27 April in military history: Battle of Mactan, 1521

Quick answer

On 27 April 1521 the warriors of Lapulapu, a chief of Mactan, a small island off Cebu in the central Philippines, routed a landing party from Ferdinand Magellan's Spanish fleet and killed Magellan in the shallows. In 1522 the imperial army defeated the French and their Swiss mercenaries at Bicocca, north of Milan.

Battle of Mactan, 1521: the shore where Magellan fell

27 April 1521 · 505 years ago

Warriors of Lapulapu, a chief of Mactan off Cebu, routed a small Spanish landing party wading ashore across the reef. Ferdinand Magellan, commander of the first expedition to sail around the world, was killed in the shallows.

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Battle of Bicocca, 1522: the sunken road that broke the Swiss pike

27 April 1522 · 504 years ago

At La Bicocca north of Milan, a French and Venetian army with Swiss mercenaries attacked an entrenched Imperial, Spanish and Papal army under Prospero Colonna. The Swiss pikemen were cut down by arquebus fire, and the French defeat left Milan in Imperial hands.

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Battle of Cassano, 1799: Suvorov forces the Adda and opens the road to Milan

27 April 1799 · 227 years ago

At Cassano on the Adda river, an Austrian and Russian army under Alexander Suvorov forced crossings against the French army of Jean Moreau in the War of the Second Coalition. The French were defeated, and the allied victory opened the way to Milan.

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Also on this day

1943: on the night of 26 to 27 April Witold Pilecki, a co-founder of the resistance inside Auschwitz, escaped from the camp with Jan Redzej and Edward Ciesielski. According to the Institute of National Remembrance, the three got out through the camp bakery, and Pilecki later recalled that he had been "in this hell for nine hundred and forty-seven days and as many nights" (our translation).¹

Frequently asked questions

When and where was the Battle of Mactan?

It was fought on 27 April 1521 on Mactan, an island off Cebu in the central Philippines. One other early account, the Roteiro, dates it to 28 April.

Who won the Battle of Mactan?

The warriors of Lapulapu, a chief of Mactan. They routed a small Spanish landing party and killed its commander, Ferdinand Magellan.

Why did Magellan attack Mactan?

He had made an alliance with the ruler of Cebu, who was baptized on 14 April 1521, and wanted the neighboring chiefs to submit to him. Pigafetta writes that Cilapulapu refused to obey the king of Spain; Transylvanus that the ruler of Mactan would not do homage to the ruler of Cebu.

How many fought at Mactan?

Pigafetta says 49 Europeans waded ashore against more than 1,500 defenders. Transylvanus gives forty men against some three thousand, and the Roteiro fifty or sixty against three or four thousand.

How many died at Mactan?

According to the eyewitness Pigafetta, Magellan, eight other Europeans and four islanders who had become Christians died, and fifteen of the enemy. Transylvanus counts Magellan and seven companions, and the Roteiro Magellan and six men.