The Battle of Mactan was fought on 27 April 1521 between a Spanish expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan, along with native allies from the island of Cebu, and an army of Visayan warriors from Mactan. The Visayan chieftain Lapu-Lapu used a Piece of Eden in his possession to defeat the Spanish forces and personally kill Magellan, delaying the Spanish Empire's colonization of the Philippines by over four decades.
Prelude[]
In April 1521, a Spanish expedition led by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived on the Filipino island of Cebu, where they quickly established an alliance with the local chief Rajah Humabon, converting him and his subjects to Christianity. While the expedition's goal was allegedly to find gold and spices, in reality, Magellan was searching for a Piece of Eden that he had managed to track to the region.[2]
After Magellan found the Piece on Cebu, Humabon informed him that the artifact was just a fragment of a larger one, with one of the other sections kept on the neighboring Mactan Island by his rival, Lapu-Lapu. Magellan then began making plans to acquire the artifact and turn both Cebu and Mactan into colonies of the Spanish Empire.[2]
The battle[]
On the morning of 27 April, Magellan led a coalition of several dozen Spanish soldiers to Mactan's shores, where they were confronted by Lapu-Lapu and the native Visayans.[1] Despite their far superior technology, the Spanish were overwhelmed when Lapu-Lapu used his Piece of Eden to imbue himself with the strength to single-handedly confront and defeat the invading army. Among the battle's casualties was Magellan himself, whom Lapu-Lapu personally executed.[2]
Aftermath[]
Following Magellan's death, leadership of the Spanish expedition's remnants fell to Juan Sebastian de Elcano, who departed the Philippines and eventually completed the journey in September 1522. The Spanish Empire continued to send expeditions to the archipelago with little to no success until Miguel Lopez de Legazpi's expedition to Cebu and Manila in 1565, starting 300 years of Spanish rule over the Philippines.[1]
The fate of both Magellan and Lapu-Lapu's Pieces of Eden after the battle remained a mystery until the early 18th century, when the Dutch navigator Hendrik came to investigate the legend of a "forgotten temple" allegedly located in the lost Khmer city of Angkor. During his investigation, Hendrik met a monk at the Basilica del Santo Niño in Cebu who told him of Magellan's pursuit of the Pieces of Eden and his fate. This made the navigator realize that the artifacts and the legend were somehow connected and eventually allowed him to find Angkor and its temple.[2]
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
- Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple (flashback only)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3
Battle of Mactan on Wikipedia
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 41
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