Guido de Lavezaris

Guido de Lavezaris
2nd Governor and Captain-General of the Philippines
In office August 20, 1572 – August 25, 1575
Monarch	Philip II of Spain
Preceded by	Miguel López de Legazpi
Succeeded by	Francisco de Sande

Guido de Lavezaris (c.1499? - d. 1581?) was the second Spanish Governor General of the Philippines. He succeeded Miguel López de Legazpi in 1572 as governor, and was succeeded by Francisco de Sande on August 25, 1575.

Early life

Little was known to Governor-General Lavezares. In 1543, he became a member of the Villalobos Expedition that traveled to the Philippines.^[1] He became the royal treasurer of the expedition during the navigation. Later on, he was one of several prisoners who escaped from a prison in Ambon Island when Villalobos' crew and ships were captured by the patrolling Portuguese.^[2]

Governorship

During his governorship, he directed Legazpi's nephew Juan de Salcedo to go to the northern portion of Luzon together with some 100 Spanish soldiers and conquer the present-day Ilocos and establish Villa Fernandina.^[2] Lavezaris also conquered the peninsula of Camarines and granted vast encomiendas to his loyal generals.^[3]

In 1574, he defeated the notorious Chinese pirate Limahong when the latter attempted to colonize the Philippines.^[2] In 1575, Spanish friar Martín de Rada filed a complaint to King Philip II of Spain against Lavezaris, which led to his removal from office. He was reported for abusing power and imposing higher tributes to the natives.^[3]

Post-governorship

He never returned to Spain but retired as a wealthy encomendero. His successor Francisco de Sande issued a decree in 1576 stating the division of his encomienda into smaller lands which were to be distributed to the natives.^[4] Sande also filed legal cases like usurpation to him, but this was later admonished by Philip II.^[3] The municipality of Lavezares, Northern Samar was named after him.

Bibliography

Maura, Juan Francisco. “La Relación del suceso de la venida del tirano chino del gobernador Guido de Lavezares (1575): Épica española en Asia en el siglo XVI.” Edición, transcripción y notas (incluye facsimil del manuscrito original), Juan Francisco Maura. Lemir (Departamento de Filología Hispánica de la Universidad de Valencia), <http://parnaseo.uv.es/Lemir/Textos/Maura/Index.htm> 2004.

References

1. de Lavezaris, Guido (June 5, 1569). "Letter from Guido de Lavezaris to Felipe II". Filipinana.net. Retrieved 2009-10-13. Guido de Lavezares' letter to the King of Spain stating that Captain-major Gonzalo Pereira attacked Cebu the following year.
2. Morga, Antonio de. (2004). The Project Gutenberg Edition Book : History of the Philippine Islands - 1521 to the beginning of the XVII century. Volume 1 and 2.
3. Sakop Espanol sa Pilipinas (in Tagalog).
4. de Sande, Francisco; others (May 26, 1576). "Encomiendas forbidden to Royal Officials". Filipiniana.net. Retrieved 2009-10-13.