Answer:
How are the islander's way of life, cultural practices, and religious beliefs described? What does the Pigafetta's account tells us about the conditions of the Visayan islands in the 16th century? How did Magellan win the trust of the natives?
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You can read a translated version of Pigafetta's journal here.
Antonio Pigafetta was a Venetian intellectual and scholar who accompanied Ferdinand Magellan's expedition to Asia, specifically the Spice Islands in the Indies (Southeast Asia). Europeans were aware of an eastward route to the Indies, but this was within Portugal's sphere of influence as established in the Treaty of Tordesillas. Magellan proposed a westward route that would prove that the Spice Islands were in the Spanish half of the globe.
We have a first-hand account of the voyage thanks to Pigafetta who documented the new and strange plants, animals, and peoples they encountered. Pigafetta attempted to describe these using what was familiar to him: He called penguins flightless black geese, and seals as sea-wolves for iinstance.
Pigafetta's opinions were informed by the world view of Europeans at that time. In short, he had his biases. Not only was he in the payroll of the Spanish throne (whom he had to put in a flattering light), his published diary was intended to capture the imaginations of European readers eager to hear about the strange and exotic Orient. Religion also played apart. As Islam was portrayed as Christianity's polar opposite, we get a sense of urgency to win over non-believers like the pagan Visayans.
As such, they're described as child-like and savage; given over to their base appetites of feasting, drunkeness, and lust; and easily awed by Spanish trinkets and arms. For the most part, they offer no resistance to evangelism. Magellan is depicted as magnanimous and brave, eager to uplift the natives from savagery by Christian baptism.
Pigafetta does offer insight into some Visayan customs such as their cuisine, the process of fermenting palm and coconut wine, and native attire. From his retelling of interactions with Raja Humabon, the lord of Cebu, and other Visayan ruling elite, we get a feel of how they operated. Stretched across different islands, the Visayan kadatuan traded and raided with each other in a loose, fluid context. When Magellan challenged Lapu-Lapu, the datu of Mactan, he made the costly mistake of presuming Visayan power structures resembled that of fedual Europe, the Muslims, or the Chinese. Humabon may have instead ‘tricked' Magellan by co-opting the Spanish into his plans to subdue a political and commercial rival. Accepting Christianity may have been an attempt to win over a new powerful deity for Humabon.
Pigafetta is a fascinating character, and the whole expedition, a watershed moment in world history. While his writings were skewed towards his Eurocentric sentiments, we can't blame a 16th-century scholar for not adhering to our modern ideas. Rather Pigafetta provides us with unique insights into how European explorers thought of the new peoples and cultures they encountered. Since we have yet to find a personal account from the view of the Visayans he met, we're left grasping at straws. Later, the quill would be taken up by Spanish missionaries who would document Visayan and Tagalog culture in greater detail in their attempts to evangelize them. It's a paradox that makes Philippine history compelling.
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