Summary of Magellan’s Voyage around the World

About the Author

Antonio Pigafetta (ca. 1940 – ca. 1534)
 Known by the name of Antonio Lombardo or Francisco Antonio Pigafetta
 Famous Italian traveler
 Born in Vicenza around 1490
 Died in the same city in 1534
 Studied astronomy, geography, and cartography and during his younger years,
he worked in the ships owned by the Knights of Rhodes
 Joined the Magellan-Elcano famous expedition to the Moluccas begun in August
1519 and finished September 1522
 Had a hand-written account of the expedition entitled “The First Voyage
Around the World”
Historical Content
The First Voyage around the World was written in one of the 5 ships of the Magellan-
Elcano expedition.
King Charles V provided the Spanish fleet named Armada de Molucca which was led by
Magellan.
These 5 ships were first one to circumnavigate around the world that was led by
Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer, and when he died in the Battle of Mactan,
Juan Sebastian Elcano took over.

The 5 Ships
1. Santiago
 Crew: 32
 Under the command of Juan Serrano
 Smallest of the 5 ships
 Called as a “caravel”
 First ship that has been lost

2. San Antonio
 Crew: 60
 Under the command of Juan De Cartagena
 Soon led by Alvarado De Mesquita
 Largest in the fleet
 Second ship that has been lost

3. Conception
 Crew: 43
 Under the command of Gaspar de Quesada
 Captain was executed because of mutiny
 Burned
 Third ship that has been lost
 4. Trinidad
 Crew: 55
 Under the command of Ferdinand Magellan
 The Flagship
 The flagship
 Was attacked by Portuguese ship
 Left shipwrecked
 Fourth ship that has been lost

5. Victoria
 Crew: 43
 Under the command of Luiz Mendoza; soon led by Juan Sebastian
Elcano
 Antonio Pigafetta on board
 First ship circumnavigated the world
 Only ship to complete the voyage

Out of the 5 ships, only 3 ships reached in the Philippines. After the Battle of Mactan,
their man is enough to man two ships: Trinidad and Victoria. Until, they returned to
Spain, only one ship survived which is Victoria, one of the survivors was Antonio
Pigafetta which kept the journal about their expedition.

Upon the advice of Pigafetta’s associates, he presented his account to Pope Clement
VII, Philippe de Villiers I’Isle-Adam, and to Louis of Savoy to finance its publication. But,
he was unable to find a financier.

The original journal of Pigafetta did not survived throughout the history. What was
handed to us was just the manuscript that never came out of the press during his
lifetime.
About The Text

Pigafetta’s account is the longest and most comprehensive in describing their

encounters during the Magallanes-Elcano expedition.
What was discussed?
The fate of the five ships throughout the expedition.
The challenges and unforeseen problems along the way of the expedition such as
hostility of the people they met, shortage of food, misunderstandings between the crew,
types of diseases
maps, glossaries of native words, geographic information and descriptions of the flora
and fauns of the place they visited
Context Presentation and Analysis of the important historical Information found in the Document
The timeline during their stay in the Philippines
March 16, 1521 (Arrival in Samar)
 Arrival in Zamal (now Samar), the island was called Humunu (now
Homonhon)
 Locals welcomed them by giving them their native products such as fish,
figs, coconuts, palm wine

March 31, 1521 (First Mass in the Philippines)

 Sunday Morning
 Held at Mazaua (Limasawa)
 Attended by local islanders, Spanish voyagers, the two Rajas, and
Magellan

April 7, 1521 (Arrival in Zubu)

 Arrived at the port of Zubu (Cebu), the largest and the most trade island
 Pigafetta described the inhabitants’ houses that were made of logs
 Fired mortars as a “sign of peace and friendship”
 Tension between the king of Zubu and the voyagers and Magellan
threatened them to rage war

April 14, 1521 (Image of Jesus Child)

 Held mass with Raja Humabon and baptized 800 souls
 Pigafetta showed the image of Child Jesus and a cross to the queen and
asked to keep in place of her idols
 The Child Jesus is known today as Santo Niño, which is celebrated every
January in Cebu.

April 27, 1521 (Battle of Mactan)

 Datu Zula, chief of the island Matan (Mactan)welcomed them. But
Cilapulapu, the other chief, refused to obey to the king of Spain.
 Datu Zula requested the captain to defeat Cilapulapu, which started the
battle
 Natives outsmarted them, used ‘patibongs’ to defeat them. The voyagers
were losing in this battle

April 28, 1521 (Death of Magellan)

 Captain told them to give up this losing battle, but his men insist.
 Magellan was shot in the leg with a poisoned arrow. He died, their
‘mirror’, ‘comfort’, and ‘true guide’ as what Pigafetta described
 They retreated leaving their captain dead

September 8, 1522
 Victoria, the only ship survived, finally arrived at Seville. Thus, ending the
Magellan-Elcano expedition.
Contribution and relevance of the Document in Understanding the Grand Narrative of Philippine
History

The account contributed to the field of geography, navigation, and history

It proved that the earth is not flat, and one can go to the east by sailing west
Discovery that there is a big body of Easter side of American continent which
they called Pacific Ocean
Make us know the different native products during the pre-colonial period such as
palm wine, figs, coconuts, palmito, and such.
It proved that the Philippines was rich in natural resources even before the
colonial period.
Described the barter trade during the colonial period
Make us know the physical appearance of our ancestors: wearing gold earrings,
gold armlets on their arms, kerchiefs on their heads
Described the economic and political status during the pre-colonial era
Described the faith or religion during the pre-colonial period: worshipping the
nature.
This account is an evidence that these voyagers first introduced to us
Christianity. They taught our ancestors worship idols.
Let us know some rare animals present during that era.
Let us know the way of life of our ancestors such as their houses and livelihood
An evidence that most of the Filipinos are hospitable even before
Let us know the funeral practices and beliefs during the pre-colonial period
Showed the ‘nationalism’ of Lapulapu before, it also showed how wise and
prepared they fought against the voyagers.
Takeaways
It is important to know these things (our origin) because we can understand our own
identity, we can learn to preserve our culture and can correct the mistakes that
happened in the past.

Reference:
https://www.studocu.com/ph/document/holy-name-university/readings-in-philippine-
history/summary-of-the-first-voyage-around-the-world/12886953