MINIATURES

The first question that comes to mind is: Why did Humabon and the Cebuanos plot against Magellan’s crew—their supposed allies? It had not even been a week since Magellan fell at the hands of Mactan warriors under Lapulapu, yet suddenly, their foremost friends—and somehow also benefactors—the Cebuanos, turned against them. It was actually the Austrian writer and Magellan biographer Stefan Zweig (1881–1942) who was among the first to explore the angle of rape and abuse of Cebuano women as a trigger for the Cebuanos’ anger, which subsequently led to the massacre. Zweig cited as his primary source Martin of Genoa, a survivor of the expedition, who claimed: “Violation of women was the main trouble.” Zweig elaborated: “Despite his best endeavors, Magellan had been unable to prevent his men—sex-hungry after so long a voyage—from raping the wives of their hosts; vainly did he try to put an end to these acts of violence and lubricity, even punishing his own brother-in-law, Duarte de Barbosa, fo...

Ferdinand Magellan by Charles Legrand (Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal) I n one aula discussion, I was asked to describe Spain's "Siglo de Oro" -- Spain's golden age. I mentioned the achievements in arts and letters and of course the great age of discovery that of Magellan et al. There is also Cervantes and the romantic idea of chivalry being reawaken into the said "Siglo". Being a musician, I also spoke about Spanish music of that time, particularly the character of the early "rasgueado" which I describe as different patterns of strumming the guitar (vihuela) that somehow imitates the galloping of horses. Yes, the quixotic character of the time of medieval knights and adventures, Zeitgeist, could even be deciphered in their music. The men like Magellan were knights or horsemen in a romantic quest for glory and gold (and greed) with their converted horses fashioned out of wood-- Galleons that sailed and ventured upon seas, coming like a Trojan h...

The one centavo coin was probably my generation's first knowledge of Lapu Lapu and also the long-lasting image about him that still remains in many of us. Besides that, he is still the obscure hero of a nation which incidentally was not yet in existence during the battle of Mactan. So whatever he and his men fought for, they fought it above all for themselves. But is there something about the historical Lapulapu that we Filipinos should always mention? I think there is -- I believe the Battle of Mactan was a blow to European claims and pretensions in the 16th Century, in a region they thought they have exclusive rights. This could be blasphemy to some but I am in the opinion that the foremost role of History and historians in bringing out facts is also to give justice to those people, natives like those who greatly suffered under the yoke of European colonization--Lest we forget that their glowing stories of exploration, circumnavigation, and colonization were also achieved at the ...