Martín de Goiti (c. 1534 – 1575) was a
Spanish conquistador
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...
and one of the soldiers who accompanied the Spanish voyage of exploration to the
East Indies
The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in Eastern world, the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainl ...
and the
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...
in 1565, in search of rich resources such as
gold
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
,
spice
In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...
and settlements. They were seeking to find a route to the islands where the previous Spanish expeditions led by
Ferdinand Magellan had landed in 1521, and
Ruy López de Villalobos in 1543.
From his base in
Mexico City
Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
, he led the expedition to
Manila
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
in the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, ordered by the Spanish general
Miguel López de Legazpi
Miguel López de Legazpi (12 June 1502 – 20 August 1572), also known as ''Adelantado, El Adelantado'' and ''El Viejo'' (The Elder), was a Spanish conquistador who financed and led an expedition to conquer the Philippines, Philippine islan ...
in 1569. He then engaged in warfare against the native chieftains
Rajah Sulayman
Sulayman, sometimes referred to as Sulayman III (Arabic script: سليمان, Abecedario: ''Solimán'') (d. 1590s), was a Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Luzon in the 16th century and was a nephew of Rajah Ache of Luzon. He was the commander of ...
,
Rajah Matanda and
Rajah Lakandula and fought the natives in order to established
European settlements.
The Battles for Manila (1570 – 1575)
The Spaniards arrived in the island of
Luzon
Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...
on 8 May 1570, and camped on the shores of
Manila Bay
Manila Bay (; ) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the Manila, capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Philippines and ...
for several weeks, while forming an alliance with the native tribes. On 24 May 1570, disputes and hostility erupted between the two groups. The Spaniards occupied the city of
Tondo where they were greeted by thousands of tribal warriors. There, they defeated most of Rajah Sulayman's forces. The Spaniards marched their armies towards the
Pasig River
The Pasig River (; ) is a water body in the Philippines that connects Laguna de Bay to Manila Bay. Stretching for , it bisects the Philippine capital of Manila and Metro Manila, its surrounding urban area into northern and southern halves. Its m ...
, and occupied the settlements in Manila on 6 June 1570 and burned them.
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrori ...
broke out following the battle, which continued for about ten months. The Spaniards fortified themselves in the area and constructed their military barracks of
Fort Santiago, which became their outpost for trade with
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
. The Spaniards gained control of the settlements on 24 June 1571, after the arrival of López de Legazpi in Manila.
The Spanish colonization paved the way for the establishment of Manila as a permanent settlement and
capital city
A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its ...
of the
Spanish East Indies
The Spanish East Indies were the colonies of the Spanish Empire in Asia-Pacific, Asia and Oceania from 1565 to 1901, governed through the Captaincy General of the Philippines, captaincy general in Manila for the Monarchy of Spain, Spanish Crown, i ...
. He later explored
Pampanga
Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga (; ; ), is a province in Central Luzon in the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac to the north, Nueva Ecija to the northeast, Bulacan to the east, ...
,
Pangasinan
Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan (, ; ; ), is a coastal Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its capital is Lingayen, Pangasinan, Lingayen while San Carlos, Pangasi ...
and founded several Spanish settlements in Luzon between the periods of 1571-1573. De Goiti, along with other soldiers were granted with estates called
haciendas, for the lands they had conquered, by King
Philip II of Spain
Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...
.
In 1574, de Goiti fought in the war against an invasion of about 6,500 Chinese sea
pirates who had sailed from the
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...
. Their leader,
Limahong, laid siege on the Spanish settlements in Manila. De Goiti was killed by these pirates. Most of the Spanish reinforcements came from
Vigan
Vigan, officially the City of Vigan (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Ilocos Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...
and
Cebu
Cebu ( ; ), officially the Province of Cebu (; ), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a ...
. De Goiti's second in command,
Juan de Salcedo
Juan de Salcedo (; 1549 – 11 March 1576) was a Spanish conquistador. He was the grandson of Spanish general Miguel López de Legazpi. Salcedo was one of the soldiers who accompanied the Spanish conquest to the Philippines in 1565. He joined th ...
left
Ilocos Sur
Ilocos Sur (), officially the Province of Ilocos Sur (; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region in Luzon. Located on the mouth of the Mestizo River is the capital of Vigan, while Candon is ...
, after hearing the news and traveled to Manila where he discovered their settlements had been ceded to the pirates. Salcedo's forces attacked and drove the pirates out of Manila. Limahong and his fleets retreated to
Pangasinan
Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan (, ; ; ), is a coastal Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its capital is Lingayen, Pangasinan, Lingayen while San Carlos, Pangasi ...
where they re-organize their forces.
In 1575, Salcedo's army marched north to Pangasinan, in pursuit of the pirates, and besieged them for three months. There the pirates surrendered to the Spaniards.
Legacy
De Goiti's remains are laid to rest on a knight's tomb inside the
San Agustin Church, in
Intramuros
Intramuros () is the historic walled area within the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is administered by the Intramuros Administration with the help of the city government of Manila.
Intramuros comprises a centuries-old hist ...
in the Philippines.
See also
*
History of the Philippines
References
*de Morga, Antonio. (2004). ''The Project Gutenberg Edition Book : History of the Philippine Islands - 1521 to the Beginning of the XVII century''. Volume 1 and 2.
*López de Legazpi, Don Miguel. (1564–1572). ''Cartas al Rey Don Felipe II : sobre la expedicion, conquistas y progresos de las islas Felipinas''. Sevilla, España.
External links
Act of Taking Possession of Luzon(Article)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goiti, Martin De
Spanish conquistadors
Spanish people in the colonial Philippines
1530s births
1575 deaths
Basque conquistadors
Spanish city founders
Spanish military personnel killed in action
16th-century Spanish people
Burials at San Agustin Church (Manila)
Filipino city founders