Name: Jerome C.

ALvior
Class code: 2985

CONTEXT ANALYSIS

Title of the document where the selected text came from : Magellan’s Voyage Around the
World

Original language of the document: Italian

Language used in Translation: English

Translator: James Alexander Robertson

Author’s name: Antonio Pigafetta

Birth (Date andPlace): Born in Vincenza, Italy between 1480-1491

Death: Died in the year 1531

Relevant information about the author that would link the author to the primary source:
Antonio Pigafetta is renowned as Ferdinand Magellan’s Diarist and a meticulous chronicler,
allegdly taking daily notes. Pigafetta’s work is significant not only as a source of information
about the voyage itself, but also as an early Western description of the people and languages of
the Philippines, as well as when Magellan was killed, on April 27, 152, in a combat on Mactan
Island, in the Philippines, which Pigafetta encountered and recount on this.

Date of writing and/or Publication of the original document: Pigafetta kept a detailed journal,
the original of which is lost. However, an account of the voyage, written by Pigafetta between
1522 and 1525, survives in four manuscript versions: one in Italian and three in French.

Author’s Purpose for writing the document : Antonio Pigafetta was an Italian scholar and
pilgrim from the Republic of Venice. He joined the expedition of five ships to the Spice Islands
led by Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan attempting to sail around the world. He
provided important facts on the discovery of the islands and folks dwelling the place.
The primary purpose of Antonio Pigafettas in writing the document is to discover and learn
about the world. He wanted to record details and information during the expedition which caused
him to join the voyage and served as an assistant to Magellan. Magellan desired to prove that the
world was round and through investigations, he proved it. However, they faced so much
cirmustance leaving Magellan dead while Pigafetta managed to survive along with his journal.

In conclusion, Pigafetta’s hope of learning about the world which drives him to write documents
became significant part of today’s history. His daily notes were the basis of how the world’s first
circumnavigation was and be understood with certainty. He encountered new people for our
basis of today- know what they look like, where they live, what they eat. What they say, and
gives us pages of words to give barrage of detail.

What was happening in history around the time that the document was written?

In Seville, Pigafetta heard of Magellan's planned expedition and decided to join, accepting the
title of supernumerary (that exceeds the number) and a modest salary of 1,000 maravedís. During
the voyage, which started in August 1519, Pigafetta collected extensive data concerning
the geography, climate, flora, fauna and the native inhabitants of the places that the expedition
visited. His meticulous notes proved invaluable to future explorers and cartographers, mainly due
to his inclusion of nautical and linguistic data, and also to latter-day historians because of its
vivid, detailed style. The only other sailor to maintain a journal during the voyage was Francisco
Albo, Victoria's last pilot, who kept a formal logbook.

The First Voyage Around the World, 1519-1522: An Account of Magellan's Expedition. On 10
August 1519, five ships departed from Seville for what was to become the first circumnavigation
of the globe. A narrative and cartographic record of the journey (including 23 hand-drawn
watercolour charts) from Patagonia to Indonesia, from the Philippines to the Cape of Good Hope,
Pigafetta's The First Voyage around the World is a classic of discovery and exploration
literature.

Who was the intended audience of the document?

We the Filipino people are set to read the document from Antonio Pigafetta. To know the whole
history of the event within our country, and we know where, when and who gave the first
catholic mass in the Philippines. It is also reserved for those people who are interested to the
account of Ferdinand Magellan, teacher, students and even journalists.

CONTENT ANALYSIS
What is the main topic of the selected text analyzed?
The main theme in Pigafetta’s document highlights Magellan’s expedition which leads to a
conclusive proof that the planet was sphere and the discovery of actual pre-colonial society. It
discusses the native way of life of our ancestors before the coming of Spanish colonizers. It
likewise depicted an accurate ethnographic and geographical account of the circumnavigation.
Furthermore, first voyage around the world discoloses events from when and how the expedition
departed from Spain to their voyage across the Pacific, arrival at the Philippines, and the return
of their voyage to Spain.

Pigafetta’s account becamed the prime source of information for numerous details during the
voyage. Hence, Magellan’s expedition certainly paved the way for the greater interactions
between different parts of the globe.

Who were the groups or people mentioned?

However, it was not through Pigafetta's writings that Europeans first learned of the
circumnavigation of the globe. Rather, it was through an account written by a Flanders-based
writer Maximilianus Transylvanus, which was published in 1523. Transylvanus had been
instructed to interview some of the survivors of the voyage when Magellan's surviving
ship, Victoria, returned to Spain in September 1522 under the command of Juan Sebastian
Elcano. After Magellan and Elcano's voyage, Pigafetta utilized the connections he had made
prior to the voyage with the Knights of Rhodes to achieve membership in the order.
Antonio Pigafetta also wrote a book, in which a detailed account of the voyage was given. It is
quite unclear when it was first published and what language had been used in the first edition.
The remaining sources of his voyage were extensively studied by Italian archivist Andrea da
Mosto, who wrote a critical study of Pigafetta's book in 1898 (Il primo viaggio intorno al globo
di Antonio Pigafetta e le sue regole sull'arte del navigare[4]) and whose conclusions were later
confirmed by J. Dénucé.
Today, three printed books and four manuscripts survive. One of the three books is in French,
while the remaining two are in the Italian language. Of the four manuscripts, three are in French
(two stored in the Bibliothèque nationale de France and one in Cheltenham), and one in Italian.
From a philological point of view, the French editions seem to derive from an Italian original
version, while the remaining Italian editions seem to derive from a French original version.
Because of this, it remains quite unclear whether the original version of Pigafetta's manuscript
was in French or Italian, though it was probably in Italian. The most complete manuscript, and
the one that is supposed to be more closely related to the original manuscript, is the one found
by Carlo Amoretti inside the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan and published in 1800 (Primo
viaggio intorno al globo terraqueo, ossia ragguaglio della navigazione alle Indie Orientali per
la via d'Occidente fatta dal cavaliere Antonio Pigafetta patrizio vicentino, sulla squadra del
capitano Magaglianes negli anni 1519-1522). Unfortunately, Amoretti, in his printed edition,
modified many words and sentences whose meaning was uncertain (the original manuscript
contained many words in Veneto dialect and some Spanish words). The modified version
published by Amoretti was then translated into other languages carrying into them Amoretti's
edits. Andrea da Mosto critically analyzed the original version stored in the Biblioteca
Ambrosiana and published this rigorous version of Pigafetta's book in 1894.

Regarding the French versions of Pigafetta's book, J. Dénucé extensively studied them and
published a critical edition.
At the end of his book, Pigafetta stated that he had given a copy to Charles V. Pigafetta's close
friend, Francesco Chiericati, also stated that he had received a copy and it is thought that the
regent of France may have received a copy of the latter. It has been argued that the copy
Pigafetta had provided may have been merely a short version or a draft. It was in response to a
request, in January 1523, of the Marquis of Mantua that Pigafetta wrote his detailed account of
the voyage.

What were the places mentioned?

1. Spain
2. San Julian
3. Philippines
4. Limasawa
5. Cebu
6. Mactan

What were the key topics discussed? Enumerate in numbered or bullet form.
 I- Departure from Spain
 II- Mutiny at San Julian
 III-At the strait of Magellan
 IV- The Voyage Across the Pacific
 V- Arrival at the Philippines
 VI- At Limasawa
 VII- Eastern Sunday Mass at Limasawa
 VIII-Arrival at Cebu
 IX- Mass Baptism at Cebu
 X- The Mactan Affair
 XI- The return Voyage to Spain

If there are any, what are the personal biases, suspected errors or misleading
statements of the author that showed up in the document? Name at least 2.
 1. 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.
2. 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.

What do you think is the historical significance of this document?

Pigafetta's work is significant not just as a source of information regarding the journey, but also
as a first Western account of the Philippines' people and languages. Pigafetta was one of just 18
men that returned to Spain from the 240 soldiers who started out with Magellan. Magellan was
slain in a combat on Mactan Island, Philippines, on April 27, 1521, which Pigafetta witnessed
and recounts in this work.

REFERENCES:

Wikipedia Contributors. (2021, November 15). Antonio Pigafetta. Retrieved November 28,

2021, from Wikipedia website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Pigafetta

‌ MAGELLAN’S VOYAGE AROUND THE WORLD. (2019). Retrieved November 28, 2021,

from prezi.com website: https://prezi.com/p/dbdpazzd41e3/magellans-voyage-around-the-

world/
‌ The First Voyage around the World (1519-1522). (2021). Retrieved November 28, 2021, from

University of Toronto Press website: https://utorontopress.com/9781487525408/the-first-

voyage-around-the-world-1519-1522/