Chapter Two
Chronology
Thirty-five years, set down in order, from Calamba to Bagumbayan.
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- 1861Born 19 June in Calamba, Laguna, seventh of eleven children of Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonso.
- 1869Writes his first known verses; learns Latin and Spanish from private tutors at home.
- 1872His mother is imprisoned on a false charge. The priests Gómez, Burgos and Zamora are executed at Bagumbayan.
- 1872Enters the Ateneo Municipal de Manila.
- 1877Graduates from the Ateneo with highest honours; enrols at the Universidad de Santo Tomás.
- 1879Wins a literary prize for the poem “A la Juventud Filipina” — a call to the Filipino youth.
- 1882Sails secretly for Spain; enrols at the Universidad Central de Madrid.
- 1884Receives the licentiate in medicine at Madrid.
- 1885Receives the licentiate in philosophy and letters; goes to Paris to study ophthalmology under Louis de Wecker.
- 1886Studies at Heidelberg under Otto Becker; begins his lifelong correspondence with Ferdinand Blumentritt.
- 1887Publishes Noli Me Tángere in Berlin. Returns to the Philippines in August; the book is condemned and banned.
- 1888Leaves again for Hong Kong, Japan, the United States, and London, where he annotates Morga's Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas.
- 1889In Paris and Brussels; writes for La Solidaridad, including the essays on Filipino indolence and the future of the islands.
- 1891Publishes El Filibusterismo in Ghent, dedicated to the memory of the three martyred priests.
- 1892Returns to Manila 26 June and founds La Liga Filipina. Arrested 6 July; deported to Dapitan on 15 July.
- 1892–1896Exile in Dapitan: a school, a clinic, a waterworks, farming, natural history, sculpture, and the companionship of Josephine Bracken.
- 1896Volunteers as a physician in Cuba; sails in September. The Katipunan revolution erupts in August.
- 1896Arrested at sea and returned to Manila; imprisoned in Fort Santiago in November.
- 1896Court-martialled 26 December on charges of rebellion, sedition, and conspiracy; sentenced to death.
- 1896Executed by firing squad at Bagumbayan, 7:03 in the morning of 30 December, aged thirty-five.
Plates upon the Years
Mga larawan sa bawat yugto ng talaan.
