Basinillo, Perbielyn A.
January 16, 2020
BSA 1-15 Readings in the Philippine History
BIOGRAPHY OF ANTONIO PIGAFETTA
Famous Italian traveller born in Vicenza around 1490 and died in the same city in 1534,
who is also known by the name of Antonio Lombardo or Francisco Antonio Pigafetta. He was
born into a wealthy Vicenza family, and studied navigation among other things. He served on
board the galleys of the Knights of Rhodes, and accompanied the papal nuncio, Monsignor
Chieregati, to Spain. Later, he joined the Portuguese captain Ferdinand Magellan and his Spanish
crew on their trip to the Maluku Islands. While in the Philippines Magellan was killed, and
Pigafetta was injured. Nevertheless, he recovered and was among only 18 of Magellan’s original
crew who, having completed the first circumnavigation of the world, returned to Spain on board
another vessel, the Victoria. Most importantly, Magellan kept a journal of his voyage, and this is
a key source for information about Magellan’s famous journey.
Born somewhat in the closing year of the 15th century.
The eldest child among his two siblings. Son of Giovanni Pigafetta and Angela Zoga.
Was a native of Vicenza, a town about a hundred kilometers west of Venice, Italy.
Studied astronomy, geography, and cartography.
Served on board the ships of the Knights of Rhodes at the beginning of the 16th century.
Had an aunt, Elisabetta, who married Valerio Chierigati.
Accompanied Monsignor Chierigati to Spain in 1519.
Accompanied Ferdinand Magellan, together with Juan Sebastian Elcano in the famous
expedition to Moluccas which began in August 1519 and ended in September 1522.
The account of Pigafetta is the single most important source about the voyage of
circumnavigation, despite its tendency to include fabulous details. He/She took notes daily, as
he/she mentioned when he/she realizes his surprise at Spain and see that he/she had lost a day
(due to its driving direction). Includes descriptions of numerous animals, including sharks, the
Storm petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus), the pink spoonbill (Ajaja ajaja) and the Phyllium
orthoptera, an insect similar to a sheet. Pigafetta captured a copy of the latter near Borneo and
kept it in a box, believing a moving blade who lived in the air. His report is rich in ethnographic
details. He practiced as an interpreter and came to develop, at least in two Indonesian dialects.
First of two parts
World history’s most significant achievement in sea exploration and discovery and
alongside as well, the fate and future of us -- the Philippines and the Filipinos -- was launched
five hundred years ago, last Saturday.
Five hundred years ago, August 10 was a Monday. It was San Lorenzo’s Day when the 5-
galleon fleet of Ferdinand Magellan set sail from the port of Seville, Spain through the river
Quadalquivir, (once named Betis), double-checked travel preparations and requirements at San
Lucar de Barrameda. On September 20, 1519, the expedition sailed out into the Atlantic for the
unchartered beyond, with imprecise expectations but inspired by faith, heart, hope, fame and
profit.
The date might as well, also, mark the countdown to our national celebration of the dawn
of the Filipino’s avowed tandem of Christianity and Western civilization, which set us apart from
the rest of our archipelagic vicinity. Indeed, that European discovery will always be an
indispensable component in any celebration of who we have become and who we are, since.
To the largest of extent, our knowledge about this adventure and who we were comes
from the travel journal of one Antonio Pigafetta. This young Venetian, then in his late 20s, from
a noble family through whose connections, was able to enlist himself as chronicler of the voyage.
Anchoring in the port of Seville on September 8, 1522, an almost decrepit Victoria
completed the very first circumnavigation of the globe in 1124 days, with only 18 survivors, our
chronicler Antonio Pigafetta being one of them. The five galleons had a combined crew
numbering anywhere from 235 to 280, depending on which archival sources researchers would
cite. The traditional textbook count was 237.
Copious notes meticulously taken down by Pigafetta recorded for the first time our flora
and fauna, manners and customs including sexual norms, languages and geography, never before
known to the Western world. Words in Visayan were first introduced to European intelligentsia
through Pigafetta’s published journal.
For the information of Philippine history buffs and aficionados, especially those who are
only now getting enthused into knowing much more of our past beyond classroom textbooks as a
retirement engagement and pastime, there is the principal all-time reliable Pigafetta’s “Primo
Viaggio Intorno Al Mondo” (The First Voyage Around the World) originally written in Italian
which was published in Rome in 1525. Volumes XXXIII and XXXIV of the famed Blair &
Robinson (B&R) 55-volume series “The Philippine Islands” (1903-09) has an English translation
alongside the Italian original.
This is now available electronically aside from available reprints, which are sometimes
pricey. The accompanying “Notes” in the B&R are indispensable. For example, names,
nationalities and occupations/shipboard assignments of the crew distributed on a per galleon
basis. As it turns out, Magellan’s crew was multinational: British, Dutch, German, Greek, Italian,
Black African, Basque, aside from Spanish and Portuguese. And of course we cannot omit
Enrique from Malacca.
The first complete English edition of Pigafetta was published in London in 1874 for the
Hakluyt Society, a British institution devoted to recording historic voyages of exploration,
translated by Lord Stanley Alderly. (My copy is a “print-on-demand,” a facility now available
through the internet.)
In 1969, the Yale University Press produced in high quality a 2-volume, presentation
style set in book slipcase, another English translation. This time, the endeavor was based on one
of the earlier single-issue editions handwritten in French. Scholars have found that there were
three French translations prepared by Pigafetta for the more important of the Magellan voyage
patrons. The principal and most important one was, of course, the one in Italian.
Regardless of the first person recollection by one of the 18 survivors of the Magellan
expedition, the Pigafetta journal was actually not the first documentation to see print. Pigafetta’s
came in 1525. There is Maximillianus Transylvanus, the son of the Archbishop of Salzburg, who
interviewed Victoria’s captain, Sebastian Elcano, the pilot Francisco Albo and another survivor.
The reportage by Transylvanus started out as letter to his father, the Cardinal-Archbishop of
Salzburg. This was before the end of 1522, when much talk in Spain centered upon the Magellan
discoveries. This letter saw its printed publication in Rome, January 1523. It was titled “De
Moluccis Insulis.” An English translation appears in Volume I of Blair and Robertson.
To complete our resources, there is also the very essential “The Life of Ferdinand
Magellan and the First Circumnavigation of the World” by Francis H.H. Guillemard, printed in
London 1890. And lastly, in my pile, I have “So Noble a Captain …. the Life and Times of
Ferdinand Magellan” by Charles Matthew Parr, New York in 1953.
As the country prepares for the 500th anniversary of the arrival of the first Europeans and
the introduction of Christianity, the better way to participate and celebrate in this historic
observation, is naturally, to know of and to understand more of Pigafetta.
Might it not be desirable then, and it is so suggested, for friendship gatherings, socials
andeven tertulias over cocktails to dwell upon the events surrounding March 16 and 17, 1521 and
the immediate thereafter?
Just to clear up an earlier mix-up contained in our history textbooks, March 16, 1521 (a
Saturday) was only the “sighting’ of Samar, from around the isle of Suluan, where the Magellan
party bivouacked afloat overnight. It is therefore not the date of “discovery.” March 17, the
following day, Sunday, was actually the landing, the going ashore for the very first time. And
that was in Homonhon, where the party sojourned for eight days before sailing on.
Much of the attention is naturally being devoted to the Christianity aspect of the event.
Indeed much ado has been devoted to what was, once upon a not too distant past, the celebration
of the “First Mass” in the Philippines. Out of this arose intellectual controversies with some
counterclaims and not without elements of acrimony, either! An attempt to resolve the issue was
launched.
Sometime in 1996, the National Historical Institute (NHI) attempted to “resolve a very
sensitive historical issue facing our country and our people.” And after almost two years, the
NHI panel concluded that “the first-ever Christian mass on Philippine soil on March 31, 1521
was celebrated in the island of Limasawa” shoring up their conclusion by claiming to have
undertaken a “rigorous evaluative analysis and appraisal of primary sources” -- none other than
“the most complete and reliable account of the Magellan expedition,” the chronicles of Antonio
Pigafetta.
Notwithstanding, there is still an on-going debate between Southern Leyte where
Limasawa is an island municipality and Butuan City which is in Agusan del Norte province with
reference to the definitive venue of that Easter Sunday Mass on March 31, 1521. The historical
record from Pigafetta simply says “a mass in Limasawa on that Easter Sunday.” [B&R
translation] The Butuanons claim that that site was actually “Masaua” which is in Agusan.
There has been a noticeable change in the arguments, however. Respected historians have
shied away from referring to that eucharistic celebration of March 31, 1521 as the “First Mass,”
as we were taught in school. Now in more frequent use is the more realistic, and simply “Easter
Mass.”
I have argued in the past that to solve the impasse, one has to accept that the issue ought
not be anchored on geography but sensibly, upon chronology, whenever any one wishes to speak
authoritatively of the “First Mass,” specifically as to venue because, indeed, there was a “First
Mass” celebrated on Philippine soil. And it is neither in Butuan’s Masaua nor in Southern
Leyte’s Limasawa.
Bringing home the Pigafetta manuscripts
MANILA, Philippines – “Taghai, bolan, songhot, adlo, abaca, sabun, ayam, ido, balay,
boloto,” reads Filipino historian Ian Alfonso.
(Cup, star, moon, sun, cloth material, shirt, dog, house, small boat.)
These ancient Bisaya words leap from a digital copy of a 16th century French manuscript
– one version of the account of a Venetian named Antonio Pigafetta, the first Westerner to
document the Bisaya language.
Alfonso goes through this dictionary of sorts, rendered in flowery font by a scribe for the
reading pleasure of European royals wanting to learn more about distant islands.
Alfonso uses laptop keys to turn the pages, as his boss, chairman of the National Historical
Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), Rene Escalante, looks on.
A few keyboard taps later, pages of words give way to pages of paintings. Grey islands
pop from a blue backdrop of wave-flecked sea. White banners proclaim them to be depictions of
“Mattan,” “Zubu,” “Bohol,” “Zuluan,” “Humunu,” and “Pulawan.”
They are known today as Mactan, Cebu, Bohol, Guiuan, Homonhon, and Palawan.
“We’re almost at the first encounter,” says Alfonso excitedly, as he uses his laptop to
arrive at the page where Portugese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his crew catch their first
glimpse of the Philippine islands and are about to meet their first “natives” in Guiuan, Eastern
Samar.
A year ago, Alfonso would have had to travel to the United States or Europe to view
Pigafetta’s manuscript in high resolution, and likely be asked to pay a fee.
But he is viewing them in Manila, inside the National Historical Commission of the
Philippines (NHCP) library beside Rizal Park.
This access can now be enjoyed by any Filipino for the first time because the NHCP has
finally brought home high-resolution digital copies of all 4 Pigafetta extant manuscripts.
Some of these manuscripts have long been accessible online, but not in high resolution, a
limitation for historians who want to see crucial details or for the government who may want to
use blown-up images of the documents.
Antonio Pigafetta was a young Venetian, likely in his 20s when he arrived in the
Philippines as part of Magellan’s crew on March 17, 1521.
The geographer and scribe of the group, he recorded not only names of places and the
vocabulary of the natives, but their food, attire, customs, and traditions, too. He described
historical events like the first Easter Day Mass celebrated in the Philippines and the battle of
Mactan, where Magellan was killed by Lapulapu’s men.
Pigafetta’s eyewitness account is the “most detailed and only surviving account” of this
critical event in Philippine history, says Escalante.
Pigafetta wrote all his observations in a journal, now lost. But based on this original
journal, 4 manuscripts were produced – 3 in French and one in Italian. They were distributed to
European royals interested in financing their own expeditions to the Spice Islands.
These 4 manuscripts have survived. The originals are in libraries in the United States,
France, and Italy. Their pages are a treasure trove of knowledge about the Philippines’
mysterious precolonial past – when chieftains ruled independent fiefdoms, animals and plants
were sacred, and Western civilization was hazier than myth.
Collecting the manuscripts
Like Pigafetta himself, Escalante has had to reach out to different parts of the world to
bring home the high-resolution digital copies of all 4 manuscripts.
While in New York City for negotiations on the return of the Balangiga Bells, he decided
to take a drive to Yale University, only 3 hours away, where one French manuscript is kept.
After paying roughly P20,000 and promising to abide by conditions like not using the
document for commercial purposes, Escalante secured a high-resolution digital file of Pigafetta’s
account for the Philippine government.
He would later on write to two other institutes – the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris and
Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan – which possess the remaining 3 chronicles.
The Ambrosiana manuscript, the longest of the 4, was the priciest, costing the
government P100,000. The two manuscripts in Paris were obtained for only some P5,000 after
the library gave NHCP an 80% discount. In total, the government spent P125,000 for the
manuscripts.
The government’s expense is the Filipinos’ gain. With all 4 digital copies now with the
NHCP, any interested citizen can troop to the commission’s office in Rizal Park and request to
view Pigafetta’s accounts, free of charge.
A request can be made with an email to [email protected] indicating the name of
the requestor and the purpose of the request. With this kind of access, anyone can be a historian.
“In history, there is still this passion for primary sources. If you really want to be a
credible historian, you should not be [content] with translations and secondary accounts,” said
Escalante.
Bringing home the Pigafetta manuscripts is one way to promote the study of history,
especially that chapter in the Philippines’ shrouded in mystery.
As one explores further and further into the past, the number of materials about the time
period diminishes. The only artifacts in our own backyard that have shed light on precolonial
Philippines are jars, human remains, and epics preserved by oral history.
That’s why written accounts by foreigners who visited the Philippines in that epoch are
valuable, and the Pigafetta manuscripts all the more so, for their level of detail and the historic
events they describe.
For instance, Pigafetta narrates that the first Easter Day Mass was celebrated in the
Philippines in a place called Limasawa. Despite a law in the 1960s declaring that this happened
in Limasawa Island, Southern Leyte, there remain adherents to the theory that the site was
Butuan, in a swampy area that had been called Mazaua.
Pigafetta also relates the planting of a cross in a mountain in Limasawa, and days later, in
Cebu, the bequeathal of a statue of the baby Jesus to Juana, wife of Bisaya ruler Raja Humabon.
The climax of Pigafetta’s account is Magellan’s death in the Battle of Mactan. Reading
his chronicle would challenge what most Filipinos know about that historic event.
Pigafetta wrote that Magellan was killed, not necessarily by Mactan ruler Lapulapu
himself, but by a swarm of his men. After a blow to his leg at the height of the battle, Magellan
fell face down in the water where he was besieged by Lapulapu’s men.
“Immediately they rushed upon him with iron and bamboo spears and with their
cutlasses, until they killed our mirror, our light, our comfort, and our true guide,” wrote
Pigafetta.
To be consistent with this narration of events, the government has begun efforts
to replace the current Lapulapu statue in Mactan with a “liberty shrine” that more accurately
depicts the collective effort that led to Magellan’s death.
It is from Pigafetta’s account that we learn Magellan’s death may have been due to his
own folly because he had refused the help of a rival Cebu chieftain, Zula, against Lapulapu.
Magellan asked Zula and his men to stand back and watch the battle, confident that the
Europeans outmatched Lapulapu’s army. The mistake cost him his life.
Apart from historical events, Pigafetta jotted down his observations about even the
mundane details of the lives of early Filipinos.
He devotes paragraphs to describing Filipinos’ many uses of the coconut – a source of
liquor (“uraca”), oil, vinegar, bread, and milk. He enthuses about how Butuan was full of gold
“the size of walnuts and eggs” and how its king, Rajah Colambo, was the “finest looking man”
they saw.
There are descriptions of the food served to them (roast pork, roast fish, ginger, bananas),
attire, drinking ceremonies, burial rituals. Pigafetta speaks of the islanders’ habit of chewing a
fruit called “areca” with betel leaves because of its “cooling effect.”
For Escalante, returning to Pigafetta’s manuscripts allows Filipinos to learn about a part
of Philippine history “unadulterated” by colonialism. It would challenge the misconception of
some that Filipinos, before colonization, were savages.
“We can tell them that we have already a respectable degree of ciivlization, we have
forms of government, we have customs and traditions, we have appreciation of art, we are
practicing also basic agriculture. We have developed the technology of boat-making and then
land-navigating and seas,” said Escalante.
But the value of the manuscripts lies not only in Pigafetta’s words, but also in their other
visual elements. Not your modern-day drab, typed-up report, the chronicles are painstakingly
handwritten and come with colorful paintings.
Scholars of calligraphy, cartography, drawing techniques, and early forms of languages
would also have much to mine from the pages, especially in their high-resolution renderings.
