CABUNGCAL, LAWRENCE J.

BPA-1210

1. The Venetian scholar and adventurer Antonio

Pigafetta. With the sponsorship of Emperor Charles V,
he joined the expedition to the Spice Islands led by
explorer Ferdinand Magellan. After Magellan's passing
in the Philippine Islands, he started on the next round-
the-world journey. Pigafetta, who was born into a well-
to-do Vicenza family, also studied navigation. He
served in the Knights of Rhodes galleys and traveled to
Spain with Monsignor Chieregati, the papal nuncio.
Eventually, he traveled to the Maluku Islands with
Portuguese captain Ferdinand Magellan and his
Spanish company. Magellan was murdered and
Pigafetta was hurt in the Philippines. Yet, he bounced
back and was one of only 18 members of Magellan's original crew to return to Spain on
board the Victoria after the explorer had made the first voyage of the globe. The most
significant fact is that [Pigafetta] kept a record of his travels, and this is a crucial source for
knowledge regarding Magellan's illustrious voyage.

Born in Vicenza, Italy, in 1480

Died in Vicenza, Italy, in 1531.
Italian and Venetian nationalities
Known for: Documenting Magellan's voyage around the world.

2. Five ships set out from Seville on August 10th, 1519, on the first known voyage around the
world. Most of the trip is known because to the travelogue of Antonio Pigafetta, one of the
few crew members who made it back to Spain and is famously associated with the name of
its captain, Magellan. Pigafetta's The First Journey around the Globe is a classic of discovery
and expedition literature. It is a narrative and cartographic chronicle of the journey (with 23
hand-drawn watercolour charts) from Patagonia to Indonesia, from the Philippines to the
Cape of Good Hope. Along with his diary, which contained notes outlining the finding of the
western path to the Moluccas, Pigafetta had managed to escape. During the trip, the fleet
also encountered new lands and peoples: three hundred leagues to the west, in the
Philippines, and on the opposite side of the Pacific, the Marianas archipelago.