Using a world and Philippine map, trace the route of the Magellan expedition (in words)

Magellan led the five ships and 270 men in an attempt to find a western sea route to the Spice
Islands. On August 10, 1519, they left Seville, and on September 20, they finally reached the
sea at Sanlúcar de Barrameda. They sojourned in Tenerife on September 26 and sailed to West
Africa on October 3. They reached Brazil on November 29 and reached Rio de la Plata on
January 12, 1520. In an attempt to find the strait that would lead them to the Pacific, they
searched the coast of South and America. When they failed to find it, they proceeded to
southern Patagonia and reached Port St. Julian at the end of March 1520. When the captains'
revolt against Magellan, he executed one of the captains before leaving St. Julian. He also left
the other ship—Santiago, that later on sank on May 3 while exploring the river.

On October 21, 1520, they discovered The Strait of Magellan —the strait they had been looking
for and was later named after Magellan. They voyage around the Cape of Eleven Thousand
Virgins and through a maze of islands. They called an archipelago Tierra del Fuego —Land of
Fire when they saw indigenous people lit bonfires. San Antonio abandoned the expedition.
Thus, Victoria, Trinidad, and Concepción were the only ships that managed to go into the
passage to the South Seas at Cape Desire. It took them 38 days to cross the strait and 100
days to cross the largest ocean on the planet that they called the Pacific. On March 6, 1521,
they reached the Marianas Islands, specifically Guam and named it Islas de Ladrones. On
March 16, they arrived in Zamal (Samar) and called it the Archipelago of San Lazaro. They
sailed to Limasawa Island, Leyte, then reached Cebu on April 7. When Magellan and several
other men died in the Battle of Mactan, they sailed and arrived on Borneo on July 8. They
burned the Concepción and continued to find the Maluku Islands (Spice Islands), and appointed
Juan Sebastian de Elcano as captain of Victoria. On November 8, 1521, they finally reached the
Maluku Islands. The carrack Trinidad was forced to stay in Tidore to repair the leak and decided
to return to Spain via the eastern route but was unsuccessful. Elcano decided to return via the
western route and sojourned in Timor on January 25, 1522. They resumed sailing across the
Indian Ocean and sailed around the Cape of Good Hope. On July 9, they sojourned in Cape
Verde, and after some conflicts, they still managed to sail back to Spain. On September 6, they
arrived in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, and on September 8, they returned back to Seville.

Discuss what makes Pigafetta‘s account on Magellan‘s expedition essential in

understanding pre-16th century Filipinos

Antonio Pigafetta was an Italian scholar and explorer who participated in the Magellan
expedition. When Magellan died in the Battle of Mactan, Pigafetta was one of those who got
injured but survived. Out of the 270 men who joined the expedition, he was one of the eighteen
survivors who successfully circumnavigated the globe for the very first time. The record he
managed to keep during their journey became a primary source in knowing Magellan’s story.

Since the Philippines was one of their stops during their expedition, there were also records
about the Philippines in Pigafetta’s journal. In his journal, he described how our ancestors dress,
what are their crops and other customs, what kind of food they eat, what are their ceremonies
and traditions, what are the names of the places they’ve visited, and what language our
ancestors spoke. According to an article written by Pia Ranada —entitled Bringing home the
Pigafetta manuscripts, Pigafetta’s record is the only and intricate record there is about the vital
event in the history of the Philippines. Thus, making it one of the most essential records that can
be used to understand the Philippines and the natives during the pre-16th century. This record
also made clear that the first Easter Day Mass in the Philippines was held in Limasawa Island
and not in Mazaua, Butuan. It also confirmed that Lapulapu did not kill Magellan himself. He
was killed by a poisoned arrow that was possibly thrown by anyone from Lapulapu’s side. Aside
from these two events, there are still other crucial events that can be seen in Pigafetta’s
account.

Analyze the content of Fray de Plasencia‘s account. Focusing on the relation on the
worship and beliefs of the Tagalogs, does the language or description used in the
account suggest bias of any sort? How can you use this primary source in your future
studies?

A Spanish friar of the Franciscan order named Fray Juan de Plasencia came to the Philippines
to do mission work in the Southern Tagalog area. Thus, he was able to write a book that
describes the political, social, economic, and cultural practices of the Tagalog natives before
they were Christianized. His book entitled Relación de las Costumbres de los Tagalos (Customs
of Tagalog, 1589) shows his experiences and observations while interacting with the Tagalog
natives he converted to Christianity. Although his accounts are considered as a primary source,
considering where he’s from and what he does, there’s a big possibility that he wrote this book
subjectively.

In my own opinion, there are two essential factors that affected his way of describing the
cultures and practices he witnessed. Firstly, he came from a country with a diverse culture
compared to the Tagalog natives he met. Considering that this happened in the 16th century,
interacting with people who have a different culture from you was something you don’t usually
experience. Therefore, he depicts the Tagalog natives in his writing as someone who is unusual.
This kind of illustration is bound to happen especially when you’re trying to compare and not to
describe.

Secondly, this was written for the colonizers, and not for the Tagalog natives or Filipinos. As a
writer, knowing who your audience is affects what information you’ll include, how you’ll put
together that information, and what kind of tone you’ll be using. Therefore, the worship and
beliefs of the Tagalog natives were intently described as something they just do because they
do not have a religion to believe in. When in reality, it is something deep and meaningful that
shaped the culture that he is not familiar with. His descriptions, especially with what he called
‘12 Priests of the Devil’, clearly shows that he lacked understanding of what really those
practices are and what does those really mean for the Tagalogs.
If you first read about the deities of the Tagalog natives here in Fray de Plasencia’s book, then
you might have misunderstood them as something that is evil since that’s how they were
depicted. But as per F. Lanada Jocano’s Outline of Philippine Mythology, these deities that
Plasencia called witches and ‘Priests of the Devil’ are deities who are wicked and harmful, but
not considered as evil. Plasencia’s description drove people into believing that these deities are
associated with the devil. In conclusion, he was biased towards his own worship and beliefs,
and so, the description lacks an in-depth understanding and was clearly based on prejudice.

I can use this primary source for understanding how Spanish colonizers influenced and changed
the beliefs of early Tagalogs. As I’ve mentioned in the last activity, sources like this can be used
but are not enough. It can be a starting point to learn more about the early Tagalogs.

References (for all numbers):

Clark, J. (2015, April 17). An Introduction To “Evil.” The Aswang Project.

Retrieved November 14, 2021, from

https://www.aswangproject.com/witches-in-the-philippines/

Elkano, F. (n.d.). Magellan’s Expedition and Elcano’s First Circumnavigation

of the Globe. Google Arts and Culture. Retrieved November 14, 2021, from

https://artsandculture.google.com/story/magellan-s-expedition-and-elcano-

s-first-circumnavigation-of-the-globe/egJCFYTKUG3YLg

History.com editors. (2021, September 7). Magellan’s expedition

circumnavigates globe. History. Retrieved November 14, 2021, from

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/magellans-expedition-circumna

vigates-globe

Ranada, P. (2019, October 16). Bringing home the Pigafetta manuscripts.

Rappler. Retrieved November 14, 2021, from

https://r3.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/242606-bringing-home-pigafetta-

manuscripts