Spanish Expeditions to the Philippines: Magellan-Elcano, Loaisa, Cabot, Saavedra, Villabos & Legaspi
Summary
TLDRThis historical narrative details the early European expeditions to the Philippine Archipelago, commencing with Ferdinand Magellan's voyage in 1521. Despite multiple attempts by explorers like Garcia Jofre de Loaisa and Sebastian Cabot, it was Miguel López de Legazpi who successfully established the first Spanish colony in 1565. The script also covers the first circumnavigation of the globe and the Manila galleon trade, highlighting Spain's colonization of the Philippines until 1898.
Takeaways
- 🏝️ The Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, in the service of King Charles I of Spain, led the first documented European expedition to the Philippine Archipelago in 1521.
- 🛳️ After Magellan's expedition, four more were made by Garcia Jofre de Loaisa, Sebastian Cabot, Álvaro de Saavedra, and Ruy López de Villalobos, but none succeeded in colonizing the Philippines.
- 👑 King Charles I ceased sending colonizers to the islands until his son, Philip II, instructed Luis de Velasco, the Viceroy of Mexico, to prepare a new expedition.
- 🚢 Miguel López de Legazpi led the successful colonization of the Philippines, establishing the first Spanish colony and initiating the Manila galleon trade.
- 🌊 Magellan's expedition was historic for being the first circumnavigation of the globe, proving the Earth was round.
- 🌍 The name 'Philippines' was given by Ruy López de Villalobos in honor of Philip II, the Prince of Spain.
- 📜 The Treaty of Tordesillas defined the demarcation line between Spanish and Portuguese territories, which influenced the exploration and colonization efforts.
- 🏰 The establishment of the Spanish colony in the Philippines led to 333 years of Spanish rule until the Treaty of Paris in 1898.
- 🌪️ Many of the expeditions faced harsh weather conditions, leading to the loss of ships and lives, highlighting the challenges of early exploration.
- ⏳ The Manila galleon trade, initiated by Legazpi's expedition, lasted for over two and a half centuries, significantly impacting global trade and the economies of Spain and Asia.
Q & A
Who led the first documented European expedition to the Philippine Archipelago?
-The first documented European expedition to the Philippine Archipelago was led by the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, in the service of King Charles I of Spain.
What significant event occurred on March 16, 1521, during Magellan's expedition?
-On March 16, 1521, Magellan's fleet performed the first-ever crossing of the Pacific Ocean and landed on Homonhon Island in Samar.
Why were the islands initially named 'Los Eyas de San Lazaro' by Magellan?
-Magellan named the islands 'Los Eyas de San Lazaro' because they reached the islands on the feast day of Saint Lazarus of Bethany.
What was the outcome of the battle on April 27, 1521, in which Magellan was involved?
-In the battle on April 27, 1521, Ferdinand Magellan was killed by the natives led by Lapu-Lapu on the island of Mactan.
Which ship and its captain are historically recognized for completing the first circumnavigation of the globe?
-The ship Victoria, captained by Juan Sebastian del Cano after Magellan's death, completed the first circumnavigation of the globe.
Why did Garcia Jofre de Loaisa's expedition fail to colonize the Spice Islands?
-Garcia Jofre de Loaisa's expedition failed to colonize the Spice Islands due to poor weather, the loss of ships, and the death of key personnel including Loaisa himself from scurvy.
What was the primary goal of Sebastian Cabot's expedition for Spain?
-The primary goal of Sebastian Cabot's expedition was to determine the precise demarcation of the Treaty of Tordesillas and to convey settlers to the Moluccas to strengthen Spanish claims in the Spice Islands.
How did Alvaro de Saavedra's expedition contribute to the exploration of the Pacific Ocean?
-Alvaro de Saavedra's expedition contributed to the exploration of the Pacific Ocean by being the first to cross it from the Americas, reaching the Philippines and later returning to Mexico.
What was the name given by Ruy López de Villalobos to the Philippine Islands, and why?
-Ruy López de Villalobos named the Philippine Islands 'Las Islas Filipinas' in honor of the Prince of Spain, who later became King Philip II.
What was the Manila galleon trade, and how did it start?
-The Manila galleon trade was a trade route that lasted for two and a half centuries, starting with the establishment of the first colony in the Philippines by the expedition of Miguel López de Legazpi in 1565, which also resulted in the discovery of the return route to Mexico across the Pacific.
How long did Spain maintain control over the Philippines as a colony?
-Spain maintained control over the Philippines as a colony for 333 years, from 1565 until the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898.
Outlines
🌊 Early European Expeditions to the Philippines
The paragraph discusses the initial European contact with the Philippines, starting with the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan's expedition in 1521 under the Spanish flag. It details subsequent expeditions led by Garcia Jofre de Loaisa, Sebastian Cabot, Álvaro de Saavedra, and Ruy López de Villalobos. Despite these efforts, Spain's colonization attempts were unsuccessful until Philip II sent Miguel López de Legazpi, who successfully colonized the country. The paragraph also covers Magellan's route, his interactions with local chiefs, his death in Mactan, and the eventual return of the Victoria ship, marking the first circumnavigation of the globe.
🚢 The Challenges and Failures of Subsequent Expeditions
This paragraph delves into the challenges faced by the expeditions following Magellan. It describes the voyages of García Jofre de Loaisa, who faced harsh weather and lost ships, and ultimately died of scurvy. Alonso de Salazar took command after Loaisa's death, only to also die of scurvy. The paragraph continues with the story of Sebastian Cabot, who was tasked with strengthening Spanish claims in the Spice Islands but was distracted by rumors of Incan wealth and exploration of the Río de la Plata. It also covers the expedition of Álvaro de Saavedra, who became the first to cross the Pacific from the Americas to the Philippines but faced numerous setbacks, including the loss of ships and crew, and his eventual death during a return attempt.
🏰 The Colonization and Legacy of Spanish Explorers
The final paragraph focuses on the later expeditions and the eventual colonization of the Philippines. It tells the story of Ruy López de Villalobos, who named the islands 'Las Islas Filipinas' in honor of Philip II and faced hostility and shipwrecks, leading to his imprisonment and death. The paragraph concludes with the successful expedition of Miguel López de Legazpi, who established the first Spanish colony in the Philippines and initiated the Manila galleon trade. It also notes the long period of Spanish colonization until the Treaty of Paris in 1898, emphasizing the enduring impact of these early explorations and colonization efforts.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Portuguese
💡Philippine Archipelago
💡Ferdinand Magellan
💡Circumnavigation
💡Spice Islands
💡Luis de Velasco
💡Miguel López de Legazpi
💡Manila Galleon Trade
💡Strait of Magellan
💡Treaty of Tordesillas
Highlights
The Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan led the first documented European expedition to the Philippine archipelago in 1521.
Four more expeditions were made to the islands after Magellan's, but none succeeded in taking over the Philippines.
King Charles I stopped sending colonizers to the islands after the failed expeditions.
Philip II instructed Luis de Velasco to prepare a new expedition, which was successfully led by Miguel López de Legazpi.
Magellan's expedition aimed to find a western route to the Moluccas Spice Islands for trade.
Magellan's fleet performed the first-ever crossing of the Pacific Ocean.
The Philippine archipelago was renamed by various sources, with claims that Magellan or his chroniclers were responsible.
Magellan was the first European to reach the islands and forged a friendship with the chieftain of Limasawa.
Magellan was killed in a battle on Mactan Island, led by native chief Lapu-Lapu.
Only one ship, the Victoria, and 18 men returned to Spain out of the original five ships and over 300 men.
The expedition is historic as it marked the first circumnavigation of the globe, proving the world is round.
Losa's expedition aimed to rescue the missing Trinidad ship and colonize Magellan's Spice Islands.
Sebastian Cabot's expedition sought the northwest passage and to strengthen Spanish claims in the Spice Islands.
Alvaro de Saavedra was the first navigator to cross the Pacific Ocean from the Americas.
Ruy López de Villalobos named the country 'Las Islas Filipinas' in honor of the Prince of Spain, Philip II.
The Philippines was a Spanish colony for 333 years, from 1565 until the Treaty of Paris in 1898.
Lopez de Legazpi's expedition established the first colony in the Philippines and discovered the return route to Mexico.
The Manila Galleon trade lasted for two and a half centuries due to the discovery of the return route across the Pacific.
Transcripts
after the portuguese reached the maluku
islands of indonesia in 1511
the earliest documented european
expedition to the philippine archipelago
was led by the portuguese navigator
ferdinand magellan in the service of
king charles one of spain in 1521.
after magellan's expedition four more
expeditions were made to the islands
they were led by garcia joffrey delosa
in 1525
sebastian cabot in 1526 alvaro de
savedra in 1527
and roy lopez de villalobos in 1542
since none of the expeditions after
magellan from los angeles had succeeded
in taking over the philippines
king charles one stopped sending
colonizers to the islands
however when philip ii succeeded his
father to the throne
he instructed luis de velasco the
viceroy of mexico
to prepare a new expedition to be headed
by miguel lopez de la gazpi
lopez de la gazp succeeded in colonizing
the country
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ferdinand magellan a portuguese in the
service of the spanish crown
left spain on september 20th 1519 with
the goal of finding a western route to
the molokas
spice islands and trade for spices
he sailed across the atlantic and
discovered the strait that now bears his
name
allowing him to pass through the
southern tip of south america into the
pacific ocean
which he named the fleet performed the
first ever crossing of the pacific
on march 16 1521 they landed on
homingham island in samar
magellan named the islands los easles to
san lazaro
saint lazarus islands because they
reached the islands on the feast day of
saint lazarus of bethany
however the archipelago was renamed los
easles de pontiante
islands to the west various sources
claimed that magellan was not the one
who renamed the area
but his chroniclers instead the name
came from the fact that the islands were
reached from spain on route approaching
the left part of the globe
conversely the portuguese called the
archipelago ilhas do orient
islands to the east because they
approached the islands from the east of
portugal in the late 1540s
magellan was the first european to reach
the islands
he forged a close friendship with raha
human the chieftain of li misawa
umaban was a rival of one of the chiefs
on mktan island
dr lapu lapu another chief in mctan
dhatu zula was also wary of la pulatu
magellan promised to eliminate the king
who would not recognize the superiority
of spanish crown
on april 17 1521 magellan sailed to
mctan and ensuing battle killed magellan
by the natives led by lapu-lapu
juan sebastian di el cano the master of
ship concepcion took over the command of
the expedition after the death of
magellan and captained the ship victoria
back to spain
out of the five ships and more than 300
men who left on the magellan expedition
in 1519
only one ship the victoria and 18 men
returned to seville
spain on september 6 15 22.
nevertheless the said expedition was
considered historic because it marked
the first circumnavigation of the globe
and proved that the world was round
losa's expedition was conceived both as
a rescue mission and a voyage of
discovery
the victoria a vessel from magellan's
expedition to the pacific
had returned to spain in 1522 with word
that her sister shipped the trinidad had
last been seen attempting to return home
by sailing east from the spice islands
to south america
losa was ordered to seek trinidad or
news of her fate
by voyaging along her expected return
route to spain
he was also ordered to locate and
colonize magellan's spice islands
for this purpose losa was assigned seven
vessels and a total of 450 men
including tradesmen and administrators
for the spice islands settlement
expedition set sail from corona on july
24
1525. losa was named captain along with
juan sebastian elcano
who had reached the spice islands in
1521 during the magellan expedition
the fleet headed southwest to the canary
islands and then
south along the african coastline in
november 1525
losa moved west across the atlantic to
brazil reaching the patagonian shore in
january 1526.
there was no sign of trinidad and delosa
decided to abandon the search for her
and continue instead to the spice
islands however the weather was poor
and over the next several weeks in high
winds while trying to enter the strait
of magellan
the ships alternately gathered and
dispersed
two ships were wrecked and one tacked
into the atlantic and deserted the
expedition
on may 26 1526
this diminished fleet of four ships
passed through the strait and
entered the pacific the bad weather
which had originally scattered
losses fleet continued in the pacific
the four remaining vessels quickly lost
sight of each other in the heavy rain
and were unable to regroup when the
storm finally passed on june 1st
santa maria de la victoria was the only
ship left
losa himself died of scurvy on july 30th
1526
el cano a few days later alonso de
salazar took command after the deaths of
losa and elcano
after one month of holding the command
he also died of scurvy shortly after
having left guam on september 5th
1526 and was succeeded by martin iniguez
de carquizano
yunitas reached the islands of visah and
mindan now in the philippines and the
molokas
but died of food poisoning only
undressed deodaneta and 24 other men
survived to land in the spice islands
they returned to spain in 1536 in the
portuguese india armada and under
portuguese guard to complete the second
world circumnavigation in history
sebastian cabot was a venetian explorer
he was the son of venetian explorer john
cabot
after his father's death cabot conducted
his own voyages of discovery
seeking the northwest passage through
north america for england
he later sailed for spain
on march 4 1525 cabot was given command
of a spanish fleet that was to determine
from astronomical observation the
precise demarcation of the treaty of
tortosillas
which defined the area of spanish and
portuguese monopolies
he was also to convey settlers to the
molokai islands in the pacific
to strengthen spanish claims in the
spice islands
this expedition consisted of four ships
with 250 men
and set sail from salukar de barramata
on april 3
1526
cabal was directed to cross the pacific
twice and he might have accomplished a
second circumnavigation of the world
however when cabot landed with his
expedition in brazil
he heard of the rumors of the great
wealth of the incan king and the nearly
successful invasion of aleksa garcia
he abandoned his charge and explored the
interior of the rio de la plata along
the northern border of present-day
argentina
in 1527 hernan cortes prepared a new
expedition to search for the missing
fleet of the losa expedition and
commissioned his cousin alvaro de
savedra to command the new expedition
however the true purpose of the
expedition was to find new lands in the
south sea
the pacific ocean and to bring back
spice plants
on october 31 1527 they sailed from
zia to nejo guerrero on december 15th
after having sailed 1170 leagues
the espiritu santo and the santiago
swept on ahead
after a sudden squall never to be heard
of again
on february 2nd 1528 the la florida
cited the philippines and the following
day anchored at a small island off the
north coast of mindanao
after 95 days since its departure and
having
sailed 1923 leagues
this makes saavedra the first navigator
to cross the pacific ocean from the
americas
on march 30th 1528 the la florida
arrived to t del rey
the spanish stronghold in the moloch is
where the men remaining from the losa
expedition were found
and they joined them to fight the
portuguese in the neighboring turnout
tent
to carry out the instructions of the
expedition and bring further
assistance to the spaniards in t del rey
savadra set sail for new spain
mexico on june 14 1528.
however they were diverted by the
northeast trade winds and threw them
back to the molakas
returning to t dou ray on november 19 15
28. on may 3rd 1529
savadra tried again the second time by
navigating back down south
again he toured the western part of new
guinea then heading north
however savadra died thus pedro
also took command they sailed north but
did not found westerly winds
when lasso died they finally decided to
turn around the ship and again return to
the malaccas
arriving to hamahara next to t del rey
on december 8 1529
they were captured there by the
portuguese and held in captivity for
five years
in 1534 the surviving eight members of
his crew made it back to spain
roy lopez de villalubbos was
commissioned in 1541 by the viceroy of
new spain
antonio de mendoza who was the first
colonial administrator in the new world
to send an expedition to the east los
del ponyente
islands of the west his fleet of six
galleon ships left bar rod in avadod
jalisco mexico with 370 to 400 men on
november 1st 1542.
lopez de villalubbos reached mindanao on
february 2nd 1543. he established a
colony in sarangani but could not stay
long because of insufficient food supply
in april 1544 he sailed for island of
amboyna
he and his crew members then made their
way to the islands of samar
and leyte which he named los easles
filipinas
the philippine islands in honor of the
prince of spain
philip ii
driven away by hostile natives hunger
and the shipwreck
lopez de villalobos was forced to
abandon his settlements in the islands
and the expedition he and his crew
members sought refuge in the malaccas
where they quarreled with the portuguese
who imprisoned them
he died on april 4 1544 in his prison
cell on the island of amboyna
lopez davila bose is remembered for
naming the country los eastles filipinas
the philippine islands
philip ii became king of spain on
january 16
1556 when his father charles 1
abdicated both the spanish and holy
roman empire thrones
charles one of spain was also charles
five of the holy roman empire
the throne of the holy roman empire went
to charles brother
ferdinand one in 1559
philip ii ordered an expedition mounted
to the spice islands
stating that its purpose was to discover
the islands of the west
in reality its task was to conquer the
philippine islands for spain
in 1564 lopez de la gazpi was
commissioned by the viceroy
luis de velasco to lead an expedition in
the pacific ocean
to find the spice islands where the
earlier explorers ferdinand magellan and
roy lopez de villalobos had landed in
1521
and 1543 respectively
the viceroy died in july 1564
but the audience and lopez de la gazp
completed the preparations for the
expedition
on november 20th 1564 five
ships carrying 500 soldiers sailed from
the port of bar rod in avadod
new spain other sources give the date as
november 1
1564 and mention four ships and 380 men
lopez de la gazp and his men sailed the
pacific ocean for 93 days
on february 13 1565 legosphere's
expedition landed in cebu island
the lagos p expedition was successful as
it established the first colony in the
philippines
it also resulted in the discovery of the
return route to mexico across the
pacific
this discovery started the manila
galleon trade which lasted for two and a
half centuries
for 333 years from 1565 when spain first
established a colony in the country
until the treaty of paris on december 10
1898
the philippines was a colony of spain
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