Ferdinand Magellan Expedition to the Philippines

Ferdinand Magellan renounced his allegiance to the Portuguese crown and became a Spanish subject because the Portuguese king had not rewarded his services to the crown as officer and solider in the Portuguese possessions in India and Malacca, persuaded Charles I of Spain that the Moluccas could be reached by sailing west and that an Atlantic passage to the pacific could be found to achieve that goal. Accordingly, Magellan received a royal commission from the king to head an expedition of five ships. On September 20, 1519, Magellan set you to sea from San Lucas, Spain with a fleet of 237 men. Skirting the eastern coast of South America, he found and guided his ships though the the tortuous passage that now bears his name, the Strait of Magellan. On November 20, 1520, after losing two ships and putting down tha mutiny of captains, the fleet reached that Pacific Ocean. After four months of incredible hardship, the three ships crossed the Pacific Ocean. Magellan's miscalculation of the great distance of the Pacific had brought him at the end of his journey a considerable distance father north of the Moluccas. On March 17, 1521, the Spaniards sighted Samar, part of a group of islands, they called the Archipelago of St. Lazarus. They weighted anchor in the islet of Homonhon, and the first meeting between Filipinos and the Spaniards tool place when some natives from the nearby island of Suluan greeted them cordially, a gesture indicative of the fact that the Filipinos were accustomed to seeing strangers coming to the Philippines.

The Spaniards then sailed to Limasawa, an islet south of Leyte, where they celebrated the first Catholic mass in the Philippines on March 31, 1521, an Easter Sunday. Food and provisions, however, were scarce and upon learning of better accommodations, in Cebu, Magellan sailed for the island, arriving there on April 1. He established cordial relations with its chief, Humabon and forthwith converted about 800 natives, including Humabon, his wife and daughter. By converting them to Christianity, Magellan had in fact reduced Humabon and his people to vassalage and placed the Cebuanos under the aegis of Spanish crown.

Magellan, however, embroiled himself in the rivalries so characteristic of Filipino tribal relations at the time. Lapu-Lapu, chief of Mactan and enemy of Humabon, was hostile to the Spaniards. Magellan went to Mactan to force Lapu-Lapu to recongnize Spanish sovereignty and pay tribute. The chieftain refused and in the ensuing skirmish on April 27, Magellan was fatally wounded with a poisoned arrow. His men, demoralized, retreated. Since then, Lapu-Lapu has been considered the first Filipino to save successfully repelled Spanish aggression.

Significance of Magellan Expedition 

Magellan had proved that the East could be reached by sailing westward from Europe. His "discovery" of the Philippines brought the archipelago into the awareness of Europe. On September 6, 1522, the ship Victoria, under the command of Sebastian del Cano, reached the Port of Seville. One ship and eighteen men were all that remained of the Magellan expedition, yet they were responsible for completing the first circumnavigation of the world.