Juan de Salcedo

Who was Juan de Salcedo?

Juan de Salcedo was a Spanish conquistador. He was born in Mexico in 1549 and he was the grandson of Miguel López de Legazpi and brother of Felipe de Salcedo. Salcedo was one of the soldiers who accompanied the Spanish colonization of the Philippines in 1565. He joined the Spanish military in 1564 for their exploration of the East Indies and the Pacific, at the age of 15. In 1569, Salcedo led an army of about 300 soldiers along with Martín de Goiti for their conquest of Manila. There they fought a number of battles against the Muslim chieftains in 1570 and 1571, for control of lands and settlements.

Salcedo explored the northern regions of the Philippines with a force of about 80 soldiers in 1571, where he traveled to Batangas, Zambales and the Ilocos region and established several Spanish municipalities. In 1574, Salcedo traveled back to Manila, after a war had erupted against 3,000 Chinese sea pirates led by Limahong who had besieged the Spanish settlements. Salcedo, and his army of 600 soldiers re-occupied the settlements and pursued the Chinese fleet to Pangasinan in 1575. There the Spaniards besieged on the pirates for three months and executed their leaders.