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Antonio De Morga Biography & Facts

Antonio de Morga Sánchez Garay (29 November 1559 – 21 July 1636) was a Spanish soldier, lawyer and a high-ranking colonial official for 43 years, in the Philippines (1594 to 1604), New Spain and Peru, where he was president of the Real Audiencia for 20 years. He was also a historian. After being reassigned to Mexico, he published the book Sucesos de las islas Filipinas in 1609, considered one of the most important works on the early history of the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. As Deputy Governor in the Philippines, he restored the audencia. He took over the function of judge or oidor. He also took command of Spanish ships in a 1600 naval battle against Dutch corsairs, but suffered defeat and barely survived. His history was first published in English in 1868; numerous editions have been published in English, including a 1907 edition that is online at the Gutenberg Project[2]. It has also been reprinted in Spanish and other languages. Education and service in the Philippines Antonio de Morga Sánchez Garay was born in Seville. He graduated from the University of Salamanca in 1574 and in 1578 received a doctorate in canon law. He taught briefly in Osuna, and then returned to Salamanca to study civil law. In 1580 he joined the government service as a lawyer. Among other positions in Spain, he held that of auditor general of the galleys. In 1582 he was serving as mayor of Baracaldo in Vizcaya when he first married, to Juana de Briviesca de Munotones. In August 1593 he was notified that he had been selected as Lieutenant to the Governor-General of the Philippines, starting what would become 43 years of colonial service. He traveled accompanied by his family, 14 servants, three black slaves and his collection of books. Following the route of that time, he sailed from Cadiz in February 1594, arriving in Mexico in May. During the following period of preparation for the Pacific voyage, he heard two important cases, and supervised the supplying of the two ships to be used. He also recruited 200 soldiers for the garrison in Manila. They departed Acapulco on March 22, 1595, reaching Manila on June 11, 1595. He had the second-most powerful position in the colony. He first served under Governor-General Luis Pérez Dasmariñas, who was interim after his father's death. Francisco Tello de Guzmán soon succeeded him, and Morga reported to him during most of his time in the colony. In his account of the colonial Philippines published in 1609, Morga noted the miserable condition suffered by many of the Spanish/Mexican soldiers, who were young, ill-paid and suffered in that unfamiliar environment. Few wanted to settle in Manila, and higher-level government officials also sought to leave the colony in a few years. His first two reports to the Crown covered a wide variety of topics, mentioning Japan, Mindanao, and China, in addition to civil, military and ecclesiastical activities within the colony. He issued regulations for administrative reform, known as the Ordenzas. Among his reforms was to restore the audencia. In 1598 he resigned as lieutenant governor to assume the office of oidor, or judge, in the newly re-established Audiencia of Manila. The position required his removal from much public life. During this period, Morga encouraged the growth in trade between Spain and China, known as the galleon trade. Chinese ships came to Manila to trade. From there, the Spanish sent galleons to Acapulco, where goods were shipped to Mexico City and then to Veracruz, for transportation to Spain. They were paid for with Spanish/Mexican silver, which became a currency in China. While stationed in Manila, Morga noted many of the wares imported from the Ming dynasty of China. He mentioned porcelain only once, although at this time it was becoming one of the greatest export items, along with silk, to Europe from China. From his observation of textiles in the Manila inventory, the Spanish were buying: ...raw silk in bundles...fine untwisted silk, white and of all colors...quantities of velvets, some plain and some embroidered in all sorts of figures, colors, and fashions, with body of gold and embroidered with gold; woven stuff and brocades, of gold and silver upon silk of various colors and patterns...damasks, satins, taffetas... Other goods that de Morga mentioned as being exported in the galleon trade were: ...musk, benzoin and ivory; many bed ornaments, hangings, coverlets and tapestries of embroidered velvet...tablecloths, cushions, and carpets; horse-trappings of the same stuffs, and embroidered with glass beads and seed-pearls; also pearls and rubies, sapphires and crystals; metal basins, copper kettles and other copper and cast-iron pots. . .wheat flour, preserves made of orange, peach, pair, nutmeg and ginger, and other fruits of China; salt pork and other salt meats; live fowl of good breed and many fine capons...chestnuts, walnuts...little boxes and writing cases; beds, tables, chairs, and gilded benches, painted in many figures and patterns. They bring domestic buffaloes; geese that resemble swans; horses, some mules and asses; even caged birds, some of which talk, while others sing, and they make them play innumerable tricks...pepper and other spices. De Morga closed his inventory list by stating that there were "rarities which, did I refer to them all, I would never finish, nor have sufficient paper for it." Combat with Dutch corsairs In 1600 Dutch corsairs under Olivier van Noort were preying on shipping entering Manila harbor. According to Morga's account, Governor Francisco de Tello de Guzmán and the Audiencia appointed Morga to go to Cavite and assemble, equip, and supply a fleet to attack the Dutch (31 October 1600). The ships available were the San Diego, the San Bartolomé, and some smaller vessels. Some refitting was necessary, since both the San Diego and the San Bartolomé were cargo ships. According to Morga, this was done without drawing on the colonial treasury (i.e., at his own expense, perhaps with other private contributions). Morga had had some military experience, having been general of a Spanish fleet some time previously and lieutenant of the captain general of the Philippines for some years, but he had never seen combat. On 1 December 1600, Governor Tello appointed Morga captain general of the fleet, with orders to attack the two Dutch ships. The two forces met on 14 December 1600. The Spanish also had two ships, and one sailed off in pursuit of one of the Dutch ships. Unable to fire – the gunports were closed because they were under the waterline, because he had allowed the ship to be dangerously overloaded – Morga ordered the San Diego to ram the Mauritius and grapple it. Thirty soldiers and some sailors boarded the Mauritius, taking possession of the forecastle and after-cabin and capturing the Dutch standard. The main and mizzen masts were stripped of sails and rigging. The Dutch retreated to the bow, where at first it seemed they were ab.... Discover the Antonio De Morga popular books. 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