And how the ‘Spanish representative’ reached the Philippines
March 16 marked the arrival of Portuguese-born navigator Ferdinand Magellan and his crew in the Philippines. It had been exactly 501 years since Spain came into the picture. By reaching the country, Magellan, who sailed under the Spanish flag for the circumnavigation of the globe, secured the first alliance in the Pacific Islands for Spain. One could say Magellan was the first diplomat to the Philippines. (Those wondering if diplomacy had been around that time, yes, diplomacy predates recorded history).
Then again, we weren’t exactly “befriended”—instead we were claimed—by the Spanish colonizers. Such were the ways of the European superpowers Britain, Spain, France, and Portugal, back then. We now live in a world shaped by histories of violent and brutal conquests—but that is a story for another day.
And if the Portuguese nobleman were a diplomat, would he have been a good one? Magellan spent more than a month in the Philippines trading with local leaders and trying to convert the people to Christianity. After establishing an allegiance with the native rulers, in particular, Rajah Humabon of Cebu, and convincing them to be baptized into Catholicism, Magellan sought to introduce his faith to nearby islands such as Mactan. Some texts say that Magellan grew angry at Lapu-Lapu for refusing to cooperate, so the explorer ordered an attack. But based on the Aginid Chronicles or the oral chronicles from Rajah Tupas of Cebu, Humabon provoked the Spaniards into fighting Lapu-Lapu’s army.
Magellan’s stay in what was then called Las Felipinas was short-lived. This was despite the trouble he and his crew underwent to get to the archipelago. In commemoration of Magellan’s achievement, here are the most important dates in the timeline of the Magellan–Elcano expedition.
If the Portuguese nobleman were a diplomat, would he have been a good one?
June 7, 1494
The Treaty of Tordesillas was established, dividing the “New World” between Spain and Portugal, along a meridian 370 leagues, west of the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa. The agreement settled the conflict over land and resources of the newly discovered lands by Christopher Columbus.
1514
Magellan was intent on finding a route to the Spice Islands. Accused of treason and corruption in Morocco, Magellan was denied permission to embark on Portuguese adventures by King Manuel of Portugal.
October 20, 1517
Magellan moves to Seville, the Spanish gateway to the Indies, where he sold his idea to King Charles I of Spain (later Emperor Charles V) and his consort Joanna I. The Spanish court was convinced, granting the adventurer Spanish nationality and allocating considerable resources for the expedition.
August 10, 1519
The journey begins. The five-ship Armada de Moluccas, namely the carracks San Antonio, the Concepción, the Victoria, the Trinidad, and the caravel Santiago, set sail.
September 20, 1519
Magellan’s fleet sailed southward from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain, and crossed the Ocean Sea (now the Atlantic Ocean). The expedition followed the coast in search of a strait that allowed passage through South America.
April 1 to 2, 1520
Mutiny on Victoria, Concepcion, and San Antonio.
August 1520
One of the ships, the Santiago was shipwrecked in a storm.
October 21, 1520
The expedition arrived at the Cape of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, the entrance to the strait that is now named after Magellan. The voyage through the Strait of Magellan was cold and treacherous. In the early days of the navigation, the crew of the San Antonio forced its captain to desert. The ship turned and fled back to Spain. Only three of the original five ships remained in Magellan’s fleet.
November 28, 1520
After a month spent traversing the Strait of Magellan, the remaining ships managed to reach a vast ocean that Magellan named Mar Pacifico or the Pacific Ocean for its apparent peacefulness. Here, the crew got scurvy.
March 16, 1521
Sighting of the Philippine island of Zamal, now Samar. The Spaniards landed on the uninhabited island of Humunu, now Homonhon. There they encountered fishermen from the nearby island of Zuluan, now Suluan. Magellan and his crew traded supplies with the locals and learned the indigenous culture and the names of nearby islands while their sick members recuperated.
March 28, 1521
The expedition anchored off the island of Mazaua, now Limasawa, where they met local rulers Rajah Kulambo and Rajah Siawi, of the Rajahnate of Butuan and Calagan, now Surigao, respectively. The Spaniards spent a few days as the guests of the rulers.
March 31, 1521
The first-ever Mass in the Philippines was held in Limasawa.
April 7, 1521
Magellan arrives at Zubu, Rajahnate of Cebu. The explorer starts converting natives to Christianity, including Rajah Humabon, the ruler of Cebu.
April 27, 1521
Battle of Mactan. Magellan dies in an attempt to Christianize Lapu-Lapu.
May 1, 1521
A local banquet was held, where Barbosa and 27 sailors are murdered. The three remaining ships escape to the island of Bohol.
September 8, 1522
The ship Victoria, led by the Castillian navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano, returns to Seville, completing the first circumnavigation. The Italian chronicler Antonio Pigafetta was among the 22 members of Magellan’s crew who lived to tell the story of the circumnavigation.