Readings in Philippine History

Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521)

He was a Portuguese explorer who is credited with masterminding the first expedition to
circumnavigate the world.
They travel West across the Atlantic in search of the East Indies.
There is a high demand for valuable spices for culinary, medical and preserving purposes.
He has a crew of around 270 men which included officers, sailors and adventures.
Who is Antonio pigafetta?
Antonio Pigafetta (1491-1531)
He was an Italian explorer and chronicler that aimed to circumnavigate the globe.
During the expedition, he served as Magellan's assistant and kept an accurate journal,
which later assisted him in translating the Cebuano language.
He was one of the 18 men who made the complete trip, returning to Spain in 1522
King Charles I of spain
In 1517, King Charles I of Spain, who had just assumed the throne at the tender age of
eighteen, was approached by Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer who came to
the young King after being rejected by his own country. Magellan made Charles an offer.
Let him sail around the world and in the process find a direct route to Indonesia and the
Spice Islands, once successfully navigated by Christopher Columbus.
Ladrones islands
• Their fleet reached in what he called the Ladrones Islands or the “Islands of the
Thieves.”
• It is known today as the Marianas Islands.
He recounted:
“These people have no arms, but use sticks, which have a fish bone at the end.
They are poor, but ingenious, and great thieves, and for sake of that we called
these three islands the Ladrones Islands.

March 18, nine men came to them and showed joy and eagerness in seeing them.
Magellan realized that the men were reasonable and welcomed them with food, drinks,
and gifts. In turn, the natives gave them fish, palm wine (uraca), figs, and two cochos,
rice (umai), cocos, and other food supplies. He also described what seemed like a
coconut.
His description reads:
“This palm produces a fruit named cocho, which is as large as the head, or
thereabouts: its first husk is green, and two fingers in thickness, in it they find
certain threads, with which they make the cords for fastening their boats. “
The Arrival in Homonhon Island
Pigafetta called it as the “Watering Place of Good Signs.”
This designation likely stems from the positive experiences the expedition had on the
island, including finding fresh water, which was crucial for the health and survival of the
crew.
It is in this place where Pigafetta wrote that they found the first signs of gold in the
island.
March 31, 1521 (Easter Sunday) Magellan ordered the chaplain to preside a Mass by
the shore.
Pigafetta wrote:
“…when the offertory of the mass came, the two kings, went to kiss the cross like
us, but they offered nothing, and at the elevation of the body of our Lord they
were kneeling like us, and adored our Lord with joined hands.”
Magellan’s men and the king of Cebu met in an open space. There, the king offered a
bit of his blood and demanded that Magellan do the same.
Pigafetta recounts:
“Then the king said that he was content, and as a greater sign of affection he sent
him a little of his blood from his right arm, and wished he should do the like. Our
people answered that he would do it. Besides that, he said that all the captains
who came to his country had been accustomed to make a present to him, and he
to them, and therefore they should ask their captain if he would observe the
custom. Our people answered that he would; but as the king wished to keep up
the custom, let him begin and make a present and then the captain would do his
duty.”
On the 14th of April, the people gathered with the king and other principal men of the
islands. Magellan spoke to the king and encouraged him to be a good Christian by
burning all of the idols and worship the cross instead. The king of Cebu was then
baptized as a Christian.
Pigafetta wrote:
"To that the king and all his people answered that thy would obey the commands
of the captain and do all that he told them. The captain took the king by the hand,
and they walked about on the scaffolding, and when he was baptized he said that
he would name him Don Charles (Carlos), as the emperor his sovereign was
named; and he named the prince Don Fernand (Fernando), after the brother of the
emperor, and the King of Mazzava, Jehan: to the Moor he gave the name of
Christopher, and to the others each a name of his fancy."
On the 26th of April, Zula, a principal man from the island Mactan went to see
Magellan and asked him for a boat full of men so that he would be able to fight the chief
named Lapulapu. Such chief, according to Zula, refused to obey the king and was also
preventing him from doing so. The battle began.
Pigafetta recounted:
"When we reached land we found the islanders fifteen hundred in number, drawn
up in three squadrons; they came down upon us with terrible shouts, two
squadrons attacking us on the flanks, and the third in front. The captain then
divided his men in two bands. Our musketeers and crossbow-men fired for half
an hour from a distance, but did nothing, since the bullets and arrows, though
they passed through their shields made of thin wood, and perhaps wounded their
arms, yet did not stop them. The captain shouted not to fire, but he was not
listened to. The islanders seeing that the shots of our guns did them little or no
harm would not retire, but shouted more loudly, and springing from one side to
the other to avoid our shots, they at the same time drew nearer to us, throwing
arrows, javelins, spears hardened in fire, stones, and even mud, so that we could
hardly defend ourselves. Some of them cast lances pointed with iron at the
captain-general."