The Treaty of Cebu is a

peace treaty A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a sur ...

signed on June 4, 1565 between

Miguel López de Legazpi Miguel López de Legazpi (12 June 1502 – 20 August 1572), also known as '' El Adelantado'' and ''El Viejo'' (The Elder), was a Spaniard who, from the age of 26, lived and built a career in Mexico (then the Viceroyalty of New Spain) and, ...

, representing King

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

, and Rajah Tupas of

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 1 ...

. The treaty effectively created Spanish suzerainty over

. Legazpi had sailed from Mexico on November 20, 1564 with a fleet of four ships: ''San Pedro'' (the flagship), ''San Pablo'', ''San Juan de Letran'' and ''San Lucas'' and a force of several hundred

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...

s. The expedition reached the Philippines in January 1565 and went ashore in

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

Limasawa Limasawa, officially the Municipality of Limasawa ( Cebuano: ''Lungsod sa Limasawa''; Filipino: ''Bayan ng Limasawa''), is an island municipality in the province of Southern Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population ...

Bohol Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Bohol; tl, Lalawigan ng Bohol), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, consisting of the island itself and 75 minor surrounding islands. It ...

, and Negros to make

blood compact Blood compact ( Spanish: ''Pacto de sangre''; Filipino: ''Sanduguan'') was an ancient ritual in the Philippines intended to seal a friendship or treaty, or to validate an agreement. The contracting parties would cut their hands and pour their blo ...

s, claim possession for Spain, and seize or barter foodstuffs.. On April 15, 1565, the expedition anchored in Cebu, where Rajah Tupas had treated with

Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the East ...

in 1521 as representative of

Rajah Humabon Rajah Humabon, later baptized as Don Carlos, (died April 27, 1521) was the Rajah of Cebu (an Indianized Philippine polity). Humabon was Rajah at the time of the arrival of Portuguese-born, Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan in the Philippines ...

.. An envoy went ashore seeking to make a pact with Tupas who, having heard of the return of the Spaniards, evacuated the town and relocated to the interior of the island.. Unable to treat with Tupas, the Spanish envoy announced that the Cebuanos had submitted to Spanish suzerainty 40 years before and were rebellious Spanish subjects. The Spanish sacked the town and began construction of a stockaded camp and took possession of the whole island of Cebu in the name of Spain. Around May 8, Tupas presented himself at the Spanish fort and agreed to formalize a treaty. After some delay, the treaty was formalized on July 3, 1565.. Historian William Henry Scott characterizes the treaty as "... actually the terms of an unconditional surrender. ... a kind of prototype of the unequal treaties which western nations were to fasten on Oriental peoples for the next three centuries."

Notes

References

*{{Citation , title=Looking for the prehispanic Filipino: and other essays in Philippine history , last=Scott , first=William Henry , publisher=New Day Publishers , year=1992 , isbn=978-971-10-0524-5 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z6ZwAAAAMAAJ , postscript=. Peace treaties of Spain Treaties of the Philippines Treaties of the Spanish Empire History of Cebu 1565 treaties