RPH Limasawa

Why Magellan did held the voyage?
What is the route they are taking?
Why did they held the mass in Mazaua?
Blame was at first laid on the Americans Emma Blair and James Alexander Robertson, who authored the
55-volume collection of documents on the Philippines Island that was published in Cleveland from 1903
to 1909.
The cause of the shift in opinion was the publication in 1894 of Pigafetta’s account, as contained in the
Ambrosian Codex.
Pigafetta was the chronicler of the Magellan expedition in 1521 that brought Europeans for the first time
to the archipelago.
Pigafetta’s narrative was reproduced with English translation, notes, bibliography and index in Blair and
Robertson’s The Philippine Islands, volumes 33 and 34.
Following the publication of the Pigafetta text in 1894, two Philippine scholars called attention to the fact
that the Butuan tradition had been a mistake. One of the scholars was Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera. The
other was the Spanish Jesuit missionary, Pablo Pastells, S.J.
Fr. Pastells prepared a new edition of Fr Colin’s Labor Evangelica, which was published in 1902, and
which contained a correction about the first mass.
Pastells‘ shift in opinion from Butuan to Limasawa was due to a rediscovery and a more attentive study
of the primary sources on the subject:
Law passed on JUNE 19, 1960
-RA 2733
AN ACT TO DECLARE THE SITE IN MAGALLANES, LIMASAWA ISLAND IN THE PROVINCE OF LEYTE, WHERE
THE FIRST MASS IN THE PHILIPPINES WAS HELD AS A NATIONAL SHRINE, TO PROVIDE FOR THE
PRESERVATION OF HISTORICAL MONUMENTS AND LANDMARKS THEREAT, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
This study source was downloaded by 100000854900645 from CourseHero.com on 11-13-2022 10:43:46 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/95497755/RPH-LIMASAWAdocx/
DIARY OF ANTONIO PIGAFETTA AND ALBO
Summary of the Evidence of Albo and Pigafetta
Taking the evidence of Albo's log-book together with that from Pigafetta's account, we may take the
following points as established:
1. Magellan's expedition entered Philippine waters south of the island of Samar and dropped anchor at
Homonhon where they stayed a week. Then they sailed westward towards Leyte and then southwards
parallel to the eastern coast of that island and that of the adjoining island of Panaon. Rounding the
southern tip of the latter, they anchored off the eastern shore of a small island called Mazaua. There
they stayed a week, during which on Easter Sunday they celebrated Mass and planted the cross on the
summit of the highest hill.
2. The island of Mazaua lies at a latitude of nine and two-thirds degrees North. Its position (south of
Leyte) and its latitude correspond to the position and latitude of the island of Limasawa, whose southern
tip lies at 9 degrees and 54 minutes North.
3. From Mazaua the expedition sailed northwestwards through the Canigao channel between Bohol and
Leyte, then northerwards parallel to the eastern coast of this latter island, then they sailed westward to
the Camotes Group and from there southwestwards to Cebu.
4. At no point in that itinerary did the Magellan expedition go to Butuan or any other point on the
Mindanao coast. The survivors of the expedition did go to Mindanao later, but after Magellan's death.
DISTANCE AND TRUE LOCATION OF MAZAUA
Butuan is too far too reach and it doesn’t fit to the dates presented.
The period of the expedition was approximately three weeks from the day they first sighted the
Philippines to the day they landed in cebu. Butuan is too far from the route they taken and it would take
much longer days if thay stopped by there.
LONGITUDE LATITUDE
-it not precise and unreliable since the instrument to measure exact distances was invented on 1760.
. That island lies in a latitude of 9 and two thirds towards arctic pole (north) and in longitude of one
hundred and sixty two degrees from the line of demarcation. It is twenty five leagues from the Acquada
and is called Mazaua.
GEOGRAPHY
-Plate movement; 1-4cm apart per year.
ROUTE
March 6 Guam
March 16 arrived in the philipipnes zamal
Guluan
March 17 Homonhon
Hibusong
Limasawa
Bohol
Cebu
RIVER
Butuan is a riverine settlement. It is situated on the Agusan River. The beach called Masao is in the delta
of that river. If the Magellan expedition were at that delta, and if the Mass were celebrated there, why is
there no mention of the river?
The fact that there is no mention of the river is a significant fact in Pigafetta’s account of their seven-day
stay at “Mazaua”. We must therefore take him literally: Mazaua was an island surrounded by sea, not a
river delta.
Using the primary sources available, Jesuit priest Miguel A. Bernadin his work, lays down the argument
that in the Pigafetta account, a crucial aspect of Butuan was not mentioned The river. Butuanis a riverine
settlement, situated on the Agusan river. The beach of Masao is in the delta of said river. It is a curious
omission in the account of the river, which makes part of distinct characteristics of Butuan’s geography
that seemed to be too important to be missed.
If the first mass was held In butuan, then why is the butuan river not mention in the voyage? It is a
distinct characteristic of Butuans geography that seemed to be important to be missed.
TADPOLE SHAPED
Mazaua was described by Pigafetta as an island that is shaped like a tadpole running north to south. The
northern portion is almost all hills, with the slopes dropping steeply to the sea, leaving only a narrow
coastal strip. But the southern portion of the island is almost all level land with a few hills. It has a good
harbor, protected on the west by Panaon Island and on the east by Limasawa.
If the first mass was held in Butuan, then why is butuan not an tadpole shaped island?
FOOD SUPPLY
There is a portion of Mazaua island that is fertile. It is easy to understand why an expedition should wish
to stay a week anchored off this fertile island where natives were friendly and there was enough food,
water and wood.
THE BALANGHAI
They were just used to ride the King of Butuan that visited Mazaua.
They were detected by the boats of Rajah Kolambu who was visiting Mazaua, who later guided them to
Cebu, on April 7.
In the morning they anchored near an Island where they had seen a light the night before a small boat
(boloto) came with eight natives, to whom Magellan threw some trinkets as presents. The natives
paddled away, but two hours later two larger boats (balanghai) came, in one of which the native king sat
under an awning of mats. At Magellan’s invitation some of the natives went up the Spanish ship, but the
native king remained seated in his boat. In the afternoon, the Spanish ships weighed anchor and came
closer to shore, anchoring near the native king’s village this Thursday was un holy week ,Holy Thursday.
The evidence of arctifacts of balanghai boats were not relevant since these boats were just used by one
of the kings who attended the mass which is Raia Siaui to travel on Mazaua.
ABUNDANCE OF GOLD
-Homonhon which the gold is located, is near in Limasawa
There were two springs of water on that island of Homonhon. Also they saw
there some indications that there was gold in these islands consequently
Magellan renamed the island “Watering Place of Good Omen”
THE CROSS
There was an evidence of Francisco Albo who kept a log, he was one of the pilot of Magellan’s ships and
one of the survivors abroad the vessel Victoria.
In the log, there was a very short statement that supported the claim about the first mass. During their
stay in Limasawa, Magellan instructed his comrades to plant a large wooden cross on top of the hill
overlooking the sea. Although Albo did not state directly that the first mass was held in the Island of
Limasawas, his statement that there were three islands to the west and southwest supported it because
of where Limasawas is situated compared to butuans coast where there are not islands seen from the
west or south west, but only from the north.
If the first mass was held in Butuan, then were is the large wooden cross that was planted on top of the
hill?
LEGZAPI EXPEDITION
There is confirmatory evidence from the documents of the Legazpi expedition, which sailed into
Philippine waters in 1565, forty-four years after Magellan. One of the places that Legazpi and his pilots
were anxious to visit was precisely Mazaua, and to this end they inquired about "Mazaua from
Camotuan and his companions, natives of the village of Cabalian at the southeastern end of the island of
Leyte. Guided by these natives, the Legazpi ships rounded the island of "Panae (Panaon), which was
separated from Leyte by a narrow strait, and anchored off Mazaua but they found the inhabitants to be
hostilc, apparently as a result of Portuguese depredations that had occurred in the four-decade interval
between the Legazpi and the Magellan expeditions. From Mazaua they went to Camiguing (which was
VISible" from Mazaua), and from there they intended to go to Butuan on the island of Vindanao but
Bohol. It were driven instead by contrary winds to was only later that a smail contingent of Spaniards, in
a small vessel, managed to go to Butuan.
TWO KINGS
During their voyage, they encountered two native kings or two rajahs. According to Antonio Pigafetta,
the Italian chronicler of the Magellan expedition, the mass was held on Easter Sunday, on an island called
“Mazaua” or which is now called Limasawa. Two native chieftains were in attendance, the rajah of
Mazaua, and the rajah of Butuan. This has caused a lot of confusion because of the attendance of both,
but the claim that the first mass was in Butuan was later turned down because of the other evidence
which were Pigafetta’s testimonies and maps plotted. And since these were present, it can be said that it
was the island of Limasawa, supported by the presence of the rajah which later led to deeming the claim
most credible
NAME OF LIMASAWA
Mazaua” is the original name of this municipality. There are two assumptions how the municipality got
its name: One assumption is that before the Spanish men arrived to the island, the natives don’t really
have a name of their place. Upon the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan and his men, one of the natives was
asked for the name of their place. The native, unable to understand what it meant, mistakenly
interpreted the question to mean as to “how many wives their Rajah has”. So he answered immediately
“Lima’y Asawa”, meaning that their Rajah has five wives. The Spanish too, thinking that was the answer
to his question, return to tell his companions that the island is named “Lima’y Asawa ”. And from then
on, the place came to be called as “Limasawa”.
Another assumption is that when the Spanish men arrived to the island, they named it “Mazaua” for the
beauty of the place. As it is their custom to add the prefix “Le” to mean a particular name, it became the
tongue of everyone in the place to call it as “Le Mazaua ”. It was the local people themselves who later
changed the spelling and joined the two words into “Limasawa”.
WHY GO TO AN INSIGNIFICANT LITTLE ISLAND. WHY NOT INSTEAD TO THE LARGER ISLAND.
The answer must be sought in geography. He was coasting southward down the eastern coast of Leyte
with Hibuson Island (Hibusong) on his left. This took him down to the southern tip of what looks like a
part of Leyte but is really a separate island, the island of Panaon. When his ships rounded the tip of
Panaon, the wind was blowing westward from the Pacific. It was late March: in March and April in the
PH, the east wind is strong.
PIGAFETTAS STATUS
Pigafetta was known as astronomer, geographer, and a cartographer. Considering Pigafettas background
and skill set, we can say that he was responsible for plotting the routes during his journey with Magellan.
The position plotted by pigafetta matched that of limasawa compared to butuan, since it is not an island
but a barangay of butuan city located in a delta of the Agusan River along the coast of Northern
Mindanao. Additionally the distances measured between Homonhon and Mazaua and Cebu, matches or
approximates Pigafettas’s Delineation.
PIGAFETTAS BOOK
Saturday 16, 1521 Magellans expedition sighted a highland named Zamal which was some 300
leagues westward of Landrones (now Marianas) Islands.
Sunday March 17 The foll day they landed on another island which was uninhabited and which lay
to the right of the above mentioned island of zamal. There the set up
two tents for the sick members of the crew and had a sow killed for them.
The name of the island was Humunu (Homonhon). This island was located at
10 degrees Noth latitude.
On the sameday Magellan names the entire archipelago Islands of Saint Lazarus, the reason
being that it was the Sunday in the Lenten season when the Gospel
assigned for the mass and the lithurgical office was the eleventh chapter of
st. John, which tells of the raising of Lazarus from the dead.
Monday 18 In the afternoon of their second day on that island, they saw a boat coming
towards them, nine men in it. A exchange of gift was effected. Magellan
asked for food supplies, and the men went away, promising to bring rice and
other supplies in four days.
There were two springs of water on that island of Homonhon. Also they saw
there some indications that there was gold in these islands consequently
Magellan renamed the island “Watering Place of Good Omen”
Friday March 22 At noon the natives returned. This time there were two boats and they brought
food supplies.
Magellans expediction stayed 8 days at Homonhon; from Sunday 17 March to

the Monday of the following week, 25 march.
March 25 In the afternoon the expedition weighted anchor left island of Homonhon.
The route taken by the expedition after leaving homonhon was toward the west
southwest, between four islands namely Cenalo is a misspelling in the ilalian
manuscript for what pigafetta in his map calls “Ceilon” and Albo calls
“Seilani” namely the island of Leyte. On the other hand Hibuson
(Oigafettas Ibusson) is an island east of Leytes southern tip.
They left Homonhon sailing westward towards leyte then followed the Leyte
coast southward, passing between the island of Hibuson on their
posside and Hiunangan Bay on their starboard, and then continued
southward, then turning westwards to “Mazaua”
March 28 In the morning of Holy Thursday 28 march, they anchored off an island where
the previous night they had seen a light or a bonfire. That island lies in a
latitude of 9 and two thirds towards arctic pole (north) and in longitude of one
hundred and sixty two degrees from the line of demarcation. It is twenty
five leagues from the Acquada and is called Mazaua.
They remained seven days on that island.
SEVEN DAYS IN MAZAUA BY PIGAFETTA
Thursday, March 28
In the morning they anchored near an Island where they had seen a light the night before a small boat
(boloto) came with eight natives, to whom Magellan threw some trinkets as presents. The natives
paddled away, but two hours later two larger boats (balanghai) came, in one of which the native king sat
under an awning of mats. At Magellan’s invitation some of the natives went up the Spanish ship, but the
native king remained seated in his boat. In the afternoon, the Spanish ships weighed anchor and came
closer to shore, anchoring near the native king’s village this Thursday was un holy week ,Holy Thursday.
Friday, March 29
Magellan sent his slave interpreter ashore in a small boat to ask the king if he could provide the
expedition with food supplies, and to say that they had come as friends and not as enemies.In reply the
king himself came in a boat with six or eight men, and
went up Magellan’s ship and the two men embraced.
Ana therexchange of gifts was made. The native king and his companions returned
ashore, bringing with them two members of Magellan’s expedition as
guests for the night. One of the two was Pigafetta.
Saturday, March 30
Pigafetta and his companion had spent the previous evening feasting and drinking with the native king
and his son. Pigafetta deplored the fact that although it was a Good firday they had to eat meat. The foll
morning Pigafetta and his companion took leave of their hosts and returned to the ships.
Sunday, March 31
–“Early in the morning, the last of March andEaster day,” Magellan sent the priest ashore with some
men to prepare
for the Mass. Later in the morning Magellan landed with some fifty men and Mass was celebrated, after
which a cross was venerated. Magellan and the Spaniards returned to the ship for the noon-day meal,
but in the afternoon they returned ashore to plant the cross on the summit of the highest hill. In
attendance both at the mass and the planting of the cross the king of Mazaua and the king of Butuan.
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

RPH Limasawa

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

RPH Limasawa

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

RPH Limasawa

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Why Magellan did held the voyage?

What is the route they are taking?

Why did they held the mass in Mazaua?

Law passed on JUNE 19, 1960

Summary of the Evidence of Albo and Pigafetta

DISTANCE AND TRUE LOCATION OF MAZAUA

-Plate movement; 1-4cm apart per year.

March 16 arrived in the philipipnes zamal

-Homonhon which the gold is located, is near in Limasawa

Magellans expediction stayed 8 days at Homonhon; from Sunday 17 March to

SEVEN DAYS IN MAZAUA BY PIGAFETTA

went up Magellan’s ship and the two men embraced.

ashore, bringing with them two members of Magellan’s expedition as

guests for the night. One of the two was Pigafetta.

You might also like