Antonio de Morga Sánchez Garay

Antonio de Morga Sánchez Garay
6th President of the Real Audiencia of Quito
In office 1615–1636
Monarchs	Philip III of Spain (1615-1621) Philip IV of Spain (1621-1636)
Preceded by	Juan Fernández de Recalde
Succeeded by	Alonso Pérez de Salazar

Antonio de Morga Sánchez Garay (Seville, November 29, 1559 – Quito, July 21, 1636) was a lawyer and high-ranking colonial official in the Philippines, the Viceroyalty of New Spain and Peru. Also known for his work as a historian, he published the book Sucesos de las islas filipinas in 1609, one of the most important works on the early period of the history of the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. Antonio de Morga also commanded a Spanish fleet in a naval battle against Dutch pirates in the Philippines in 1600.

Education

He was a student at the University of Osuna, where he graduated as Bachelor in 1574. In 1578 he obtained a doctorate in law and, after teaching briefly in Osuna, returned to Salamanca to study civil law.

Government official in Spain

In 1580 he began to serve in the government of King Philip III as a lawyer. In 1582, while serving as Alcalde entregador of the Mesta, he married Juana de Briviesca y Muñatones, daughter of the Corregidor of Écija, who bore him sixteen children, although many of them died at a young age. In 1582 he also began to work as Auditor General of the Galleys of Spain, a post in which he remained for some years until in 1593 he was promoted to Lieutenant Governor of the Philippine Islands with the charge of establishing the new Audiencia.

Government official in the Philippines

In 1593 he was sent to Manila as Lieutenant Governor of the Philippines, the second most powerful position in the colony, after that of governor general. He arrived in Manila on June 11, 1595, from Acapulco, in New Spain. In 1598 he resigned as Lieutenant Governor to take up the post of «oidor», or judge, in the recently reestablished Audiencia of Manila.

While stationed in Manila, de Morga observed and wrote about the many goods imported from Ming dynasty China. It is striking, however, that he mentions porcelain only once, even though at this time it was the most numerous export item which, together with silk, was exported to Europe. Other goods that Antonio de Morga mentioned included:

... musk, benzoin and ivory; ornaments, tapestries of tablecloths, carpets embroidered in velvet... seed pearls and rubies, sapphires and crystals; metal washbasins, copper cauldrons and pig-iron pots... preserves made of orange, peach, pears, ground nutmeg, ginger and other fruits of China.

De Morga also mentioned the countless «curiosities which, were I to refer to them all, I would never finish writing, nor would I have enough paper for it».

Illustration from 1603 depicting the combat of Morga's San Diego against Van Noort's Mauritius.

In 1600 Governor Francisco de Tello de Guzmán chose De Morga to fit out a fleet in Cavite to attack the Dutch corsairs who, under the command of Olivier van Noort, were attacking the ships entering the port of Manila. Although Morga had had some military experience as commander of a Spanish fleet previously and as lieutenant general in the Philippines for some years, he had never been on the front line of combat.

The battle that ensued was very intense, with numerous casualties on each side. De Morga's ship began to take on water and slowly sank without reaching the shore. Many died, but Morga saved himself by swimming for four hours, carrying the Dutch standard with him, until he managed to reach a small abandoned island. The final victory went to the Spanish, who, despite losing a ship and suffering numerous casualties (about 350 men), were able to drive the Dutch danger away from the Philippine coasts.

In New Spain and Peru

On July 10, 1603, he departed from Manila in command of the ships sailing that year to New Spain. In 1603 he was appointed Alcalde del Crimen of the Audiencia of Mexico. In that capital he served in the posts of Auditor and Adviser to the Viceroys in matters of War and of Consultant of the Holy Office. The Council of the Indies entrusted him with the inspection and accounts of the municipal properties of the city, and the Council of Castile with the inspection and administration of the estate of the Marquis of the Valley.

In 1606 his wife died, and it was not until three years later that he married a second time, to Catalina de Alcega. In 1614 he moved to the Presidency of the Audiencia of Quito. De Morga was «a very intelligent and well-prepared official. He knew the law and knew how to enforce it; but he had enough imagination not to be its slave and approached problems in an original way».

Above all, he took an interest in the construction of roads and the fitting out of ports, in the expansion of markets and the defense of the coastal territories of the kingdom. He sought to connect Ibarra and San Matheo, Quito and Bahía de Caráquez, Cali and Buenaventura. He founded the city of San Antonio de Morga on the bay of Caráquez, so named in his honor, which was moreover a seaport because it lay at the mouth of the Chone River in a very deep bay.

He also issued instructions to improve the work in the Obrajes of the Audiencia and restored those operating in Otavalo and in Peguche. His plan would later be applied in other obrajes with equally beneficial results. In 1622 he authorized the founding of the Jesuit University of San Gregorio in Quito. In '24 he helped in the defense of Guayaquil against the Dutch pirates commanded by Jacobo L'Heremite.

Among his defects were that he was a gambler and a womanizer, and since he liked to talk about his conquests, on some occasions scandals arose which his wife overlooked because she was accommodating and liberal in the extreme, as well as a card player, which was regarded as something truly scandalous.

In 1625 De Morga was investigated for corruption. He was arrested, but on September 18, 1627, he was declared innocent and his offices were restored to him. With the exception of that period, De Morga held the position of President of the Audiencia of Quito from 1615 until the year of his death in 1636.

Letter from the City of San Antonio de Morga to President Antonio de Morga (January 2, 1629)

Copy of a letter from the cabildo of the City of San Antonio de Morga, Bay of Caracas, written to the Lord Doctor Antonio de Morga, President of the Real Audiencia of Quito, dated January 2 of the year 1629.

In this City of San Antonio de Morga and Bay of Caracas we held the election of Alcaldes and Regidores yesterday, New Year's Day, because the elections of Alcaldes and Regidores and of the other offices chosen for the administration and government of this City and its land begin with the year; this Cabildo resolved to give account of this election to Your Lordship as its head, to whose charge, by particular decree of the King our Lord, the settlement of it and its roads is entrusted by way of government. Those elected to the Cabildo are four Regidores and two Ordinary Alcaldes and one of the Santa Hermandad and Procurator General. The first Regidor is Captain Basilio de Bargas, who at present is in the port with a ship; he has taken up residence in this City and has been given a lot in it; he declared that he has thirty thousand pesos of property; he will be a very good Citizen for being rich and very honorable; the second Regidor is Francisco Gonzales Salguero; the third Regidor is Fernando Cortés Masias; the fourth Regidor is Captain Alonso Hernández Carvajal, and Alcalde of the Santa Hermandad; Procurator General Fernando Cortés Masias. Ordinary Alcaldes are Francisco Gonzales Salguero and Captain Francisco Ramirez Betancur. And this is the state in which this City presently remains with its government, and although the times have been so dry that the sustenance of maize has been lacking, and this has caused very great want to us Citizens who live here, because everything has had to be brought in by haulage, and it has been the reason that many Citizens have not settled in it this year. God will be pleased that, when good seasons come, there may be food in it and many Citizens may be encouraged to come and take up their residence, and everything will always increase with the / favor of God Our Lord. Four Ships have been in this port this past month, and two of them have already left and two are in this said port, all of which come to load timber and mangrove poles, of which there is a great quantity, and with this the City is getting into good order. May Your Lordship have the Vicar who has been appointed for this City dispatched, because his absence is very greatly felt by its Citizens, and with the Vicar being in it, it will contribute to the further growth of the citizenry, for of this it has very great need. We refer again to Your Lordship, whose person may (God) keep for many years; from this City of San Antonio de Morga, January 2 of the year sixteen hundred and twenty-nine.

(s) Joan Macías Cortés. (s) Francisco Ramírez Betancur. (s) Francisco Gonzales. (s) Basilio de Bargas. (s) Fernando Cortés Macías. (s) Alonso Hernández Carvajal.

It agrees with the original letter, which remains in my possession.

(s) Doctor Antonio de Morga.

— Archivo General de Indias, QUITO, 11, R.3, N.36

The views of the time defended by Don Antonio de Morga on the creation of a new port in the Bay of Caráquez

[…]. As in Guayaquil they do not wish there to be any port but their own, they have been enemies of the port in the Bay of the Caraques. (It took) thirteen years, much labor and money (the road cost), against the (opposing) harshness of the country, the foolishness of the Viceroys and the wickedness of the Castros (of Guayaquil), to open the road, by which it takes only eight days' journey to go from Quito to the coast. It was begun by Martin de Fuica, who drowned while crossing a river in the region of the Nigua Indians, who are at peace. The valiant José de Larrazábal finished it at the most beautiful place bathed by the South Sea. There he founded the City that shall be called for centuries to come San Antonio de Morga. It is no great vanity that the town bears my name, because that has been the custom in these kingdoms. No more than thirty years have passed since the Villa of San Miguel de Ibarra was founded, which honored the then President of the Audiencia Don Miguel de Ibarra, without anyone saying that it was pride or arrogance on the part of the ruler to call it so. From San Antonio de Morga trains of mules travel laden with dried fish, salt and other things. The tambos between the port and Quito are good, supplied with plantains, shrimp, fish and pastures. The road is healthy because there is no dampness, except a little near the mountains. There are some steep slopes, but without precipices or greater dangers. As the land of that province is rather dry, in the years when it does not rain it cannot be sown and in others barely anything can be harvested, which is why the population of the new City has not grown much. But when the arrival of ships increases and merchandise comes in and goes out through there, there will no longer be any attempt to cultivate those hard fields, because the people will live from commerce. Although the Prince of Esquilache was mistaken in saying that there were mulattoes in the region of the Caraques, further north, toward the Esmeraldas, there are several kingdoms of Blacks and zambos […]. This will not bring ruin to Guayaquil if free trade in cacao is permitted. (Even) a child can understand that two rich ports are better for the King's interest than one poor one. […]. The Viceroys have little understanding of the things of these lands; some of them have been men of little wit and harder of heart than the leather of an adarga.

Cover of the Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas.

Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas

Drawing showing some of the silk garments mentioned in De Morga's writings.

In 1606 De Morga edited the Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, which he dedicated to his protector the Duke of Uceda, to whom he sent a most valuable silver saltcellar with its gold cutlery so that he would grant him a promotion, since the Duke was the favorite (valido) of Philip III.

The Sucesos were published in Mexico City in 1609 in two volumes, although the work had already circulated years earlier in manuscript form. The work covers the years from 1493 to 1603. It deals with the political, social and economic phases of life among the natives and their colonizers. Morga's official position gave him access to many government documents.

José Rizal was one of the readers who was impressed by the work, deciding to annotate it and publish a new edition. Rizal began working on it in London, finishing it in Paris in 1890. In this regard he wrote:

If the book (Sucesos de las Islas filipinas) succeeds in awakening the sense of our past, already erased from memory, and in rectifying what has been falsified and distorted, then my work has not been in vain, and with this as a basis, however small it may be, it can serve us for study in the future.^[1]

From the book “Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas”

Its character as direct testimony makes this book, from the historical point of view, an exceptional primary source because of the time in which it was written, the world it recounts and the cultural juncture it reflects, evident from the date of the book's appearance, both for having been of first importance for the Philippines and for Spain's policy toward China, Japan, Cambodia, Siam and the Moluccas.

Morga enriches his history by inserting into it original documents from the protagonists of the events he describes: the account of Mendaña's expedition written by Pedro Fernández de Quirós, the Letter of the daring Blas Ruíz de Hernán González, above all the adventures of Spaniards and Portuguese in Siam and Cambodia, that of Hernando de los Ríos, one of the most learned Spaniards in the East in his time, that of Fray Martín de Ascensión before his martyrdom, from Nagasaki, and some others of lesser importance, not forgetting the letters and instructions that Governor Tello gave him for the battle against Van Noort.

Nevertheless, in Spanish culture, since its appearance in 1609, the work has not been valued from any of the aspects in which it is an indispensable document not only for Filipino but for Hispanic American culture.

From the philological point of view, its lexical richness is extraordinary as the language in use at the time when Castilian had its greatest expansion, since the presence of Mexicanisms and “Nahuatlisms” is very common, as are loanwords from the languages of Southeast Asia and from the languages of the Philippines, used naturally, and with them one could say that the lingua franca of the milieu of which the book is a product.

The rarity of Morga's book, owing to the scarcity of copies that were apparently made of it, and the fact that it was published in Mexico, could be cited as a cause of the book being unknown in Spain. Among the earliest writings prior to 1600, some fundamental ones stand out: those of Fray Domingo de Salazar, Fray Juan de Plasencia, Miguel de Loarca and Fray Martín de Rada. It could be said that most of the documents by these authors have a documentary character of very rich content, with precious illustrations, apparently contemporary.

Bibliography

• Brook, Timothy. The Confusions of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China (1998). Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-22154-0 (Paperback).
• Reece D., Alfonso. (2010). Morga: Sucesos de la Real Audiencia de Quito. Second Edition. Alfaguara Serie Roja Grupo Editorial Santillana. Quito, Ecuador 2010.

External links

• History of the Philippine Islands by Antonio de Morga (1907). Also available on Project Gutenberg: [2].
• Historia general de la República del Ecuador, by Federico González Suárez, chapter 11, «El presidente don Antonio de Morga».