History of the Philippines (1521–1898)
The history of the Philippines from 1521 to 1898, also known as the Spanish colonial period, was a period during which Spain controlled the Philippine islands as the Captaincy General of the Philippines, initially under New Spain until Mexican independence in 1821, which gave Madrid direct control over the area. It was also known as Spanish East Indies to the colonialists. It started with the arrival in 1521 of European explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailing for Spain, which heralded the period when the Philippines was a colony of the Spanish Empire, and ended with the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution in 1898, which marked the beginning of the American colonial era of Philippine history.
List of sovereign state leaders in the Philippines
During the Spanish colonization, Remaining monarchs reign until their kingdoms was absorbed to the new colonial nation of the Philippines through Spanish conquest. Many of these territories are absorbed much later. From 1565 to 1898, the Philippines was under Spanish rule. From 1565–1821, The governor and captain-general was appointed by the Viceroy of New Spain upon recommendation of the Spanish Cortes and governed on behalf of the Monarch of Spain. When there was a vacancy (e.g. death, or during the transitional period between governors), the "Real Audiencia" in Manila appoints a temporary governor from among its members.