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Guide Questions Page 41

1. Antonio Pigafetta was an Italian scholar and explorer who kept a journal of the first circumnavigation of the world led by Ferdinand Magellan from 1519 to 1522. 2. According to Pigafetta's account, the locals of some islands welcomed Magellan's crew peacefully, but the chief of Mactan, Lapu-Lapu, refused to cooperate with the Spanish. 3. Pigafetta described the islanders' simple lifestyle and cultural practices based on their environment, such as their use of coconuts and tattoos. His observations provide insight into the lives of 16th century people in the Visayan Islands of the Philippines.

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605 views2 pages

Guide Questions Page 41

1. Antonio Pigafetta was an Italian scholar and explorer who kept a journal of the first circumnavigation of the world led by Ferdinand Magellan from 1519 to 1522. 2. According to Pigafetta's account, the locals of some islands welcomed Magellan's crew peacefully, but the chief of Mactan, Lapu-Lapu, refused to cooperate with the Spanish. 3. Pigafetta described the islanders' simple lifestyle and cultural practices based on their environment, such as their use of coconuts and tattoos. His observations provide insight into the lives of 16th century people in the Visayan Islands of the Philippines.

Uploaded by

Shelley Casao
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Casao, Shelley E.

BSITTM 1A
Guide Questions
Page 41

1. Who is Antonio Pigafetta? What is his role in the Magellan-Elcano expedition?


2. According to Pigafetta, how did the locals of the island welcome Magellan and his crew?
3. How are the islander’s way of life, cultural practices, and religious beliefs described? What does
Pigafetta’s account tell us about the conditions of the Visayan islands in the 16 th century?
4. Based on Pigafetta’s account, how did the battle of Mactan start?
5. Why was Pigafetta’s journal not published?

Answer/s:

1. Antonio Pigafetta is a well-educated young man possessing an avid curiosity of the world around
him. Other than that, he was one of the 18 survivors who returned in Spain on September 6, 1522
aboard the ship Victoria with Juan Sebastian Elcano. During the expedition, his role is to kept an
accurate journal as an assistant of Magellan, which he became the main source of what we know
about the first encounter of the Spaniards and the Filipinos.
2. According to Pigafetta, Magellan and his crew was welcomed peacefully in the island of Raia
Colambu and Raia Siaui and in the island named Zubu. Meanwhile, Lapu-Lapu which is one of
the chiefs in the village of Mactan refused to cooperate and obey the King of Spain which made
Magellan angry which results to a war.
3. Pigafetta noticed first the food that the islanders have when they are offered some during the first
encounter. Especially on how coconut is very helpful for the people who live in the island. It’s
not only the food of islanders which Pigafetta included in his journal but he also described the
appearance of the islanders. Other than that, the people who live near the island where they are
had holes in their ears are so big that they can literally pass their arms through them. In addition,
they also go naked with just a soft cloth woven from the bark of a tree except from the chiefs who
wear cotton cloth embroided with silk. Moreover, he saw an Islander covered in tattoos which he
described as painted and they wore gold accessories like earrings, armlets, kerchiefs and etc.

In conclusion, they were the type of people that are contented on what they have and dependent
on the nature. The Pigafetta’s account showed that people of the Visayan Islands in the 16 th
century lived a simple life but were gradually changing with the reason of the influence of the
voyagers.
4. According to Pigafetta, they arrived at the shores of Mactan three hours before sunrise. Magellan
sent a message to the natives saying that if they still refused to recognize the Spanish king and
pay them tribute, they would demonstrate how effective their swords were at wounding people.

In reply, Lapu-Lapu’s men told Magellan that although the Spaniards had lances, they, too, were
armed with bamboo and stakes hardened with fire. The natives requested Magellan’s party to wait
until morning before attacking so they could gather more warriors, to which Magellan obliged.

Against spears, bows, and arrows, Magellan’s muskets and armor proved worthless. The musket
took one minute to reload and fire, while the bow and arrow took one or two seconds to shoot
between two arrows. Realizing their huge disadvantage, the Spaniards panicked and began firing
at no particular target and that’s how the battle of Mactan started.
5. Since the report of Pigafetta is quite long and is not presented in its entirety. The excerpts are
limited to the narration of what happened to the expedition upon reaching the Philippines from
the time they landed on Homonhon up to the battle of Mactan. Since Pigafetta and Enrique de
Malacca were not natives of the Visayan region, there were inaccuracies in the information about
and the spelling of the names of places they visited that’s why Pigafetta’s journal wasn’t
published.

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