Reading the English translations of “Historia de las islas e indios de Bisayas” (1668) by Francisco Ignacio Alcina; aka “The History of the Bisayan People in the Philippine Islands”

When researching the pre-colonial history, culture, beliefs, and traditions of the early Bisayans prior to Spanish colonization and during its early onset, one must look into reading probably the most important historical account on the Bisayans. Written in 9 volumes starting in 1667 and completed in 1668, this monumental piece of work is the reason why today we know so much about the pre-colonial culture and beliefs of the Bisayans, in particular that of Samar and Leyte. In fact, it is probably the most extensive written account amongst all the historical written accounts on pre-colonial culture and one I highly recommend reading in full.

The Historia de las islas e indios de Bisayas was written by Friar Francisco Ignacio Alcina, a Spanish Jesuit missionary who resided in the Bisayas for thirty-six years. He spent most of his life learning about the people of the Bisayas, in particular of Samar and Leyte where he lived. From his years living amongst the people of Samar and Leyte, he learned about their pre-colonial beliefs, practices, myths, poems, epics, and culture. In the year 1670, he left Samar and moved to Manila where he intended to formerly publish his writings on the Bisayans. Unfortunately, it was never published as he died in 1674 before it could be. His written work would then be forgotten for about 112 years.

Illustration of “slaves” from Francisco Alcina’s, **Historia de Las Islas e Indios Bisayas** (1668). **Note**: The **oripun** (slave) social class was divided into a hierarchy and didn’t necessarily mean slave. The oripun included the common people who had their own property, but worked in the fields and in the Datu’s home for work. The lowest social hierarchy under the oripun were actual slaves bought, sold, or taken during annual raids known as **mangayaw**. These were what we typically deem as slaves and did not have their own property. The illustration here is more than likely depiction of how the common people looked, as you notice the warrior on the left, who most likely served his datu as one of the barangay’s warriors. Also notice his detailed tattoo’s.

It wasn’t until the year 1784 when they were rediscovered by a man name Juan Bautista Muñoz. He was a Spanish historian and philosopher who was the brains behind the idea of creating the Archive General de Indias, or simply the Archive of the Indies. This archive, currently in Seville, Andalusia, Spain, holds many of the documents and historical texts on the colonies of Spain, including the Americas and the Philippines.

Muñoz, while looking in the Real Sociedad Médica de Sevilla, discovered the first four books of Part 1 of Francisco Alcina’s works and made copies of them. Part 2 was also found and rescued as it was being used as wrappings for powders and ointments. While Muñoz made copies, it was still never printed.

It wasn’t until fairly recently in 2000 when the first part of Francisco Alcina’s writings were published, both in Spanish and English, by Fr Cantius J. Kobak, a Polish-American priest and historian. He gained copies of Alcina’s writings through the Central Jesuit Archives in Rome after contacting them in 1965 and then through the archives in the Biblioteca de la Palacio in Madrid, Spain in 1967, which currently has the copies made by Muñoz. As for the original copies of Alcina’s writings, it is no longer found and has been currently lost in history. Part 2 of Alcina’s work is currently located in the Real Academia de la Historia in Madrid. Together with Fr Lucio Peña Gutierrez, a Spanish priest of the Dominican Order and a historian, they translated, edited, and annotated all of Francisco Alcina’s works.

Currently published with the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Publishing House in the Philippines, there are currently three available volumes printed of Francisco Alcina’s written accounts, all through the works of both Friars Kobak and Gutierrez which you can get a physical copy of. The next volumes however, which consists of Book 4 of Part one, and the books in Part 2, are not printed as of yet.

However, recently during my own research, I’ve stumbled upon the digital, pdf copies of Kobak’s and Gutierrez’s translations of all the volumes of Alcina’s writings, including both Part 1 and 2. Not included of course, is books 4 and 5 of Part 2, which was unfortunately destroyed when it was used as wrappings for the powders and ointments upon the discovery by Muñoz.

Illustration of the Bisayan nobility of a Datu and a Binukot. Notice the tattoo’s on both of them. Illustration From Francisco Alcina’s, **Historia de Las Islas e Indios Bisayas** (1668)

The translations are currently available online via the digital archives of the Philippiniana Sacra, the official publication of the University of Santo Tomas Ecclesiastical Faculties. Which is no surprise, as Gutierrez served as the Editor in Chief of the Philippiniana Sacra from 1973-1990 and served as the administrator of the UST archives from 1994-1995 and 2008-2009.

While the UST Publishing House is still in the works of expanding, annotating, and editing the works of Alcina’s writings through both Kobak’s and Gutierrez’s translations, for the other volumes, including Part 2, for publication, one can read the English translations online. Alcina’s Historia was first translated and published with the Philippiniana Sacra from the May-August 1979 issue to 1992, with Kobak together with another co-editor, Father Pablo Fernandez.

To read all of the translated works, you can read them here via the Philippiniana Sacra digital archive.

Use the search article box on the left side of the page and type in “Alcina” for the article title and you will find all the translations by Kobak, Gutierrez, and Fernandez there. But, if you want to read everything in a nice and organized format, I’ve arranged all the pdf files in a Google Drive folder here.

I highly recommend adding this to your to be read list if you are interested in reading about the pre-colonial beliefs, practices, and culture of the Bisayans. One thing I would like to add is that while reading, keep in mind the biases from Alcina, especially in regards to their beliefs. While not perfect and as much as I would love for there to be a historical account written by someone who was Filipino, Alcina’s Historia is a remarkable account of our Bisayan ancestors. Without his writings, most of what we do know of the Bisayans today would have been lost.

With that my friends and fellow researchers, happy reading!

SOURCES:

Alcina, Francisco Ignacio, Cantius J. Kobak, and Lucio Gutiérrez. 2002. History of the Bisayan people in the Philippine Islands: evangelization and culture at the contact period. Manila, Philippines: UST Publishing House.
“Extraordinary Life and Work of Fr. Cantius Kobak – Poland in the Philippines – Gov.pl Website,” Poland in the Philippines, n.d., https://www.gov.pl/web/philippines/extraordinary-life-and-work-of-fr-cantius-kobak.
O.P. Cecilio Vladimir Magboo, “Lucio Gutierrez, O.P. and the study of the Christianization of the Philippines,” Philippiniana Sacra (UST) (Online)/Philippiniana Sacra (Print) 51, no. 153 (January 1, 2016): 403–17, https://doi.org/10.55997/ps2005li153a4.