a trial in the first instance, and the said bachelor was under the bishop's parochial care and was cura of the benefice of Vigan, one of the parishes belonging to his bishopric. The said bishop requested a royal decree that the papers should be furnished to him by the said archbishop in the customary form, and that the said cases should be referred to him. In this affair they went so far as to issue the fourth royal decree; but the said archbishop did not obey one of them. [62]

The same resistance was encountered by four other royal decrees issued against the said archbishop, at the demand, and appeal from fuerza, interposed by Master Don Geronimo de Herrera y Figueroa, cantor of this holy cathedral church. He was a prisoner of the said archbishop in the college of Santo Tomás of this city, an indictment having been brought against him, charging him with being guilty of disrespect for the archiepiscopal dignity, and having at the session of the cabildo concurred in their demand for relief, [63] of which mention has been made--that the said archbishop should remove from his side Fray Raymundo Verart, and the rest that is stated above. The said Master Don Geronimo had alleged that the said archbishop was not competent to act as judge, of which exception he had notified the prelate; but the latter without settling this question--which, as pre-judicial, [64] ought to have been summarily decided--proceeded in the case. Even if he were a competent judge, he ought to proceed with the adjunct judges, [65] as ordained by the holy Council of Trent; but, [not] heeding these considerations, the said archbishop proceeded with fuerza and violence, which he wreaked on Don Geronimo's person. This case was decidedly within the cognizance of this royal Audiencia, and to its organization and civil jurisdiction belongs the removal of the fuerza with which the prelate had oppressed Don Geronimo. Upon this ground they issued the said four decrees, to attain their object, in order that the said archbishop should send them the acts, so that it might be ascertained whether or not he had committed fuerza, or else should send these with his notary; but he refused to obey the decrees.

The royal Audiencia, striving, in whatever pertained to its side, to avoid inflicting the chastisement which his actions demanded, in order to see whether their tolerance would constrain him to lay aside his arbitrary proceedings, had suspended, with the clause "for the present," the execution of the penalties of banishment which he was declared to have incurred. [66] This suspension had been attributed to negligence of the Audiencia--at which all the people were quite disconsolate; afterward it was known that the court had not acted without very deliberate resolution, which had been influenced no little by the zealous efforts of the governor; when all were hoping for a change in the sentiments of the archbishop, the courage of the auditors was still further strengthened. For the Order of the Society [of Jesus] presented an executory decree, issued by the royal and supreme Council of Indias, in regard to the precedence of the college of San Joseph over that of Santo Tomas, which is in charge of the Dominican religious--in which matter the Society has encountered much opposition from that order; they have even gone so far as to break out in threats, which the Society has seen carried out. But immediately the ecclesiastical attorney-general, with license from the archbishop (who had made legal complaint), demanded in the royal Audiencia aid and the proper documents against the decree, [67] in order that the commander of the capitana "Santa Rosa"--which had just put back through stress of weather, and had not yet reached the port--might be furnished with a warrant for the seizure of the bales [of merchandise] which, he said, were coming in the said ship on the account of the Society of Jesus. At the same time the reverend Father Francisco Salgado, provincial of the said order of the Society, came before the said royal Audiencia with a plea of appeal, on account of which the said archbishop instituted suit against that father's order, opposing the numerous privileges and bulls of exemption which aid it. While these actions were pending, and before anything had been decided in them, the said father provincial made representations that, notwithstanding the said questions were still (as I have said) unsettled, he was informed that a notary of the said archbishop had gone to the said ship on various matters of business, thus showing lack of respect to this royal Audiencia. He urged that documents should be issued, in order that no further proceedings be taken in this matter, and that the commander of the ship should not permit [the seizure of goods] until the points at issue were settled. But, although these decrees were issued, they produced no result; for, as is evident from competent testimony, the agents of the archbishop went to the said ship, on the day following that on which the attorney-general had demanded aid, and, without presenting any warrant to the commander, had undertaken and proceeded to make seizures and deposits of bales. [68] This affair was not finally decided, because it was known outside of court that the archbishop had relinquished his claims therein. [69]

In this royal Audiencia a suit was pending for a long time between Captain Don Pedro de Sarmiento y Leoz, as husband of Doña Michaela de Lisarralde [70]--daughter of Don Juan de Lisarralde, and great-granddaughter of Doña Maria de Roa, deceased, who had been executrix for the said Don Juan de Lisarralde, and guardian of the said Doña Michaela--against Father Geronimo de Ortega of the Society of Jesus (who had been executor [71] for Bachelor Nicolás Cordero, and is executor for the said Doña Maria de Roa), over the guardianship and inheritance which belonged to the said Doña Michaela, and the account which had been demanded for all the above affairs. The said father, in conformity with the acts which had been made known to him in this regard, presented the accounts in the royal Audiencia, after the appointment, acceptance, and oath-taking of auditors therefor. This suit, as stated, lasted a long time, [72] and in it came up revised acts of the said royal Audiencia ordering that all who were interested in the said executorships should prefer their claims in the said royal Audiencia. The affair being in this condition, the said captain Don Pedro Sarmiento--urged on by Licentiate Nicolàs de la Vega Caraballo, [73] an ally of the archbishop--demanded before the said archbishop that the said Father Ortega should be commanded, under penalty of censure, to furnish him the said accounts. This command was laid upon him by repeated acts; nevertheless, the said father refused [the ecclesiastical] jurisdiction, since he had [the case] in a competent tribunal, pending judgment, and the said accounts had been presented--in proof of which he presented sworn statements to the said archbishop. Nevertheless, the latter persisted in ordering the said father to give him the said accounts--even going so far as to denounce him as excommunicated. The ground for this action was, that in the ecclesiastical court demand had been made by the said Don Pedro for the surrender of the bequest [74] to the said Archdeacon Cordero. Father Ortega made appeal in the proper quarter from this censure, but the archbishop refused to allow the said appeal; from this arose the recourse to royal aid from the act of fuerza in having denied to the father the said appeal and attempted to compel him to what he had no right to do--the surrender of the said accounts, which had already been presented in the said royal Audiencia. [75] On that account, and because of the very nature of the case, it was wholly within the cognizance of the royal Audiencia, and concerned laymen. For this reason, the usual royal decree was issued, in order that the notary should come to make report. This being made known to the archbishop, he made a very prolix reply, taking the ground, in very disrespectful language, that the appeal was not legitimate, and that he was not obliged to send the documents; but saying that, upon the necessary declarations, and with the stipulation that the acts should not pass into the possession of any official of the Audiencia, but must remain in the hands of his own notary, he would give orders that the latter should go to make the report, whenever the Audiencia should command it, but he must refuse to absolve the said father. The Audiencia, in order to avoid new occasions for controversy with this prelate, overlooked his imposing upon it a condition, and one which was so unusual. Domingo Diaz [76] having made the report, and noted in the course of it two false assertions--which he discovered while inspecting the acts, having read them through--the said notary went away, carrying them with him, without waiting for the opinion and decision of the said royal Audiencia on them to be affirmed. That tribunal declared the said suit, [77] and the cognizance of it, as it concerned laymen, to be altogether secular--as were also questions of guardianship, inheritance, the charge of property, dowries, and other matters of that nature; and that, by virtue of this, all [episcopal] acts regarding these questions be suspended in this royal Audiencia. As for the pious legacies contained in the said testaments, the archbishop was declared to have committed fuerza in not granting to Father Ortega the appeal which he had interposed before the delegate of his Holiness; and the Audiencia resolved that, in consequence of all the above facts, the prelate should absolve the said father, and immediately remove his name from the list of excommunicated persons, and that a royal decree [to this effect] be issued in his behalf. When this was made known to the archbishop, he gave an extremely insolent and uncivil reply, opposing the authority of this royal Audiencia, the royal jurisdiction, the governor, and the auditors. He refused to send the acts [to the Audiencia], or to absolve the said father, and declared in plain terms that he would persist in this opposition, and that the Audiencia might therefore inflict whatever violence they chose on him and his dignity.

Another instance: Sargento-mayor Don Juan Gallardo--who was chief magistrate, castellan, and commander of the seamen and sailors, in the port of Cavite (the most important port in these islands, and its command one of the highest military posts)--had a prisoner, an artillerist named Lorenço Magno. [78] The said archbishop sent him a letter of requisition, demanding that Don Juan hand over to him the said prisoner and the suit that had been brought against him; or that he should declare under oath whether or not that suit was in his hands. In this letter of requisition the archbishop did not state the cause for which his illustrious Lordship said he had accused the aforesaid [prisoner, which was] bigamy. The said castellan, moreover, noticed in it certain imperative expressions and the archbishop addressed him as vos [i.e., "you"], [79] in the manner which is customary in the royal decrees. The said castellan sent the prisoner to the archbishop, who issued another letter of requisition, in the same form as the preceding, at the petition of Francisca Ignacia, wife of the said Lorenço Magno--against whom, it was declared, he was carrying on a suit for divorce--demanding that immediately, without any delay, under penalty of excommunication and a fine of five hundred pesos, the said castellan should within three hours deliver to the notary a certified statement of the suit which he had instituted against the said Lorenço Magno. The castellan came before the royal Audiencia with his deposition regarding these two letters of requisition, demanding that the said archbishop be requested and charged to observe, in the communications that he might send to the judicial officers of his Majesty, the forms ordained by law, treating the magistrates with the courtesy due to their position. These acts having been considered in the Audiencia, a royal decree was despatched requiring that the said archbishop must, in the requisitions which he might send to the royal magistrates, treat them with due politeness, conforming to the forms of law and usage--not using imperative terms, or the word vos. When the archbishop was notified of this royal decree, he gave an answer full of uncivil, improper, and disrespectful expressions against the royal jurisdiction, the governor, and the auditors. The latter had issued an act that Doctor Don Joseph Zervantes and Master Nicolas de la Vega Caravallo should not meddle with the profession of advocate, into which they had thrust themselves--from which resulted consequences pernicious to the public welfare, since they had not taken the courses of study in the school of law. When notified of the act, they replied that the archbishop had already ordered them not to plead in secular tribunals, and the said Caravallo added that he was the only one who could issue such commands. On the following day the archbishop issued an act in opposition to that of the Audiencia, commanding that no petitions should be accepted in his court that were not signed by the said Doctor Zervantes and Master Caravallo. The fiscal, when all the replies had been shown to him, demanded that, without giving opportunity for any further acts of disobedience or disrespect, they should execute upon the person of the reverend archbishop the penalties which he had been declared to have incurred--banishment, and the loss of his secular revenue [temporalidades]; and that, for this purpose, the clause "for the present," contained in the act of October 1 in the past year of 82, be revoked and erased, and the act put into execution on May 1 of the said year [i.e., 1683]. These acts having been considered by the royal Audiencia with the attention and mature deliberation which so grave a matter demanded, it was decided that sentence of banishment should be executed on the archbishop, and that he should be sent to the village of Lingayen, in the province of Pangasinan, a village of Christian Indians in charge of the Dominican religious. This charge was committed to Doctor Don Christòval Grimaldo de Herrera and Sargento-mayor Juan de Veristain, alcalde-in-ordinary, who fulfilled it with the utmost discretion, quietness, and moderation; [80] and the archbishop was embarked in a barcoluengo, in which the forethought of the governor had provided all his kitchen equipment, with everything else that was necessary for his support and the needs of the voyage. [81]

The royal Audiencia had proceeded very cautiously, for, foreseeing the tumults or disturbances that are wont to arise on such occasions, and endeavoring to avoid whatever could serve as an incentive thereto, they recognized that the ringing of the bells in making any demonstrations might act as such incentive; and they asked the governor to command that guards be posted in the bell-tower of the church, and in the house of Master Juan Gonçalez de Guzman, the provisor, so that the latter could not order any demonstration to be made while the sentence of banishment was being executed. On the same day when this was done, the royal Audiencia sent a decree to the cabildo, ordering that they should conduct themselves in all respects amicably with the royal Audiencia and the other royal officials, not allowing any acts of violence to be inflicted on the vassals of his Majesty, or hindering them from appealing to the Audiencia in cases of fuerza. The cabildo were also warned not to accept any documents of appointment from the ruler of the archbishopric, or allow him to exercise jurisdiction, until the person appointed should present himself before the royal court, where he must take the customary oath. To this decree the cabildo rendered obedience; and, the very illustrious master Don Fray Ximenez Barrientos, bishop of Troya and assistant bishop of these islands, having presented himself before the cabildo with the appointment of ruler [of the archdiocese]--which the archbishop had conferred upon him on the twenty-seventh of March, when the said archbishop was already declared an exile--he was referred by the cabildo to the Audiencia. Being present there, his appointment was, in consequence of the demand made by the fiscal that license should not be granted to him, suspended in that court, for weighty reasons there presented, and it was referred to the Council, in order that his Majesty might decide according to his pleasure; and [it was declared that] in the interim the cabildo should govern the archdiocese. [82] And here it occurs to me to remark, parenthetically, that, although the secrets and the justifiable motives of the Audiencia are inscrutable, we may regard it as probable that their principal reason for this action was their knowledge of the fact that this bishop, a few days after arriving in this city, had preached in the convent of Santo Domingo, on the day of the naval battle, [83] and the entire tendency of his sermon was to disparage the royal jurisdiction and rebuke those who would appeal to it. He said that this entire city was a university of vices, although of that he could have had no experience; and it was he who had exerted most influence on the actions of the archbishop, over and over again strengthening him in acts of disobedience [to the secular government]. The cabildo, since the Audiencia had not accepted the said bishop as ecclesiastical ruler, declared that the see was vacant by interpretation [of that act]; and the bishop of Troya replied that they could not have sent him better news, as he did not desire to take charge of other men's flocks. Thereupon he immediately went back to the convent of San Juan del Monte, outside the walls of this city; [84] and on the following day a Dominican religious set out to stir up the other religious orders (except the Society), that after sunset prayers they should ring the bells for an interdict. This was done by [the convent of] Santo Domingo. [85] [He also told them] that Master Juan Gonzalez de Guzmàn, provisor of the said archbishop, would post as excommunicated the dean, Master Don Miguel Ortiz de Cobarrubias, whom the cabildo had appointed ecclesiastical ruler. At this, the dean asked the governor for the aid of some infantry, to go to the convent of Santo Domingo, to which the said master had retreated, to remove him thence. This was granted; but, on going to the said convent, they encountered much opposition to their entrance, on the part of the religious. The dean was so insolently treated by them that he was obliged, in order to prevent greater troubles, to return and inform the governor and the royal Audiencia, then in session. That court issued a royal decree to notify the superiors of the religious orders that in publishing an interdict [86] they must follow the metropolitan church [matriz]; and thus was prevented a great scandal, disturbance, and popular commotion in this city--in which, since the said sentence of banishment was carried out, the utmost peace has been experienced, nor has there occurred the slightest disturbance.

I must not omit, since it is a part of this account, the following information: On Epiphany [dia de Reyes; in 1682] while the royal Audiencia were present in the holy cathedral church, a sermon was preached there by father Fray Francisco de Villalva, a Dominican religious, whose language was insolent in the highest degree. He spoke openly and expressly against the governor, the auditors, and the ecclesiastical cabildo (which he pointed out as the source of disturbances in the community), saying to the archbishop: "Let not your illustrious Lordship concern himself with the secular revenues; look to God [for maintenance]." He tried to disparage the royal jurisdiction, and rebuked appeals to the Audiencia--saying so much that he gave cause for that tribunal to send by its chaplain a message to the archbishop, asking him to order the preacher to cease. His illustrious Lordship replied that the preacher was doing his duty, and the latter, in the face of these demonstrations, went on with the sermon even to the end. Afterward, by order of the court, the auditor Don Pedro de Bolivar put the said father on a ship, to be taken to the province of Cadbalogan--in which he must remain until the opportunity should arrive, by the departure of a ship [from Manila], for him to embark for Madrid, whither the acts were to be sent. This was carried out, and, although the ship was driven back to port, he is now going on board the capitana. [87] May God conduct these affairs for our good, and preserve your Grace [88] for many years. Manila, June 15, 1683.

Juan Sanchez

A curious relation of events in the city of Manila since the arrival of the ships in the year 1684.

On the ninth of July the bells were rung for the [arrival of the] ship "Santa Rosa," with certain news that it was opposite Baco, and had brought the new governor, Admiral Don Gabriel de Curucelaegui y Arriola--who, on account of the fury of the storms, would not be able to make his entrance into this city until August 24. [On that occasion] he was received with loud applause, triumphal arches, and laudatory speeches. On that day occurred some memorable events. At five o'clock in the morning there was a severe earthquake, although it caused but little damage to the city. In the afternoon, while his Lordship, before entering through the Puerta Real, was taking the customary oath in order that the keys might be delivered to him, the horse of his Majesty's fiscal became unruly, and attacked those who were near him with kicks and bites. He who came out worst from this was the secretary whom his Lordship brought over; he was injured in one leg by some kicks, from the effects of which he suffered for several days. [89] When the governor had entered the city, and when he was about two pike-lengths from the gate, the balcony above it, which was full of people, fell; some were killed, others crippled or maimed, and others bruised. Among them were friars and lay-brothers, negroes and whites. With these events, the common people began to indulge in much gossip.

When Don Gabriel had taken possession of his government, his first act was to retire Captain Mateo Lopez Perea, and to make Captain Miguel Sanchez government secretary, quite contrary to their wishes. The second was to appoint as chief chaplain of the royal chapel the canon Master Don Pablo de Aduna, as a reward for having always withdrawn himself from the cabildo, without choosing to acknowledge it as ecclesiastical ruler. The third (and the source of many others) was to bring back our troubles, so that the whole pancake [tortilla] was turned bottom upwards--even going so far as to revoke the sentence of banishment on the archbishop, and bring him to Manila. This, as those say who understand the matter, is the most extraordinary thing that has occurred anywhere in the Spanish domain; for he was exiled for disobeying sixteen royal decrees and I have given an account to his Majesty of these sixteen points of disobedience, or [rather] this disobedience of sixteen points. The preambles of these points, or their history, required much time and no little paper; but they will be summarized as briefly as possible.

After the exile of the archbishop, the actions, conversations, and sermons of the Dominican fathers were so wild and extravagant, against the members of the Audiencia, the ecclesiastical cabildo, and the Theatins [i.e., the Jesuits], that their mildest act was to call all of the latter Pharisees or heretics, and utter other jests of that sort, even from the pulpit. Consequently the royal Audiencia felt obliged to advise its president, then Don Juan de Vargas, that he should apply a corrective to these acts. This was a royal decree, requesting and charging the [Dominican] provincial to send to the port of Cavite the friars Bartolome Marron, [90] Raimundo Verart, and P. Pedroche, [91] and to make them ready, at the cost of the order, for [the journey to] España; and to send to Cagayan the two lecturers in theology, Fray Juan de Santo Domingo [92] and Fray Francisco de Vargas, [93] and not allow them to leave that province without a special order from the government. The provincial answered that those religious had not done any of the things that were alleged of them except by his order, and that therefore the blame, if there were any, was his and not theirs; and that all of them were ready to die for the faith. Again he was requested and charged as before, the provincial [94] also being summoned to go to España, to give account of his acts. These orders were resisted, whereupon the convent was surrounded with infantry. As the provincial and Fray Pedroche refused to go out afoot, the soldiers took them from the convent, carrying them with the utmost propriety and respect, by order of the provisor, who was summoned for this function. They went away, Father Pedroche hurling excommunications, from which escaped only the alcalde-in-ordinary Pimentel, who conveyed them to Cavite, because he had given them excellent bread and pastries. At this, not only the Dominican fathers and their friends took to flight, but Quintero [95] and his barangay--especially when they saw some embarked for España, and others for Cagayan. Then, the news of the change in government having come, was begun the fabrication of a scheme or plot, well covered up, as follows:

They fully persuaded the governor that this [96] one was a schismatic--as it were, another Inglaterra in the time of Henry VIII; and, to forward their schemes--as he had, before all the religious orders, recognized the cabildo as ecclesiastical ruler--they persuaded the father provincial of St. Augustine, Father José Duque, to render, and command all his friars to render, obedience to the bishop of Troya [97]--who had been nominated as head of the diocese by the archbishop, but whose appointment the royal Audiencia had suspended. The father provincial did so, in a circular letter sent to all the friars of his order, arousing the resentment that might be expected in the ecclesiastical cabildo, and much more in the royal Audiencia.

As soon as the news of the ship arrived, the Troyan wrote and made public a document with this title: "Advice to those who come as strangers to these islands, that they may not err in their judgment of things pertaining to the banishment of the archbishop." This paper had no solidity, and answer to it was made in another, in which the former was utterly demolished [98] with sharp arguments. The provincial made another reply, over his signature, of the same quality as the former document, but with not slight attacks on the authority and patronage of our king. On the same day when the governor entered the city [i.e., August 24] in the afternoon, on that morning came into Manila Fray Bartolome Marron (who went about secretly), and Fathers Juan de Santo Domingo and Juan de Vargas, who were the lecturers exiled to Cagayan; the latter went publicly through the city, scorning the royal authority by which they were exiled. Immediately began the intrigue--which, according to report, came already planned from Mejico.

The governor questioned the religious orders, requesting and charging them to answer the points that go with this letter, which were set forth by the bishop of Troya. The fathers of St. Francis in their paper declared themselves for the king our sovereign, and approved what had been done by the royal court. The Augustinian fathers said, "Viva Troya!" [99] with a document full of depositions--some made by so evil a brain as that of Fray Raimundo Verart (but signed by the father provincial Duque); some by two stray (that is, recently arrived) lecturers, one of whom confessed that he had never heard of the works of Solorzano; and the last who signed the paper was Fray Gaspar de San Agustin, the procurator-general, who on account of being learned in grammar, thought that, as versed in the art of Nebrija [100] (who was an auditor), it was the same to know how to conjugate past tenses as to comprehend futures. [101] The Recollect fathers followed their brethren, but with so few depositions that I judge the number did not reach the plural of the Greeks. [102] This paper was much commended, and it is something which I admired, knowing that it was the work of their provincial, Fray Ysidro; and when it was seen it was recognized as his by the style and manner of expression--the stamp of the pulpit, which is that [vocation] for which God has given him grace. The Theatins evaded a reply, recognizing the game (or rather flame) [juego, o fuego] that was being started; but they say that in their apology they explained this omission, and expressed their opinions with no little care--saying that they were ignorant of what had passed in the sessions of the royal court; and that, as it was to be inferred that the royal Audiencia had informed his Majesty of everything, they could not pass judgment on those acts.

These papers, or collections of papers, were going about, when the Troyan plunged in medias res and decided the question. One Sunday morning at five o'clock, he went with his notary Caraballo, and fiscals, and an escort of soldiers, and entered all the churches (except the cathedral), where he published himself as ecclesiastical ruler, and commanded that they should not recognize the cabildo as such. To this [he added] the penalty of major excommunication and of being considered schismatics, if they did not go to render obedience within three days; and he left posted in all the churches copies of his act. [103] This was an action so extraordinary that, if this were a town of the common people, a riot would have occurred. All the members of the ecclesiastical cabildo repaired to the governor, who received them with scant welcome, and without giving them the title of "Lordship," [Señoría] which is their due when they appear officially as the cabildo. He told the dean to tell his story; and when the latter replied that that cabildo was not going to tell stories, the governor again told him to go on with his story. They told him in few words what had occurred, and what had just been done; but when they again told him that the bishop of Troya had taken with him an escort of soldiers, he said that he had no knowledge of such a thing. In conclusion, they stated that by three royal decrees they had been charged with the government [of the see]; and that he should give them another decree, commanding them to surrender it to the bishop of Troya, or that he should approve the bishop's appointment, and immediately they would surrender the government to him; and with that they went away. Immediately the governor held a session (or rather sessions) of the Audiencia, which lasted three days; and at the end of that time "the mountain brought forth," [104] by a majority of votes. It resulted that, at ten o'clock at night, there was a peal of bells, as if for a ship from Castilla; and the members of the cabildo, escorted by many personages, went to render obedience to the Troyan. He informed them that he could not absolve them unless they would swear obedience to the archbishop, which they must also render to his provisor, Juan Gonzalez, on their knees, asking his pardon for the injuries that they had done him, and making amends for the losses that he had suffered. When they resisted, laymen came in among them and undertook to surround them (as they did); and after they fell on their knees they placed their hands on the missal, and, as good men who stood in fear of God, they were granted absolution, but ad reincidentiam, until the archbishop should decree what would be most expedient. On another day the Troyan was received in the cathedral, with military display, the long ringing of the bells, etc.

The governor, who had already decided to restore the archbishop to his see [105]--but without showing the least indication of rehabilitating the royal jurisdiction, and establishing obedience to what had been commanded--despatched General Don Tomas de Andaya and Sargento-mayor Don Gonzales Samaniego [106] for his illustrious Lordship; they were accompanied by the Dominican father Fray Baltasar de Santa Cruz.

His illustrious Lordship came here, and was received with military display, a salvo of artillery, etc. He entered the city clad in his pontifical robes, and went to the palace of the governor, who was awaiting him; [107] they remained a short time in conversation, the governor straitly charging him [to maintain] peace. Then he went to his own house, where he found the superiors of the religious orders, who also had gathered in the cathedral with many other religious to welcome him. He remained two days within Manila, and, without visiting the superiors, or returning their visit to him, he contented himself with calling on Generals Tejada, Andaya, and Quintero; and he crossed, near San Gabriel, to the house of Don Francisco de Atienza, who is sargento-mayor of the army.

Everyone promised himself an Octavian peace; but in ten or twelve days war made its appearance, and the more experienced were continually in dread. On the twenty-eighth of November, the eve of the feast of the table of the blessed sacrament, notification was sent to the cabildo, the superiors of the religious orders, and all the curas and missionaries within and without the walls, that no one should admit into any of their churches the auditors, Don Juan de Vargas Hurtado, and many other persons, both citizens and military officers, [108] as having incurred the penalties in the bull De la cena. At this the entire community felt as the pious reader can understand, recognizing that the royal authority had been trampled under foot and outraged--and the more so, that some persons who promptly came to him for absolution were required to swear upon the holy gospels that they would never aid in the banishment, exile, or imprisonment of an ecclesiastic, even though this be ordered by the king himself, in person. Thereupon, they frankly declared that they would not take such an oath, and returned to their homes, scandalized at such a reply. Those who most resented this stroke were the auditors, especially as, on the following day, when their platform was already placed in the cathedral, and all had resolved to go there, the archbishop sent them a message that they should suspend their attendance there for a time, until these affairs were adjusted. Thereupon, coram omni populo [i.e., "in the presence of all the people"] who had gathered to see what was going on, the platform was removed [from the cathedral]. The auditors keenly resented this; but since they are to blame in having done what they could not be forced to do, let them pay the penalty.