Historical Material 1 The Manila Massacre in the Eyes of the Spaniards
The same letter from Archbishop Santía Banez of Manila can serve as testimony before this historical event:
"Some Chinese, religious or not, came to me, complaining that His Majesty's officials and other Spaniards were doing them great harm every day. They gave me two letters to His Majesty, written in Chinese according to their custom.
I have translated the letter into Castilian script (the official Spanish script at the time). These people have no protection except our Dominican order. As the leader of this church, I
They asked me for protection and asked me to deliver the letter to Your Majesty. I assure Your Majesty that these poor people have suffered too much injustice and harm. The greatest enemy of perfect Christian law is Your Majesty's officials here. Your Majesty stipulates that the Chinese
What is owned must not be disturbed, let alone taken away, for this is a way of destroying the Spaniards and the Chinese. But this order has not been obeyed at all. Your Majesty will praise me without exaggeration."
On the other hand, the Spanish were also in a state of high tension, as revealed in a letter written by Archbishop Miguel de Benavides of Manila to King Philip III of Spain on July 6, 1603 (the thirty-first year of Wanli).
He expressed this mentality: "Your Majesty should know that this country (referring to the Philippines) must always be on the defensive. We are not only afraid of the Japanese, but also afraid of the Chinese who want to destroy our tranquility."
A letter written by some missionaries in the Philippines to Philip III on December 11, 1603, explained the general course of the incident:
“In June of this year, those of us in the church in the city of Manila, His Majesty’s people and missionaries, reported to His Majesty on ships leaving the islands for New Spain, what seemed at that time to be the most worthy of royal attention and related to this church and this
Matters concerning the welfare and role of the common community. As new developments develop, we, in accordance with our obligations, report to His Majesty that on the eve of Saint Francis' Day, "physiological men" living in the suburbs of this city rose up in riots.
They numbered twenty thousand, set fire to houses, and killed several Spaniards and Nanyangs who lived outside the city walls. They fought against our people and killed one hundred and thirty Spaniards, including many of the most famous
people. They attacked the city and were stationed in a large stone church built by the Franciscans, three hundred paces from the city walls. The situation was very bad. The city was very dangerous, because there were hardly a thousand Spaniards.
People. Our people bombarded the stream where these "physiological people" lived... Because the enemy was hit hard by the artillery, they gave up the situation under their control and retreated to the countryside and inland. Our people pursued them, and soon
He cut them off and killed them. Our Lord removed the danger from this city and the archipelago that His Majesty had owned for many years... We were also worried that China's huge fleet would come to attack this city. May Allah protect this city with mercy.
"At the end of last month, a fire broke out in the city. The wind was very strong. Houses in half the city were on fire, including the houses of the richest citizens and businessmen. The royal family's warehouses were also burned... It can be described as a disaster.