Some Ideological Aspects of the Conquest of the Philippines
THE Spanish overseas empire was not won in a fit of absent-mindedness nor was it developed in a mood of salutary neglect. It was won with a conscience as well as with a sword. Some disagreement has recently been expressed as to whether the ideas of Francisco de Vitoria, prima professor of theology at the University of Salamanca at the time of his death in 1546, exercised any appreciable influence on the actual development of events and ideas in the New World. One thing is beyond contention. Vitoria’s thought had a decisive impact on the Philippines. The ideological controversy precipitated by the conquest of the archipelago often assumed the character of a creative commentary on the lectures of that great Dominican theologian.