page_title: Principalía
section_title: Status quaestionis
hierarchical_section_title: Principalía / Status quaestionis
caption_attribution_description: English: An illustration of Visayan Nobles in the Boxer Codex
context_page_description: The principalía or noble class was the ruling and usually educated upper class in the pueblos of the Spanish Philippines, comprising the Gobernadorcillo, who was later referred to as Capitan Municipal, Lieutenants of Justice, and the Cabezas de Barangay who governed the districts, former Gobernadorcillos or Municipal Captains, and Municipal lieutenants in good standing during their term of office.
  The distinction or status of being part of the principalía was originally a hereditary right. However, the royal decree of 20 December 1863, made possible the creation of new principales under certain defined criteria, among which was the proficiency in Castilian language. Later, wider conditions that define the principalía were stipulated in the norms provided by the Maura Law of 1893, which were never changed until Spain lost the Archipelago to the Americans. The Law also redefined the reference to the head of municipal government in the Spanish Philippines from Gobernadorcillo to Capitan Municipal, and extended the distinction as principales to citizens paying 50 pesos in land tax.
context_section_description: The recognition of the rights and privileges of the Filipino Principalía as equivalent to those of the Hidalgos of Castile appears to facilitate entrance of Filipino nobles into institutions under the Spanish Crown, either civil or religious, which required proofs of nobility. However, such approximation may not be entirely correct since in reality, although the principales were vassals of the Spanish Crown, their rights as sovereign in their former dominions were guaranteed by the Laws of the Indies, more particularly the Royal Decree of Philip II of 11 June 1594, which Charles II confirmed for the purpose stated above, in order to satisfy the requirements of the existing laws in the Peninsula.
  From the beginning of the Spanish colonial period, the conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legaspi retained the hereditary rights of the local ancient sovereigns of the Archipelago who vowed allegiance to the Spanish Crown. Many of them accepted the Catholic religion and became Spanish allies at this time. He only demanded from these local rulers vassalage to the Spanish Crown, replacing the similar overlordship, which previously existed in a few cases, e.g., Sultanate of Brunei's overlordship of the Kingdom of Maynila. Other independent polities, which were not vassals to other States, e.g., Confederation of Madja-as and the Rajahnate of Cebu, were de facto Protectorates/Suzerainties having had alliances with the Spanish Crown before the Kingdom took total control of most parts of the Archipelago.
  A question remains after the cessession of Spanish rule in the Philippines regarding any remaining rank equivalency of Filipino Principalía. Reassuming their ancestral titles as Datus while retaining the Hidalguía of Castile (their former protector state), as subsidiary title, is the logical consequence of the above-mentioned recognition by Charles II of Spain. As guaranteed by this Spanish Monarch's Royal Decree, the ancient nobility of the casiques within his realm (which includes the Filipino Principales) "is still retained and acknowledged".
  Besides, the principales retained many of the ordinary obligations of local rulers as manifested in constructing local infrastructures and in maintaining the government offices without funds from Spain. Expenditures of the local government came from the private and personal resources of the principales. These were not taxes that citizens were obliged to pay as tributes required by their Spanish Crown from its subjects. In many ways, the principales retained much of the responsibilities, powers and obligations of the pre-colonial Datus — their predecessors, except for the right to organize their own armed forces. Only the right of Gobernadorcillos to appoint alguacils and "cuadrilleros" (police patrol or assistance) seem to point out to some kind of vestige of this pre-colonial sign of the Datu's coercive power and responsibility to defend his domain.
  Like deposed royal families elsewhere in the world, which continue to claim hereditary rights as pretenders to the former thrones of their ancestors, the descendants of the Principalía have similar claims to the historical domains of their forebears.
caption: Pre-colonial Visayan royal couple in yellow gold, blue and red, the distinctive colours of the Datu class. Illustration by an unknown Chinese artist c. 1595 in Boxer Codex.
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