This document is a foundational text for the ethnohistory and natural history of the Visayan region of the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. It is a modern transliteration of the Muñoz copy of the original manuscript, Historia de las Islas e Indios de Bisayas, completed in 1668. The author, Father Francisco Ignacio Alzina of the Society of Jesus, was an exceptional chronicler who spent over thirty-five years residing and ministering in the Visayan Islands, specifically in Samar and Leyte. The work is highly valued for its detailed, firsthand perspective, as Alzina based his extensive writing on personal observations and materials collected during his long tenure, a rarity among colonial accounts. The manuscript is encyclopedic, divided into a "natural" part detailing the geography, climate, flora, fauna, and indigenous customs, and an "ecclesiastical" part focusing on the spread of the Catholic faith through the Jesuit missions. The first part, in particular, offers an unparalleled look at the Bisayan culture, social structures, and pre-Christian beliefs (gentilismo) just decades after significant Spanish contact. This specific version, the Muñoz text, is preserved in the royal palace library in Madrid and was the basis for an important modern translation and editing project by the Silliman University Philippine Studies Program. It remains a cornerstone primary source for scholars researching pre-colonial and early-colonial Visayan society and Philippine national history.
The Muñoz text of Alzina’s history of the Bisayan Islands (1668): Part I, Book 4.