ABSTRACT
In 1564, Philip II returned to the project of taking possession of the Philippines.1 Spain was too much weakened by its conquests in America to think it could found a new empire at the furthest point of the East Indies by violence. For the first time, its plans of aggrandizement looked to the gentle path of persuasion. A number of missionaries were charged with finding the king new subjects, and the results were not entirely disappointing.
