Antonio de Morga

Antonio de Morga Sánchez Garay (1559 – July 21, 1636) was a Spanish lawyer and a high-ranking colonial official for 43 years, in the Philippines (1594 to 1604), New Spain and Peru, where he was president of the Audencia for 20 years.

He was also a historian. After being reassigned to Mexico, he published the book Sucesos de las islas Filipinas in 1609, considered one of the most important works on the early history of the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. As Deputy Governor in the Philippines, he restored the audencia. He took over the function of judge or oidor. He also took command of Spanish ships in a 1600 naval battle against Dutch corsairs, but suffered defeat and barely survived.

His history was first published in English in 1868; numerous editions have been published in English, including a 1907 edition that is online at the Gutenberg Project[2]. It has also been reprinted in Spanish and other languages.

Antonio de Morga Sánchez Garay was born in Seville. He graduated from the University of Salamanca in 1574 and in 1578 received a doctorate in canon law. He taught briefly in Osuna, and then returned to Salamanca to study civil law. In 1580 he joined the government service as a lawyer. Among other positions in Spain, he held that of auditor general of the galleys. In 1582 he was serving as mayor of Baracaldo in Vizcaya when he first married, to Juana de Briviesca de Munotones.

In August 1593 he was notified that he had been selected as Lieutenant to the Governor-General of the Philippines, starting what would become 43 years of colonial service. He traveled accompanied by his family, 14 servants, three black slaves and his collection of books. Following the route of that time, he sailed from Cadiz in February 1594, arriving in Mexico in May. During the following period of preparation for the Pacific voyage, he heard two important cases, and supervised the supplying of the two ships to be used. He also recruited 200 soldiers for the garrison in Manila. They departed Acapulco on March 22, 1595, reaching Manila on June 11, 1595. He had the second-most powerful position in the colony.

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