CAMILLE ANN R.

SALMASAN RPH Module 3 

BSCE 1E
 

CONTENT & CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS of “First Voyage Around the World by

Magellan”   
by Antonio Pigafetta

Theory:
 “Lapu-Lapu did not kill Ferdinand Magellan and Ferdinand Magellan did not kill Lapu-
Lapu”
 “Magellan did not discover the Philippines”
Arguments:
 Magellan was not actually killed by Lapu-Lapu, he was struck by a bamboo spear by one
of Lapu-Lapu's troops and was later finished off with other weapons.

 Ferdinand Magellan did not kill Lapu-Lapu, No one killed Lapu-Lapu. Instead, he died
naturally in Spain because of its age. He migrates after the Battle of Mactan. It is also
believed that he incarnated into a stone to guard the Mactan areas.

 Ferdinand Magellan a Portuguese explorer was the first to discover the Philippines. But
all he really did was claim the Philippines for Spain.

Supporting Evidence
 There isn't much evidence on Magellan's body, nor are there any remnants of the
weapons they used in the fight, which would be enough to convince us that the fierce
battle took place. Pigafetta observed that although it is not recorded that Lapu-Lapu was
the person who murdered Magellan, Lapu-Lapu and his warriors killed Magellan by
shooting poisoned arrows and fire-hardened bamboo spears at the legs of their
adversaries.

 According to my research Lapu-Lapu “was not a handsome, gym-fit warrior” when he

defeated Magellan at the Battle of Mactan. Citing a chapter from Danilo Madrid Gerona’s
book “Ferdinand Magellan: The Armada de Maluco and the European Discovery of the
Philippines,” which is based on primary sources in Spain and Portugal, Lapu-Lapu was
already 70 years old at the time.
 There is no strong evidence, but I found out that Ferdinand Magellan intended to search
for the Spice Island or the Molloucas Island, therefore he only accidentally discovered the
Philippines. He wasn't the first. During the Ice Age's human migration phase, the Aetas
and Negritos, two groups of Africans, made the first discovery. Following the Arabs'
expansion of Islam, the Asian neighbors (including those from India, Malaysia,
Indonesia, China, Japan, Indochinese, and Australia) and Westerners arrived (Spaniards,
spreading Roman Catholic Christianity and Americans, spreading Protestantism and
Religious Freedom). Pure-blood Filipinos are slowly dwindling, and mixed-blood
Filipinos now make up most of the population.