PORTUGAL’S RELATIONS WITH THE PHILIPPINES ACCORDING TO 16TH CENTURY PORTUGUESE CHRONICLERS
This article argues that 16th-century Portuguese chronicles offer essential, yet underutilized, perspectives on Portugal’s relations with the Philippines, a field largely dominated by Spanish sources. It contends that a systematic reading of the principal Portuguese narrators—Fernão Lopes de Castanh...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
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| Format: | Articles |
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Instituto Cultural de Macau
July 2003
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| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40007/3893 |
| Summary: | This article argues that 16th-century Portuguese chronicles offer essential, yet underutilized, perspectives on Portugal’s relations with the Philippines, a field largely dominated by Spanish sources. It contends that a systematic reading of the principal Portuguese narrators—Fernão Lopes de Castanheda, João de Barros, Gaspar Correia, António Galvão, and Diogo do Couto—reveals a richer, more nuanced chronology of Lusophone presence and influence in the Philippine archipelago during the early contact period. Employing a documentary-historiographical method, the study synthesizes key passages and episodes from these authors, with particular attention to Magellan’s voyage (1521) and its framing within Portuguese involvement, the naming of the islands as São Lázaro, and the broader dissemination of knowledge about Luzon, Mindanao, and surrounding waters.
The article also scrutinizes Simão de Abreu’s 1523 voyage in collaboration with D. Jorge de Meneses, reconstructing the route between the Moluccas and Malacca via Borneo and the implications of sightings near Mindanao, Basilan, and the Sulu archipelago. Findings suggest that Portuguese navigators may have been the first to sail Filipino waters in the early 1520s, predating other European narratives and shaping early Lusophone engagement with local polities and geographies.
Concluding, the piece argues for integrating these chronicles into Philippine historiography to reassess the nature, timing, and scope of Iberian expansion in East Asia. |
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| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |