The Royal Company of the Philippines ( Spanish: ''Real Compañía de Filipinas'') was a chartered company founded in 1785, directed to establish a

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

on the

Spanish Philippines Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

and all surrounding trade. It weakened in importance until it was dissolved in the 1830s. Its direct predecessor was that of the Guipuzcoan Company of

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

Founding

As Francisco Cabarrús, director of the Guipuzcoan Company, feared his company was about to be dissolved in the 1780s, he proposed to unite the trade of the Americas with that of Asia through the Philippines, incorporating the rights of the old company to the new one. His plan was adopted, and the Royal Company of the Philippines was established on March 10, 1783, before being institutionalized on March 10, 1785 by a royal decree of

Charles III of Spain it, Carlo Sebastiano di Borbone e Farnese , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Philip V of Spain , mother = Elisabeth Farnese , birth_date = 20 January 1716 , birth_place = Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Spain , death_d ...

, being directed by Francisco Cabarrús. The purpose of the company was to promote direct trade between

the Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

(then a colony of the Spanish Empire) and the mother country. The royal decree also provided for closing the port of

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

to any foreign vessel. Therefore, only the company could import goods from New Spanish Mexico,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

or the Philippines.

Activity

The Royal Company of the Philippines was founded with an initial capital of 3,000 shares of 250

peso The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the Dollar sign, same sign, "$", as many currencies na ...

s each, with the incipient Spanish financial companies participating in the operation. Later, it increased its capitalization with the issuance of bonds. The company quickly grew rich (at the end of 1785, its capital was 10 million pesos) and sought to modernize the archipelago's export capacities; it quickly took control of the other companies and preserved the already existing commercial strategy that favored export crops:

indigo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

. The Spanish government secured the link with its provinces of the Spanish East Indies through this company. Until then he had awarded ''seat'' contracts to different companies. The last ''seat'' was contracted with the Royal Company of the Philippines in 1787, which maintained a line with the Philippines during the 19th century.

Monopoly and Decline

As the company quickly grew to establish monopolies in other branches of the Spanish overseas trade, other companies, feeling the reduction of monopoly rights, began a struggle with the Royal Company of the Philippines. The most serious conflicts took place with the merchants of Manila and the Filipinos themselves, who used the route to

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...

for their own activities, or with the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, which maintained Asian trade as the first power. The writer

José Luis Munárriz José Luis Munárriz (1762–1830) was a Spanish literary critic, translator and writer. Biography Munárriz completed his literary career, which ended at the age of twenty-two, at the University of Salamanca, where he remained until 1796 in ...

entered the service of the company in 1796, where he became secretary and, later, director on March 30, 1815. These problems led to a progressive decline of the company from 1794, becoming practically inoperative at the late 18th to early 19th century. The company ceased its functions in 1829, after the fall of the Spanish colonial empire, and was declared extinct by decree of October 6, 1834 during the regency of

Isabella II Isabella II ( es, Isabel II; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904), was Queen of Spain from 29 September 1833 until 30 September 1868. Shortly before her birth, the King Ferdinand VII of Spain issued a Pragmatic Sanction to ensure the successio ...

References

{{Reflist Companies of the Philippines Trading companies established in the 18th century History of the Philippines (1565–1898) Defunct companies of the Philippines Trade monopolies Chartered companies Trading companies of Spain