Martín de Goiti edit
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Martín de Goiti edit
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Martín de Goiti (15?? – 1574), was a Spanish Basque conquistador and founder of the city of Manila.
Goiti was one of the soldiers who accompanied the Spanish conquest of the Philippine Islands in 1565. He was the leader of the expedition to Manila, ordered by Miguel López de Legazpi in 1569. There, he fought a number of battles against the Muslim chieftain, Rajah Sulaiman III of Manila for control of lands and settlements.
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The Spaniards arrived in Luzon in May 8, 1570 and camped on the shores of Manila Bay for several weeks, while forming an alliance with the Muslim tribal chiefs.
In May 24, 1570, after quarrels and mis-understanding had erupted between the two groups. The Spaniards marched in-land, towards Tondo where they meet thousands of hostile native defenders. There, they defeated most of Rajah Sulaiman, Rajah Lakan Dula, and Rajah Matanda's forces. The Spaniards marched their armies towards the Pasig River and captured the city of Manila on June 6, 1570, and burned it to the ground.
After the battle, guerrilla warfare broke out, continuing for the next ten months. The Spaniards fortified themselves in the area and erected the stronghold of Fuerza de Santiago, which became their outpost.
The Spaniards pressed on and succeeded in gaining full control of the settlements and putting down the rebellion on June 24, 1571, after the arrival of López de Legazpi in Manila, who agreed to a peace agreement.
Goiti's conquest paved the way for the establishment of Manila as a permanent Spanish settlement and capital city of the Philippines. He later explored Pampanga, Pangasinan and founded several Spanish cities in Luzon between the periods of 1571 -1573.
In 1574, Goiti fought in the war against the invasion of 3,000 Chinese sea pirates who had sailed from the South China sea. Their leader, Limahong, besieged on the Spanish settlement of Fuerza de Santiago and the city of Manila. Goiti was killed by Limahong, who massacred most of the Spaniards in the city.
Most of the Spanish reinforcements came from Vigan, and Cebu. Martín de Goiti's second in command, Juan de Salcedo left Ilocos Sur, after hearing the news and traveled to Manila where he discovered the city had fallen to the hands of the invading sea pirates. Salcedo's forces attacked and drove the pirates out of Manila. Limahong and his surviving fleets retreated to Pangasinan where they began to re-organize their forces.
In 1575, Salcedo's army marched north to Pangasinan, in pursuit of the pirates and besieged them for three months. There the Spaniards captured Limahong and his fleets in the river of Pangasinan; and were later executed.
Goiti is laid to rest in a tomb inside the San Agustin Church, at his home at Intramuros.