The King:  To my governor and captain-general, president and auditors of my royal Audiencia of the city of Manila, of the Philipinas Islands.  Don Miguel Banal has informed me—­in a letter of the fifteenth of July, six hundred and nine—­that, at the instance of the natives of the village of Aquiapo, the late archbishop of that city wrote to me that the fathers of the Society of Jesus, under pretense that the metropolitan dean of Manila sold them a piece of arable land [verta] which lies back of the said village, have appropriated it for their own lands, taking from them more than the dean granted—­to such an extent that there hardly remains room to plant their crops, or even to build their houses.  And the said Miguel Banal, who is the chief of that village, having built a house, one of the Society, called Brother “Nieto,” came into his fields, together with many blacks and Indians, with halberds and other weapons; and they demolished the house, to the great scandal of all who saw them, and without paying any attention [to the remonstrances of] the alcalde-mayor of the village.  He entreats me, for assurance of the truth, to command you to make an investigation regarding it; and in the meantime not to disturb them in their ancient possession, which they have inherited from their fathers and grandfathers.  Having examined it in my Council for the Yndias, it has appeared best to order and command you, as I do, to inform me of what has occurred in this matter, and is occurring, and in the meantime to take such measures as are expedient.  Madrid, on the seventh of December of one thousand six hundred and ten.

I The King

Countersigned by Juan Ruiz de Contreras. 
Signed by the Council.

DOCUMENTS OF 1611

    Foundation of the college of Santo Tomas of Manila.  Bernardo de
    Santa Catalina, O.P., and others; April 28. 
    Hospital at Nueva Caceres.  Pedro Arce, O.S.A.; July 20. 
    Letters to Juan de Silva.  Felipe III; November-December. 
    Letters to the Dominican provincial.  Felipe III; December 31.

Sources:  All these documents save one are obtained from original MSS. in the Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla.  The first one is found in a pamphlet entitled Algunos documentos relativos a la Universidad de Manila (Madrid, 1892), pp. 5-20.

Translations:  The first document is translated by James A. Robertson; the remainder, by Robert W. Haight.

FOUNDATION OF THE COLLEGE OF SANTO TOMAS OF MANILA