Republic of the Philippines

CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE

F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

GEC 2: READING IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

First Semester S.Y. 2022-2023
LEARNING MATERIALS

LESSON 3: MAGELLAN’S VOYAGE AROUND THE WORLD

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

a. Analyze the content, context, and perspective of the document;

b. Discuss Magellan-Elcano expedition and experience based on the journal; and
c. Explain the importance of Pigafetta’s account on the study of Philippine history.

DISCUSSION:

Historical Context
One of the benefits that the Europeans gained from the Crusades was the
discovery of some products that were not available in their home country. These
included porcelain, silk, incense, herbs, perfumes, fabrics, carpets, spices, and other
oriental products. Of all these Asian products, spices became the most expensive and in-
demand commodity among Europeans because of their numerous uses as food
preservation, flavour enhancement, and even medicine. Since spices were a very
lucrative commodity, many merchants aspired to monopolize their supply and
distribution in the European markets.
Asian goods reached Europe either via the Silk Road or the Arabian-Italian trade
route. Both routes were expensive and oftentimes disrupted by wars, natural calamities,
and bandits. The closing of the land route of the Spice Trade with the conquest by the
Ottoman Empire of Constantinople (present-day Turkey and the “gateway to the West”
then) in 1453 forced European kingdoms to look for ways to purchase spices directly
from the source. They decided to explore the oceans to look for a way to the famed Spice
Islands.
Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal put up a maritime school that trained
sailors who would later discover an eastern sea route going to the Spice Islands (the

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modern-day Moluccas Islands) and other islands in Southeast Asia via the Atlantic
Ocean and the Indian Ocean. This route enabled them to trade directly with the
producers of spices and other Oriental goods. The numerous economic benefits it gave
to Portugal made other monarchs envious and prompted them to search for a new trade
route to Asia. This led to the discovery of many territories previously unknown to the
Europeans, though inhabited already and known to other races.
The marriage of Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon (1469)
coupled with the victory of the Catholic monarchs over the Moors in the Battle of
Granada (1492) resulted in the rise of Spain as a world power. With the domestic
problems already under control, Spain started to explore their economic options
outside the Iberian Peninsula. Inspired by the success of Portugal, they aspired to have a
fair share in the spice trade. They financed the trans-Atlantic voyages of Christopher
Columbus (1492-1502) which resulted in the discovery of the territories on the other
side of the Atlantic Ocean. Decades later, the Spanish monarch also supported the plan
of Ferdinand Magellan to go to the East by sailing westward, a proposal that Portugal
refused to finance.
The Magellan-Elcano expedition left the port of Sanlucar de Barrameda in Seville
on August 20, 1519 with around 270 men of different nationalities. One of its main
objectives was to search for a new maritime path to the Spice Islands that would not
violate Spain’s treaty with Portugal. Along the way, the expedition suffered natural and
man-made challenges and out of the five ships that left Spain only three reached the
Philippines. The first couple of weeks of their stay in the Philippines were marked with
hospitality and cordial exchanges of goods. The local inhabitants traded with them and
some were even converted to Christianity. Lapu-lapu, the chieftain of Mactan, refused to
trade with the Spaniards and when Magellan learned this, he waged war with him.
Despite their superiority in terms of arms and training, the Spaniards lost the battle and
one of the casualties was Magellan himself. When the survivors returned to Cebu, they
were also treacherously attacked by their former allies. This prompted them to leave
the island. By that time, their number was just enough to man two ships, the Victoria
(now under the command of Juan Sebastian Elcano) and the Trinidad. The expedition

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finally reached the Spice Islands and managed to purchase a large amount of spices
before leaving. Unfortunately, the Trinidad and her crew were captured by the
Portuguese on their journey back.
On September 7, 1522, Elcano and 17 survivors arrived in Spain aboard the ship
Victoria. One of them was Antonio Pigafetta, the assistant of Magellan who kept a
journal that became the main source of what we know about the first encounter of the
Spaniards and the Filipinos.

About the Author

Antonio Pigafetta (1491-c. 1534), born around 1490 in the town of Vincenza,
Venice, Italy, was the eldest son of Giovanni Pigafetta to second wife Angela Zoga. He
studied astronomy, geography, and cartography and during his younger years worked
in the ships owned by the Knights of Rhodes.
His biographers described him as a well-educated young man possessing an avid
curiosity of the world around him. He joined the delegation of Monsignor Francesco
Chieregati when the latter was assigned as Papal Nuncio to Spain in 1519. It was during
this time when Pigafetta became acquainted with the lucrative spice trade and heard
the news of the voyage to be undertaken by Ferdinand Magellan. After getting the
approval of the Spanish sovereign, he left Barcelona and went to Seville. He presented
his credentials to Magellan and to the Casa de la Contratacion, the office in charge of
voyages to the New World. He was admitted as one of the sobresalientes
(supernumeraries), or men coming from prominent families who will join the trip for
the love of adventure and for the advancement of military service. Pigafetta survived the
challenges and catastrophes that the expedition encountered along the way, including
being wounded in the Battle of Mactan. He was among the 18 survivors who returned to
Spain on September 6, 1522 aboard the Victoria with Juan Sebastian Elcano.
From Seville, Pigafetta reported to his Majesty King Carlos V and gave him a
handwritten account of what happened to them during the journey before returning to
his native Italy. Very little is known as to what happened to him during the latter part of

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his life except on some accounts that he joined the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem in its
battle against the Turks. He died sometime in 1534.

About the Book

Pigafetta kept a detailed journal of what happened to them from the time they
left Seville in 1519 until they returned to Spain three years after. When he returned to
Italy, many of his associates asked him to write a formal account of the Magellan
expedition and have it published. He followed their advice and, after doing it, he
presented his draft to Pope Clement VII, Philippe de Villiers L’Isle-Adam (grandmaster
of the Knights of Rhodes) and to Louis of Savoy (mother of King Francis I of France,
hoping that they would help him finance its publication. Unfortunately, he was unable to
find a financier who would pay the deposit required by the printer because by that time,
the accounts of Maximilianus Transylvanus and Peter Martyr were already out and
interest on Magellan expedition had died down. Sometime in 1536, a condensed version
of his manuscript was published in Venice by Jacques Fabre.
The original journal of Pigafetta did not survive time. What was handed down to
us are copies of the manuscript that were never printed in his lifetime. Three of them
were in French and two are kept in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. The third one
was originally owned by British collector Sir Thomas Phillipps. 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 Venetion languages
and could be found in the Ambrosian Library in Milan. In 1800, Carlo Amoretti
published and Italian version and the following year a French version came out in Paris.
An English version was published in 1819. James Alexander Robertson made his own
English version of the Ambrosian copy and it appeared in The Philippine Islands opus as
well as in a separate edition.
Of the four known primary sources that dealt with the Magellan expedition,
Pigafetta’s account is the longest and most comprehensive. It recounted the individual
fates of the five ships (Trinidad, San Antonio, Concepcion, Santiago, and Victoria) that
comprised the Magellan expedition. It narrated lucidly how they gallantly survived the

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unforeseen problems and challenges, such as shortage of food, various types of diseases,
the crew’s lack of confidence in Magellan’s leadership, and the hostile attitude of the
people they encountered during the journey. Pigafetta’s account also included maps,
glossaries of native words, and geographic information and descriptions of the flora and
fauna of the places they visited.
Pigafetta’s travelogue contributed immensely to the enrichment of Philippine
historiography. His writing provided us a glimpse of the political, economic, and social
conditions of the islands in the Visayan region during the 16 th century. He 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 data about the economic activities of the local folks and the goods they offered
for trade. He got all this information through the help of Magellan’s slave/interpreter,
Enrique de Malacca. Pigafetta likewise gave us an eyewitness account of the death of
Magellan in the Battle of Mactan.
The report of Pigafetta is quite long and is not presented here in its entirety. The
excerpts are limited to the narration of what happened to the expedition upon reaching
the Philippines – from the time they landed on Homonhon up to the Battle of Mactan.
Since Pigafetta and Enrique de Malacca were not natives of the Visayan region, there
were inaccuracies in the information about and the spelling of the names of places they
visited. Thus, the correct equivalent and translation are provided in this book to make
the excerpts understandable to contemporary students.

Relevance
Pigafetta’s chronicle contributed immensely to European historiography as it
preserved and popularized the achievements of the Magellan-Elcano expedition. If
Pigafetta did not survive the journey, we would have very little knowledge of Magellan’s
numerous contributions in the fields of geography, navigation, history, and other related
areas. First, credit must be given to the Magellan expedition for proving that the earth is
not flat but an oblate sphere. Moreover, they demolished the myth that there is boiling
water at the Equator. Second, Magellan and his men completed the first

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circumnavigation of the world. Third, they confirmed that the Portuguese route is not
the only way to the Spice Islands. They proved the theory that one can go to the east by
sailing west. Fourth, they brought to the attention of the Europeans that on the other
side of the American continent exists a large body of water which they named Pacific
Ocean (Mar Pacifico). All these discoveries altered the European map of the world and
resulted in the inclusion of new territories in their world view.
The account of Pigafetta also enriched Philippine historiography because it
contains important details about the conditions of the Visayan Islands in the 16 th
century. Some of the prominent leaders during that time, their economic activities,
social and cultural practices, and religious beliefs were identified. Moreover, local
textbook writers use his book as their source of historical information about the
beginning of Christianity in the Philippines. The accounts about the First Mass in the
Philippines, the conversion of Rajah Humabon and his wife, and the story of the image of
the Sto. Nino were mostly taken from Pigafetta’s book. Finally, Pigafetta has numerous
accounts about the reaction of the Filipinos when they met the Spaniards. Some
Filipinos were easily befriended by the Spaniards while others refused to interact and
trade with them. Lapu-lapu is the most prominent Filipino character in Pigafetta’s
narrative. He was the first Filipino who led the resistance movement against Spanish
rule and successfully thwarted the first attempt of the Spaniards to take control of the
Philippines.
It was mentioned earlier that Pigafetta was not the only one who wrote about the
expedition. The year after the ship Victoria arrived in Spain, Maximilianus
Transylvanus’ De Moluccis Insulis (The Moluccas Islands) came off the press. Its subject
matter is the same as that Pigafetta’s book but it is not an eyewitness account because
the author is not part of the expedition. He based his narrative on the interviews that he
conducted with the survivors of the Victoria. His prominent interviewees were Juan
Sebastian Elcano, Francisco Albo, and Hernando de Bustamante. Compared to
Pigafetta’s work, his account is far much shorter and contains less details. Another
survivor who maintained a journal of the voyage was Francisco Albo (Victoria’s pilot).
His work is the shortest and it focused mainly on the location of the expedition on

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certain dates. Finally, the last contemporaneous source of information about Magellan is
the Italian-born historian of Spain, Peter Martyr d’Anghiera. From 1511 to 1530, he
wrote accounts of the Spanish explorations of the New World which he divided into
“decades.” The fifth decade appeared in 1523 and it recounted the conquest of Mexico
and the circumnavigation of the world by Magellan.

EVALUATION: (See the separate file for Learning Activity)

REFERENCES:

Torres, Jose Victor. BATIS: Sources in Philippine History. C&E Publishing Inc. (2018)
Asuncion, Nestor M. et. al. Readings in Philippine History. C&E Publishing Inc. (2019)

Prepared by:

John Rey R. Buan

Instructor

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