King Philip II's encounter with a Kapampangan in 1587
mozil
Tantingco: King Philip II's encounter with a Kapampangan in 1587
By Robby Tantingco
Peanut Gallery
WE ALL know King Philip II as the king after whom the Philippines was
named. He was a staunch and ruthless defender of Catholicism; at the
height of the Spanish Inquisition against Protestants and heretics; when
a condemned man begged him for mercy, Philip reportedly replied, "If my
own son were found guilty like you, I would personally accompany him to
be burned at the stake."
He married the Catholic Queen of England, Mary Tudor, and together they
made an unsuccessful attempt to convert England back to Catholicism. He
did succeed, however, in wiping out all Protestants from Spain.
In 1587, Spain was the world's greatest superpower and King Philip II
was the most powerful monarch on Earth. Only dignitaries, ambassadors
and court officials had access to him. It was only recently that Jesuit
historians uncovered documents showing that a Filipino native actually
walked into Philip's court and spoke to him -- in Spanish. It happened
on Dec. 15, 1587. That Filipino was Martin Sancho. He was only 10 years
old. And he was a Kapampangan.
Most of all, his encounter with the King probably changed the entire
history of the Philippines.
At that time, the Philippines was the most distant colony of Spain. If
you were a Spaniard and you wanted to go to the Philippines, you had to
cross the Atlantic Ocean for seven months, make a stopover in Mexico to
recuperate, and then cross another ocean, the Pacific, for another eight
months --granted that you didn't die from sickness, pirate attack,
hurricanes, hunger and thirst, and mutiny.
In those early years of colonization, only a handful of Spanish
soldiers, clergymen and traders opted to settle in the distant colony.
Manila, at that time, was nothing more than a cluster of huts surrounded
by jungles and swamps and suspicious islanders. Many of these early
settlers, homesick and bored to death, were agitating to return to Spain.
On April 19, 1586, they held a meeting in Manila to debate the merits of
maintaining the colony under these harsh conditions. In the end, they
agreed to stay but to ask the King for better incentives. Their envoy
would be the Spanish priest Alonso Sanchez, but their secret weapon was
Martin Sancho, the frail, sickly 10-year-old from Pampanga.
Born in 1576, barely five years after the Spaniards first landed in
Manila and Pampanga, Martin Sancho had delighted the missionaries by
reciting the entire Catechism in Spanish. He was brought to Manila where
he created quite a sensation among the Spaniards. They agreed to ship
him all the way to Spain and present him before King Philip II himself,
as proof that the natives in the new colony were capable of
evangelization and could be worthy, even spectacular, vessels of
European erudition.
More significantly, the child prodigy would be presented as the best
argument to convince the monarch not to abandon the Philippines.
And so Fr. Alonso Sanchez and his protégé, Martin Sancho, left Manila in
May 1586, aboard the ship San Martin. They reached Acapulco in January
1587. After a four-month stopover in Mexico, they sailed across the
Atlantic and reached Spain in December 1587.
On December 15, barely a few days after arriving, the priest and the boy
were ushered in at the court of King Philip II. Martin Sancho was
introduced, and as the King and other dignitaries leaned forward, the
10-year-old Kapampangan with his tiny voice breathlessly recited
prayers, articles of faith, Church doctrine and the rest of the Catholic
Catechism in impeccable Spanish.
When he was ushered out of the hall amid thunderous applause, Fr. Alonso
Sanchez stepped forward to present his case for the Philippines,
confident that the King's favorable response had been secured by the
boy's performance.
Today, Martin Sancho remains unknown and unrecognized. Were it not for
his appearance in the court of Philip II, Spain would probably have left
the Philippines in 1587, not 1899, and the whole canvas of Philippine
colonial history would have been wiped out completely.
The Jesuits in the Philippines do acknowledge Martin Sancho as the first
Filipino to enter the Society of Jesus (not as an ordained priest,
though, because natives were not allowed to become priests in those
days). After his sensational appearance in the royal court, the boy was
no longer returned to his parents in the Philippines, but was raised by
Fr. Alonso in Spain. When he was 17, he was taken to Rome to join the
Jesuit novitiate.
Afterwards, he returned to Spain and lived in the province of Toledo,
finishing college in Murcia. He traveled to Mexico in 1599. By this
time, his health had been deteriorating because he had contracted
tuberculosis in the poorly heated Jesuit house in Rome.
In 1601, he finally returned to the Philippines with a group of Jesuit
missionaries headed by Gregorio Lopez, reuniting with his Kapampangan
parents whom he had left when he was only 10. Tragically, he died one
month later. He was only 25.
His story remained hidden for centuries until historian Fr. Horacio de
la Costa, SJ unearthed it. Dr. Luciano Santiago wrote about it in his
book Kapampangan Pioneers in the Philippine Church, published by the
Holy Angel University four years ago.
Jose Rizal, Juan Luna, and the Propagandists impressed Madrid with their
brilliance and patriotism in the 1800s, but the highest forum they could
reach was the Spanish Cortes. Three hundred years before them, a
10-year-old Kapampangan came within spitting distance with the King of
Spain himself, and even made the royal jaw drop.
But the amazing Martin Sancho, for all his talent and luck, was a sad,
lonely boy who was plucked out of his parents' home and spirited away
from his land of birth at the age of 10, and made to live among
strangers in a strange, cold country. The fact that he graciously shed
off his glory days and shook off his huge heartache, to become the first
Filipino Jesuit, is what makes Martin Sancho truly great.
--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
Sylvia Knörr
"mozil" <mo...@yahoo.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:45b5cad3$0$24402$8826...@free.teranews.com...
What a sad story. It seems like most outstanding Filipinos ended tragically.
tumbaga
> "mozil" <mo...@yahoo.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
> news:45b5cad3$0$24402$8826...@free.teranews.com...
>
>
>>Tuesday, January 23, 2007
>>
<isneep>
>>
>>But the amazing Martin Sancho, for all his talent and luck, was a sad,
>>lonely boy who was plucked out of his parents' home and spirited away
>>from his land of birth at the age of 10, and made to live among
>>strangers in a strange, cold country. The fact that he graciously shed
>>off his glory days and shook off his huge heartache, to become the first
>>Filipino Jesuit, is what makes Martin Sancho truly great.
>
>
>
> What a sad story. It seems like most outstanding Filipinos ended tragically.
>
>
None of the story impressed me at all, I don't see the "greatness" in this.
Finalizer
"mozil" <mo...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:45b5cad3$0$24402$8826...@free.teranews.com...
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007
|
| Tantingco: King Philip II's encounter with a Kapampangan in 1587
| By Robby Tantingco
| Peanut Gallery
|
Was there already province of Pampanga during those times? Were there
already land boundaries separating different provinces (or whatever it was
called then) to distinguish inhabitants where they came from? The person
could easily have been from any place in the islands now called the
Philippines. How did they know character's home wasn't Bulacan, Tarlac,
Rizal or some other place?
Is this another one of those regional myths invented for "bragging"
purposes?
It's seems more likely just a "pataasan ng ihi" folklore.
Sylvia Knörr
"tumbaga" <ta...@hindiginto.ito> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:12rpog6...@corp.supernews.com...
If the story is true, it means that there was an obviously very talented
boy, yet he wasn't respected for his talents, but misused as a pawn in some
Spaniards' game.
The tragedy is that he was parted from his family, had to spend his life in
a foreign country and died soon after returning home. Like so many ocw
workers.
Boracay Bill
On Jan 29, 3:52 am, "Finalizer" <finali...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> "mozil" <m...@yahoo.com> wrote in messagenews:45b5cad3$0$24402$8826...@free.teranews.com...
> | Tuesday, January 23, 2007
> |
> | Tantingco: King Philip II's encounter with a Kapampangan in 1587
> | By Robby Tantingco
> | Peanut Gallery
> |
>
> Was there already province of Pampanga during those times?
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pampanga, the province of
Pampanga was created in 1571.
> Were there
> already land boundaries separating different provinces (or whatever it was
> called then) to distinguish inhabitants where they came from?
Then, as now, provincial boundaries were probably defined by lines on
a map.
> The person
> could easily have been from any place in the islands now called the
> Philippines. How did they know character's home wasn't Bulacan, Tarlac,
> Rizal or some other place?
The Jesuits probably asked him where he was born. If he did "enter"
the Society of Jesus (as the story says) or was "admitted to the
Society of Jesus in 1593 as a lay brother" as http://www.geocities.com/
Athens/Academy/4059/famous1.html says, records showing that info
probably still exist.
> Is this another one of those regional myths invented for "bragging"
> purposes?
It seems to be fairly widely accepted.
See http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/4059/famous1.html
and http://www.inquirer.net/reg/2004/feb/25/reg_9-1.htm
and http://flickr.com/groups/santos_images_of_faith/discuss/
72157594246735395/
and http://maxpages.com/pampanga/erniet32
and probably other sources
tumbaga
That is how it always go. Talent begat nothing, but a memory.
tumbaga
It didn't take long to establish provinces, it was divided by Legazpi
and his men by encomiendas.
Anyway, Pampanga existed even before the arrival of Spaniards, Cavite,
Cebu and Ilokos were all based on native names for the places.
Hejtman - Slobo - Varman
a pity, this little filipino boy to Spain could not retain his
filipino native name like Targalo .