Today in Philippine History (Philatelic Edition Series 3):
AUGUST 20, 1572
Miguel Lopez de Legazpi (June 12, 1502 - August 20, 1572), died of heart of attack in Manila on August 20, 1572.
Also known as El Adelantado, he was the first Spanish governor-general of the Philippines. He was laid to rest in San Agustin Church, Intramuros, Manila. Spaniards and Filipinos mourned his death.
The title “adelantado” was given by a Spanish monarch to a conquistador who successfully conquered and colonized a new territory for Spain, at his own partial expense. Legazpi is credited for the successful conquest and colonization of the Philippines.
He was born in Zumarraga, Guipuzcoa province, Spain on June 12, 1502. His parents were Don Juan Martinez Lopez de Legazpi, a military captain and town mayor, and Doña Elvira de Gurruchategui. He finished law and military science.
In his early manhood, he left for Mexico and became rich by marrying the wealthy Isabel Garces, by whom he had nine children.
In 1521, Ferdinand Magellan discovered the Philippines but he was not able to establish European settlements owing to his death in Mactan. Luis de Velasco, the viceroy of New Spain, ordered Legazpi to claim it in 1564.
He left Acapulco with five ships and arrived in Cebu in April 1565, and founded the first Spanish settlement. He made Cebu City the capital of the Spanish East Indies in 1565.
Miguel Lopez de Legazpi established the City of Manila in 1571 and made it the capital of the new Spanish colony and Spain’s major trading port in East Asia.
(Design, concept, stamps and research: Richard Allan B. Uy) All rights reserved
Photo credit: wikimapa
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