Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 03:01:14 -0800 From: eskrima-request@martialartsresource.net Subject: Eskrima digest, Vol 12 #427 - 4 msgs X-Mailer: Mailman v2.0.13.cisto1 MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Errors-To: eskrima-admin@martialartsresource.net X-BeenThere: eskrima@martialartsresource.net X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.13.cisto1 Precedence: bulk Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net X-Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net X-Subscribed-Address: fma@martialartsresource.com List-Id: Eskrima-FMA discussion forum, the premier FMA forum on the Internet. 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Provided in memory of Mangisursuro Michael G. Inay (1944-2000). See the Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) FAQ and the online search engine for back issues of the Eskrima/FMA digest at http://MartialArtsResource.com Mabuhay ang eskrima! Today's Topics: 1. Fatal Alliance, 2 of 4 (Ray) 2. Magellan thanks for the memories !! (Jorge Penafiel) 3. bgdebuque That's Right (Peter Gow) 4. Re: Families at war (Ray) --__--__-- Message: 1 From: Ray To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net (Eskrima) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2005 07:23:22 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Eskrima] Fatal Alliance, 2 of 4 Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net >From the book Magellan, by Tim Joyner. Part 2 of 4 The three ships nosed into the harbor and let go their anchors, and Magellan sent his young relative (possibly his natural son), Cristovao Rebelo, ashore with Enrique to locate the authorities and assure them of his peaceful intentions. They found the local potentate, Rajah Humabon, surrounded by a crowd of retainers, all very much alarmed by the thunder of the artillery. Enrique assured the rajah that the guns had been fired merely in salute. It was the custom, he said, for Spanish ships to so honor the rulers and citizens of the foreign ports they visited, and should be taken as a sign of peace. Relieved that his city was not under attack, Humabon asked Magellan's emissaries what brought their chief to Cebu. Enrique answered that his master, a captain of the greatest king in the world, had heard such good things about the ruler of Cebu that he had come to visit him, bringing greetings and an offer of friendship. His master also wished to purchase fresh food for his ships and to trade for the products of Cebu with the merchandise he had brought from Spain. An emboldened Humabon replied that his custom was to require the payment of a port tariff by all visiting ships. In fact, he told them, only four days ago he had received such a payment from a Siamese junk that had called to take on a cargo of slaves and gold. Rebelo haughtily drew himself up and, with Enrique interpreting, told Humabon that since his captain general served such a powerful monarch, he would not pay tribute to any prince. He had come with a message of peace, but if war was what the ruler of Cebu wanted, war he would have. A Moslem merchant, apparently a resident agent for Siamese trading interests, whispered to Humabon that he had better be careful with these strangers: They were probably Portuguese, the "Franks" whose brutal conquest of Calicut and Malacca had spread terror and disrupted ancient trading patterns from India to the China Seas. Overhearing the merchant, Enrique told Humabon that his master served the Spanish king who also was emperor of all the Christians. The latter was even more powerful in men and ships than the king of the Portuguese. When the agent from Siam confirmed this, Humabon became thoroughly alarmed and announced that he would discuss the matter with his advisors and give his decision to the captain general the next day. He then treated Rebelo and Enrique to an elaborate lunch. 18 After the two emissaries returned to the Trinidad and related all that had transpired, Colambu went ashore to tell his ally, Rajah Humabon, of his experiences with these strange visitors. The next day Enrique went ashore again to learn what the rajah had decided, this time with the fleet notary, Leon de Ezpeleta. Intimidated by the thunder of Magellan's guns and the stories of Portuguese savagery, Humabon came to the town square to greet them, not only announcing that he would waive the port tax for his distinguished visitors, but offering to pay tribute to their emperor. He was assured that it would not be necessary; the captain general sought only to trade among the islands, and hoped to make Cebu the center of his trading activities. Greatly relieved, Humabon agreed to work out a trading arrangement with the Spaniards. To insure their continued friendship, he suggested that Magellan become his blood brother. At ten o'clock on the morning of April 9, Colambu returned to the Trinidad, bringing with him the Moslem agent from Siam and a message from Humabon. While he was busy that morning arranging for the collection of the foodstuffs requested by the captain general, Humabon would send his nephew who, as husband of the rajah's eldest daughter, was the heir apparent, and some of his ministers to the flagship to conclude a treaty of peace. When the emissaries arrived that afternoon, Magellan received them with appropriate ceremony. The captain general, the young prince, and Colambu were seated on chairs covered with red velvet. The principal ministers were seated on leather-backed chairs, with the rest of the delegation seated around them on mats. With Enrique serving as interpreter, Magellan asked the prince whether it was the custom in his country to conduct treaty negotiations in public, and if so, whether they had been authorized by Humabon to negotiate in his name. Reassured by the prince on both counts, Magellan dropped to his knees and prayed that the proposed alliance would be pleasing to God in Heaven. The prayer seemed to trigger in him an extended outpouring of religious sentiment. The captain general's piety profoundly touched his guests, who remarked, wrote Pigafetta, "... that they had never heard anyone say such words, but that they took great pleasure in hearing them." Emboldened by their interest, Magellan urged his guests to accept the Christian faith. When Magellan queried them about family relationships in their society, they said that "... when fathers and mothers grew old, they received no further honor, but their children commanded them." Shocked, Magellan told them that the Christian God "... had commanded us to honor our fathers and mothers, and that whoever did otherwise was condemned to eternal fire; that we are all descended from Adam and Eve, our first parents; that we have an immortal spirit; and many other things pertaining to the faith." Magellan, it seems, had begun a singular transformation: The silent, obsessive captain general was becoming an impassioned preacher, but not from unadulterated religious passion. In him, religious feelings were inextricably mixed with personal, political, and military goals. As Pigafetta told the story, after Magellan's sermon the islanders implored him to leave some men to instruct them in the Christian faith. He replied that though he couldn't spare even one man from his ships, those who sincerely hed to become Christians could be baptized by the fleet chaplain. But baptism, he warned them, must not be undertaken out of fear, the desire to please others, or the desire for personal gain. Magellan did not wish, wrote Pigafetta, " ... to cause ... displeasure to those who chose to live by their own law, but the Christians would be better regarded and treated than the others." Warming to his sermon, Magellan told the emissaries that, should they become Christians, their wives also would have to be baptized, for only then would it be permissible for their Christian husbands to sleep with them. He promised a suit of Spanish armor to those of his guests who would adopt the Christian faith. When the delegation assured him that Humabon would sign the peace treaity, and that they were all eager to be baptized, Magellan wept openly and embraced each of them. "Then he took the hands of the prince and king of (Limasawa) between his own;" continued Pigafetta, "and told them that by his faith in God, his loyalty to his sovereign the emperor, and by the [crusaders] habit he wore, he swore that perpetual peace would exist between the kings of Spain and Zebu." Before leaving, the delegation presented Magellan with several large bass of rice and some live pigs, goats, and chickens, exclaiming that such poor gifts were not worthy of so great a personage. In return, Magellan gave the prince a bolt of finely woven white cloth and a cup made of gilded glass, at that time much prized in the islands. He then dispatched Pigafetta and an unnamed companion ashore, bearing presents for Humabon, including a yellow-and-violet silken Turkish robe, a red hat, strings of glass beads, a silver dish, and two gilded glass drinking cups. They found Humabon in his palace, seated on a mat. Short, fat, tattooed, and naked "...except for a cotton cloth before his privies," he was eating turtle eggs and swilling them down with palm wine. The liquor was drawn through "... a slender reed," reported Pigafetta in what may have been, if not the first, one of the earliest descriptions by a European of the use of straws for drinking. The two Europeans were invited to the house of the prince, where they were entertained with music, refreshments, and dancing. At the conclusion of his impromptu party, "... the prince had three quite naked girls dance for us," bragged Pigafetta. When he and his companion returned to their ship, Pigafetta told Magellan that they had been very well received." The next day, April 10, Magellan sent another delegation ashore to get Humabon's permission to bury two men who, weakened by scurvy, had just died. One was Juan de Aroche, a man-at-arms who had sailed from San Lucar on the San Antonio; the name of the other is not known. Humabon consented and provided a burial site in the square at the center of the town. The following day, funeral services were conducted with much of the town looking on, and the solemnity of the event left a deep impression on the people of Cebu. Several days later, Humabon declared his wish to become a Christian. While Magellan was experiencing heady success with his religious efforts, he was also busy establishing a commercial base in Cebu. The day of the funeral, a crew set up afactoria (trading post) in a building provided by Humabon, who promised protection for the enterprise and the four Spaniards assigned by Magellan to run it. The store opened for business on April 12, 1521. Of the products put on display, items made of iron or bronze appealed the most to the curious townsfolk, who gladly gave gold in exchange. Rice, pigs, goats, and other foodstuffs were traded for trinkets and other small sundries. "They gave us ten gold pieces, each worth a ducat and a half (approximately $6oo U.S.) for fourteen pounds of iron," wrote Pigafetta. Magellan forbade his sailors to trade for gold. If he had not, Pigafetta averred, "... every sailor would have given all that he possessed to obtain it, spoiling forever the trade in this metal." Then began a series of events that, to Magellan, proved that the Holy Mother had heard his prayers and was watching over him, guiding his efforts. On Sunday, April 14, Humabon, his wife, son-in-law, his most important retainers, and his ally, Colambu, were baptized in a public ceremony in the central square of Cebu City. A large platform draped with bright tapestries and decorated with palm leaves had been erected for the occasion. Forty armed men, two of them clad from head to foot in gleaming steel armor, brought the royal standard ashore from the flagship. As soon as their boat touched the beach, the gunners on the ship let loose a deafening salute, no doubt startling the huge crowd that had gathered. Humabon greeted Magellan at the beach, warmly embracing him. Followed by the curious crowd, they proceeded to the town square where, in addition to the ceremonial platform, a tall, wooden cross had been erected. Standing before the cross, Magellan announced that all who wished to be baptized must burn the idols kept in their houses and replace them with crosses, and that they must come to this plaza every day, their hands clasped for prayer. He showed them how to kneel reverently, making the sign of the cross. Magellan took Humabon's hand, and together they mounted the platform, seating themselves on two chairs covered with red and violet velvet. Magellan wore a robe of pure white, to demonstrate, he told the rajah, his love for those who were about to become Christians. The island's principal chiefs surrounded them, seated on cushions, with the lesser dignitaries on mats. [end part 2 of 4] --__--__-- Message: 2 From: "Jorge Penafiel" To: Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2005 10:55:21 -0500 Subject: [Eskrima] Magellan thanks for the memories !! Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Marc,,,thanks !! All scenarios and points about the Magellan Mactan Fight made a perfect picture of what could have had happen. I kind of made my version of the event kind of funny with a bit sarcasm in a way. Really, if there were ~ 1,500 (??) or so pinoys and only 48 (??) spaniards in such a small battle field with only eight enemies killed,,,the kill ratio was not good at all. Unless, the spaniards just shoot then retreated and rowed their boats in any possible way so fast when they saw the in-coming swarm of native warriors. Those who got killed perhaps were hit by projectiles first I assumed, then hacked as they lay down hapless,. And so, maybe there was no or little blade combat at all.. Couldn't the pist-off natives also gave pursuit to those who escaped by boat and/or at least fire some more arrows to kill more of the invaders who draw first blood???Intriguing indeed, as we don't have the true facts of what really had happened for sure.. Aahh justs some thoughts and hope we lay to rest this Magellan Story and remember him as this first guy to circumnavigate the world and gave the Philippines it's name. . Jorge --__--__-- Message: 3 From: "Peter Gow" To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 00:04:35 +0000 Subject: [Eskrima] bgdebuque That's Right Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net bgdebuque, Yes, the factors that you have mentioned are absolutley correct. The major factor is the mass of the silk scarf it has to be small, much smaller than the mass of a page of newspaper. Which is why if the mass is so small it cannot be pierced/cut. Why is it so? - Professor Miller;-)  Best Regards, Peter Gow Australia --__--__-- Message: 4 From: Ray Subject: Re: [Eskrima] Families at war To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2005 18:26:27 -0800 (PST) Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net > Sorry, no Filipinos in this story... But still a good one... Ray Terry rterry@idiom.com --__--__-- _______________________________________________ Eskrima mailing list Eskrima@martialartsresource.net http://martialartsresource.net/mailman/listinfo/eskrima http://eskrima-fma.net Old digest issues @ ftp://ftp.martialartsresource.com/pub/eskrima Copyright 1994-2005: Ray Terry, MartialArtsResource.com, Sudlud.com Standard disclaimers apply. Remember September 11. End of Eskrima Digest