Magellan, Cebu and the Battle of Mactan
Ferdinand Magellan's Spanish expedition reaches the islands, baptises the ruler of Cebu, and is defeated at Mactan by the chief Lapulapu, where Magellan is killed.
- The First Voyage Around the World (1519–1522): An Account of Magellan's Expedition — Antonio Pigafetta (ed. Theodore J. Cachey Jr.), University of Toronto Press (2007)
- History of the Filipino People — Teodoro A. Agoncillo, Garotech (1990)
- Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society — William Henry Scott, Ateneo de Manila University Press (1994)
- The Philippines: A Past Revisited — Renato Constantino, Tala Publishing (1975)
In March 1521, after crossing the Pacific, a Spanish fleet commanded by the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the islands of the Visayas. On 31 March, Easter Sunday, its chaplain said Mass on an island the Philippine government identifies as Limasawa, the first recorded Catholic Mass in the islands. At Cebu, Rajah Humabon and hundreds of his people were baptised, and his wife received a small statue of the Christ Child, the Santo Niño.
- The First Voyage Around the World (1519–1522): An Account of Magellan's Expedition — Antonio Pigafetta (ed. Theodore J. Cachey Jr.), University of Toronto Press (2007)
- History of the Filipino People — Teodoro A. Agoncillo, Garotech (1990)
Magellan then demanded that neighbouring chiefs submit to Humabon and the Spanish king. On the island of Mactan, the chief Lapulapu refused. On 27 April 1521 Magellan landed with about sixty armoured men; Lapulapu’s warriors, far more numerous, drove them back into the shallows and killed Magellan. Our main account comes from the expedition’s chronicler, Antonio Pigafetta, who mourned his captain. The survivors fled; one ship eventually completed the first circumnavigation of the globe.
- The First Voyage Around the World (1519–1522): An Account of Magellan's Expedition — Antonio Pigafetta (ed. Theodore J. Cachey Jr.), University of Toronto Press (2007)
- Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society — William Henry Scott, Ateneo de Manila University Press (1994)
Spain returned in force only in 1565. In the meantime, the Santo Niño was found again in Cebu by Spanish soldiers that year and is now the focus of the Sinulog festival, one of the biggest in the country.
- History of the Filipino People — Teodoro A. Agoncillo, Garotech (1990)
- Contracting Colonialism: Translation and Christian Conversion in Tagalog Society under Early Spanish Rule — Vicente L. Rafael, Cornell University Press (1988)
Lapulapu refused to submit or pay tribute and defeated the Spaniards, making him the first Filipino to resist colonial rule. His statue stands at Mactan, and the state's quincentennial framed 1521 around "victory and humanity" rather than discovery.
- History of the Filipino People — Teodoro A. Agoncillo, Garotech (1990)
- The Philippines: A Past Revisited — Renato Constantino, Tala Publishing (1975)
1521 is the moment the Christian faith was first planted, with the first Mass on Easter Sunday and the baptism of Cebu's rulers. The Santo Niño statue given to Cebu's queen is still venerated as a treasured gift.
- The First Voyage Around the World (1519–1522): An Account of Magellan's Expedition — Antonio Pigafetta (ed. Theodore J. Cachey Jr.), University of Toronto Press (2007)
- Contracting Colonialism: Translation and Christian Conversion in Tagalog Society under Early Spanish Rule — Vicente L. Rafael, Cornell University Press (1988)
Why it matters today
1521 means two things at once for Filipinos: the arrival of the Christianity that most of them now share, and the first recorded victory against a European invader. The 500th anniversary in 2021 was marked both as "500 Years of Christianity" by the Church and as a celebration of Lapulapu by the state.