University of Santo Tomas Baybayin Documents

Last updated
University of Santo Tomas
Baybayin Documents
UST Baybayin Document.png
Created1613 (Document A) and 1625 (Document B)
Location Archives of the University of Santo Tomas
PurposeTransfer of land ownership

The University of Santo Tomas Baybayin Documents or UST Baybayin Documents are two 17th century land deeds written in Baybayin script.

Contents

Due to their historical significance, the documents were declared as a National Cultural Treasure by the National Archives of the Philippines Director Victorino Manalo during the Second Baybayin Conference at the Museum of the Filipino People, Manila on 22 August 2014. It was the first declaration made the Philippines' national archives and the first paper document declared as a National Cultural Treasure. [1]

It is the fifth declared National Cultural Treasure for the University of Santo Tomas (UST) after the declarations on the UST Main building, UST Central Seminary building, Arch of the Centuries, and UST Open Ground. [2]

Baybayin

Baybayin historically refers to a Brahmic syllabic script used for the Tagalog language and was used in the Philippines before and early into the Spanish conquest. It uses three characters for standalone vowels and fourteen for consonants. [3] As an alpha syllabic script, its character can either stand as a single consonant or vowel, or an entire syllable. [4] Related syllabic scripts are still being used by the Palaw'an and Tagbanua peoples on Palawan Island as well as the Hanunuo and Buhid Mangyan peoples on Mindoro Island. [1]

Description

The UST Baybayin documents cover two legal real estate transactions in 1613 (labelled as Document A dated February 15, 1613) [5] and 1625 (labelled as Document B dated December 4, 1625) [6] which are the "longest and most complete documents completely handwritten in baybayin". [1] The two documents are part of a book compilation of baybayin documents dubbed as the "biggest collection of extant ancient baybayin scripts in the world". [7] They are also the oldest known deeds of sale for land in the Philippines during the Spanish colonization. [1]

The 1613 documents established Don Andres Capiit as the land owner after buying irrigated land in Tondo from Doña Catalina Baycan as described in Document A. He was married to Doña Francisca Longar who bought the land in Mayhaligue (now Santa Cruz, Manila) from Doña Maria Silang as described in the 1625 document (Document B). [8] When Capiit died sometime between 1613 and 1625, Longar was remarried to Don Luis Castilla, who sold some lands to the University of Santo Tomas in 1629. When the ownership of Castilla was contested in court, he showed Documents A and B as proof of ownership. Since the university already acquired the land, the deeds of sale were later transferred into the university's custody. [1]

The baybayin documents were first shown in the public during the tercentenary of the university in 1911. [1] That same year, the documents were first published in Libertas, a daily newspaper published by the university. [1]

Management

The UST Miguel de Benavides Library MigueldeBenavidesLibraryjf0474 04.JPG
The UST Miguel de Benavides Library

The Archives of the University of Santo Tomas (Archivo de la Universidad de Santo Tomas, or simply UST Archives) at the Miguel de Benavides Library take care of the documents. [9] The original baybayin documents are not available to the public and only replicas of the documents are made available through the university archives' bulletin board on the fifth floor of the Central Library. [1]

Related Research Articles

Baybayin or Sulat Tagalog, also called Basahan, sometimes erroneously referred to as alibata, is a Philippine script widely used primarily in Luzon during the 16th and 17th centuries and prior to write Tagalog and to a lesser extent Visayan languages, Kampampangan, Ilocano, and several other Philippine languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Santo Tomas</span> Private university in Metro Manila, Philippines

The University of Santo Tomas, officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila or colloquially as Ustê, is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Miguel de Benavides, third Archbishop of Manila, it has the oldest extant university charter in Asia and is one of the world's largest Catholic universities in terms of enrollment found on one campus. It is the main campus of the University of Santo Tomas System that is run by the Order of Preachers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arch of the Centuries</span> Triumphal arch in Manila

The Arch of the Centuries is a triumphal arch at the Plaza Intramuros of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines. Half of the current structure, the side facing the UST Main Building is the ruins of the 17th-century arch door of the first UST campus in Intramuros, while the side that faces España Boulevard is a replica inaugurated in 1954.

<i>Maragtas</i> Illuminated manuscript by Pedro Alcantara Monteclaro

The Maragtas is a work by Pedro Alcantara Monteclaro titled History of Panay from the first inhabitants and the Bornean immigrants, from which they descended, to the arrival of the Spaniards. The work is in mixed Hiligaynon and Kinaray-a languages in Iloilo in 1907. It is an original work based on written and oral sources available to the author.

The arts in the Philippines reflect a range of artistic influences on the country's culture, including indigenous art. Philippine art consists of two branches: traditional and non-traditional art. Each branch is divided into categories and subcategories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Traditions of the University of Santo Tomas</span> Traditions of the university

The University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines marks a variety of traditions largely influenced by the Spanish and Filipino Dominican culture. Many are annual events, such as religious assemblies marking the start and end of the academic year, a welcome walk for new students, as well as intercollege sport competitions and talent exhibitions. Christmas is celebrated in a month-long festivities culminated by the UST Paskuhan. Many Roman Catholic feast days are also celebrated.

The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas (UST) Quadricentennial Celebration took place from December 18, 2009 to January 27, 2012. The agenda before the quadricentennial year in 2011 included the introduction of new academic programs, improvements in the university's infrastructure, and other projects to raise UST's national and international prominence and promote its role as a social catalyst.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in the Philippines during Spanish rule</span>

During the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines (1521–1898), the different cultures of the archipelago experienced a gradual unification from a variety of native Asian and Islamic customs and traditions, including animist religious practices, to what is known today as Filipino culture, a unique hybrid of Southeast Asian and Western culture, namely Spanish, including the Spanish language and the Catholic faith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippine Registry of Cultural Property</span>

The Philippine Registry of Cultural Property, abbreviated as PRECUP, is a national registry of the Philippine Government used to consolidate in one record all cultural property that are deemed important to the cultural heritage, tangible and intangible, of the Philippines. On June 11, 2018, the entries in the newly updated PRECUP was at 3,921. Additionally, 1,259 out of 1,715 LGUs, or 73 percent of LGUs have established local cultural inventories (LCI).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miguel de Benavides Library</span> University library in Manila, Philippines

The Miguel de Benavides Library, also known as the University of Santo Tomas Library, is the main academic library of the University of Santo Tomas. The library has been in continuous service and its collection antedates the existence of the university itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kulitan</span> Brahmic script

Kulitan, also known as súlat Kapampángan and pamagkulit, is one of the various indigenous suyat writing systems in the Philippines. It was used for writing Kapampangan, a language mainly spoken in Central Luzon, until it was gradually replaced by the Latin alphabet.

This is a timeline of the history of the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, the oldest university in Asia, comprising important events of the history of the university and of the development of Philippine higher education in general. To read about the background to these events, see History of the University of Santo Tomas. See also the history of the Rector Magnificus of the University of Santo Tomas, and the Santo Tomas Internment Camp

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archives of the University of Santo Tomas</span> Central repository

The Archives of the University of Santo Tomas (AUST), also known in Spanish as the Archivo de la Universidad de Santo Tomas, is located at the Miguel de Benavides Library in Manila. The AUST is the central repository of historical and rare documents pertaining to, but not exclusively, to the history of the University of Santo Tomas, one of the oldest existing universities in Asia, and the oldest institution of higher learning in the Philippines. The collections consist of historical documents such as Papal bulls, royal decrees, rare Filipiniana prints, historical treatises, addresses, sermons, novenas, catechisms in many Philippine languages, national periodicals, and academic records of all educational institutions in the Philippines during the Spanish period. The archives is also home to the only incunabula, or books printed before 1500, in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Santo Tomas Field</span> National Cultural Treasure in Manila

The University of Santo Tomas Athletic Field and Open Spaces, located at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, is a National Cultural Treasure as declared by the National Museum of the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Santo Tomas Central Seminary Building</span> Ecclesiastical and educational building in Sampaloc, Manila

The University of Santo Tomas Central Seminary Building currently houses the Santísimo Rosario Parish, the Central Seminary, and the Faculties of Ecclesiastical Studies of the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas in Manila. The parish was canonically inaugurated on April 26, 1942, by Michael J. O'Doherty, the Archbishop of Manila. On January 25, 2010, the National Museum of the Philippines formally declared the Central Seminary Building as a National Cultural Treasure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santo Domingo Church (Quezon City)</span> Roman Catholic church in Quezon City, Philippines

Santo Domingo Church, formally known as the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of La Naval de Manila, is a Roman Catholic parish church and national shrine in Quezon City, Metro Manila in the Philippines. It is under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Cubao. Dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus under her title Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary — La Naval de Manila, it was founded by the Dominicans in 1587.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archaeology of the Philippines</span>

The archaeology of the Philippines is the study of past societies in the territory of the modern Republic of the Philippines, an island country in Southeast Asia, through material culture.

Suyat is a collective name for the Brahmic scripts of Philippine ethnolinguistic groups. The term was suggested and used by cultural organizations in the Philippines to denote a unified neutral terminology for Philippine scripts.

Michael Anthony Vasco is a Filipino professor and educational administrator.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sembrano, Edgar Allan M. (August 25, 2014). "UST documents in ancient 'baybayin' script declared a National Cultural Treasure". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on August 25, 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  2. ↑ Zulueta, Lito (June 14, 2010). "UST Library holds international exhibit of historical treasures". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on September 4, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  3. ↑ Alip, Eufronio Melo (1904). "Title: Tagalog literature; a historico-critical study". Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  4. ↑ Tan, Nigel (August 22, 2014). "Evolution of the Filipino alphabet". Rappler. Archived from the original on August 26, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  5. ↑ Morrow, Paul (May 5, 2010). "Document A". Archived from the original on January 30, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  6. ↑ Morrow, Paul (May 4, 2010). "Document B". Archived from the original on July 29, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  7. ↑ Lao, Levine (January 6, 2012). "UST collection of ancient scripts in 'baybayin' syllabary shown to public". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on October 8, 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  8. ↑ Batchelor, Kristine Anne; Siat, Ethan James (29 September 2014). "Baybayin is UST's 5th nat'l cultural treasure". The Varsitarian. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "University of Santo Tomas Archives". University of Santo Tomas Website. Archived from the original on May 24, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.