Part 2

The governor, joining to the matter of the hospital other reasons--unworthy that he should assign them because he did not act upon them--had enough power, with only one auditor who is in this royal Audiencia, to take away from the archbishop his temporalities, banish him from the kingdoms, and condemn him to a fine of two thousand ducados. The governor took charge of the execution of the banishment, one night, with a large body of infantry with matches lighted. The orders and their superiors came out to attend their prelate, who was clad in his pontifical robes. While he had the most holy sacrament in his hands, it happened that the chief constable of the court, one Bartolome Thenorio, tried to take it away from him, and used so much force that he wounded the finger of a discalced religious of St. Augustine (who was aiding the archbishop to hold the monstrance) against the foot of the monstrance, drawing blood from his hand. The archbishop fell to the ground, as did the lunette of the monstrance. When the governor (who was in the street in disguise) learned of it, he sent infantry to drive out forcibly all the religious, with orders to leave the archbishop all alone. They were not to allow him to take food or drink. Thus did they, dragging away the religious, upon whom the vilest men in the world laid hands, since now they could. Finally the archbishop, having been arrested, sent the most holy sacrament to the church next day; and, having decreed a suspension of religious functions, allowed himself to embark and was taken by twenty-five soldiers and an adjutant to an island called Mariveles, seven leguas from the city. The soldiers were ordered not to allow him to place on the vessel either bed, food, or drink. No one was to talk to him there, or give him anything to eat. This was moderated afterward. He was detained there twenty-seven days, and he returned after that with a party of soldiers who asked for him--as your Majesty will learn more minutely from the relations that will be sent of everything, and from that one which the governor will send. According to what we believe, his relation will not be the most authentic, but that which, he thinks, can accomplish for him most, for the discharge of so heavy a responsibility as God will have placed upon him, for the time when he shall go to give account to Him. Will your Majesty look carefully into this cause, as a father, patron, and defender of the Church, so that in the future others may not take this as a precedent, and a greater evil befall us--if it be that an evil greater than this has [ever] occurred. It may [again] occur, under the sole pretext that it is service to your Majesty, and that alone must be accomplished--which is the governor's sole excuse, and the pretext that they give for the evil deed. The Church remains very much dejected, the orders and inhabitants very disconsolate, and the Indians wretched; and every estate of the people of these islands is afflicted over the new administration of the governor--all through anxiety of acquiring for your Majesty; so that in a short time it will all be drained, and there will be no more to drain, and this Christian Church will be ruined. The governor seems to be striving for its ruin rather than its advancement. It is a matter that demands a speedy remedy, as your Majesty will learn by letters and relations from well-intentioned persons, which will be sent secretly. For neither the Audiencia, nor the city, nor anyone else dare send openly, because of their fear of the governor's harshness; and, from the Council, certain agents usually send the governors the original letters written from this place, in which account of government matters is given. Of this we inform your Majesty, although in brief and succinctly, because of our desire that God may send us protection and consolation through the wise decisions of your Majesty.

Because of the governor having removed the religious from the hospital, it became necessary for our vicar to retire to the convent of our father [St. Francis]; which is quite distant from here. On account of the difficulties caused by the excessive heat, and the severity of the rains during the rainy season, he cannot come at all hours to confess us and to administer the holy sacraments as we need, especially at night. What is worse is, that the governor is building a ward at the hospital, on the side that faces our convent--which he says is for convalescents. It is so high that because of its so close proximity to the convent, we think that one will be able to see the beds of the nuns in our infirmary and dormitory. That is a thing that ought to be carefully considered. But the governor has only thought about proceeding with his own purpose, leaving us surrounded on streets without any exits; for one that was near the wall--by which the parents and relatives of the nuns came, and which served for the use of the convent--has been taken by the governor for the building, thereby doing us much damage. For many structures are now being built about us, and that by the most prominent people in the city.

In another part, the passage-way inside the wall--which was a street for passengers, and of service to the convent--has been closed by the governor by placing against it, and across our very threshold, another building, which he is having erected as lodgings for the cavalry and as stables, so that the company that he has organized may keep their horses.

Accordingly, we humbly beseech your Majesty to be pleased to have the hospital returned to the religious of our order, as it has always been [in their charge], and that a cell be given therein to our vicar. By so doing, God our Lord will be greatly served, and the poor aided spiritually and corporally. After those religious left, the nuns were very disconsolate for lack of ministers to attend to them. The secular priest appointed for them thinks that he has fulfilled his duty by saying mass. We trust that your Majesty, through your Christian zeal, will furnish relief to so pious causes as these we mention, at the first opportunity. Will your Majesty order that the street be left free, from the place where we have our porter's lodge to the wall--without [permitting] any hospital building or windows--as an enclosure for the convent and for its guard; so that if there should be no place for the father-vicar to live, a low dwelling may be made for him, and for the men who serve in the convent--making a gate at the wall for [receiving] the food for the convent.

The poverty of our order and rule is well known to your Majesty. The lack of comfort in which we live is very great, as we are without sufficient funds to finish the house and church, and the citizens are so needy that they cannot help us with the alms that we need--[although] they do not a little in aiding us with what is necessary for our ordinary support. Some devout people have given us as alms some pay warrants and other debts owed to them by the royal treasury. These amount to about twelve thousand pesos, and we could finish the work with that sum. We entreat your Majesty to be pleased to have your royal decree promulgated, ordering the governor to pay us up to the said sum of twelve thousand pesos in the certified warrants which we have. That will constitute a very great blessing and be an alms which your Majesty will bestow upon this convent.

We also petition your Majesty to be pleased to show us favor by having us given alms of sackcloth, oil, an apothecary-shop in the royal hospital, wine for the masses, and wheat or flour for bread for the support of the nuns--as is done with the orders of the discalced religious; for we have no other protection or security besides that of your Majesty, which is everlasting. [_In the margin_: "Observe this matter, and give a copy of this section to Licentiate Leon, so that he may make a report of it, when the matter is considered." "It was given."]

We thank your Majesty for the favors that you have shown this convent and the nuns in it, in having so thoroughly taken in your charge the beatification and canonization of our holy mother Geronima de la Assumpcion, whereby we, her daughters, hope to behold such a day as that of her canonization. We keep her body, with all the veneration and line of succession that is possible to us; and every day God works new miracles by her. The nuns, in and out of the choir, in all their prayers, discipline, and fasting, make special mention of your Majesty, and of the queen our mistress. We beseech God our Lord to preserve your Majesty in health, peace, and quiet, with your kingdoms, for the protection of Christendom and of the Church, and for happy victories against the heretics and enemies of the Church. This convent will supplicate this from God constantly, as it has ever done, according to our obligation.

May God preserve the Catholic person of your Majesty, as we, these humble nuns, desire, with increase of greater kingdoms. May He prosper the succession to them, so that, by means of it, all heathen kingdoms may come to the true knowledge of the holy faith. Manila, June 30, 1636.

Ana de Christo, abbess. Sister Magdalena de Christo, vicar. Sister Maria de los Angeles

[_In the margin_: "Have the governor notified concerning the complaint of these nuns, and the injury that they say has been done them in his having shut their street; and in the view that their apartments have which opens toward the cells, stables, and lodgings, which are near their house; and of the other things that they mention--so that no injury or discomfort may be caused to them in any manner. Also say that, if the warrants which they say that they possess are certified they shall be paid in the value that shall belong to them and at the proper time. And since it is the usage to write to this convent, let it be done, advising them of what is ordered, and saying that care will always be taken of everything that pertains to them; and that we esteem their commendation of their Majesties to God, which they shall continue."]

[_Endorsed_: "Seen, and decreed within. June 16, 638."]

RELATION OF 1635-36

_Relation of events in the city of Manila from the year 1635 until the month of June, 1636_

On the twenty-third of June, 1635, the ships from Castilla arrived at the port of Capite, in which came Don Sevastian Hurtado de [C]orquera, knight of the Habit of Alcantara, as governor and captain-general for his Majesty. On the twenty-fourth of the said month and year, on St. John's day, about four o'clock in the afternoon, he entered Manila to take possession of the government--first taking the customary oath, on entering through the gate of the Bagungaiabar, [1] which is one of the chief gates of this city, accompanied by the city government and the cabildo, with the rest of the citizens who escorted him, until he reached the buildings of the palace, where he was received with much pomp, as arranged by the regimiento of this city. A few days after his arrival he reviewed all of the Spanish infantry in the camp (together with the rest that he brought in his company), where he made sweeping changes, leaving the four captains in the camp. He named as sargento-mayor of the regiment Don Pedro de Corquera, his nephew; and to the man who had held that office he gave the governorship of Ermosa Island. He likewise appointed, as captain and governor of his company, Alferez Don Juan Francisco de Corquera, his nephew. He immediately decided that the ships (which were ready to make the voyage) should not go to Castilla, saying that it was not expedient for them to go; and thus it came about, for no one dared to oppose him.

At this time occurred an event which, as it was the beginning of everything which has taken place, must be remembered. An artilleryman had a slave girl whom he had brought from Yndia, saying that he was going to marry her, as he had taken her while she was a maiden. But she became angry and left the house, going to that of Juan de Aller, a kinsman of Dona Maria de Franzia, wife of Don Pedro de Corquera, whom she asked to buy her. The sargento-mayor besought the captain-general to negotiate with the said artilleryman. He had the latter called, and asked him whether he wished to sell her. He answered that he did not keep her for sale, and the matter was left thus for several days. Then he was again asked to sell her, and answered resolutely that he did not wish to sell her, as he was keeping her in order to marry her. Thereupon it was ordered that he be placed in the stocks, and he was ill-treated. The man cried out that they were unjustly trying to take his slave from him; and order was given that he be taken into the house of Pedro Guerrero, and there punished as if he were mad. There he was so ill-treated that they would have driven him mad if he was not, until he saw fit to cease his obstinacy in regard to the slave woman--although he refused to receive the money which he was ordered to take from the said house, and immediately determined on a rash plan. On the eighth of August, which was Sunday, at three o'clock in the afternoon, the governor was going to the residence of the Society, to see the comedy which the fathers there were presenting; and with him was riding Dona Maria de Franzia, the wife of his nephew the sargento-mayor, in a coach, having the slave woman behind. When they arrived at the corner of the Augustinian church, the artilleryman came out to meet them; and, seizing the slave woman by the arm, struck her with a dagger so that she died straightway, and he retired again into the said convent of St. Augustine. The news was conveyed to the governor, who had already gone into the Society's house; and he sent an adjutant and a captain of his guard, together with the sargento-mayor, and some soldiers, with an order to surround the church and bring out the guilty man, and take him to the headquarters of the guard. This was done accordingly; but, as the religious had hidden him, the soldiers were unable to find him. The convent was left surrounded with soldiers, who remained there two days, so that if the artilleryman came out they could get him and bring him back; and likewise the soldiers were ordered not to allow any religious to enter or leave, or any food to be brought in to them, under penalty of death--on which account the religious found themselves in very hard straits. On the third day the guard was withdrawn, and on the fourteenth of the said month a decree was published promising [reward] to whoever should discover where the guilty man was--if he were a person of quality, an office as sergeant or standard-bearer, according to his position; or, if he were not such a person, three hundred pesos and permission to go to Espana. On the twenty-seventh of this month, a negro belonging to the said convent gave information that the guilty man was in a cell therein. The governor sent Adjutant Don Juan de Frias and Alferez Don Diego de Herrero with soldiers, giving them the order to take away the man, even though the religious tried to hinder him. This they did, and could not be resisted; and as a reward for taking him out, a post of sergeant was given to the adjutant, and a military command to the alferez.

Having taken him out, they brought him the next day to confession, and on the following day sentenced him to death. The most illustrious lord archbishop, Don Fray Fernando Guerrero, learning of this, made a formal demand for the prisoner on behalf of the church; but they were rebellious, and refused to surrender him. On the sixth of September of this said year the most illustrious archbishop sent a requisition to General Molina, who was the judge of this case, directing him to send back the prisoner, but to no effect; on the contrary, that very day the gallows was erected in front of the Augustinian convent, so that the execution would be in sight of the house. When the archbishop saw this contumacious act, he sent to notify the judge again, at seven o'clock at night, to send back the prisoner under penalty of major excommunication, _latae sententiae_. Seeing that he would not do so, at eleven o'clock at night the archbishop sent another requisition and notification to General Molina, and from there to the palace to notify the said governor--who ordered the churchmen who went to do this to be arrested, and taken to the guardhouse until morning. On this said day of the said month, four companies marched out with the prisoner. Fresh notifications were sent that, if he were not returned to the church within one hour, suspension of religious functions would be imposed, and heavy pecuniary penalties for the Holy Crusade. All this did not suffice to keep them from continuing the work; and, the time set having expired, the interdict was declared when the prisoner arrived at the corner of the plaza. The night before the bells had rung for the interdict, and the sound of the bells struck the Christians with fear. But none of this was sufficient, for at about twelve o'clock in the morning, they finished hanging him--so close to the sacred place that the ladder was placed on a level with the portico, in such manner that it could not help being in the sacred place. They took him away after hanging him, and threw the body at the door of the convent, which is at the gate of the church of St. Augustine. They rapped upon the door, and, as it was not opened, they left the body there; it remained without burial for two days, until the brothers of holy La Misericordia buried it in the cemetery of the cathedral church, so that the body would not be corrupted and become a disgusting object. The interdict lasted two or three days, and was raised on the day of St. Nicholas of Tolentino, at about ten o'clock in the morning. As Don Pedro de Monroy was provisor at the time, and the one who pronounced the excommunications, the governor decided to seize him and send him by ship to Machan, [_i.e.,_ Macao] or to Ermossa Island; but, becoming aware of this intention, he found a place of safety, to escape from this severe action. An order was given at all the gates that; if he should go out or enter them, he should be arrested. But a few days ago he was sent out of the gate which is called Santo Domingo, in the habit of a friar. When the guard who recognized him would have seized him, two Franciscan religious, who were with him, defended him and gave him an opportunity to enter the Dominican convent. When the governor learned this, irritated because his order of arrest had not proved effectual, he ordered the soldiers to be arrested who constituted the guard, and would have had them garrote the alferez Don Francisco de Rivera, who was in command at that gate, because they had not killed a friar and taken prisoner Don Pedro de Monroy. The said governor sent immediately to the convent of Santo Domingo to have them deliver the said provisor, and to say that, if they did not do so, he would go in person and take him away. To this father Fray Domingo Gonzalez, the provincial, and commissary of the Holy Office, answered that it was not the provisor who was there, but Don Pedro de Monroy, adviser of the Holy Office, which was not situated there; and, as such, he had kept him busy with matters pertaining to that holy tribunal, as might be seen by these disagreements which existed between the two heads [of government].

The most illustrious lord archbishop decided to call a council of the most grave and learned men of all the religious orders, in order to determine what was expedient. When he sent to ask the fathers of the Society, they refused to go. After this, seeing that things were going from bad to worse, it was necessary to call another assembly of the religious orders; and when the said fathers were summoned it was not possible for them to go. Thereupon, seeing that they were separating themselves from the affairs of the church, the lord archbishop ordered that they be notified of an act by which they were deprived of the right of preaching in all the churches subject to his jurisdiction. The said fathers, by virtue of a brief which they claim to have from his Holiness, answered that they could preach without permission, and _contradicente episcopo_. Without showing the said brief, they appointed a judge-conservator for the most illustrious archbishop, who was Don Fabian de Santillan y Avelanes, the schoolmaster of the cathedral. The latter notified his most illustrious Lordship that he must revoke the said act within two hours, under penalty of major excommunication and four thousand Castilian ducados. The lord archbishop went before the royal Audiencia with a plea of fuerza, to declare whether the appointment made had been made legally and justly, as it had been presented before no judge, as is provided by law. The next day several religious, who were the attorneys of his illustrious Lordship in the royal Audiencia, having come together there, [Father] Badilla of the Society took up the case, and through the continuance given him to inform himself of his rights, the other religious, who were acting on behalf of the lord archbishop, could do nothing until the next day, when they pleaded for him. During that time the said archbishop was posted as excommunicated, the notices being fixed on the doors of the churches of this city, by order of the judge-conservator. These notices remained posted until the twenty-fourth of January, because the royal Audiencia declared that fuerza had not been committed [by the judge-conservator]. At the end of this time, which was a period of more than three months, it was decided to absolve his most illustrious Lordship. The governor went to his house, on St. Polycarp's day; and together they went to the cathedral, and made their peace. But meantime, in the proceedings against him, he had been condemned, by formal act of the judge-conservator, to pay another four thousand ducados; and the government of the archbishopric was to be taken from him for four years. All this was declared null by the lawyers, who said that the judge and the fathers of the Society had thus incurred the penalties of the law.