Principalia
Encyclopedia
The Principalía or noble class was the ruling and, usually, the educated upper class in the towns of colonial Philippines
, composed of the Gobernadorcillo
(who had funcstions similar to a Town Mayor), and the Cabezas de Barangay
(Chiefs of the Barangays) who governed the districts. The distinction or status of being part of the Principalía is a heriditary right. But it could be acquired also, as attested by the Royal Decree of December 20, 1863 (signed in the name of Queen Isabel II of Spain by the Minister of the Colonies, José de la Concha).
This distinguished upper class was exempted from tribute (tax) to the Spanish Crown during the colonial period. It was the town’s aristocracy
, which could be roughly comparable to the Patrician class of Ancient Rome. The Principales (members of the Principalía) traced their origin from the pre-colonial royal and noble class of Datu
of the established Kingdoms, Rajahnates, Confederacies, and Principalities, as well as of the smaller ancient social units (Barangay
s) in Visayas
, Luzon
, and Mindanao
. The members of this class enjoyed exclusive privileges: only the members of the Principalía were allowed to vote, be elected to public office, and be addressed by the title: Don
or Doña
.
For most part, the social privileges of the nobles were freely acknowledged as befitting their greater social responsibilities. The Gobernadorcillo during that period, received a nominal salary and was not provided government funds for public services. But more often, this Gobernadorcillo had to maintain the government of his municipality by looking after the post office and the jail house, and by taking care of the construction and repair services of public infrastructure and buildings.
The Principales also provided assistance to the Parishes of the Church, by helping in the construction of Church buildings, and in the pastoral and religious activities of the Priest, who was usually the only Spaniard in most towns in the Colony. (The Clergy were often the sole representatives of Spain in many parts of the Archipelgo. Under the Patronato Real of the Spanish Crown, these Spanish Churchmen were also the King's effective ambassadors, and promoters of the realm).
With the end of the Spanish rule in the Philippines and with the change of the form of government from monarchy to democracy (under the United States of America), the Principalía and their descendants lost their legal powers and social privileges.
and co-opted the traditional Indigenous princes and their nobles, thereby ruling indirectly. The barangays in some coastal places in Panay, Manila, Cebu, Jolo, and Butuan, with cosmopolitan cultures and trade relations with other Countries in Asia, were already established Principalities before the coming of the Spaniards. In some regions, even though the majority of these barangay
s were not large settlements, yet they had organized societies dominated by the same type of recognized aristocracy, Lordships (with birthright claim to allegiance from followers), as those found in established Principalities. The aristocratic group in these pre-colonial societies was called the Datu
Class. Its members were presumably the descendants of the first settlers on the land or, in the case of later arrivals, of those who were Datu
s at the time of migration or conquest.
The duty of the Datus was to rule and govern their subjects and followers, and to assist them in their interests and necessities. What
the chiefs received from their followers was: to be held by them in great veneration and respect; and they were served in their wars and
voyages, and in their tilling, sowing, fishing, and the building of their houses. To these duties the natives attended very promptly,
whenever summoned by their Chief. They also paid their Chief tribute (which they called buwis), in varying quantities, in the crops that
they gathered. The descendants of such Chiefs, and their relatives, even though they did not inherit the Lordship, were held in the
same respect and consideration, and were all regarded as nobles and as persons exempt from the services rendered by the others, or the plebeians (timawas). The same right of nobility and chieftainship was preserved for the women, just as for the men.
Some of these Principalities and Lordships have remained, even until the present, in unhispanized and mostly Lumad
and Muslim
parts of the Philippines, in some regions of Mindanao.
Class was at the top of a divinely sanctioned and stable social order in a "Sakop" (elsewhere referred to as Barangay). This social order was divided into three classes. The members of the Datu Class were compared by the Boxer Codex
to the titled Lords (Señores de titulo) in Spain. As Agalon or Amo (Lord
s), the Datus enjoyed an ascribed right to respect, obedience, and support from their "Oripun" (Commoner) or followers belonging to the Third Order. These Datus had acquired rights to the same advantages from their legal "Timawa" or vassals (Second Order), who bind themselves to the Datu as his seafaring warriors. "Timawa
s" paid no tribute, and rendered no agricultural labor. They had a portion of the Datu's blood in their veins. The above-mentioned Boxer Codex
calls these "Timawa
s": Knight
s and Hidalgo
s. The Spanish conquistador, Miguel de Loarca, described them as "free men, neither chiefs nor slaves". In the late 1600s, the Spanish Jesuit priest Fr. Francisco Ignatio Alcina, classified them as the third rank of nobility (nobleza).
To maintain purity of bloodline, Datus marry only among their kind, often seeking high ranking brides in other Barangays, abducting them, or contracting brideprices in gold, slaves and jewelry. Meanwhile, the Datu
s keep their marriageable daughters secluded for protection and prestige. These well-guarded and protected highborn women were called "Binokot", and the Datu
s of pure descent (four generations) were called "Potli nga Datu" or "Lubus nga Datu".
The more complex social structure of the Tagalogs was less stable during the arrival of the Spaniards because it was still in a process of differentiating. A Jesuit priest Francisco Colin made an attempt to give an approximate comparison of it with the Visayan social structure in the middle of the seventeenth century. The term Datu
or Lakan
, or Apo refers to the chief, but the noble class to which the Datu belonged or could come from was the Maginoo Class. One maybe born a Maginoo, but he could become a Datu
by personal achievement. In the Visayas, if the Datu had the personality and economic means, he could retain and restrain competing peers, relatives, and offspring.
The term Timawa came into use in the social structure of the Tagalogs within just twenty years after the coming of the Spaniards. The term, however, was being applied to former Alipin
(Third Class) who have escaped bondage by payment, favor, or flight. The Tagalog Timawas did not have the military prominence of the Visayan Timawa
. The warrior class in the Tagalog society was present only in Laguna, and they were called the Maharlika
Class. At the early part of the Spanish regime, the number of their members who were coming to rent land from their Datus was increasing.
Unlike the Visayan Datus, the Lakans and Apos of Luzon could call all non-Maginoo subjects to work in the Datu’s fields or do all sorts of other personal labor. In the Visayas, only the Oripuns were obliged to do that, and to pay tribute besides. The Tagalog who works in the Datu’s field did not pay him tribute, and could transfer their allegiance to another Datu.
The Visayan Timawa neither paid tribute nor performed agricultural labor. In a sense, they were truly aristocrats. The Tagalog Maharlika did not only work in his Datu’s field, but could also be required to pay his own rent. Thus, all non-Maginoo formed a common economic class in some sense, though this class had no designation.
To implement a system of indirect rule in the Philippines, King Philip II of Spain
ordered, through a law signed on 11 June 1594, that the honors and privileges of governing, which were previously enjoyed by the local royalties and nobilities in formerly sovereign principalities (who later accepted the Catholic faith and became subject to him), should be retained and protected. He also ordered the Spanish Governors in the Philippines to treat these native nobles well. The King further ordered that the natives should pay to these nobles the same respect that the inhabitants accorded to their local Lords before the conquest, without prejudice to the things that pertain to the king himself or to the encomenderos (trusteeship leaders). The royal decree says: “It is not right that the Indian Chiefs of the Philippines be in a worse condition after conversion; rather they should have such treatment that would gain their affection and keep them loyal, so that with the spiritual blessings that God has communicated to them by calling them to his true knowledge, the temporal blessings may be added, and they may live contentedly and comfortably. Therefore, we order the governors of those islands to show them good treatment and entrust them, in our name, with the government of the Indians, of whom they were formerly Lords. In all else the governors shall see that the Chiefs are benefited justly, and the Indians shall pay them something as a recognition, as they did during the period of their paganism, provided it be without prejudice to the tributes that are to be paid us, or prejudicial to that which pertains to their Encomenderos.”
Through this law, the local Filipino nobles became encomenderos (trustees) also of the King of Spain, who ruled the Country indirectly through these nobles, under the supervision of the Spanish colonial officials. This system of indirect government helped in the pacification of the rural areas, and had institutionalized the role of an upper class, referred to as the "Principalía" or the "Principales", until the fall of the Spanish regime in the Philippines in 1898.
The Spanish dominion brought serious modifications to the life and economy of the indigenous society. The shift of emphasis to agriculture marginalized, weakened, and deprived the hildalgo-like warriors of their significance in the Barangay, especially in the trade-raiding societies in the Visayas (which needed the Viking-like services of the "Timawas"). By the 1580s, many of these noblemen found themselves reduced to leasing land from their Datus. Their military functions were eclipsed by farming. Whatever remained would quickly be disoriented, deflected, and destroyed by the superior military power of Spain.
By the end of the 16th century, any claim to Filipino royalty
, nobility
, or hidalguía
had disappeared into a homogenized, hispanized and Christianized nobility - the Principalía. The Principalía was larger and more influential than the pre-conquest Indigenous
nobility
. It helped create and perpetuate an oligarchic
system in the Spanish colony for more than three hundred years. The Spanish colonial government's prohibition for foreigners to own land in the Philippines contributed to the evolution of this form of oligarchy. In some provinces of the Philippines, many Spaniards and foreign merchants intermarried with the rich and landed Malayo-Polynesian local nobilities. From these unions, a new cultural group was formed, the Mestizo
class. Their descendants emerged later to became an influential part of the government, and the Principalía.
.
, a Philippine headdress
commonly used in the Archipelago since the pre-colonial period. Instead of the usual headgear made of Rattan
or Reeds
or various shells such as Capiz shells, which common Filipinos would wear, the Principales would use more precious materials like tortoise shell and precious metals like silver or, at times, gold. The ornate Salakots of this upper class were usually embossed with these precious metals and sometimes decorated with coins of value or pendants that hang around the rim of the headgear.
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, composed of the Gobernadorcillo
Gobernadorcillo
The Gobernadorcillo was a municipal judge or governor in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period, who carried out in a town the combined charge or responsibility of leadership, economic, and judicial administration. The Gobernadorcillo was the leader of a town or pueblo . In a coastal...
(who had funcstions similar to a Town Mayor), and the Cabezas de Barangay
Cabeza de Barangay
The Cabeza de Barangay was the leader or chief of a barangay in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period. The post was inherited from the first datus who became cabezas de barangay when the many independent barangays fell under the rule of the Spanish Crown...
(Chiefs of the Barangays) who governed the districts. The distinction or status of being part of the Principalía is a heriditary right. But it could be acquired also, as attested by the Royal Decree of December 20, 1863 (signed in the name of Queen Isabel II of Spain by the Minister of the Colonies, José de la Concha).
This distinguished upper class was exempted from tribute (tax) to the Spanish Crown during the colonial period. It was the town’s aristocracy
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
, which could be roughly comparable to the Patrician class of Ancient Rome. The Principales (members of the Principalía) traced their origin from the pre-colonial royal and noble class of Datu
Datu
Datu is the title for tribal chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs in the Visayas and Mindanao Regions of the Philippines. Together with Lakan , Apo in Central and Northern Luzon, Sultan and Rajah, they are titles used for native royalty, and are still currently used in the Philippines...
of the established Kingdoms, Rajahnates, Confederacies, and Principalities, as well as of the smaller ancient social units (Barangay
Barangay
A barangay is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district or ward...
s) in Visayas
Visayas
The Visayas or Visayan Islands and locally known as Kabisay-an gid, is one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Mindanao and Luzon. It consists of several islands, primarily surrounding the Visayan Sea, although the Visayas are considered the northeast...
, Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
, and Mindanao
Mindanao
Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The...
. The members of this class enjoyed exclusive privileges: only the members of the Principalía were allowed to vote, be elected to public office, and be addressed by the title: Don
Don (honorific)
Don, from Latin dominus, is an honorific in Spanish , Portuguese , and Italian . The female equivalent is Doña , Dona , and Donna , abbreviated "Dª" or simply "D."-Usage:...
or Doña
Don (honorific)
Don, from Latin dominus, is an honorific in Spanish , Portuguese , and Italian . The female equivalent is Doña , Dona , and Donna , abbreviated "Dª" or simply "D."-Usage:...
.
For most part, the social privileges of the nobles were freely acknowledged as befitting their greater social responsibilities. The Gobernadorcillo during that period, received a nominal salary and was not provided government funds for public services. But more often, this Gobernadorcillo had to maintain the government of his municipality by looking after the post office and the jail house, and by taking care of the construction and repair services of public infrastructure and buildings.
The Principales also provided assistance to the Parishes of the Church, by helping in the construction of Church buildings, and in the pastoral and religious activities of the Priest, who was usually the only Spaniard in most towns in the Colony. (The Clergy were often the sole representatives of Spain in many parts of the Archipelgo. Under the Patronato Real of the Spanish Crown, these Spanish Churchmen were also the King's effective ambassadors, and promoters of the realm).
With the end of the Spanish rule in the Philippines and with the change of the form of government from monarchy to democracy (under the United States of America), the Principalía and their descendants lost their legal powers and social privileges.
Pre-colonial Principalities
From the beginning of the colonial period in the Philippine, the Spanish government built on traditional pre-conquest socio-political organization of the barangayBarangay
A barangay is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district or ward...
and co-opted the traditional Indigenous princes and their nobles, thereby ruling indirectly. The barangays in some coastal places in Panay, Manila, Cebu, Jolo, and Butuan, with cosmopolitan cultures and trade relations with other Countries in Asia, were already established Principalities before the coming of the Spaniards. In some regions, even though the majority of these barangay
Barangay
A barangay is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district or ward...
s were not large settlements, yet they had organized societies dominated by the same type of recognized aristocracy, Lordships (with birthright claim to allegiance from followers), as those found in established Principalities. The aristocratic group in these pre-colonial societies was called the Datu
Datu
Datu is the title for tribal chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs in the Visayas and Mindanao Regions of the Philippines. Together with Lakan , Apo in Central and Northern Luzon, Sultan and Rajah, they are titles used for native royalty, and are still currently used in the Philippines...
Class. Its members were presumably the descendants of the first settlers on the land or, in the case of later arrivals, of those who were Datu
Datu
Datu is the title for tribal chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs in the Visayas and Mindanao Regions of the Philippines. Together with Lakan , Apo in Central and Northern Luzon, Sultan and Rajah, they are titles used for native royalty, and are still currently used in the Philippines...
s at the time of migration or conquest.
The duty of the Datus was to rule and govern their subjects and followers, and to assist them in their interests and necessities. What
the chiefs received from their followers was: to be held by them in great veneration and respect; and they were served in their wars and
voyages, and in their tilling, sowing, fishing, and the building of their houses. To these duties the natives attended very promptly,
whenever summoned by their Chief. They also paid their Chief tribute (which they called buwis), in varying quantities, in the crops that
they gathered. The descendants of such Chiefs, and their relatives, even though they did not inherit the Lordship, were held in the
same respect and consideration, and were all regarded as nobles and as persons exempt from the services rendered by the others, or the plebeians (timawas). The same right of nobility and chieftainship was preserved for the women, just as for the men.
Some of these Principalities and Lordships have remained, even until the present, in unhispanized and mostly Lumad
Lumad
The Lumad is a term being used to denote a group of indigenous peoples of the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous"...
and Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
parts of the Philippines, in some regions of Mindanao.
Pre-colonial Principalities in the Visayas
In more developed Barangays in Visayas, e.g., Panay, Bohol and Cebu (which were never conquered by Spain but were accomplished as vassals by means of pacts, peace treaties, and reciprocal alliances), the DatuDatu
Datu is the title for tribal chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs in the Visayas and Mindanao Regions of the Philippines. Together with Lakan , Apo in Central and Northern Luzon, Sultan and Rajah, they are titles used for native royalty, and are still currently used in the Philippines...
Class was at the top of a divinely sanctioned and stable social order in a "Sakop" (elsewhere referred to as Barangay). This social order was divided into three classes. The members of the Datu Class were compared by the Boxer Codex
Boxer Codex
The Boxer Codex is a manuscript written circa 1595 which contains illustrations of Filipinos at the time of their initial contact with the Spanish. Aside from a description of and historical allusions to the Philippines and various other Far Eastern countries, it also contains seventy-five colored...
to the titled Lords (Señores de titulo) in Spain. As Agalon or Amo (Lord
Lord
Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
s), the Datus enjoyed an ascribed right to respect, obedience, and support from their "Oripun" (Commoner) or followers belonging to the Third Order. These Datus had acquired rights to the same advantages from their legal "Timawa" or vassals (Second Order), who bind themselves to the Datu as his seafaring warriors. "Timawa
Timawa
The term timawa refers to an intermediate social class among the various cultures of the Philippines before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th and 17th centuries....
s" paid no tribute, and rendered no agricultural labor. They had a portion of the Datu's blood in their veins. The above-mentioned Boxer Codex
Boxer Codex
The Boxer Codex is a manuscript written circa 1595 which contains illustrations of Filipinos at the time of their initial contact with the Spanish. Aside from a description of and historical allusions to the Philippines and various other Far Eastern countries, it also contains seventy-five colored...
calls these "Timawa
Timawa
The term timawa refers to an intermediate social class among the various cultures of the Philippines before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th and 17th centuries....
s": Knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
s and Hidalgo
Hidalgo
Hidalgo officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Hidalgo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 84 municipalities and its capital city is Pachuca de Soto....
s. The Spanish conquistador, Miguel de Loarca, described them as "free men, neither chiefs nor slaves". In the late 1600s, the Spanish Jesuit priest Fr. Francisco Ignatio Alcina, classified them as the third rank of nobility (nobleza).
To maintain purity of bloodline, Datus marry only among their kind, often seeking high ranking brides in other Barangays, abducting them, or contracting brideprices in gold, slaves and jewelry. Meanwhile, the Datu
Datu
Datu is the title for tribal chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs in the Visayas and Mindanao Regions of the Philippines. Together with Lakan , Apo in Central and Northern Luzon, Sultan and Rajah, they are titles used for native royalty, and are still currently used in the Philippines...
s keep their marriageable daughters secluded for protection and prestige. These well-guarded and protected highborn women were called "Binokot", and the Datu
Datu
Datu is the title for tribal chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs in the Visayas and Mindanao Regions of the Philippines. Together with Lakan , Apo in Central and Northern Luzon, Sultan and Rajah, they are titles used for native royalty, and are still currently used in the Philippines...
s of pure descent (four generations) were called "Potli nga Datu" or "Lubus nga Datu".
Pre-colonial Principalities in the Tagalog Region
The different type of culture prevalent in Luzon gave a less stable and more complex social structure to the pre-colonial Tagalog barangays of Manila, Pampanga and Laguna. Enjoying a more extensive commence than those in Visayas, having the influence of Bornean political contacts, and engaging in farming wet rice for a living, the Tagalogs were described by the Spanish Augustinian Friar Martin de Rada as more traders than warriors.The more complex social structure of the Tagalogs was less stable during the arrival of the Spaniards because it was still in a process of differentiating. A Jesuit priest Francisco Colin made an attempt to give an approximate comparison of it with the Visayan social structure in the middle of the seventeenth century. The term Datu
Datu
Datu is the title for tribal chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs in the Visayas and Mindanao Regions of the Philippines. Together with Lakan , Apo in Central and Northern Luzon, Sultan and Rajah, they are titles used for native royalty, and are still currently used in the Philippines...
or Lakan
Lakan
Lakan originally referred to a rank in the pre-Hispanic Filipino nobility in the island of Luzon, which means "paramount ruler." It has been suggested that this rank is equivalent to that of Rajah, and that different ethnic groups either used one term or the other, or used the two words...
, or Apo refers to the chief, but the noble class to which the Datu belonged or could come from was the Maginoo Class. One maybe born a Maginoo, but he could become a Datu
Datu
Datu is the title for tribal chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs in the Visayas and Mindanao Regions of the Philippines. Together with Lakan , Apo in Central and Northern Luzon, Sultan and Rajah, they are titles used for native royalty, and are still currently used in the Philippines...
by personal achievement. In the Visayas, if the Datu had the personality and economic means, he could retain and restrain competing peers, relatives, and offspring.
The term Timawa came into use in the social structure of the Tagalogs within just twenty years after the coming of the Spaniards. The term, however, was being applied to former Alipin
Alipin
The term alipin refers to the lowest social class among the various cultures of the Philippines before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th and 17th centuries. The closest and most common translation of the word is "servant" or "slave", as opposed to the higher classes of the Timawa and the...
(Third Class) who have escaped bondage by payment, favor, or flight. The Tagalog Timawas did not have the military prominence of the Visayan Timawa
Timawa
The term timawa refers to an intermediate social class among the various cultures of the Philippines before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th and 17th centuries....
. The warrior class in the Tagalog society was present only in Laguna, and they were called the Maharlika
Maharlika
Maharlika is a Filipino term meaning “nobility” or “aristocracy”. Its etymology is rooted from the Sanskrit maharddhika which means “a man of wealth, knowledge, and ability”...
Class. At the early part of the Spanish regime, the number of their members who were coming to rent land from their Datus was increasing.
Unlike the Visayan Datus, the Lakans and Apos of Luzon could call all non-Maginoo subjects to work in the Datu’s fields or do all sorts of other personal labor. In the Visayas, only the Oripuns were obliged to do that, and to pay tribute besides. The Tagalog who works in the Datu’s field did not pay him tribute, and could transfer their allegiance to another Datu.
The Visayan Timawa neither paid tribute nor performed agricultural labor. In a sense, they were truly aristocrats. The Tagalog Maharlika did not only work in his Datu’s field, but could also be required to pay his own rent. Thus, all non-Maginoo formed a common economic class in some sense, though this class had no designation.
The Noble Class during the Spanish Dominion
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
ordered, through a law signed on 11 June 1594, that the honors and privileges of governing, which were previously enjoyed by the local royalties and nobilities in formerly sovereign principalities (who later accepted the Catholic faith and became subject to him), should be retained and protected. He also ordered the Spanish Governors in the Philippines to treat these native nobles well. The King further ordered that the natives should pay to these nobles the same respect that the inhabitants accorded to their local Lords before the conquest, without prejudice to the things that pertain to the king himself or to the encomenderos (trusteeship leaders). The royal decree says: “It is not right that the Indian Chiefs of the Philippines be in a worse condition after conversion; rather they should have such treatment that would gain their affection and keep them loyal, so that with the spiritual blessings that God has communicated to them by calling them to his true knowledge, the temporal blessings may be added, and they may live contentedly and comfortably. Therefore, we order the governors of those islands to show them good treatment and entrust them, in our name, with the government of the Indians, of whom they were formerly Lords. In all else the governors shall see that the Chiefs are benefited justly, and the Indians shall pay them something as a recognition, as they did during the period of their paganism, provided it be without prejudice to the tributes that are to be paid us, or prejudicial to that which pertains to their Encomenderos.”
Through this law, the local Filipino nobles became encomenderos (trustees) also of the King of Spain, who ruled the Country indirectly through these nobles, under the supervision of the Spanish colonial officials. This system of indirect government helped in the pacification of the rural areas, and had institutionalized the role of an upper class, referred to as the "Principalía" or the "Principales", until the fall of the Spanish regime in the Philippines in 1898.
The Spanish dominion brought serious modifications to the life and economy of the indigenous society. The shift of emphasis to agriculture marginalized, weakened, and deprived the hildalgo-like warriors of their significance in the Barangay, especially in the trade-raiding societies in the Visayas (which needed the Viking-like services of the "Timawas"). By the 1580s, many of these noblemen found themselves reduced to leasing land from their Datus. Their military functions were eclipsed by farming. Whatever remained would quickly be disoriented, deflected, and destroyed by the superior military power of Spain.
By the end of the 16th century, any claim to Filipino royalty
Royalty
Royalty may refer to:* Royal family , or one or more of its members* Royalties, the payment made for a concession of commercial value Royalty may refer to:* Royal family (by extension the ruling house of any monarchy, regardless of the title), or one or more of its members* Royalties, the payment...
, nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
, or hidalguía
Hidalgo
Hidalgo officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Hidalgo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 84 municipalities and its capital city is Pachuca de Soto....
had disappeared into a homogenized, hispanized and Christianized nobility - the Principalía. The Principalía was larger and more influential than the pre-conquest Indigenous
Indigenous peoples of the Philippines
The indigenous peoples of the Philippines consist of a large number of indigenous ethnic groups living in the country. They are the descendants of the original inhabitants of the Philippines who have managed to resist centuries of Spanish and United States colonization and in the process have...
nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
. It helped create and perpetuate an oligarchic
Oligarchy
Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...
system in the Spanish colony for more than three hundred years. The Spanish colonial government's prohibition for foreigners to own land in the Philippines contributed to the evolution of this form of oligarchy. In some provinces of the Philippines, many Spaniards and foreign merchants intermarried with the rich and landed Malayo-Polynesian local nobilities. From these unions, a new cultural group was formed, the Mestizo
Mestizo
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
class. Their descendants emerged later to became an influential part of the government, and the Principalía.
.
Certain class symbols
At the later part of the Spanish period, this class of elite Christian landowners started to wear a distinctive type of SalakotSalakot
The salakot is a traditional wide-brimmed hat in the Philippines. It is usually made of either rattan or reeds. It is one of the traditional hats worn by Filipinos besides the conical Asian hat which is worn widely in East Asia and other Southeast Asian countries.An ancient tradition recounts that...
, a Philippine headdress
Headgear
Headgear, headwear or headdress is the name given to any element of clothing which is worn on one's head.Headgear serve a variety of purposes:...
commonly used in the Archipelago since the pre-colonial period. Instead of the usual headgear made of Rattan
Rattan
Rattan is the name for the roughly 600 species of palms in the tribe Calameae, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Australasia.- Structure :...
or Reeds
Phragmites
Phragmites, the Common reed, is a large perennial grass found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Phragmites australis is sometimes regarded as the sole species of the genus Phragmites, though some botanists divide Phragmites australis into three or four species...
or various shells such as Capiz shells, which common Filipinos would wear, the Principales would use more precious materials like tortoise shell and precious metals like silver or, at times, gold. The ornate Salakots of this upper class were usually embossed with these precious metals and sometimes decorated with coins of value or pendants that hang around the rim of the headgear.
See also
- NobilityNobilityNobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
- DatuDatuDatu is the title for tribal chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs in the Visayas and Mindanao Regions of the Philippines. Together with Lakan , Apo in Central and Northern Luzon, Sultan and Rajah, they are titles used for native royalty, and are still currently used in the Philippines...
- Don (honorific)Don (honorific)Don, from Latin dominus, is an honorific in Spanish , Portuguese , and Italian . The female equivalent is Doña , Dona , and Donna , abbreviated "Dª" or simply "D."-Usage:...
- Confederation of Madya-asConfederation of Madya-asThe Confederation of Madya-as was a pre-Hispanic Philippine state within the Visayas island region. It was established in the 13th century by rebel datus , led by Datu Puti, who had fled from Rajah Makatunao of Borneo...
- MaragtasMaragtasThe Maragtas is a work by Pedro Alcantara Monteclaro titled History of Panay from the first inhabitants and the Bornean immigrants, from which they descended, to the arrival of the Spaniards. The work is in mixed Hiligaynon and Kinaray-a languages in Iloilo in 1907...
- Kingdom of MaynilaKingdom of MaynilaThe Kingdom of Seludong , or Maynila, which after colonization became Manila, capital of the Philippines, was one of three major city-states that dominated the area around the upper portion of the Pasig River before the arrival of Spanish colonizers in the 16th century.The early inhabitants of the...
- Kingdom of NamayanKingdom of NamayanThe ancient Kingdom of Namayan, alternately referred to as the Kingdom of Sapa, Maysapan or Nasapan after its capital which goes by those names, was one of three major kingdoms that dominated the area around the upper portion of the Pasig River and the coast of Laguna Lake in the Philippines before...
- Kingdom of Tondo
- Kingdom of ButuanKingdom of ButuanThe Kingdom of Butuan was an ancient Indianized kingdom in pre-colonial southern Philippines centered on the present Mindanao island city of Butuan. It was known for its mining of gold, its gold products and its extensive trade network across the Nusantara area...
- Rajahnate of CebuRajahnate of CebuRajahante of Cebu was a classical Philippine state which used to exist on Cebu island prior to the arrival of the Spanish. It was founded by Sri Lumay or Rajamuda Lumaya, a minor prince of the Chola dynasty which occupied Sumatra...
- Sultanate of Maguindanao
- Sultanate of Sulu
- Confederation of Sultanates in LanaoConfederation of Sultanates in LanaoThe Sultanates of Lanao in Mindanao, Philippines were founded in the 16th century through the influence of Shariff Kabungsuan, who was enthroned as first Sultan of Maguindanao in 1520...
Cross References
- Regalado Trota Jose, The Many Images of Christ (particularly in the section: Spain retains the old class system) in Kasaysayan: The Story of the Filipino People, Jose S. Arcilla, ed, Philippines: Asia Publishing Company, Limited, 1998, Vol. III, pp. 178–179.
- Alfredo R. Roces, et al., eds., The Ruling Class in Filipino Heritage: The Making of a Nation, Philippines: Lahing Pilipino Publishing, Inc., 1978, Vol. V, pp. 1155–1158.