CONTENT AND

CONTEXTUAL
A N A LY S I S O F
S E L E C T E D P R I M A RY
SOURCES IN
P H I L I P P I N E H I S T O RY
The Chronicle of Pigafetta
“ F I R S T V O YA G E A R O U N D T H E
WORLD BY MAGELLAN” BY
A N T O N I O P I G A F E T TA

• Written from the perspective of

voyagers and navigators of the 16th
century
• Antonio Pigafetta, an Italian
nobleman and one of the writers of
the book, accompanied Ferdinand
Magellan in his circumnavigation of
the world
• Important primary source in studying
pre-colonial Philippines
“ F I R S T V O YA G E A R O U N D T H E
WORLD BY MAGELLAN” BY
A N T O N I O P I G A F E T TA

• This book is also useful in studying

Magellan’s arrival in the Philippines
and the events that led up to his and
his fleet’s exit from the Philippines
 • Pigafetta described his firsthand
accounts of what he saw in
precolonial Philippines

“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 the sake of that we called
these three islands the Ladrones Islands.”
- Describing what is now Marianas
Islands, east of the Philippines.
• When Magellan landed on an
uninhabited island in the Philippines
to rest for a few days, after a while,
the natives came to them and were
excited to see them. Magellan and his
crew welcomed them with food,
drinks, and gifts. In turn, the natives
gave them fish, palm wine, rice, and
other food supplies.
 • Pigafetta was amazed at the coconut and
palm tree, which were foreign to him:

“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. Under this husk there is another very
hard, and thicker than that of a walnut...”
“...They burn this second rind, and make with
it a powder which is useful to them. Under
this rind there is a white marrow of a finger’s
thickness, which they eat fresh with meat and
fish, as we do bread, and it has the taste of an
almond, and if anyone dried it he might make
bread of it.”
• Pigafetta characterized the people as
friendly
• Upon their arrival at Humunu island
(Homonhon), they found the first signs of
gold
• They left the island, and on March 25th,
they saw two Ballanghai (balangay), a
long boat full of people
• The leader of the balangay sent his men
to Magellan’s ship and Magellan’s men
gave them gifts
• The king of the balangay offered to give
Magellan a bar of gold and chest of
ginger, but he declined. Magellan sent
the interpreter to the king and asked for
money for the needs of his ships and
expressed that he came there as a friend,
not foe
• The leader of the balangay acceded to
Magellan’s request and both parties
exchanged gifts
• The two men became friendly with each
other
• Magellan boasted of his men in armor
who cannot be struck with swords and
daggers and showed the leader of the
balangay their weapons, helmets, and
artilleries. He also shared their charts and
maps which led them to the island.
• Afterwards, Magellan was introduced by
the leader to another island. Pigafetta
reported that they saw mines of gold.
• Pigafetta remarked that this king of the
island is the most handsome of all men in
the place and was adorned with silk and
gold accessories. His house was also
made of gold.
• The king’s name was Raia Calambu, king
of Zuluan and Calagan (Butuan and
Caragua). The first king’s name was Raia
Siagu.
 • On Easter Sunday on March 31st,
Magellan ordered his chaplain to say
mass by the shore. Pigafetta reported
that both kings participated in the mass:

“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.”
• After the mass, Magellan ordered that
the cross be brought. He explained that
the cross, the nail, and the crown were
the signs of his emperor and he was
ordered to plant it in places he will
reach.
• He explained that the cross will be
beneficial for their people because once
other Spaniards saw this cross, they
would not cause them trouble and
anyone held captive by them will be
released.
• The king allowed for the cross to be
planted. This is now known as the
MAGELLAN’S CROSS and the mass is
now celebrated as the FIRST MASS
HELD IN THE PHILIPPINES.
• Magellan, on April 7, landed in Cebu.
However, the king of Cebu demanded
that they pay a tribute as it was
customary.
• Magellan refused because he was
already the captain of another king - the
Spanish king.
• The next day, Magellan and the king of
Cebu met in an open space.
• The king of Cebu offered a bit of his
blood and demanded that Magellan do
the same.
• The next day, Magellan spoke before
the people of Cebu about peace and
God, and Pigafetta reported that the
people liked the speech.
• Magellan asked who would succeed the
king after he died. The people said the
eldest child, and that parents in their
old age would defer to their children as
new leaders of the land.
• Magellan taught the people that in his
faith, children must still obey their
parents.
• On April 14, the people gathered with
the king and other principal men of
Cebu. Magellan spoke to the king and
told him to burn all idols and worship
the cross in order to become a
Christian. The king of Cebu was thus
baptized.
 • Pigafetta wrote this about the baptism:

“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 Mazavva, Jehan: to the
Moor he gave the name of Christopher, and
to the others each a name of his fancy.”

After 8 days, Pigafetta noted that all of the

island was already baptized. He also
admitted that they burned a village down
for disobedience to the king and Magellan.
• At first, the natives did not want to
burn their idols at the behest of
Magellan. They gave excuses that the
idols were needed to heal a sick relative
of the king.
• However, Magellan insisted that they
put their faith in Jesus. They baptized
the sick relative and Pigafetta
recounted that the man was able to
speak again and called it a miracle.
• On April 26, Zula, a principal man from
Matan (Mactan) island, sought help
from Magellan to fight off a chief
named Silapulapu (Lapulapu) because
he refused to obey the king and was
also preventing him from doing so.
• Magellan expressed his desire to fight
off this chief himself.
• When Magellan arrived in Mactan, he
had 49 men to the natives’ 1,500.
“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 mad,
so that we could hardly defend ourselves.
Some of them cast lances pointed with iron at
the captain-general.”
 • Magellan died in that battle. However, it is
to be noted that in the book, it did not
specifically say that it was Lapulapu who
singlehandedly killed Magellan. This is
what Pigafetta recounted:

“Whilst the Indians were thus overpowering

him, several times he turned round towards us
to see if we were all in safety, as though his
obstinate fight had no other object than to give
an opportunity for the retreat of his men.”
• Pigafetta also said that the king of Cebu
who was baptized could have sent help but
Magellan instructed him not to join the
battle and just stay in the balangay to see
how they fight.
• Due to the scheming and betrayal of
Magellan’s interpreter and slave Henry, the
natives began to kill what was left of
Magellan’s men. Only a few were able to
escape back to their ship and continue
their journey around the world.
Analysis of Pigafetta’s Chronicle
Pigafetta’s chronicle was one of the most cited primary sources for
historians studying precolonial Philippines. He wrote one of the earliest
written accounts of precolonial Philippines. He was thus seen as a credible
source for the subject which was not widely documented before.

However, a student of history must be aware of certain biases

accompanying the author and his identities, loyalties, circumstances he was
in, and how it affected the text he produced.
• Pigafetta was a chronicler who was
commissioned by the King of Spain to
accompany and document a voyage
intended to expand the Spanish empire
• He came from a noble, rich background
• He was a scholar of cartography and
geography, so he was able to give
details on the geography and climate of
the places they went to
• 16th century European perspective
• Regarded the indigenous belief
systems as inferior to Christianity
which was the predominant belief
system in Europe
• Regarded the way of life of the
indigenous people as inferior to
the Europeans
• Pigafetta would always remark on
the nakedness of the natives or
how he was fascinated by their
exotic culture
• He also emphasized the natives’
amazement at their artillery,
goods, and merchandise
• He would always remark on the
abundance of spices like ginger
and precious metals like gold
• From a European standpoint:
⚬ He saw the natives as being
naked because the Europeans
typically wore more clothing.
The natives wore less clothing
due to the climate.
• The materials the natives used
were palm or bamboo for their
houses. This was because of the
warm climate, and these materials
allowed more air through. This is
what Pigafetta did not understand,
coming from a European
perspective.
• Pigafetta lived during the reign of the Holy Roman Empire in
Europe. The loyalty and purpose of the Holy Roman Empire was
the domination of the Catholic Church all over the world.
• Hence, other belief systems were seen by Christian Europeans as
barbaric and even demonic
• The 19th century European economy was mercantilist, an
economic system wherein the accumulation of wealth such as
gold, silver, and other precious metals determined a nation’s
wealth.
• Thus, Pigafetta always emphasized the presence of gold in the
islands. Spain was in search of more gold in order to become
more powerful.
• Pigafetta also remarked upon spices. In
Europe, spices like those found in the
islands were scarce and were seen as
luxuries.
• Spices therefore were very important to
the wealth of the Spanish empire.
Kartilya ng Katipunan
The Kataastaasang, Kagalanggalangang
Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan
(KKK) or the Katipunan is arguably the
most important organization formed in
Philippine history.
While anti-colonial movements were not lacking prior to the
formation of the KKK, only the KKK envisioned:
1) A united Filipino nation that will revolt against the Spaniards
for
2) The total independence of the country from Spain.
In contrast, previous revolts did not
focus on a unified Filipino nation as their
goal. For example, Diego Silang, who
took up arms against the Spaniards, was
mainly concerned about his locality and
referred to himself as “El Rey de Ilocos”
(King of Ilocos).
In the conduct of their struggle, the
Katipunan created a complex structure
and a defined value system that will
guide the organization as a collective
aspiring for a single goal.

One of the most important documents

was the Kartilya ng Katipunan.
The Kartilya ng Katipunan was written
by Emilio Jacinto in 1896. Emilio Jacinto
joined the Katipunan when he was 18
years old and a law student at the
University of Santo Tomas.

Bonifacio recognized the value and

intellect of Jacinto, and upon seeing the
Kartilya that he wrote, he promoted its
distribution among all the Katipuneros.
The Kartilya can be treated as the
Katipunan’s code of conduct. It contains
14 rules that instruct the way a
Katipunero should behave and which
specific values he should uphold.
 Kartilya ng Katipunan (English translation)

I. A life that is not dedicated to a great and sacred cause is like a tree without a
shade, or a poisonous weed.

II. A good deed lacks virtue if it springs from a desire for personal profit and
not from a sincere desire to do good.

III. True charity resides in acts of compassion, in love for one’s fellow men,
and in making true Reason the measure of every move, deed and word.
 Kartilya ng Katipunan (English translation)

IV. Be their skin dark or pale, all men are equal. One can be superior to
another in knowledge, wealth and beauty... but not in being.

V. A person with a noble character values honor above self-interest, while a

person with an ignoble character values self-interest above honor.

VI. An honorable man’s word is his bond.

 Kartilya ng Katipunan (English translation)

VII. Don’t waste time; lost wealth may be recovered, but time lost is lost
forever.

VIII. Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor.

IX. An intelligent man is he who takes care in everything he says and keeps
quiet about what must be kept secret.
 Kartilya ng Katipunan (English translation)

X. Along the thorny path of life, the man leads the way and his wife and
children follow. If the leader goes the way of perdition, then so do those who
are led.

XI. Do not regard a woman as a mere plaything, but as a helpmate and partner
in the hardships of this existence. Have due regard to her weakness, and
remember the mother who brought you into this world and nurtured you in
your infancy.
 Kartilya ng Katipunan (English translation)

XII. What you would not want done to your wife, daughter and sister, do not
do to the wife, daughter and sister of another.
 Kartilya ng Katipunan (English translation)

XIII. A man’s worth does not come from him being a king, or in the height of
his nose and the whiteness of his face, or in him being a priest, a
REPRESENTATIVE OF GOD, or in his exalted position on the face of this
earth. Pure and truly noble is he who, though born in the forest and able to
speak only his own tongue, behaves decently, is true to his word, has dignity
and honor, who is not an oppressor and does not abet oppressors, who knows
how to cherish and look after the land of his birth.
 Kartilya ng Katipunan (English translation)

XIV. When these doctrines have spread and the brilliant sun of beloved liberty
shines on these poor Islands, and sheds its sweet light upon a united race, a
people in everlasting happiness, then the lives lost, the struggle and the
suffering will have been more than recompensed.
Why did the KKK give importance to such values and principles
in their Kartilya?
GROUP ACTIVITY. Do a historical analysis of
one principle from the Kartilya. Have one
representative your findings afterward.

Things to consider:
- Circumstances of the time
– Background of the author/s
- Perspective of the author/s
- Historical context