council of the indies was the capital of the spanish empire's east indies.
council of the indies was the capital of the spanish empire's east indies.
what was the capital of the spanish empire's east indies?
council of the indies
spanish colonization began in earnest when lópez de legazpi arrived from mexico in 1565 and formed the first settlements in cebu. beginning with just five ships and five hundred men accompanied by augustinian friars, and further strengthened in 1567 by two hundred soldiers, he was able to repel the portuguese and create the foundations for the colonization of the archipelago. in 1571, the spanish, their mexican recruits and their filipino (visayan) allies attacked and occupied maynila, a vassal-state of the sultanate of brunei, and negotiated the incorporation of the kingdom of tondo which was liberated from the bruneian sultanate's control and of whom, their princess, gandarapa, had a tragic romance with the mexican-born conquistador and grandson of miguel lopez de legazpi, juan de salcedo. the combined spanish-mexican-filipino forces also built a christian walled city over the burnt ruins of muslim maynila and made it as the new capital of the spanish east indies and renamed it manila. spaniards were few and life was difficult and they were often outnumbered by their latino recruits and filipino allies. they attempted to mobilize subordinated populations through the encomienda. unlike in the caribbean where the indigenous populations rapidly disappeared, the indigenous populations continued to be robust in the philippines. one spaniard described the climate as "cuarto meses de polvo, cuartro meses de lodo, y cuartro meses de todo" (four months of dust, four months of mud, and four months of everything).
spanish empire
spanish east indies









































the spanish east indies were the colonies of the spanish empire in asia and oceania from 1565 until 1899. at one time or another, they included the philippines, marianas, carolines, palaos and guam, as well as parts of formosa (taiwan), sulawesi (celebes) and the moluccas (maluku). the king of spain traditionally styled himself "king of the east and west indies".
spanish east indies