Agustin de Legazpi is a prominent historical figure in 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 ...

best known as the leader of the Tondo Conspiracy of 1587–1588, the last native ruler of Tondo, and the last individual to hold the title of paramount ruler in any of the Indianized indigenous Tagalog polities of the Pasig River delta, although it had been reduced to little more than a

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some con ...

by the time of Agustin de Legazpi's execution. Because the historical sources referring to Agustin de Legazpi were all written by Spanish chroniclers, it is unclear whether he used the title of "

Lakan In early Philippine history, the rank of ''lakan'' denoted a " paramount ruler" (or more specifically, "''paramount datu''") of one of the large coastal barangays (known as a "bayan") on the central and southern regions of the island of Luzon. ...

", which was reserved for the paramount ruler of Tondo. Historical sources refer to him using the hispanized name "Don Agustin de Legazpi" instead. Legazpi is believed to have been the biological son of an unnamed deceased sibling of

Rajah Sulayman Rajah Sulayman, sometimes referred to as Sulayman III (Sanskrit: स्ललैअह्, Arabic: سليمان, Abecedario: ''Suláimán'') (1558–1575), was the Rajah of Maynila, a fortified Tagalog Muslim polity on the southern half of the ...

Maynila 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 populated ...

, and was adopted as a son by Sulayman upon the death of Sulayman's own only son sometime in the early days of the Spanish conquest of

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

. Upon conversion to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

under the new Spanish regime, he is believed to have been sponsored for baptism by

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, ...

himself, explaining the similar family names. Upon the death of

Lakandula Lakandula ( Baybayin: , Spanish orthography: ''Lacandola'') was the title of the last '' lakan'' or paramount ruler of pre-colonial Tondo when the Spaniards first conquered the lands of the Pasig River delta in the Philippines in the 1570s. T ...

of Tondo, Agustin de Legazpi was proclaimed to the title of Paramount ruler at Tondo, even though Lakandula had several male children. Lakandula's children served as

Datu ''Datu'' is a title which denotes the rulers (variously described in historical accounts as chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs) of numerous indigenous peoples throughout the Philippine archipelago. The title is still used today, especial ...

s under Agustin de Legazpi, and two of them –

Magat Salamat Datu Magat Salamat was a Filipino historical figure best known for co-organizing the Tondo Conspiracy of 1587. He was one of at least four sons of Lakandula,Magat Salamat is a son of Lakandula, ''not'' of Rajah Matanda.

and Felipe Salonga – joined Agustin de Legazpi in the Tondo Conspiracy. Agustin de Legazpi married Princess Putri of Brunei as he participated in the raid against Brunei in the

Castilian War The Castilian War took place in 1570-1578 and represented the last crusade in Islamic history between the Spanish Empire and the Sultanate of Brunei; the Sultanate of Sulu, the Sultanate of Maguindanao, and the Ottoman Caliphate. Sultan Sai ...

. As a result of the uncovering of the Tondo Conspiracy, Agustin de Legazpi and Magat Salamat were executed, while Felipe Salonga was sent to exile in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

for eight years.

Historiography

Aside from his participation in the Tondo Conspiracy of 1587, few definite facts about Agustin de Legazpi's life were documented in 20th Century history textbooks until historian Luciano P.R. Santiago his paper, "The Houses Of Lakandula, Matanda And Soliman (1571-1898)" was published by the

Philippine Quarterly of Culture & Society The University of San Carlos, also referred to by its acronym USC or colloquially shortened to San Carlos, is a private, Catholic, research, coeducational basic and higher education institution administered by the Philippine Southern Province ...

in 1990. The paper drew from the genealogical documents kept in the Philippines' National Archives (collectively referred to by historians as the "Lacandola Documents") and from the works of earlier historians such as

Cesar Adib Majul Cesar Adib Majul (October 21, 1923 - October 11, 2003) was a Philippine historian best known for his work on the history of Islam in the Philippines, and on the life of Apolinario Mabini. Majul was born in Aparri, Cagayan, Philippine Islands, ...

, who documented the tarsila genealogies of Sulu and Maguindanao, and has since become considered a seminal work on the genealogy of the noble houses of Manila and Tondo.

References

{{Philippines-bio-stub 1588 deaths People of Spanish colonial Philippines Tagalog people Paramilitary Filipinos

Historiography

See also

References