The Spanish Legacy Prior to the coming of Spain, the islanders belonged to tribes that were independent of each other. The local inhabitants could read and write and they lived in abundance and prosperity. The fertile lands, virgin forests teeming with flora and fauna and aquatic resources ensured abundance to this very small population. This was aside from the benefits in trade with India, China, Indo-China, Japan, Brunei, Malaysia, and Indonesia and with the Arab traders. The basic relationship of the islanders with these civilizations was trade partnership and cultural interaction, punctuated by intermarriages and alliances between the migrants and the islanders. They benefited from the Hindu-Buddhist civilization at a time when India enjoyed dominance in world trade with China, Europe, Southeast Asia and North Africa, having been greatly influenced by the Indian Majapahit and Sri Vijaya empires when the coastal areas of the Philippines became trading posts connecting the Spice Trade in lower (Maritime) Southeast Asia and China (see map on page 5). The islanders also benefited from the advanced civilizations of China and the Islamic empire during Islam’s Golden Age. These civilizations that positively affected the islanders were more advanced than Spain and preceded the latter by more than 500 years. For thousands of years, Spain had been con- quered and subjugated by a series of conquering hordes that included Romans, Germanic tribes and Islamic caliphates. The last conquerors were the Islamic multi-national armies that ruled Spain through caliphates for 700 years. 3. this? Why did Spain embark on world conquest? How did it accomplish During the Dark Ages of Christianity, when popes were corrupt, decadent and tyrannical, Spain and the other kingdoms of Europe became greatly influenced by the papacy and its policies. On June 18, 1452, Pope Nicholas V issued the infamous papal bull, Dum Diversas, granting upon European Christian Kingdoms, starting with Portugal, “full and free power” to seek, invade, and subjugate those that it called the “enemies of Christ.” The edict further instructed the European kingdoms to lead these enemies of Christ “in perpetual servitude.” Other papal bulls, Romanus Pontifex (issued on January 8, 1455 by Pope Nicolas V) and Inter Caetera (issued on May 4, 1493 by Pope Alexander VI), elaborated on this policy of world conquest and perpetual enslavement in the name of God. These papal bulls, which became the core of international European laws (at that time called the Laws of Nations) 3