HOM.08

Last Chamorro Revolt, 1683-1687, is the eighth volume of the History of Micronesia: A Collection of Source Documents (HOM), compiled and edited by Rodrique Levesque.

Download

The History of Micronesia: A Collection of Source Documents, Volume 8, Last Chamorro Revolt

The History of Micronesia: A Collection of Source Documents was complied, edited and published by Rod Levesque from 1992 to 2002. Copyrights were obtained by the Habele Outer Island Education Fund, a US nonprofit, in 2022, which digitized the content to facilitate noncommercial access to, and use of, the twenty-volume series. The PDF file for HOM.08 is roughly 65MB.

Levesque's Summary

Volume 8 contains 82 chapters totalling 141 documents mostly covering the activities of the Spanish colony in the Mariana Islands and their relationship with the rebellious natives. The last Chamorro revolt took place in 1684, and it was almost successful. At last, the many reports ever written about this revolt have been collected, translated, and appear in one volume; they include the eulogies of the dead missionaries.

The passage of English pirate ships was recorded in 1685 (Captains Eaton & Cowley) and in 1686 (Captains Swan & Dampier). What the Spanish said about them is printed here for the first time. There are the usual royal decrees, annual reports, and other Jesuit correspondence, including eulogies of the last martyrs killed in the Marianas, notably the Belgian Father Coomans, killed in Saipan in 1685

—List of the 19 illustrations, including maps and a special reconstruction of Fort Santa Guadalupe in Guam, and a foreword that summarizes the events of the period.

—The first stone fort built by Europeans in Micronesia was built by Governor Saravia in 1682-83.

—Many documents in this volume (and the next) are extracts from catalogs of the Maggs Bro¬thers, sellers of rare books and authographs in London, England. They came from the private archives of the Duchess of Aveiro, and the manuscripts themselves are now in private collections, most of them in unknown locations.

—A second parish was founded at Agusan, on Rota Island. An expedition to conquer Saipan in 1682 failed as Fr. Solorzano was prevented from landing there. However, two years later, Major Quiroga successfully conquered the Island. He also salvaged most of the guns from the shipwreck site of the galleon Concepcion.

—The first direct voyage of the Mariana sloop, or frigate, from Manila to Guam, took place in 1683.

—The native Chiefs Hineti and Ayihi figured prominently in the defence of Spanish interests, and were thus recommended to the King of Spain for rewards. Ayihi was later granted an important military medal.

—Father Xaramillo came to visit Guam aboard the Mariana sloop and wrote an official report to the King, in which he supports Esplana as Governor of the Marianas, against the wishes of most of the missionaries. He tried to divert toward the Caroline Islands upon his departure from Guam, but his boat could not take it.

—English buccaneers visited Guam twice, and behaved peacefully, in order to receive food supplies. In 1685, it was Captain Eaton, and in 1686 it was Captain Swan, who was accompanied by the more famous Captain William Dampier. The latter was to visit Guam two more times.

—The galleon Santa Rosa came in sight of Guam in 1686, but was warned off because of the presence of the pirates. She ran aground on Santa Rosa Bank, south of Guam. Her launch was trying to find a safe passage through shoals when it became lost because of bad weather, and drifted to Cagayan, Philippines.

—The main events of this period, however, have to do with the Revolt of 1684 that almost annihilated the Spanish colony. All the reports published about it are reproduced in this volume. The most interesting one is the confidential report by Fr. Bouwens. It gives an insight into the feelings of the survivors of the many assassinations of missionaries and soldiers, and reveals that many leaders of this revolt had been raised and educated by the Jesuits themselves. The first leader, Antonio Yura, had even visited Manila and Mexico.

—The causes of the 1684 revolt were the slack administration of Governor Esplana and the lack of training and discipline of his troops. Major Quiroga saved the day, and was effectively aided by Chiefs Hineti and Ayihi. The latter was in the Gani Islands north of Saipan with Fr. Coomans, and he saved his life, for a time.

— Both the Spanish and the native camps made use of psychological warfare. Esplana tried to use chemical warfare (by poisoning some wells), but he was admonished by the missionaries.

Publication Details

Lévesque Rodrigue. History of Micronesia : A Collection of Source Documents. Vol. 8 Last Chamorro Revolt: 1683-1687. Gatineau Québec: Lévesque Publications; 1996.

ISBN-10: 0920201083

ISBN-13: 978-0920201084

LCC: DU500 .H58 2000

HOM.08

Contents

Download

Levesque's Summary

Table of Contents

Publication Details