{{short description|Filipino Military Leader and Emperor of the Philippines}} {{for|the municipality|Novales}} {{Infobox officeholder | birth_date = {{circa}} 1795 | birth_place = Intramuros, Manila, Captaincy General of the Philippines, Viceroyalty of New Spain | death_date = 2 June {{death year and age|1823|1795}} | spouse = Laureana San Lucas<ref>{{Cite web | title=FamilySearch.org | url=https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/G7VW-RMJ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230615222423/https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/G7VW-RMJ | access-date=2025-05-30 | archive-date=2023-06-15}}</ref> | death_place = Palacio del Gobernador, Intramuros, Manila, Captaincy General of the Philippines, Kingdom of Spain<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/30347/pg30347-images.html | title=Adventures in the Philippine Islands }}</ref> | service_years = 1814-1823 | profession = Military soldier | unit = 1st Light Infantry Battalion (Manila) | branch = Spanish Army | rank = Captain | title1 = | title = Emperor of the Philippine Islands | predecessor = ''Position established'' | successor = ''Position abolished'' | term_start = June 1, 1823 | term_end = June 2, 1823 | birth_name = Andrés López de Novales y Castro }} '''Andrés Novales''' ({{circa}} 1795 – 2 June 1823) was a Filipino captain in the Spanish Army in the Philippines, and the self-proclaimed Emperor of the Philippines.
His unease about the treatment of Creole soldiers led him to start a revolt in 1823 that eventually inspired José Rizal. He successfully captured Intramuros and was proclaimed ''Emperor of the Philippines'' by his followers. However, he was defeated within the day by Spanish reinforcements from Pampanga.<ref name="Manila, My Manila">{{cite book|author=Joaquin, Nick|title=Manila, My Manila|publisher=Vera-Reyes, Inc.|year=1990}}</ref>
==Early life and career== Novales' father was a captain in the Spanish Army, while his mother was born to a prominent family in the Philippines. According to the Filipino author Nick Joaquin, he was a Filipino Creole of Mexican descent.<ref>Nick Joaquin, Manila, My Manila, Page 90</ref><ref>Bernal, México en Filipinas, Pages 102–104</ref><ref name= "Intercolonial">{{cite book|last=Park |first=Paula C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jg5cEAAAQBAJ |title=Intercolonial Intimacies: Relinking Latin/o America to the Philippines, 1898–1964 |date=2022 |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press |location=Pittsburgh, Pa. |isbn=978-0-8229-8873-1 |language=en |page=159}}</ref> He became a cadet at the age of nine and a lieutenant at fourteen. When he heard of the Peninsular War, an existing war between Spain and France, he sought his senior officer's consent to go to Madrid. Despite being demoted to a volunteer soldier with no rank after arriving in Spain, he returned to the Philippines with the rank of captain.<ref name="The London Magazine">{{cite book|author=John Scott, John Taylor|title=The London Magazine, Volume 14|year=1826|pages=512–516|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9-0RAAAAYAAJ&q=Captain+Andres+Novales+early+life&pg=PA512}}</ref> His zeal for service had not waned, earning him the envy and ire of other military officers – something which Governor-General Juan Antonio Martínez later used against Novales.
==<span class="anchor" id=1></span> Novales revolt== {{Battles of Manila}} Novales' unease with the way Spanish authorities treated creoles later grew, reaching its climax when peninsulars were shipped to the Philippines to replace Creole officers. He found the sympathy of many Creoles, including Luis Rodríguez Varela ("El Conde Filipino") as well as demoted Latin American officers in the Spanish Army. "Officers in the army of the Philippines were almost totally composed of Americans," observed the Spanish historian José Montero y Vidal. "They received in great disgust the arrival of peninsular officers as reinforcements, partly because they supposed they would be shoved aside in the promotions and partly because of racial antagonisms." As punishment for this dissent, many military officers and public officials were exiled, including Novales, who was exiled to Mindanao to fight pirates. Undeterred, he secretly returned to Manila.<ref name="Manila, My Manila" />
On the night of June 1, 1823, Novales, along with a certain sub-lieutenant Ruiz and other subordinates in the King's Regiment, as well as discontented former Latino officers "americanos", composed mostly of Mexicans with a sprinkling of Creoles and mestizos from the now independent nations of Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Costa Rica,<ref>[https://filipinokastila.tripod.com/FilMex.html "Filipinos In Mexico’s History 4 (The Mexican Connection – The Cultural Cargo Of The Manila-Acapulco Galleons)] By Carlos Quirino</ref> went out to start a revolt.<ref name="The London Magazine"/><ref>{{cite book|title=Struggle for Freedom 2008 Edition|year=2008|isbn=9789712350450|pages=106|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4wk8yqCEmJUC&q=captain+andres+novales&pg=PA106|last1=Duka|first1=Cecilio D.|publisher=Rex Bookstore }}</ref> Along with 800 Filipinos which his sergeants recruited, they seized the Governor-General's Palace, the Manila Cathedral, the city's ''cabildo'' (city hall) and other important government buildings in Intramuros.
Failing to find the Governor-General, they killed the lieutenant governor and former governor-general Mariano Fernandez de Folgueras. Folgueras was the one that suggested replacing Creole officers with peninsulars.<ref name="Manila, My Manila" /> The soldiers shouted ''¡Viva el Emperador Novales!'' ("Long live the Emperor Novales!") Surprisingly, the townsfolk followed Novales and his troops as they marched into Manila. They eventually failed to seize Fort Santiago because Andrés' brother Mariano, who commanded the citadel, refused to open its gates. Authorities rushed soldiers to the fort upon learning that it was still holding out against the rebels. Novales was reportedly "everywhere" during the Spanish Attack motivating his troops and was captured on the battlefield.<ref>{{cite book | last = de la Gironière | first = Paul P. | title = Twenty Years in the Philippines [1819-1839] | publisher = Harper & Brothers | location = New York | year = 1854 | page = 51 | url = https://archive.org/details/twentyyearsinphi00lagi/page/51 | access-date = 2026-01-13 }}</ref>
At 5:00 pm of June 2, Novales, Ruiz, and 21 sergeants were executed by firing squad in a garden near Puerta del Postigo. In his last minutes, Novales declared that he and his comrades shall set an example of fighting for freedom. Mariano was initially to be executed as well for being Andrés' brother, but the crowd pleaded for his freedom with the argument that he had saved the government from being overthrown. Mariano received a monthly pension of ₱14, but went mad after the execution.<ref name="The London Magazine"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.freefictionbooks.org/books/p/19967-the-philippine-islands-by-john-foreman?start=87 |title=General at once ordered Andres Novales |website=www.freefictionbooks.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331200119/http://www.freefictionbooks.org/books/p/19967-the-philippine-islands-by-john-foreman?start=87 |archive-date=2012-03-31}}</ref>
==See also== * Filipino nationalism
==References== {{reflist}} {{reflist|group=note}}
{{S-start}} |- {{s-reg}} |- {{s-new}} {{s-ttl|rows=|title=Emperor of the Philippines|years = 1 June 1823 - 2 June 1823}} {{s-aft|after= None <br /> (Title abolished)}} {{end}}
{{Philippine coups}} {{Philippine Revolution}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Novales, Andres}} Category:1795 births Category:1823 deaths
Category:Military personnel of Spain Category:Philippine nationalism Category:Filipino paramilitary personnel Category:People from the Spanish colonial Philippines Category:Military personnel from Manila Category:Self-proclaimed monarchy Category:People executed by Spain by firing squad Category:Mexico–Philippines relations