Republic of the Philippines

Mindanao State University-Main Campus

College of Social Sciences and Humanities
Department of History

In partial fulfillment of the

requirement for the Course
Readings in Philippine History
S.Y 2021-2022

THE FIRST VOYAGE AROUND THE WORLD

(Internal Criticism of the Voyage)

Prepared to
Ms. Diamond Tawano

Prepared by
Abdul Barie B. Hadji Ali
Aisah N. Pukunum
Alnor M. Abdul aziz
Al-raiz A. Gunting
Ashnaiffah A. Somarangay
Angeline B. Gabriel
Azizah A. Domado-Dibagulun
Ben Kenneth II I. Tabora
Crezel Joy D. Gamuzaran
Eman Nisreen B. Rande
Eman T. Samanoden
Farhanah A. Langcua
Saliha N. Yahya
 Antonio Pigafetta was known by the name Antonio Lombardo or Francisco Antonio

Pigafetta. He was born in Vicenza in 490 ca. and died in the same city in 1534 ca. He was a famous

Italian scholar and explorer who studied geography and cartography. The king of Spain ordered

Pigafetta to accompany Magellan in his expedition around the world to document and report

significant discoveries and events during their expedition. This explains his credible background

and experience during the voyage. One of his notable works is The First Voyage around the World,

which became a valuable resource for learning about Magellan's legendary voyage. The First

Voyage around the World was written around 1522 ca.-1525 ca. Primarily, he wrote the document

because King Charles I ordered him. Consequently, the document focuses on the narration of

Pigafetta and shows a misrepresentation of Philippine history and culture. To elaborate, in the

account of Pigafetta, the Filipinos are labeled as ingenious, poor, and thieves only because of their

physical appearance and clothing, which he compared to their European perspective and life. He

also noted that the indigenous belief of Filipino is inferior and barbaric in nature definitely because

of the Christian belief that the European have. Furthermore, he is a credible author to others since

he is one of the voyagers who survived the expedition and merely wanted to record the events he

had gone through during the expedition. Moreover, Pigafetta's work is remarkably accurate in the

ethnographical and geographical account of the circumnavigation, such as the well-detailed

customs, language, and environment. One of his well-supported written events are the Battle in

Mactan, where Magellan was killed. Therefore, his work was one of the most often mentioned

sources by historians researching the precolonial contact between Europe and the East. The First

Voyage around the World is an original work of Antonio Pigafetta, even though some events were

referred to in "The Journal of Magellan" by Ferdinand Magellan. This dictates that The First
Voyage around the World is not a copy of some other documents. Unfortunately, the original

journal that Pigafetta kept was lost, but an account of the voyage written by him around 1522

ca.1525 ca. survives in four manuscript versions, such as three in French and one in Italian. The

events written in The First Voyage around the World were independently observed by Antonio

Pigafetta but written in a narrative and cartographic record style, which implies that the events or

ideas might not be accurate information about the actual events of the past. Regarding the

document's security, Antonio Pigafetta's work is still alive but is not well-secured due to the loss

of the original copy, as mentioned above. Some of the ideas written in the manuscript might not

be like the original one. Therefore, the voyage around the world by Pigafetta was indeed a

document from the perspective of the Spanish.