A Journey toward the spice Island.

1. Analysis of Pigafetta's Chronicle
The chronicle of Pigafetta was one of the most cited documents by historians who wished to
study the pre-colonial Philippines. As one of the earliest written accounts, Pigafetta was seen as
a credible source for a period, which was unchronicled and undocumented. Moreover, being
the earliest detailed documentation, it was believed that Pigafetta's writings account for the
purest" pre-colonial society. Indeed, Pigafetta's work is of great importance in the study and
writing of Philippine history. However, there needs to be a more nuanced reading of the source
within a contextual backdrop. Students of history should recognize certain biases accompanying
the authors and their identities, loyalties, and circumstances, and how these affected the text
that they produced. In the case of Pigafetta, the reader needs to understand that he was a
chronicler commissioned by the king of Spain to accompany and document a voyage intended
to expand the Spanish empire. He was also of noble descent who came from a wealthy family in
Italy. These attributes influenced his narrative, his selection of details to be included in the text,
his characterization of the people that he encountered, and his interpretation and retelling of
the events. With his cartography and geography background, Pigafetta wrote a detailed
geography and climate conditions of the places their voyage reached.
In reading Pigafetta's description of the people, one has to keep in mind that he was coming
from the sixteenth century European perspective. Hence, the reader might notice how
Pigafetta, whether implicitly or explicitly, regarded the indigenous belief systems and way of life
as inferior to that of Christianity and the Europeans. He would always remark on the nakedness
of the natives or how he was fascinated by their exotic culture. Pigafetta also noticeably
emphasized the natives' amazement and ignorance of European artillery, merchandise, and
other goods. In the same way. Pigafetta repeatedly mentioned the abundance of spices like
ginger and precious metals like gold. His observations on indigenous cultures employed
European standards. Hence, when they saw the indigenous attires of the natives, Pigafetta saw
them as being naked because, from a European standpoint, they were wearing fewer clothes
indeed. Pigafetta's perspective was too narrow to realize that such attire was appropriate for
the tropical climate of the islands. The same was true for materials that the natives used for
their houses like palm and bamboo. These materials would let more air come through the
house and compensate for the hot climate.
Such observations were rooted in the context of Pigafetta and his era. Europe, for example, was
dominated by the Holy Roman Empire, whose loyalty and purpose was the domination of the
Catholic Church all over the world. Hence, other belief systems different from that of

2. Christianity were perceived to be blasphemous and barbaric, even demonic. Aside from this,
the sixteenth century European economy was mercantilist. Such a system measures the wealth
of kingdoms based on their accumulation of bullions or precious metals like gold and silver. It
was not surprising. therefore, that Pigafetta would always mention the abundance of gold in
the islands as shown in his description of leaders wearing gold rings and golden daggers, and
of the rich gold mines. An empire like that of Spain would need new lands where they could
acquire more gold and wealth to be on top of all other European nations The obsession with
spices might be odd for Filipinos because of its ordinariness in the Philippines, but
understanding the context would reveal that spices were scarce in Europe and hence, were
seen as prestige goods. In that era, Spain and Portugal coveted control of the spice islands
because it would have led to a certain increase in wealth, influence, and power. These contexts
should be used and understood to have a more qualified reading of Pigafetta's account.