TheTreaty of Cebu is apeace treaty signed on June 4, 1565 betweenMiguel López de Legazpi, representing KingPhilip II of Spain, andRajah Tupas ofCebu. The treaty effectively created Spanishsuzerainty overCebu and started the Spanish colonization of the Philippinesuntil 1898.
Legazpi had sailed from Mexico on November 20, 1564 with a fleet of four ships:San Pedro (the flagship),San Pablo,San Juan de Letran andSan Lucas and a force of several hundredconquistadors. The expedition reached the Philippines in January 1565 and went ashore inSamar,Leyte,Limasawa,Bohol, andNegros to makeblood compacts, claim possession for Spain, and seize or barter foodstuffs.[1]
On April 15, 1565, the expedition anchored in Cebu, whereRajah Tupas had treated withFerdinand Magellan in 1521 as representative ofRajah Humabon.[2][nb 1] An envoy went ashore seeking to make a pact with Tupas who, having heard of the return of the Spaniards, evacuated the town and relocated to the interior of the island.[4] Unable to treat with Tupas, the Spanish envoy announced that the Cebuanos had submitted to Spanish suzerainty 40 years before and were rebellious Spanish subjects. The Spanish sacked the town and began construction of a stockaded camp and took possession of the whole island of Cebu in the name of Spain. Around May 8, Tupas presented himself at the Spanish fort and agreed to formalize a treaty. After some delay, the treaty was formalized on July 3, 1565.[5]
HistorianWilliam Henry Scott characterizes the treaty as "... actually the terms of an unconditional surrender. ... a kind of prototype of the unequal treaties which western nations were to fasten on Oriental peoples for the next three centuries."[5]
