Founder of the Spanish settlement in Manila.
Miguel Lopez de Legazpi (1502-1572) was a Spanish conquistador who travelled to Mexico shortly after Hernan Cortes conquered the Aztec Empire. After a distinguished career in New Spain (modern-day Mexico), in 1564, he was commissioned by the Spanish viceroy in Mexico City to lead an expedition across the Pacific Ocean with the goal of obtaining Spanish access to the Spice Islands. Portugal at that time controlled the maritime trade route from the Spice Islands across the Indian Ocean and along the Atlantic coast of Africa. Access across the Pacific was theoretically open to whichever power got there first. The expedition, consisting of 500 men on five ships, departed from the west coast of New Spain on November 21, 1564. They landed first in the Marianas and then headed south to the Philippine archipelago. In 1570, a permanent settlement was established in what is now Manila. Legazpi served as the first Governor-General of the Philippines (which had previously been referred to as the Spanish East Indies). Regular trade was established with Chinese merchants who sailed across from the coastal provinces of China. Over the years, the trade with China became a dominate factor in the Spanish economy, not just in the Philippines, but in Mexico and Spain. Legazpi, also known by the honorific El Adelantado, though, did not live to see the fruit of his pioneering labors. He died in Manila of heart failure on August 20, 1572.