Name:VILLANUEVA, Blitz Lyle B.

Course & Section:BSEE – 1ED

MODULE I – Lesson 3

1. Discuss the importance of historical criticism.

- Historical criticism also known as the historical-critical method or
higher criticism is a branch of literary criticism that investigates the origin of
ancient text in order to understand the world behind the text. It is important
for us to learn about this because it helps us to discover the original meaning of
the text in its historical context and its literal sense. It also to establish the
historical situation of the author and the recipients of the text and it help us
understand determine the authenticity of the text.
2. Do you believe that writing history is subjective and has biases? Why or why
not? Explain your answer.
- For me, History is subjective and often biased. Many historians want to
find particular results, because they have an idea in their head and they
consider only the evidence that supports their view and they want to prove
their own theories and any sources that suggest it was not as they think; they
leave aside as being untrustworthy or false. They describe what the world
looked like in the past and how they lived. A way to do that is to take all the
sources into consideration but unfortunately this is not always possible because
of the lack of sources or the information are biased leading to endless
discussion and no more conviction of what happened in the past.
3. Review the journal of Antonio Pigafetta and make an analysis using internal and
external criticism.
- Francisco Antonio Pigafetta who is also known by the name of Antonio
Lombardo or Antonio Pigafetta was a famous Italian traveler who was born in
Vicenza on the year 1490 to whom have also died in the same city on the year
1534. Pigafetta was born into a wealthy family. He is an explorer from the
Republic of Venice. He is also an Italian scholar and studied navigation among
other things. He served on board the galleys of the Knight of Rhodes and
accompanied the papal nuncio, Monsignor Chieregati to Spain. Antonio
Pigafetta was a key player of one of the most amazing world exploration trips,
he was an Italian seafarer and geographer. On their journey with Ferdinand
Magellan, he was able to discover different data concerning about geography;
climate, flora, fauna, and the native inhabitants of the places that the
expedition visited. During the discoveries of the natives, he tried to assemble
some brief of glossaries about their native language.
 Pigafetta’s account contributed immensely to the enrichment of
Philippines historiography in which these writings has provide its people an
overview of the political, economical and social conditions of the islands of
Visayas duting the 16th century. Pigafetta’s account is the only most important
source written about the voyage of circumnavigation, excluding the fact that it
has included fabulous and complex details. On a daily basis, he wrote notes and
was actually surprised that e lost a day due to its driving situations. In his
works were also written broad description of different types of animals such as
the Storm Petrel (Hydrobates Pelagicus), sharks, the pink spoonbill, and the
phyllium orthoptera (which is an insect similar to a sheet. His report is rich in
ethnographic details. He practiced as an interpreter and came to develop, at
least in two Indonesian dialects.
Antonio Pigafetta makes clear his desire to see the world and profit from
the experience. “Having obtained much information from books that I had
read, as well as from various persons, who discussed the great and marvelous
things that might satisfy me somewhat, and that might grant me some renown
with prosperity”. This clearly states that Pigafetta, being a seafarer and
geographer that he is, has desired to be included in the circumnavigation that
Ferdinand Magellan was leading. He was yearning for experiences that would
help him discover more about the world that he was living in. his desire has
pushed him to become the assistant of Ferdinand Magellan in his journey
towards the Spice Islands.
According to Cachey (2007) the first voyage around the world started at
th
20 of September 1519 when Ferdinand Magellan departed in Spain in fleet of
five ships and a crew of less than 240 men intending to reach the Orient by
sailing around or through South America and across the largely uncharged
expanse of the Pacific Ocean. This statement may be an evidence to assume
that Antonio Pigafetta has started writing his report about the first voyage led
by Ferdinand Magellan as early as they have started the said journey. Through
their journey, Pigafetta have encountered events and occurrences that
unveiled the differences of every place that he was in. These matters were all
written down up to the appearances of the people, their customs, rituals and
most especially possessions that every places was rich in. This report is clearly
intended to provide European readers with practical information for their
future dealings. Although they have faced different trials along with their
expedition, three years later, on 6th of September 1522, Magellan’s successor,
Juan Sebastion de Elcano have returned to Spain along with a single ship, the
Victoria and the remnants of the expedition. Although there is no direct
statement when Pigafetta finished writing the report, we can presume that he
had finished it right after the end of their circumnavigation. Today this book is
 considered one of the most important documentary evidence relating to the
geographic discoveries of the 16th century, which was rescued before in 1797
after being lost.
4. Analyze the above journal and identify the bias/es in the entry, and explain
why the author has this bias.
- Based on the journal that I’ve read, I searched for possible articles that
researched about the journal carefully and I found some explanation that
shows a biased entry by the author. According to Michaels the writer of the
article, says that “Antonio Pigafetta's journal, later published as "Relazione del
primo viaggio intorno al mondo", is the main primary source for much of what is
known about Magellan's expedition. The first printed report, using a secondary
source, of the circumnavigation was a letter written by Maximilianus
Transylvanus, a relative of sponsor Christopher de Haro, who interviewed
survivors in 1522 and published his account in 1523.
Another reliable secondary source is the 1601 chronicle and the longer
1615 version, both by Spanish historian Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas.
Herrera's account is all the more accurate as he had access to Spanish and
Portuguese sources that are nowhere to be found today, not least Andrés de
San Martín’s navigational notes and papers. San Martin, the chief pilot-
cosmographer (astrologer) of the Armada, disappeared in the Cebu massacre on
the 1st of May 1521.
In addition to Pigafetta’s surviving journal, 11 other crew members kept
written accounts of the voyage:
Francisco Albo: the Victoria’s pilot logbook
Giovanni Battista: two letters dating from the 21st of December 1521, and the
25th of October 1525
Hernando de Bustamante: a deposition on the 18th of October 1522
Juan Sebastián Elcano:(The Captain who actually finished the journey) a letter
written on the 6th of September 1522, and a deposition on the 18th of October
1522
Gonzalo Gómez de Espinosa: a letter written on the 12th of January 1525, a
statement on the 2nd of August 1527, and a deposition from the 2nd to the 5th
of September 1527.
Ginés de Mafra: a detailed account first published in 1920, Directly from a
statement on the 2nd of August 1527, and a deposition from the 2nd to the 5th
of September 1527.
Martín Méndez : the Victoria's logbook.
Leone Pancaldo: a long logbook ‘by the Genoese pilot’ (first published in
1826),Directly from a letter written on the 25th of October 1525, a statement
on the 2nd of August 1527m and a deposition from the 2nd to the 5th of
September 1527.
Also included as sources were two anonymous manuscripts written by
Portuguese crew members one long and one "very short account". The full
extent of the globe was realized, since their voyage was 14,460 Spanish leagues
(60,440 km or 37,560 mi). The global expedition showed the need for an
International Date Line to be established. Upon arrival at Cape Verde, the crew
was surprised to learn that the ship's date of 9 July 1522 was one day behind
the local date of 10 July 1522, even though they had recorded every day of the
three-year journey without omission.
The only part of Magellan's voyage that had remained in question was
where exactly his voyage landed when they reached what is commonly believed
to be modern day Guam. In a book about Magellan's Landfall in the Mariana
Islands by: Robert F Rogers and Dirk Anthony Ballendorf, Titled "The Journal of
Pacific History", The authors actually set sail, retracing the path that he would
have taken, using the detailed descriptions and other accounts by the
Captain(s) and crew. Siting that their landing in Guam was the most likely, but
the exact location in Guam was "probably mistaken".
There is actually one quite humorous fact about Magellan's Journey, that
actually makes a slave of Magellan's the actual first man to sail around the
world. About a month after the infamous "Isle of Thieves" events in Guam, they
reached The Philippines. To the crew’s surprise, Enrique, an enslaved man
Magellan had purchased before the journey, could understand and speak the
indigenous people’s language. It turned out he was likely raised there before
his enslavement—making him, not Magellan, the first person to circumnavigate
the globe.
Given all that is actually known and the sheer number of sources of
this information, it's likely that the only real "Bias" of information in Antonio
Pigafetta's journal would likely have been to put a favorable light on either
Magellan himself (as they were both funded by the Spanish) or on Italians
(Because of his own heritage).