Royal Communications to Legazpi Regarding the Ladrones, Dated 1568 and 1569

Levesque, Rodrigue (1992). "Royal Communications to Legazpi Regarding the Ladrones, Dated 1568 and 1569". History of Micronesia: A Collection of Source Documents. Volume 2, Prelude to Conquest, 1561-1595. Gatineau, Quebec: Éditions Lévesque. pp. 398–410. ISBN 0-920201-02-4.

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Abstract: Royal letters to Miguel López de Legazpi acknowledging his reports from the Philippines and commending his policy of avoiding war while attracting natives through peaceful means. The King grants permission to enslave Moros who come by birth and nation to spread Islam or make war, but forbids enslaving Indians who have adopted that faith, urging instead their conversion. He orders reports on local practices of slavery among the natives, and demands that Portuguese or other foreigners with the expedition be sent back to Spain. In 1569 Legazpi is formally granted the title of Governor and Captain General of the Ladrones (”Mariana Islands”) with authority to colonize them at his own cost, followed by the hereditary title of adelantado of those islands.