Throughout the 16th century, the Spanish Crown failed up to five times in its efforts to find the so-called “tornaviaje”, an ideal return route to America from East Asia. After almost twenty years without trying, a new expedition, promoted by the Viceroy of Mexico, Don Luis de Velasco, was materialized by Miguel López de Legazpi and Fray Andrés de Urdaneta.
After the conquest of America, the exploration of the Pacific was long and very expensive for the Spanish Crown. Despite the fact that its discovery is due to Vasco Núñez de Balboa from Extremadura (who named it the South Sea in 1513), the immense task of learning about its routes and the way to navigate it was the work of Magellan, who, already in 1520, gave him gave its current name of Pacific Ocean.
Velasco, second viceroy of New Spain, suggested to Felipe II that he send a fleet across the Pacific to expand his domain, and also informed the king of the advisability of having, due to his extensive nautical knowledge, Fray Andrés de Urdaneta, an Augustinian who, before becoming one, had sailed with Juan Sebastián Elcano in the Loaysa expedition of 1525. The purpose was to go to the San Lázaro archipelago, named after Magellan and later named the Philippine Islands in honor of the Spanish monarch.
In Valladolid, on June 24, 1559, Felipe II signs two letters. The first urges Velasco to organize an army with four fundamental objectives: to find the route that allows the return through the Pacific, access the spice market, ensure the Spanish presence in the East in a stable manner and evangelize the found peoples. In the second document, addressed to Urdaneta, the sovereign asks him to place himself under the orders of Don Luis to advise him on the expedition that is going to be prepared.
The viceroy, aware that finding the tornaviaje route is the key to the expedition, entrusted Urdaneta with the construction of the navy and put him in charge of the new journey. Despite his already advanced age – he was over fifty years old – the Augustinian, convinced that he could sail back from the west to New Spain, accepted, and claimed Miguel López de Legazpi as captain general, whom he knew for being part of the both from the brotherhood of the Most Holy Name of Jesus in Mexico City.
A Guipuzcoan born in 1508, Urdaneta spent eight years in the Moluccas, where he learned the language of the indigenous people and acquired extraordinary knowledge in navigating that ocean. He later traveled to New Spain, where, shortly after, after a spiritual crisis, he entered the Augustinian convent in Mexico City.
The exact year of birth of Miguel López de Legazpi is unknown, although it was probably around 1500. The youngest son of a wealthy family, he was baptized in the parish of Santa MarÃa la Antigua, in the town of Zumárraga. He carried out tasks as a notary public in different judicial processes, so it is believed that he had some type of training in law.
In December 1527, the Franciscan Juan de Zumárraga, with whom Legazpi was somewhat friendly, was appointed Bishop of New Spain. Shortly before 1530, Miguel, with practically no inheritance to receive, decided to try his luck on the other side of the Atlantic. Once in the Aztec capital, he married Isabel Garcés, with whom he would have nine children, and until 1543 he worked, with the influence of the Franciscan, as a secretary in the Court of the Inquisition. Later on he held various positions in the administration of the viceroyalty, such as that of chief notary of the council and, in 1559, that of ordinary mayor of the city.
Once the monarch’s letters have been received, the machinery to prepare the ambitious undertaking is set in motion. In addition to the fact that they already knew each other and were countrymen, Legazpi, whose merits and honesty were beyond doubt, was chosen to captain the army because Urdaneta, as a religious, could not have military and political command. Meanwhile, the viceroy don Luis died, and, with the consequent delay, the Audiencia de México took charge of the company.
Made up of the captain ship San Pedro, the admiral San Pablo, two boats and a small brig, the fleet set sail on November 21, 1564 from the Mexican port of Navidad. He does so with a total of three hundred and fifty men, including soldiers and sailors and five religious of the same order as Urdaneta, who had received from his superiors the titles of prelate and protector of the Indians of the regions they discovered.
The intention of the Augustinian was to go to Nueva Guinea and pass through the Philippines only to pick up the survivors of the Ruy López de Villalobos expedition (1542-45), but without settling there, because, according to the Treaty of Zaragoza of 1529, he considered They did not belong to Spain, but to Portugal. The Audiencia signed the instructions in secret and handed them over to Legazpi, Captain General, with orders not to open them until they were a hundred leagues from the coast. Once open, to the great discontent of Urdaneta, they headed for the islands of San Lázaro.
In January 1565 they reached the Barbudos (Marshall) and Ladrones (Marianas) islands, where Urdaneta was able to speak with the natives in their language. On the 26th, the Augustinian celebrated a mass and Legazpi took possession of the islands in the name of the King of Spain. They continued on their way until they reached Leyte and Cebu, where they founded the town of San Miguel on May 8.
The one from Zumárraga, then, orders Urdaneta to return to New Spain looking for a route that makes navigation possible. Fray Andrés, in front of a ship captained by the young Mexican Felipe de Salcedo, grandson of López de Legazpi, leaves the labyrinth formed by the Philippine archipelago towards the Pacific, heading for Japan. From there, heading east, he ascends to the 40th parallel to find the Kuro-Shivo current and connect with the North Pacific current, which would take him to Cape Mendocino in California (named after Don Antonio de Mendoza y Pacheco, first viceroy of New Spain). They continue along the coast to the port of Navidad and Acapulco. They have achieved it.
Meanwhile, Legazpi remains in the Philippines, and Philip II appoints him Governor and Captain General. Starting in 1566, soldiers, colonists and food arrived, consolidating the Spanish presence. The colony began to be organized following the model of the American encomiendas (the natives were grouped in villages led by an encomendero, with an ecclesiastic in charge of evangelization). Despite the fact that there were some resistance groups, the colonization, in general, was carried out without notable confrontations, due, above all, to the fact that the Spanish military force was much superior.
Legazpi later annexed the islands of Panay and Mindoro until he reached the large island of Luzon, where he took an indigenous settlement, Maynila (name of a local bush), dominated by Muslims. And on June 24, 1571, the Basque founded Manila, the Always Loyal and Distinguished City of Spain in the East, which was to become the capital of the Spanish dominions in Asia.
Thus, the capital of Nueva Castilla was established, the name given to the colony of the Philippines. From then on, Manila would become a meeting point between East and West, thanks to the Manila Galleon, a regular line between Manila and Acapulco that would be in force until 1815.
Legazpi thus fulfilled the wishes of the Spanish Crown to have a stable presence in the Far East. He governed the city until his death on August 20, 1572. From then on, the archipelago would depend on the viceroyalty of New Spain.
When, in 1821, Mexico achieved independence, Spain assumed the government of the Philippines. Until, in 1898, after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which put an end to the Spanish-American War, it was established that Spain must abandon Cuba, which had declared its independence. The Philippines was officially handed over to the United States for twenty million dollars, and Guam and Puerto Rico also became dependent on the United States. It was the end of Legazpi’s dream.
This text is part of an article published in number 658 of the Historia y Vida magazine. Do you have something to contribute? Write to us at redaccionhyv@historiayvida.com.
