TASK NO.

2
TITLE: FIRST VOYAGE AROUND THE WORLD
INSTRUCTION
Answer or Explain the answer ofthe question (25 pts.)

Make the contextual analysis of the First Voyage Around the World by Pigaffeta
during his time.

Antonio Pigafetta is a famous Italian traveller and a Venetian scholar. He is alsoknown as

Antonio Lombardo or Francisco Antonio Pigafetta. He was born in a wealthyfamily in
Vicenza in Northeast Italy on 1491. His parents are Giovanni Pigafetta andAngela Zogathe
and he is the eldest child among the three child. In his youth, he studiedastronomy, geography,
cartography, but studied navigation the most. He served on theboard of ships of the Knights of
Rhodes at the beginning of 16th century. On 1519, heaccompanied the Papal Nuncio
Monsignor Francisco Chieregati to Spain. At around 30years old, he heard in Seville that
Magellan will have an expedition and he decided tojoin. It is under the flag of King Charles I
of Spain.The voyage started on August 1519 toMaluku islands (Moluccas) and to the Spice
Islands. He served as Magellan's assistantand kept an accurate journal that was translated later
on to Cebuano language. It is thefirst recorded document in the said language. He accepted
the title of supernumerary(sobresaliente) and a salary of 1,000 maravedis (various Iberian
coins of gold and silverbetween 11th and 14th centuries). On April 1521, he was wounded at
the battle inMactan, Cebu (Philippines) wherein Magellan was killed. The 18 men out of 240
andPigafetta who joined the voyage with Magellan returned to Spain on September 1522after
the battle. They were accompanied by Juan Sebastian Elcano on board of theVictoria. These
men who survived complted the first circumnavigation of the world. Hedied on 1531 at
Vicenza, Republic of Venice at the age of 40-50 years old. Pigafetta'ssurviving journal was
the source about Magellan and Elcano's voyage. One warship ofthe Italian Navy (a destroyer
of the Navigatori class) was named after Pigafetta in 1931.
●Spices were in-demand commodities among the Europeans because of its numerousbenefits
such as food preservation, flavor enhancement, and medicine (Torres 2018,14).
●Treaty of Tordesillas was effective at that time. According to Britannica Encylopaedia,it is
an agreement between Spain and Portugal aimed atsettling conflicts over landsnewly
discovered or explored by Christopher Columbus(2018).
●In search for spices, the Spaniards financed Magellan’s plan to go to East via awestward
direction after his plan was turned down by Portugal (Torres 2018, 15).
●Through going westward, the treaty between Spain and Portugal was not violated. ●Five
boats were given to Magellan but only one remained after the expedition,Victoria(Szalay
2014).
●Of the two hundred and seventy men at the beginning of the expedition, there wereonly
eighteen survivors including Antonio Pigafetta who kept a journal about thejourney (Szalay
2014