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AROUND THE WORLD IN 1,082 DAYS Detail of a map of Ferdinand Magellan’s Circumnavigation
“The Battle of Mactan has an underlying food story.”
So says food historian Felice Prudente Sta. Maria when I ask her about what she found most surprising while researching for her just-released book “Pigafetta’s Philippine Picnic,” published by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP).
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“Pigafetta mentioned that goats were part of a food quota demanded by Magellan of chiefs loyal to Humabon,” she explains. “He also recorded that one village refusing to cooperate was burned by the Spanish. For a long time, I had a hunch that food played a bigger role in the death of Magellan. While re-reading Pigafetta’s book, Danilo Geronimo released his biography of Magellan. It was the first time I read an enumeration of the food quota. And it demanded more than a few goats!”