On the island of Cebu in the Philippines, under the authority of His Majesty, on the sixteenth day of the month of May in the year one thousand five hundred and sixty-five.
The Most Illustrious Lord Miguel López de Legazpi, Governor and Captain General, in the name of His Majesty of the people and fleet for the discovery of the islands under His Majesty's authority, Fernando Riquel, government notary of said islands, declared in my presence: On the day the Spaniards entered this island and town of Cebu, which was on a Saturday, the twenty-eighth of April of this present year, after having displaced the natives of this town, who abandoned it and fled inland, Juan de Canviz (sic), a native of Bermeo and a sailor of the flagship, entered one of the humblest and poorest houses, built of bamboo and barely furnished, and in it found an image of the Child Jesus in a small pinewood box. The image wore a woolen cap with red fringes, of the kind made in Flanders, a small shirt with ruffles, and had two fingers of its right hand raised as if giving a blessing. In its left hand, it held a round globe without a cross, and it wore a small gilded tin necklace around its neck. This small box and the image of the Child Jesus were inside another wooden box, of the kind native to this land, tied with a cord. Upon discovering the image, he carried it in his hands, with the intention of showing it and he encountered the Field Marshal Mateo del Saz (sic), who took it from him and brought it for viewing to the general, that is, the said Lord Governor. The general, with great reverence and solemn procesiosn, ordered the image to be brought and placed in the church that is being lent for use. He, together with the friars of the Order of San Agustín, the captains, and other field officials, made a vow and promise that every year, on the same day that the image was found, a feast would be celebrated in honor of the Holy Name of Jesus. They also decreed the establishment of a confraternity of the Most Blessed Name of Jesus, modeled after the one in the Monastery of San Agustín in Mexico and following the same statutes. This was to ensure that the memory of the aforementioned event and the discovery of the image in this land of non-believers would remain perpetually. To record and affirm this, the said Lord Governor ordered that witness testimony be gathered as follows. He signed it with his name, Miguel López, in my presence, Fernando Riquel, government notary.
And then immediately on that very same day, month, and year mentioned above, the said governor, for the purpose of the said inquiry, ordered Juan de Camuz, a native of the town of Bormeo in the Lordship of Vizcaya and a sailor of the flagship, to appear before him. He swore by God and by Saint Mary and by the words of the four Gospels and by the sign of the cross in due legal form and under the obligation of said oath. He promised to tell the truth, and when asked about the matter in question, he stated that [what happened] was that on the said Saturday, the 28th of April of the present year, when the said governor ordered the men to disembark in this town of Cebu, the declarant left the flagship in a small boat together with the sailors and soldiers who disembarked for the said purpose. And as they approached the area where the (sic: paraos [small boats]) and canoes of the indios were with people. Since the natives abandoned the canoes, and they began to flee. The declarant found an abandoned canoe that the natives had left behind, and he brought it to the small boat to be taken to the flagship. While returning with it, he saw how the people on the small boats were jumping onto land because the natives had fled, abandoning their houses. Having left the canoe, Pedro de Alorcass, an artilleryman from the flagship, along with the declarant, went ashore and walked among the houses. Said Pedro de Alorcas climbed into one house and told the declarant to climb into another to see what was there. The declarant went three or four houses further because there were soldiers inside them. Upon reaching a small house which gave him the impression that nobody had entered there, he climbed inside and found two small boxes tied by the natives. He opened one and found only a bowl and a boar’s tusk while the other box seemed light and empty. He went further into the house and found another small box tied with a thread used for sails from [C]astilla and a hemp rope from [C]astilla, or so it seemed to the witness. Since it seemed heavy and he thought there was something inside, he cut the rope and opened it. Inside, he found another small pinewood box. Within it was a figurine of the Child Jesus like those brought from Flanders, dressed in a little shirt with ruffles and a small gilded tin necklace. On its head, it wore a red wool hat with velvet, like those from Flanders. Recognizing it as an image of the Child Jesus, he took it and placed a cross made out of cane above the house to mark it. While carrying the image in his hands, he encountered a soldier from Captain Martín de Goiti’s company and told him how he had found the image of the Child Jesus, showing it to him. Continuing further, he met the Field Marshal Mateo del Saz, to whom he handed over the image. The Field Marshal took it and brought it to the ships to show it to the governor and the religious officials. And this is the truth of what happened as he has sworn and that he did not find anyone else inside the said house because it was empty. He confirmed and ratified this account and did not sign it because he said he could not write. It was signed by the governor, Miguel López, in my presence, Fernando Riquel, government notary.
And then, immediately, on said day, month, and year, the said governor, for the purpose of the said inquiry, ordered that the Field Marshal Mateo del Saz be sworn in accordance with the law, and he swore by God and by the Holy Mary. According to (him?), when asked about what he knew concerning the aforementioned matter, he stated: On said Saturday, the 28th of April, when the people landed in the town of Cebu, this declarant went with them. After the natives had been defeated and had abandoned the town, the people were ordered to regroup. While gathering them, he came across Juan de Camuz, a sailor from the flagship, who was carrying a small box in his hands. Juan said to this declarant, "Sir, I found this image in a house here." It was an image of the Child Jesus, the kind made in Flanders, placed inside the small box. This declarant took the image in his hands, which was contained in a small box of the kind made in Flanders, with a little frilled shirt and a red woolen hat, velvety, as they are customarily made in Flanders. The image was whole and clean, with the two fingers of its right hand raised in blessing and the other hand holding a golden globe without the usual cross on top. The image was whole and well-preserved, except the varnish on the face was slightly worn in one small spot, as was a tiny part of the globe, which seemed to have been there for a long time but was otherwise in good condition. This witness took the image, and after gathering the people, brought it to the governor and the religious officials so they could see it, and handed it over to them. Afterward, the said governor ordered an inquiry into the location of the house where the image had been found. And thanks to a cross left by the sailor, the house was located, and from there, the image was taken to the church currently being lent for use. It was brought there in a solemn procession and with great rejoicing and celebration by the entire camp. Everyone adored it, and it was placed on the main altar of the said church so that it might remain there perpetually.
The said governor, this witness, and the other captains and officers of the camp made a vow and promise to celebrate a feast, each year on that same day, in honor of the discovery of the image of the Child Jesus. They also instituted a brotherhood in the name of Jesus. This is what this witness knows and declares under the oath he has taken, to which he affirmed and ratified. He signed it under his name, and the said governor signed: Miguel López; Matheo del Saz. Recorded before me, Fernando Riquel, government notary.
Then, immediately, on the aforementioned day, month, and year, the said governor, for the purposes of the inquiry, summoned Esteban Rodríguez, a soldier in the company of Captain Martín de Goiti, to appear before him. His Lordship administered an oath to him, and Esteban swore by God and by Saint Mary, in due legal form, under oath, he promised to tell the truth about what he knew and what was asked of him, and when interrogated about what he knew regarding the aforementioned matter, he said: What happened, and what this witness knows, is that on the said Saturday, twenty-eighth of April of that year, which was the first day the Spaniards entered this island and the town of Cebu, after driving out the natives who had abandoned their houses and retreated inland, the captains were going around gathering
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