CHAPTER 6 SUNNY SPAIN

Madrid Amongst Rizals collection of books are: Bible Hebrew Grammar Lives of the Presidents of the U.S Complete Works of Voltaire Complete Works of Horace Complete Works of C. Bernard History of the French Revolution The Wandering Jew Ancient poetry

Madrid Works of Thucydides The Byzantine Empire The Characters by La Bruyere The Renaissance Uncle Toms Cabinby Harriet Beecher Stowe Works of Alexander Dumas Louis XIV and His court

Consuelo Ortiga y Perez During Rizals stay in Madrid, he would frequently visit the home of Don Pablo Ortiga y Rey who lived with his son Rafael and daughter Consuelo. Don Pablo was a former city mayor of Manila during the

administration of the liberal governor general Carlos Ma. De la Torre. Rizal was attracted by Consuelos beauty and vivacity. As he made a poem entitled A La Senorita C.O. y P.to express his admiration for her.

Consuelo Ortiga y Perez

Rizal, however, backed out from his romance with Consuelo because: (1) he was still engaged with Leonor Rivera and (2) his friend and co-worker in the Propaganda Movement, Eduardo de Lete was madly in love with Consuelo.

Masonry Freemasonry or the Masons, were a secret society composed of liberal and republican Spaniards in Spain. Amongst them were prominent and intellectual Spaniards. The Spanish Masons openly and freely criticized the government policies and particularly lambasted the friars.

 In March 1883, Rizal joined the Masonic lodge called Acacia in Madrid. His Masonic name was Dimasalang. Later he transferred to Lodge Solidaridad where he became a Master Mason.

Masonry Rizal joined Freemasonry to secure their aid in the fight against the Friars in the Philippines. Amongst the prominent members of the Masons, included, Miguel Morayta, statesman and professor; Francisco Pi y Margal , journalist and former President of the short-lived First Spanish Republic; Manuel Becerra , Minister of Ultramar; Emilio Juno , journalist and member of the Spanish Cortes; and Juan Zorilla ,parliamentarian and head of the Republican Progressive Party.

Masonry Two reasons why he became a Mason: The bad friars in the Philippines unworthy of their priestly habit or calling He needed the help of the Masons to fight the bad friars in the Philippines. (it was a shield to use in his fight against the evil forces of tyranny)

Financial Worries Because of drought and locust the harvest of rice and sugarcane failed in Calamba.

 The manager of the Dominican-owned hacienda increased the rentals of the lands cultivated by the Rizal family Due to this the monthly allowances of Rizal in Madrid were late in arrival and there were times when they never arrived.

Salute to Luna and Hidalgo National Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid - 1884 The Filipino community in Spain sponsored a banquet to celebrate the double victory of the Filipino artist in the National Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid. Juan Luna, with his Spoliarium won the first prize. Felix Resurrection Hidalgo won the second prize with his Christian Virgins Exposed to the populace

Salute to Luna and Hidalgo Rizal in his speech, saluted Luna and Hidalgo as two glories for Spain and the Philippines, whose artistic achievements transcended geographical frontiers and racial origins. In Rizals speech, he said genius is universal. Genius knows no country, genius sprouts ever where, genius is like light, air, the patrimony of everybody, cosmopolitan like space, like life, like God.

Student Demonstrations Nov. 20-22, 1884 the city of Madrid exploded in bloody riots by the students of Universidad Central de Madrid. Dr. Miguel Morayta, professor of history, at the opening ceremonies of the academic year proclaimed the freedom of science and the teacher. Such liberal view was condemned by the Catholic bishops of Spain, and promptly excommunicated Dr. Morayta.

Student Demonstrations Angered by the bigotry of the Catholic bishops, the university students rose in violent demonstrations. Practically all students in various colleges joined the massive

demonstrations including Rizal, Valentin Ventura and other Filipinos. Many university professors openly supported this student rioters

Student Demonstrations Bloody fights raged in the university buildings and in the city streets. The students armed with clubs, stones, and fists, fought the government forces. Fortunately, Rizal and other Filipinos did not received even a cane blow, nor taken prisoner, nor arrested

Completion of Studies The academic year 1884-1885 Rizal passed all subjects leading to the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Rizal completed his medical course in Spain. He was awarded the Degree of Licentiate in Medicine by the Universidad Central de Madrid on June 21, 1884. The next academic year (1884-85) he studied and passed all subjects leading to the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. However, he was not awarded his Doctors Diploma because he did not present his thesis nor paid the corresponding fees Rizal also finished his studies in Philosophy and Letters and was awarded the degree on June 19,1885 his 24th birthday.

Completion of Studies By obtaining a degree in Philosophy and Letters, Rizal became qualified to be a professor of humanities in any Spanish university. He did not bother to secure the post-graduate degree of Doctor of Medicine because it was also good only for teaching. Rizal knew, however, that with his brown colour and Asian racial ancestry no friarowned university or college in the Philippines would accept him in its faculty staff.