This volume centers on the turbulent events of 1636 in Manila during the administration of Governor Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera. The primary focus is the intense struggle for authority between the new civil administration and the ecclesiastical hierarchy, particularly the Dominican, Franciscan, and Augustinian orders, as well as the archbishop. Corcuera aggressively reorganizes government departments, reforms military payrolls, alters hospital administrations, and clashes with religious leaders who resist secular oversight and assert their autonomy from the crown. The text details the dramatic imprisonment and exile of Archbishop Guerrero following violent clashes at the cathedral, the bitter disputes over the administration of royal hospitals, and the tense political maneuvers surrounding the enforcement of royal patronage and trade restrictions with Nueva España.
Furthermore, the volume explores missionary perils in regions like Mindanao, reports of intense persecutions and apostasy in Japan, and administrative measures concerning the Chinese population and taxation. The documents include official reports from Governor Corcuera, petitions from the nuns of St. Clare, contemporaneous relations of local disturbances, letters from Jesuit missionaries, and extensive financial audits that shed light on the peculiar economic methods of the colony. Through these firsthand accounts, the text illustrates the fragility of colonial governance and the deep fractures within early seventeenth-century Philippine society.
