Chapter 3

Historical Sources for Assessment and Analysis

Introduction

Content and contextual analysis is an indispensable approach to strengthen the students critical
and analytical thinking skills and their ability to articulate their own ideas, views and perspectives on
a certain primary data or source. In order to achieve this, primary sources will be used and utilized for
analysis.

This chapter is devoted to student’s actual evaluation, assessment, analysis and interpretation
of historical sources. Here are the historical sources reproduced here which you can subject to
assessment and analysis: First voyage around the world; Kartilya ng Katipunan; Customs of the
Tagalog; Political Cartoons and the Works of Juan Luna and Fernando Amorsolo.

1) The First Voyage around the World

The 15th and 16th centuries brought an era of worldwide exploration and expansion that
resulted from the desire to gain new lands, power, and wealth for the explorers and their countries.
Henceforth, the fall of Constantinople (1453) and the emergence of the Ottoman Turks led to the
exploration of new trade routes for spices among European countries primarily Spain and Portugal.
These events eventually resulted in the historical occurrence of the first voyage around the world.

To have an accurate glimpse of this historical event, a content and contextual analysis of a
primary source is needed. Subsequently, the most accurate account of the said voyage as regarded by
many historians was the account written by Antonio Pigafetta, the chronicler of Magellan’s Expedition.

Studying such primary source would give us a clear foretaste of the forgotten past happened
hundreds of years ago. However, it is imperative not just to agree on everything what has been written
on the account but to critically analyze this to have a deeper understanding of our history. Were there
any biases made by the author? What makes the account credible? Did the descriptions in the account
match the actual geographical, demographic, and cultural characteristics of the people and the
archipelago? Did Magellan really circumnavigate the world first? Did Lapu-lapu kill Magellan in the
Battle of Mactan? Did Magellan really “discover” the Philippines? And the likes.

You are expected to examine the content and context of the primary account of the first voyage
around the world written by Antonio Pigafetta. However, a brief discussion on the route and timeline
of the voyage is suggested before studying the excerpt of the Pigafetta’s account to facilitate easier
understanding. A quiz bowl may be conducted to affirm their understanding about the content of the
account and a worksheet is to be answered by the students to evaluate their understanding about its
context.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Identify the people who participated in the first voyage around the world;
 2. Discuss the route of the Magellan’s voyage, and

3. Properly interpret the primary source through examining the content and context of the
document.

A Brief Timeline of the First Voyage around the World

Ferdinand Magellan is a famous as the great explorer who led 5 Spanish ships and 251 men in the first
voyage around the World.

Short Biography of Ferdinand Magellan

 Date of Birth: Born in 1480

 Place of Birth : Saborosa in Villa Real, Province of Traz os Montes in Portugal

 Parents: Mayor Pedro Ruy de Magalhaes (Father) and Alda de Mezquita (Mother)

 Background Facts, Information & Ancestry : Came from a wealthy family who had strong
connections with the Portuguese court.

1480  Born at Saborosa in Villa Real, Province of Traz os Montes in Portugal.

 Well tutored at home and then spent his early years at the Portuguese
court.

1505  Ferdinand Magellan joined the expedition of Francisco d'Almeida to

India.

1512  Took part in the Portuguese expedition to Morocco and was badly
wounded.

 Has a serious disagreement with a commanding officer and leaves the

service without prior permission.

1513  Requests permission from King Manuel of Portugal to sail to the Spice
Islands in the Far East but is refused following the unfavourable
reports from Morocco.

 Resumes his studies in Portugal for a couple more years but fails to
gain favor with the Portuguese court and therefore renounces his
Portuguese nationality.

1518  Magellan leaves Portugal and heads for Spain.

1519  March 22: Magellan convinces King Charles I of Spain to support his
voyage to the Spice Islands and the King promises Magellan one-fifth
of the profits from the voyage to the Spice Islands

 Spain provides five ships for the expedition:

 Magellan commands the Trinidad

 Juan de Cartagena commands the San Antonio

 Gaspar de Quesada commands the Conception

 Luis de Mendoza commands the Victoria

 Juan Serrano commands the Santiago

 Leads the five Spanish ships with 251 men in what was to become the
first voyage around the World

 20 September: The fleet sail across the Atlantic Ocean to South America
and Rio de Janeiro and then start to search for a passage to the Pacific
Ocean

1520  March: The fleet anchor for the winter at Puerto San Julian in Southern
Argentina

 September: A storm destroys the Santiago and a mutiny breaks out

 October: Ferdinand Magellan and his crew resume their voyage on the
remaining ships

 21 November: Enters the straits which would be named the Magellan

Straits becoming the first Europeans ever to sail across the Pacific
Ocean

1521  3 February: Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Equator

 1521 March 6: Magellan reached the Pacific island of Guam

 16 March: Discovers the Philippines

 April 27: Ferdinand Magellan was killed by natives on the island of

Mactan

 Only 110 of the original crew members remained so they abandoned

one of the ships - the Conception. The Trinidad tried to return back to
Spain the same way they had came but was forced to return to the Spice
 Islands where they were imprisoned by the Portuguese. The Victoria
was the last remaining ship.

1522  September 6: The Victoria reached Sanlucar de Barrameda in Spain

with only 18 survivor

An excerpt of Antonio Pigafetta’s The First Voyage Around the World

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwig- https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd
cjDtvniAhXYc94KHYbZCUYQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org% =&ved=2ahUKEwig-
2Fwiki%2FTimeline_of_the_Magellan%25E2%2580%2593Elcano_circumnavigation cjDtvniAhXYc94KHYbZCUYQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%
&psig=AOvVaw3CendpZ7qJzcsdMeOID4Qd&ust=1561166933175346 3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FTimeline_of_t

Source: http://www.datesandevents.org/people-timelines/13-ferdinand-magellan-timeline.h

The narrative of the voyage which was translated by Lord Stanley is presented on cited reference
below. However, only the necessary and important details of the narrative were taken based on what
is useful for the students. In brief, the narrative as it was written began with the description of the
preparation for the voyage, the captain and his men, the dates as to when it left Spain, the time when
they crossed the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Indian Ocean. In particular, Pigafetta wrote relating
to the description of the different places he had seen, the people he met and their diverse and
fascinating culture. The historic expedition began in 1519 and was successfully completed in 1522
(Ligan, et.al. 2018)

Read the excerpt of The First Voyage Around the World written by Antonio Pigafetta cited on this book
- Ligan, et.al., (2018). Readings in the Philippine History. Mutya Publishing House, Inc. Malabon City.
pp. 18-26.

 Antonio Pigafetta was one of the survivors
who kept a journal that became the main
source about the first encounter of the
Spaniards and the Filipinos.
 The original journal of Pigafetta did not
survive in history and what was handed
down to us are copies of the manuscript
that never came out of the press during his
life time.
 Three of them were in French and two are
kept in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris.
 The third one was originally owned by the
British Collector Sir Thomas Phillipp.
 Later, Beinecke Rare Book bought it and it
is now kept in the Manuscript Library of
Yale University in New Haven.
 The fourth copy was written in mixed
Italian, Spanish and Venetian language
and could be found in Ambrosian Library
in Milan.
 In 1800, Carlo Amoretti published an
Italian version of it and the following year
a French version came out in Paris.
 Pinkerton of his part translated it to
English and published it in 1819.
 James A. Richardson made his own
English version of the Ambrosian copy
and it appeared in The Philippine Islands.
 This is the copy the is widely circulated in
the Philippines.
 Pigafetta’s travelogue contributed
immensely to the enrichment of
Philippine historiography.
 His writing described vividly the
physical appearance, social life, religious
beliefs and cultural practices of the
people they encountered in the islands of
Samar, Leyte and Cebu.
 His account also contains information
about the economic activities of the local
folks and the goods they offered for trade.
 He got all this information through the
help Enrique de Malaccca, Magellan’s
slave/interpreter.
 Lastly, Pigafetta gave us an eyewitness
account of the Battle of Mactan which
resulted to the death of Magellan and him
getting wounded.
Process Questions:

1. Did Pigafetta accurately recorded the voyage free from biases? Why or Why not?

2. How did Pigafetta describe the inhabitants of the places they have been through? Did he look at
them as an inferior race? What are the factors that affect his views about these people?

3. Why do we need to study his account?

Chapter 3.1 Learning Activities

Name: Score
Course & Year:
Give a concise explanation/discussion on the following items.
1. What is the primary reason of the author in writing the document? How was it
produced?

2. What is the main theme in the document? Explain briefly.

3. What specific information of importance is provided in the text? Explain its importance
to the understanding of Philippine history.

4. What light does it shed on people, their politics and economy, religious and cultural
practices? Analyze the text.

5. What is your personal evaluation on the impact of the document in the understanding
of the 16th century people and their culture in the islands?

Adopted from: Readings in the Philippine History by Ligan, et.al (2018)

Essay: Direction. Give a concise explanation/discussion on the following items.

1. Is the account of Pigafetta a credible source of the first voyage? Why or why not?

2. Were there any biases made by Pigafetta that would sugar-coat or cover up what had really
happened in past? Why do you think so?

3. Based on the account, did Magellan really circumnavigate the world first?

4. “Magellan discovered the Philippines.” Is the term “discovery” appropriate to describe the
arrival of Magellan in our country? Why or why not?

5. What is the significance of Magellan’s Voyage?

Scoring Rubrics for Essay

Category Exemplary Superior Satisfactory Unsatisfactory

Knowledge/ Demonstrates Demonstrates Demonstrates Demonstrates

Comprehension thorough considerable understanding limited
25% understanding understanding of the topic understanding
of topic. of the topic. of topic

Content 25% Respoates depth Response Response lacks Response is

& complexity of indicates simplist ic focus or unclear, illogical
thought in or repetitive demonstrates or incoherent.
answering the thoughts in confused or
essay. answering the essay conflicting
question. thinking.

Quality of Response was Response was Response had a Response had no

Writing 25% written in an written in an little style or voice style or voice.
extraordinary interesting style.
style & voice.
Somewhat Gives some new
informative information but Gives no new
Very information & organized. poorly organized. information &
& well organized. very poorly
organized.

Grammar, Almost no Few spelling & A number of So many

Punctuation & spelling, punctuation errors, spelling, spelling,
Spelling 25% punctuation or minor grammatical punctuation or punctuation &
grammatical errors. grammatical grammatical
errors. errors. errors that it
interferes with
the meaning.
Sub Totals
100%

Over-all-Score
100%