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Mactan Battle: Pigafetta's Account

- Magellan arrived at Mactan island with 60 men and demanded that Lapu-Lapu recognize the Spanish king and offer tribute, but Lapu-Lapu refused and said his warriors were armed with bamboo weapons. - When the battle began, Magellan's force of 49 men were heavily outnumbered by over 1,000 Mactan warriors armed with arrows, lances, and stones. Magellan was hit by arrows and lances and ultimately killed as his men retreated. - There was no one-on-one duel between Magellan and Lapu-Lapu, who at 70 years old likely directed the battle safely from shore as his warriors defeated the Spanish

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803 views13 pages

Mactan Battle: Pigafetta's Account

- Magellan arrived at Mactan island with 60 men and demanded that Lapu-Lapu recognize the Spanish king and offer tribute, but Lapu-Lapu refused and said his warriors were armed with bamboo weapons. - When the battle began, Magellan's force of 49 men were heavily outnumbered by over 1,000 Mactan warriors armed with arrows, lances, and stones. Magellan was hit by arrows and lances and ultimately killed as his men retreated. - There was no one-on-one duel between Magellan and Lapu-Lapu, who at 70 years old likely directed the battle safely from shore as his warriors defeated the Spanish

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THE BATTLE OF MACTAN

Lesson 5
LESSON OBJECTIVES

To recall, according to Pigafetta, what really transpired during the


Battle of Mactan
OBJECTIVES To correct wrong nuances during that historic event
THE BATTLE OF MACTAN, ACCORDING
TO PIGAFETTA

The Battle of Mactan


Lesson 5
The Battle of Mactan, According to Pigafetta
By: Ambeth R. Ocampo

Ferdinand Magellan did not name


the country in honor of King Philip;
in fact, he named the island the
“Archipelago of San Lazarus” since the
island was discovered during the
feast day of St. Lazarus.

If the island was discovered during Easter Sunday


(which was also on the same week), then Magellan
would have probably named the island as the
Easter Islands.

The Battle of Mactan


Lesson 5
So where did the name, Filipinas, come from?

From Ruy Lopez de


Villalobos who used the
term, Filipinas, in naming
Leyte-Samar (in honor
of King Philip II of
Spain).

The Battle of Mactan


Lesson 5
According to Pigafetta, • “A group of 60 men led by Magellan arrived
at Mactan three hours before daylight, and
since it was too early to fight, he sent word
to Lapu-Lapu, giving him a choice to
recognize the Spanish king and offer tribute,
or learn the hard way how their lances
pierced.”

• “Mactan’s defiant reply was that they had


“lances of bamboo hardened in the fire and
stakes dried in the fire.””

The Battle of Mactan


Lesson 5
• “Magellan refused Humabon’s offer to fight alongside him against Lapu-Lapu,
so when daylight broke, Humabon watched as 49 men waded toward the
shore (11 were left to guard the boats that could not get to shore, impeded
by rocks and stones as it was low tide).”

• “Mactan warriors had formed three divisions to repel them, their number
estimated by Pigafetta at more than 1,050 fuming warriors.”

The Battle of Mactan


Lesson 5
• “Common sense was fatefully uncommon
then; Magellan did not retreat.”

• “Cannons on their ships were supposed


to cover them but were useless because
they were out of range. Arrows from
their crossbows and hackbuts merely
slipped off Mactan shields.”

The Battle of Mactan


Lesson 5
• “Then the warriors of Mactan
rained arrows, iron-tipped
bamboo lances and stones on
Magellan and his men, who
noticed that the arrows were
aimed at their legs, because
they had made the mistake of
covering only their head and
body with metal helmets and
breastplates.”

The Battle of Mactan


Lesson 5
• “Magellan, hit by a poisoned arrow on the
leg, ordered a retreat.”

• “A bamboo lance flew near Magellan’s face,


and he responded by killing the enemy and
leaving the lance in his victim.”

• “Wounded in the arm by a bamboo lance,


Magellan tried with difficulty to draw his
sword from its scabbard, when a large
javelin was thrust into his left leg, making
him fall face down in the water.”

The Battle of Mactan


Lesson 5
• “On this, all at once rushed
upon him,” says Pigafetta,
“with lances of iron and of
bamboo and with these
javelins, so that they slew
our mirror, our light, our
comfort, and our true
guide.”

The Battle of Mactan


Lesson 5
• “Before he breathed
his last, Magellan was
said to have looked up
twice or thrice to see
his remaining men flee
to safety as he
provided a
distraction.”

The Battle of Mactan


Lesson 5
But where was Lapu-Lapu?

• “There was no one-on-one


hand-to-hand combat between
Magellan and Lapu-Lapu as we
would like to believe. Lapu-
Lapu was said to be about 70
years old at the time of the
battle, and probably watched
or directed operations safely
from the shore.”

The Battle of Mactan


Lesson 5

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