READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

Content and Contextual

Analysis of selected Primary
Sources
JOHN LEIBERT A. INTERINO
What we'll discuss
First Voyage Around the World by
Antonio Pigafetta
Customs of the Tagalogs by Fray Juan
De Plasencia
Kartilya ng Katipunan by Emilio Jacinto
Mga Gunita ng Himagsikan by Emilio
Aguinaldo
What we'll discuss
Acta De la Proclamacion Independencia
del Pueblo Filipino by Ambrosio Bautista
Philippine Cartoons: Political Caricature
of American Era by Alfred Mccoy and
Alfredo Roces
Filipino Grievances Against Governor
Wood by Commission on Independence
What we'll discuss
President Corazon Aquino's Speech
Before the U.S. Congress (Sep 18,
1986)
Raiders of Sulu (Film)
Works of Luna and Amorsolo
(Paintings)
 Criticisms/Analysis
Internal criticism, focuses on the content of the historical source,
assessing the author's objectivity, biases, and the accuracy of the
information provided.
External criticism in historical resources refers to the process of
evaluating the authenticity and reliability of a historical document or
artifact, such as determining its authorship, date of creation, and
provenance. This involves examining physical characteristics like
paper, ink, style, and any markings or seals to verify the document's
origins.
“First Voyage Around the World”
(“Primer Viaje en Torno del
Globo”)
by Antonio Pigafetta
 First Voyage Around the World”
Written by Antonio Pigafetta in one of the five ships
that first circumnavigate the world. It covers the time
when Ferdinand Magellan’s fleet “Armada de Molucca”
started the voyage (1519) until it was successfully went
back to Spain.

Pigafettas travelogue is one of the most important

primary source of Study of Pre Colonial Philippines
 First Voyage Around the World”
•The copies of this account was presented by Pigafetta
to Pope Clement VII, King Francis I’s mother, etc.
•His original diary was lost and
not known in what language
it was written
•Survived in 4 manuscript versions; 1 Italian
(Carlo Amoretti) and 3 French
Ferdinand Magellan
A Portuguese explorer best known for having
planned and led the 1519–22 Spanish expedition to
the East Indies, which achieved the first
circumnavigation of Earth in history.
Antonio Pigafetta
Antonio Pigafetta was a Venetian scholar and
explorer. He joined the Spanish expedition to the
Spice Islands led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand
Magellan, the world's first circumnavigation, and is
best known for being the chronicler of the voyage.
 Brief Summary of the
First Voyage Around the
World”
 The Magellan expedition, sometimes termed the
Magellan–Elcano expedition, was a 16th-century
Spanish expedition planned and led by Portuguese
explorer Ferdinand Magellan.
its purpose was to cross the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans to open a trade route with the Moluccas, or
Spice Islands, in present-day Indonesia.
They are are composed of five-ship fleet with about 270
men.
 The Magellan expedition, sometimes termed the Magellan–
Elcano expedition, was a 16th-century Spanish expedition
planned and led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.
its purpose was to cross the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to open
a trade route with the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, in present-day
Indonesia.

They are are composed of five-ship fleet with about 270 men.
They start sailing on 20 September 1519 (504 years ago)
in Sanlúcar de Barrameda
 On 26 September, the fleet stopped at Tenerife in the
Canary Islands, where they took in supplies (including
vegetable and pitch, which were cheaper to acquire there
than in Spain). During the stop, Magellan received a
secret message from his father-in-law, Diogo Barbosa,
warning him that some of the Castilian captains were
planning a mutiny, with Juan de Cartagena (captain of
the San Antonio) being the ring-leader of the conspiracy.
[50] He also learned that the King of Portugal had sent
two fleets of caravels to arrest him.
 On 13 December, the fleet reached Rio de Janeiro. The
fleet spent 13 days in Rio, during which they repaired
their ships, stocked up on water and food (such as yam,
cassava, and pineapple), and interacted with the locals.
 Isla de los Ladrones (Island of Thieves).
On 6 March 1521, the fleet reached the Mariana Islands.
The first land they spotted was likely the island of Rota, but the ships
were unable to land there. Instead, they dropped anchor thirty hours
later on Guam, where they were met by native Chamorro people in
proas, a type of outrigger canoe then unknown to Europeans.
Dozens of Chamorros came aboard and began taking items from the
ship, including rigging, knives, and any items made of iron.
The next day, Magellan retaliated, sending a raiding party ashore
which looted and burned forty or fifty Chamorro houses and killed
seven men.
 Philippines
On 16 March
A week after leaving Guam, the
fleet first sighted the island of Samar
(Zamal), then landed on the island of
Homonhon (“Humunu”), Which was
then uninhabited. They encountered
friendly locals from the nearby island
of Suluan and traded supplies with
them. They spent nearly two weeks
on Homonhon, resting and
gathering fresh food and water,
 Philippines
On 28 March, they neared the island of Limasawa and
encountered some natives in canoes who then alerted
balangay. For the first time on the journey, Magellan's slave
Enrique of Malacca found that he was able to communicate
with the natives in Malay. They exchanged gifts with the natives
(receiving porcelain jars painted with Chinese designs), and
later that day, Magellan was introduced to their leaders, Rajah
Kolambu (Limasawa) and Rajah Siawi (Butuan). Afterwards,
Magellan would become a "blood brother" to Kolambu,
undergoing the local blood compact ritual with him.
 Philippines
On Sunday, 31 March, Easter Day, Magellan and fifty of his men
came ashore to Limasawa (Mazua) to participate in the first
Catholic Mass in the Philippines. Kolambu, his brother (who was
also a local leader), and other islanders joined in the ceremony
and expressed an interest in their religion. Following Mass,
Magellan's men raised a cross on the highest hill on the island,
and formally declared the island, and the entire archipelago of
the Philippines (which he called the Islands of St Lazarus) as a
possession of Spain.
 Philippines
APRIL 8, 1521
Magellan went to Zubu (Cebu)
and met Rajah Humabon
The rajah wanted Magellan
and his men to pay tribute to
them but told his translator
Enrique that they are working
for King of Spain and
threatened him a war
 Philippines
APRIL 15, 1521 (original April 14)
•Held a mass on Humabon’s
place where attended by 800
local members
•Magellan gave Hara Humamay
an image of Sto. Niño
•Humabon became “Carlos”
and Humamay became “Juana”
 Philippines
APRIL 27, 1521 (originally April 26)

•Rajah Zula told Magellan that

Matan’s (Mactan) chieftain
Cilapulapu (Lapulapu) refused to
obey the King of Spain

•Zula requested Magellan to send

him only one boatload of men to
fight Cilapulapu but Magellan
 Philippines
APRIL 28, 1521 (originally April 27)
•60 of Magellan’s men set out
armed with corselets and helmets
and 20-30 Balanhais loaded by
Rajah Humabon’s men went to
Matan to attack Cilapulapu
•The local islanders had lances of
bamboo and stakes hardened with
fire
•“Battle of Mactan”
happened
 Philippines
1 May Massacre
Following Magellan's death, the
remaining men held an election to
select a new leader for the
expedition. They selected two co-
commanders: Duarte Barbosa,
Magellan's brother-in-law, and
Juan Serrano.
 Philippines
On 1 May, Humabon invited the men
ashore for a great feast. It was attended
by around thirty men, mostly officers,
including Serrano and Barbosa. Towards
the end of the meal, armed Cebuanos
entered the hall and murdered the
Europeans. Twenty-seven men were
killed. Juan Serrano, one of the newly
elected co-commanders, was left alive
and brought to the shore facing the
Spanish ships. Serrano begged the men
on board to pay a ransom to the
Cebuanos.
 Importance of the Voyage

•Lifestyle of early Filipinos in

Visayas
•First vocabulary of Visayan words
ever penned by a European
•Description of early Visayan music
•Evidence that the world is round
•Re-discovery of Pacific Ocean
Thank you for Listening!