The Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo

(1) The importance of Pigafettas` journal is invaluable, since Pigafetta was an

eyewitness to the voyage itself and was known as a conscientious writer. It’s the best description
we have of the Philippines in the early 16th century, and of just how Magellan’s expedition
encountered the islands and the people. Although it was not the only account that we have on
Magellans voyage, it still has given us insight on what the Philippines looked like before. But I
personally believe if the journal had never been written, or the manuscript didn`t survived, the
overall history of the Philippines as we know it wouldn’t really change all that much. A lot of
what many amateurs think of as “history” might be lost or altered: where was the first Mass?
exactly how did Magellan die? But I believe that serious historians tend to regard such questions
as peripheral, if not trivial, in the grand scheme of things.

(2) Antonio Pigafetta is an Italian scholar and explorer from the former
Republic of Venice, now a city in Italy. He was famously known for being Magellan`s assistant
and joining the expedition led by the former. And he is also one of the 18 men who were able to
survive and return to Spain in 1522. (3) The journal was made for collecting extensive data
concerning the voyages` geography, climate, flora, fauna and the native inhabitants of the places
the expedition has visited. His notes are unusually meticulous proved to be invaluable to future
expeditioners and cartographers, mainly due to the fact that he included nautical and linguistic
data.
(4) The journals contribution was invaluable to the historians. As it described
specifics meticulously and has introduced various knowledge unbeknownst to them before. For
the history of the Philippines, it has given us one step closer to knowing our roots, of what we
were before. It has given us a glimpse of what was it like before, and appreciating what we`ve
missed. It is truly an invaluable text.