Magellans last battle, island of Mactan, 1521.
Painting by Gregory Manchess
Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Spain in 1519 leading a Spanish armada of five vessels.
On 16 March 1521, Magellan sighted the islands of Philippines becoming the first European to reach the archipelago.
This was despite the fact that Magellan himself was Portuguese.
Magellan landed on the island of Homonhon and befriended the chieftains of Limasawa.
Humabon acquired the Christian name Carlos, in honor of King Charles of Spain.
His wife took the name Juana, in honor of King Charles' mother.
Map of the first world circumnavigation of Ferdinand de Magellan and Juan Sebastian Elcano, from 1519 to 1522.
Rajah Humabon convinced Magellan to go to war against his rival, Lapu Lapu.
Lapu-Lapu, who ruled Mactan Island just across the waters from Cebu, had become a threat to Humabon.
But Magellan was too arrogant to see Humabons true motives.
Humabon saw this as an opportunity, and decided to watch the battle from a distance.
Perhaps he too believed in the might power of European weapons.
The battle that followed was unsurprisingly one-sided.
Lapu-Lapus men managed to stay beyond the range of Magellans guns and crossbows while showering them with arrows.
Firearms were a relatively recent development and loading them took from ten seconds up to afull minute.
During this time, the Spanish remained vulnerable as the beach offered little cover.
Outnumbered and encumbered by their armor, Magellan’s forces were quickly overwhelmed.
Many of the warriors specifically attacked Magellan.
When the natives saw that, they all rushed themselves upon him.
When they wounded him, he turned back many times to see whether we were all in the boats.
Nothing of Magellan’s body survived, Pigafetta continues in his journal.
Humabon tried to persuade Lapu-Lapu to return the body but the victorious chief refused.
He intended to keep the body as a war trophy.
Disease and shipwreck disrupted Espinoza’s voyage and most of the crew died.
Lapu-Lapu later returned to his native land Borneo, and nothing more was heard of him.
Lapu-Lapu also appears on the official seal of the Philippine National Police.
Lapu-Lapus statue in Mactan Island.
Photo credit:Shankar S/Flickr
Magellans contribution isnt forgotten either.
Photo credit:walterericsy / Shutterstock.com
