Indios Muy Velicossos: The Early Spanish Presence at Mindanao

This paper will examine the early presence of the Spanish on Mindanao.  Early impressions of the Spaniards were based on the presence of Islam among the population as well as slave raids conducted by Mindanaons and others against the “pacified” islanders of Luzon and the Visayas.  Deeming the Mindanaons irredeemably bellicose, an ambitious military excursion was undertaken by Spanish Governor Don Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera in 1639.  The excursion had mixed results (in the sense of not subduing the Mindanaons) but it did establish a permanent Spanish garrison on the island.  It also solidified Corcuera’s heroic reputation as the “Last Conquistador”—both for his personal valor on the battlefield and for his establishing this presidio at the furthest frontier of Spanish empire.  The paper will examine the phenomenon of slave raiding in the islands, commenting on the difference between western and Filipino concepts and practices of slavery.  It will elucidate Spanish impression of Mindanaons as intrinsically “bad”—both given their Islam and their violence, and the colorful reputation of Hurtado de Corcuera himself.  It is based on materials housed in the AGI Sevilla, Philippine National Archive, and Lilly Library, Bloomington Indiana.