AI illustration
1593 transported soldier legend
A folk legend says that in October 1593 a Spanish soldier in Manila was moved in moments to the Plaza Mayor of Mexico City. The Mexicans at first did not believe where he came from. Later news of the governor's death in Manila proved his account.
Folklore is retold; versions differ.
Sources: Wikipedia: 1593 transported soldier legend (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikidata (CC0)
The story
A Manila story says a Spanish soldier crossed the Pacific in a moment. In the tale, he stands guard at the governor's palace in October 1593. The governor, Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas, has just been killed. The soldier feels faint, leans on a wall and shuts his eyes. When he opens them, he stands in the main square of Mexico City, still in his Manila uniform. He tells the crowd that the governor is dead.
Officials in Mexico do not believe him. They jail him as a deserter, and some suspect the devil. Months later a ship from the Philippines brings news of the death. A passenger says he saw the soldier in Manila the day after. The man goes free.
The earliest known version comes from Fray Gaspar de San Agustín in 1698, who treated it as true. Mexican writers retold it in the 1800s. Thomas Janvier printed it in English in 1908, and only that version names the soldier Gil Pérez. Historians doubt the story. Dasmariñas died at sea, not in his palace. Similar tales of sudden travel appear in both countries.