Readings in Philippine History
Activity 3 | 3rd Semester AY 19-20
The First Voyage around the World by
Antonio
Pigaffeta
Biography
Antonio Pigaffeta (c. 1491 – c. 1531)
He is an Italian scholar and explorer from
the Republic of Venice. He traveled with the
Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his
crew by order of the King Charles I of Spain on
their voyage to the Indies. During the expedition,
he served as Magellan’s assistant and kept an
accurate journal and manuscript titled “The First
Voyage around the World.”
Youth
Pigafetta belonged to a rich family of Vicenza.
In his youth he studied astronomy, geography and
cartography. He served on board the ships of the
Knights of Rhodes at the beginning of the 16th
century. Until 1519, he accompanied the
papal nuncio,
Monsignor Chieregati, to Spain.
Voyage
In Seville, Antonio Pigafetta heard of Magellan’s planned expedition and elected to embark,
accepting the title of
sobrasaliente
(supernumerary) and a modest salary of 1,000 maravedís.
During the expedition, he served as Magellan’s assistant and kept an accurate journal which later
assisted him in translating one of the Philippine languages, Cebuano. It is the first recorded
document concerning this language. Pigafetta was one of the 18 men who returned to Spain in
1522, out of the approximately 240 who set out three years earlier. The voyage completed the first
circumnavigation of the world; Juan Sebastián Elcano served as captain after Magellan’s death.
While on the trip, Pigafetta collected extensive data concerning the geography, climate, flora,
fauna and the inhabitants of the places that the expedition visited. His meticulous notes were
invaluable to future explorers and cartographers, mainly due to his inclusion of nautical and
linguistic data, and to latter-day historians because of its vivid, detailed style. The only other sailor
to maintain a journal during the voyage was Francisco Albo, last
Victoria’
s pilot, who kept a formal
logbook.
Return
Pigafetta was wounded on Mactan in the Philippines, where Magellan was killed. Nevertheless,
he recovered and was among the 18 who accompanied Juan Sebastián Elcano on board the
Victoria
, on the return voyage to Spain. Pigafetta’s journal is the source for much of what we know
about Magellan and Elcano’s voyage. At least one warship of the Italian Navy, a destroyer of the
Navigatori
class, was named after him in 1931.
Upon reaching port in Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Province of Cadiz) in September 1522, three
years after his departure, Pigafetta returned to the Republic of Venice. He related his experiences in
Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo
(Report on the First Voyage Around the World), which
was composed in Italian. Although parts were published in Paris in 1525, the manuscript was not
published in its entirety until the late eighteenth century. The original document was not preserved.
Ferdinand Magellan (c.
