The First Mass Site in

the Philippines
Chapter 7
 Subjects being Compared:
Mass Site (Limasawa vs. Butuan)
Reasons for Comparison:
LIMASAWA
• The route of Magellan’s • The Legazpi Expedition
Expedition leads to graphical • The cross in mountain-top
location of Limasawa. can be seen from the three
• The position and latitude of islands – Subu, Matan, and
Mazaua correspond to the Seilani.
position and latitude of • Mazaua - near Leyte and
Limasawa. Panaon; Butuan – on the
• Expedition from Mazaua to Island of Mindanao
Cebu.
• The survivors of the
expedition went to Mindanao
later, but after Magellan’s
death.
 Subjects being Compared:
Mass Site (Limasawa vs. Butuan)
Reasons for Comparison:
LIMASAWA
Evidence of Pigafetta’s Map
• Location of Mazaua in the map (1st
Map)
• Mazaua lies equivalent to the actual
position of Limasawa (Pigafetta’s Map;
3rd Map)
• No way can Mazaua be identified with
Butuan (2nd Map)
The Two Kings
• Pigafetta says he was “the finest
looking man” that he had seen in
those parts
• “The island of his was called Butuan
and Calagan. When those kings wished
to see one another, they both went to
hunt in that island where we were”
Seven Days at Mazaua
• Pigafetta says, “We remained there
seven days” o Thurs, 28 March to
Thurs, 4 April
An Argument from Omission
• Butuan is a riverine settlement
situated in the Agusan River which is
not mentioned by Pigafetta in His
accounts
• Legazpi’s expediton - The river is a
very significant account
• Mazaua was an island surrounded by
sea, not a river delta Summary of the
Evidence of Albo and Pigafetta
 Subjects being Compared:
Mass Site (Limasawa vs. Butuan)
Reasons for Comparison:
BUTUAN
• The subject of the
controversy is the identity of
the place which pigafetta
calls mazaua.
• 2 conflicting claims as to its
identity: One school of
thought points to the little
island south of leyte which in
the maps is called Limasawa
and the other school rejects
that claim and points instead
to the beach called Masao at
the mouth of the Agusan River
in Northern Mindanao, near
Butuan
• The Butuan Tradition
The monument was erected and it was a brick
pillar on which was a marble slab that
contained an inscription which might be
translated to commemorate his arrival and the
celebration of the first mass on this site on the
8th of april 1521.
• The 17th Century
Father Francisco Colin's account about
Magellan's arrival present the fact that he
represents the first mass as well as the solemn
planting of the cross and the formal taking
possession as having taken place at Butuan on
Easter Sunday 1521. Father Francisco Combes
main point out in his account is that Magellan
landed at Butuan and there planted the cross in
a solemn ceremomy.
 Subjects being Compared:
Mass Site (Limasawa vs. Butuan)
Reasons for Comparison:
BUTUAN