This document represents the thirty-first volume of a monumental compilation of translated primary sources detailing the history of the Philippine Islands during the Spanish colonial era, which spanned from 1493 to 1898. The volume contains a continuation of Fray Diego Aduarte's Historia de la provincia del Sancto Rosario de la Orden de Predicadores, focusing on the activities of the Dominican Order between 1596 and 1608. The account provides a vivid, firsthand look into the challenges of the mission field, particularly in the northern Luzon provinces of Cagayán and Pangasinan, where Dominicans strove to convert what the Spanish considered fierce and untamable indigenous populations, often by defending them against the rapacity of Spanish soldiers and officials. The text also narrates the order's unsuccessful, yet dramatic, political-religious expeditions to neighboring kingdoms like Cambodia and their early establishment of missions in Japan and China, including tales of shipwreck, torture, and martyrdom. The biographical sketches of significant figures, such as Bishops Salazar and Benavides, underscore the role of the ecclesiastical hierarchy in shaping colonial policy, founding key institutions like hospitals and schools for the Chinese, and advocating for a policy of conversion over military conquest. The entire collection serves as a foundational resource for understanding the complex religious, political, and cultural dynamics that defined the Philippines under Spanish rule.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 (Vol. 31, 1640)