THE LEGAZPI EXPEDITION
Carlos PIZANO Y SAUCEDO
The GOVERNMENTS AND PEOPLE of Mexico and the Philippines celebrate in 1964 the “Year of the Mexican-Filipino Friendship”, as a result of a joint agreement reached by Presidents López Mateos and Macapagal, on the occasion of the fourth centenary of the nautical expedition that went to the conquest and pacification of the Philippine Islands.
It was in the early morning of November 21, 1564 that the Spanish-Mexican expedition set out, under the command of the governor Miguel López de Legazpi and the Augustinian friar Andrés de Urdaneta. The expedition set sail from the ancient and historic port of Navidad, now extinct and located on the coast of the present State of Jalisco, in the beautiful bay of Navidad.
Regional authors who have been widely consulted in Guadalajara and Colima have sown doubt and confusion. Some of them have stated in their works that the López de Legazpi expedition set sail from the old port of Salagua, in the territory of what is now the State of Colima. Among them: Friar Antonio Tello, in his Miscellaneous Chronicle of the Holy Province of Xalisco; Friar Pablo de la Purísima Concepción Beaumont, in his Chronicle of the Province of Michoacán; Don Ignacio G. Vizcarra, in his Historical Primer The Conquest of Colima and Don Francisco R. Almada, in his Dictionary of History, Geography and Bibliography of the State of Colima. But both Mr. Vizcarra and Mr. Almada, as well as Dr. Miguel Galindo and almost all the regional authors, did nothing other than draw inspiration from or faithfully copy Tello and Beaumont. Professor Gregorio Torres Quintero, in his famous Cuentos Colimotes, places the departure of the expedition from the port of Santiago, Col. and Eng. José R. Benítez.
Lisciense, maintains in his Graphic History of New Spain, that he left from the port of Manzanillo. It should be noted that Salagua and Santiago were some of the names by which the current Colima port of Manzanillo was originally known in the 16th century.
However, we believe that to date, there is not the slightest doubt that the expedition of López de Legazpi and Urdaneta to the Philippine Islands left from Puerto de la Navidad and not from Salagua. This is already evident and beyond any doubt. It is indicated by almost all the works consulted in our arduous research work, and it is also confirmed by interesting documents – some already published and others still unpublished – that we had the opportunity to consult. The list of documents that clearly and definitively indicate the port of Navidad as the starting point of the expedition are, among others:
“Memories of the things that it seems to me it would be good for the King Our Lord to have news of them so that he may order to provide what is most needed.” Memorial sent by Fray Andrés de Urdaneta to King Philip of Spain. May 1560.
“Letter from the Viceroy of Mexico, Don Luis de Velasco to His Majesty on the preparation of the Armada that was to set out to discover the Philippine Islands”, Mexico, May 28, 1560.
“Letter from the Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco to Mr. Juan de la Isla, from Vera Cruz, ordering him to send caulkers, carpenters, etc., to Puerto de Navidad.” 1560.
“Provision from the Viceroy on the recommendation of Mr. Juan de la Isla, who was heading to Puerto de la Navidad, with a certain amount of gold and ammunition.”
“Letter from the Viceroy himself to Mr. Juan de la Isla, on the ships under construction in Puerto de la Navidad.”
“Letter from the Viceroy Don Luis de Mendoza to Mr. Juan de la Isla, on the men who fled leaving the work of the ships in Puerto de la Navidad.”
“Letter from the Viceroy of New Spain, Don Luis de Velasco, to Mr. Juan de la Isla, on the return of the officers who had left Puerto de la Navidad.”
“Letter from Viceroy Luis de Velasco to Mr. Juan de la Isla, on information from the latter regarding his arrival
THE PORT OF CHRISTMAS
at Puerto de la Navidad, with artillery and ammunition and giving him permission to go to Mexico to see his wife.”
“Letter from Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco to Mr. Juan de la Isla, ordering him to guard the ships and protect them from any damage.”
“Letter from Miguel López de Legazpi to King Philip of Spain on the preparation of the Armada that was to take General Miguel López de Legazpi to the Western Islands,” May 26, 1963.
“Letter from the Viceroy of Mexico, Don Luis de Velasco, to His Majesty on the preparation of the Armada that was to take General Miguel López de Legazpi to the discovery of the Philippine Islands,” Mexico, February 25, 1564.
“Letter from the Audience of Mexico to His Majesty King Philip, informing him of the death of Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco, which occurred before the armada of General Miguel López de Legazpi left for the Philippines.” August 1564.
“Instruction from the Royal Audience of Mexico to Don Miguel López de Legazpi, naming him Governor General by His Majesty for the Pacific Islands”, September 19, 1564.
“Letter from General Miguel López de Legazpi to His Majesty on the preparation and upcoming departure of the Armada that said General led to the discovery of the Philippine Islands”, Puerto de la Navidad, November 18, 1564.
“The Adelantado Miguel López de Legazpi gives the title of captain of the patache San Lucas to Don Alonso de Arellano”, Puerto de la Navidad, November 19, 1564.
“Letter to King Philip and from Fray Andrés de Urdaneta”, Puerto de la Navidad, November 20, 1564.
“Order given at sea by General Miguel López de Legazpi on the route that the captains and pilots in the pursuit of their voyage.” November 23 or 25, 1564.
“Daily Report of the Navigation made by Miguel López de Legazpi,” from Puerto de la Navidad to the Philippines, in 1564.
“Letter that General Miguel López de Legazpi wrote to the King, giving him an account of what happened on his voyage from Puerto de Navidad to that island (Zubu) by a report that accompanies this letter, with various other documents relative to the possessions that he took in the name of his Majesty and the defeats of the pilots of that Armada,” Zubu, May 27, 1565.
“Various detailed reports of the events and occurrences of the voyage made by Adelantado Don Miguel López de Legazpi,” Zubu, May 27, 1565.
Legazpi in His Majesty’s Armada to the Western Islands, from the time it left the Port of Navidad on November 19, 1564, until the end of May, 1565, when it left the Cebu harbor for New Spain.” 1565.
“Account of Captain Alonso de Arellano, who went to the Western Islands with Governor and General Miguel López de Legazpi.” 1565.
“Detailed account of the events and occurrences of the voyage and journey made by His Majesty’s Armada, of which the very illustrious Lord Miguel López de Legazpi was General, in the discovery of the Western Islands; From November 19, 1564, when he left Puerto de Navidad until the end of May of the following year, when he left Puerto de Zubu for New Spain, with the announcement of the arrival of the Armada to those islands, and to discover the return voyage, the flagship “San Pedro”, in charge of Captain Felipe de Salcedo, taking with him the chief pilot Esteban Rodríguez, and Rodrigo de Espinosa, pilot who was from the galleon of the Armada itself named “San Juan”. Year 1565.
“Copy of a letter from Seville to Miguel Salvador de Valencia, which narrates the fortunate discovery that the Mexicans have made sailing with the Armada that His Majesty ordered to be made in Mexico. With other marvelous things and of great benefit to all of Christianity: they are worthy of being seen and read.”
“Relation or Description made by the illustrious lord Antonio de Leyva, mayor for His Majesty, of the town of Ameca.” Year 1579.
The title alone of most of the documents in this long account leaves no room for doubt. The expedition left from Puerto de la Navidad, in the territory of the current State of Jalisco.
Recently, Don Felipe Sevilla del Río sent us another document. It contains the declaration of Francisco Toscano Gorjón, an old man of two years of age, resident of Colima and married to Doña María de la Torre, granddaughter of Lic. Diego Pérez de la Torre, who was Governor of New Galicia. The text of Toscano’s statement regarding the ships of López de Legazpi, surrendered in the town of Colima in 1612, is as follows:
To the first question he says that he knows the said question because this witness has lived and lives and has resided in this said town for more than sixty years, occasionally with his wife and family and without them, and he has seen the population of it, which was populated by Spaniards, important and qualified people who conquered and populated it, sheltered and maintained it, such as Joan Fernández the Elder, Diego de Cifuentes, Martín de Monjaraz, Gerónimo Flores, and their children and grandchildren and relatives, and others that he does not remember because they have been there for many years, and also Captain Joan de Almesto and Benito Gallegos, most of whom were conquerors of this New Spain and other provinces, with their weapons and horses and at their own expense and mission. In these provinces and New Galicia, helping the population of this town and regions, and was Chief Ensign of the people of Captain and General Francisco de Ibarra and Joan de la Ysla, and assisted as a soldier in the making and manufacturing of ships by order of His Majesty, which were made in Puerto de la Navidad for the discovery of the Philippine Islands, where Miguel López de Legazpi was the discoverer and Admiral Joan Pablo de Carrión, that since the said port was equipped with wood and other supplies for ships and a healthy port, the making of said ships had such a good effect and good success in said voyage to the Philippines, so much so, that the most certain and brief voyage that has been found to this day in said navigation was discovered, according to what has been discussed among the pilots and people who have gone and come to the Islands and according to the news that has had of it. And this answers…
THERE IS A LOT OF DOCUMENTARY AND TESTIMONY PROOF OF THE EXISTENCE of the port of Navidad in the 16th century, which confirms that it did indeed exist when the ships were built and set out to conquer the Philippine Islands in 1564.
Navidad was an ancient and important port in the past. In fact, it can be said that it has a very ancient, interesting and little-known history. Originally it was known by the names of Puerto Santo, Puerto de Cihuatlán, Puerto de Juan Gallego, Puerto de la Purificación, Puerto de la Natividad and Puerto de Xalisco. It was discovered by Captain Juan Fernández de Híjar —founder of Villa Purificación—, around the year 1535, “in a time of great need,” as he himself said.
Two ships set sail from that port in June 1530, according to Bernal Díaz del Castillo in his Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva España. Captain Francisco de Ulloa was at the head of the ship, ordered by the Royal Court of Mexico to search for Captain Diego Hurtado de Mendoza. The fruitless exploration took seven months, after which they returned to the same port of Xalisco. A few days later, while Ulloa was resting on land, a soldier stabbed him to death.
The adelantado Pedro de Alvarado also landed on this same beach in June 1540 with 500 soldiers. Viceroy Don Antonio de Mendoza arrived with his fleet at the port on December 25, 1540. Precisely because it was Christmas Day, that name was given to the old Port of Cihuatlán or Juan Gallego. On November 19, 1542, an expedition of six ships led by adelantado Pedro de Alvarado set sail for the Western Islands. It was led by Ruy López de Villalobos, who named them the “Philippine Islands” after the future King Philip II, then Prince of Asturias. On June 27, 1543, two ships of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo set sail from this port, exploring the northern coast. In 1563, supplies and ammunition were brought in for the fleet that would go to the Philippine Islands, with López de Legazpi and Urdaneta. But on May 27 of that year, there was a strong earthquake that ruined the preparations. Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco agreed to repair the damage with Indians from Colima, Tuxpan, Ameca and the Province of Ávalos, and from Navidad himself. On November 21, 1564, the expedition led by adelantado Miguel López de Legazpi and friar Andrés de Urdaneta set out from Puerto de Navi¬dad towards the Philippine Islands. On October 19, 1565, the ship “San Pedro” arrived at the same port, carrying friar Andrés de Urdaneta from the island of Cebu, also in the Philippines.
On August 11, 1587, two ships and a boat of English privateers arrived at Puerto de Navi¬dad. They came under the command of Tomás Candrerey de Gembley, by order of the Queen of England, to discover the Strait of Labrador. Diego de Olivera, in charge of watching the coast, limited himself to spying on their movements and did not dare to present himself to them. Seven days after the English corsairs had left, Captain General Luis de Carvajal de la Cueva, Governor of the New Kingdom of Leon, arrived in Na¬vidad, sent by the Audience of Guadalajara, and was informed of the punishable acts committed in the place, including the burning of the houses. Only a wooden cross that the expeditionaries López de Legazpi and Urdaneta had left behind before their departure to the Philippines remained standing, intact.
The mayor of Ameca, Don Antonio de Leyva, admitted that a large part of the Indians of Ameca died taking material to Navidad. Material that was used for the construction of the ships that went to China, that is, the Philippines. This is what he points out in his Relación de Ameca, from 1579.
As soon as Viceroy Luis de Velasco died, the Audience of Mexico ordered the destruction of the shipyard of Na¬vidad. By 1564, this had already happened. When Juan Pablo Carrión reported this to the King of Spain on September 11, he suggested the convenience of building another shipyard in Tehuantepec or Acapulco. Fortunately, then, the construction of the ships that went to the conquest and pacification of the Philippine archipelago was completed. With the destruction of the Navidad shipyard, the life of that ancient and legendary port of Xalisco was extinguished.
It should be noted that before the expedition of López de Legazpi to the Philippines, Friar Andrés de Urdaneta had already been in the famous port of Navidad. He had come with the adelantado Pedro de Alvarado when the latter wanted to combine his ventures in the South Sea with those of the Viceroy Don Antonio de Mendoza. Urdaneta was among the captains who participated in the pacification of the Indians of New Galicia who had risen up. Then, on February 6, 1543, Viceroy Don Antonio de Mendoza gave Urdaneta the position of Corregidor in half of the towns of Ávalos, in Sayula. Later he asked him to visit the towns surrounding his corregimiento in his capacity as Visitor, which is why he had to visit the port.
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SHIPS that the adelantado López de Legazpi and the Augustinian friar Urdaneta used in the expedition to the Philippines, took place in the port of Navidad, not in Salagua or Acapulco, as some authors have claimed. By order of the Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco, Juan Pablo Carrión was put in charge of their direction, from 1559. Consequently, it seems to us that the testimony of the builder of the ships that went to the conquest of the Philippines is not only important, but conclusive, definitive. Well, Juan Pablo Carrión addressed King Philip II of Spain from Mexico City, on September 2, 1564, reporting on the armada built in the Port of Navidad. Here is the text of the document in question, in the part that interests us for the present study:
Royal Catholic Majesty:
Last year fifty-eight I went from this city by order of the Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco to give Your Majesty an account of the order and manner in which the fleet that was beginning to be formed for the discovery of the Western Islands was to be held, as a man who was clear about both navigation and those islands, having been there and being one of those who escaped from the fleet that Viceroy Don Antonio de Mendoza sent there last year forty-two, which is coming to Lisbon by way of the Portuguese, because the said fleet had been lost and dismantled, of which Your Majesty has already had notice; and because I have followed the sea from that time forward in the service of Your Majesty, I was given credit and it seemed to the Viceroy Don. Luis de Velasco and the others who were discussing this matter in his presence, my reasons being good, he ordered me to go and give an account of it to Your Majesty, and while Your Majesty was away from the kingdoms of Castile, he should give an account of it to the Council of the Indies, and at the time that I arrived at Court, which at that time was in Valladolid, Your Majesty was in Flanders, I discussed the matter with the Council of the Indies and with the resolution of it I immediately returned to this land, and when the said Viceroy saw the dispatches that I brought, he ordered me to go to Puerto de la Navidad, which is in the South Sea, where they were beginning to build the said ships for the said voyage..