Juan Rodríguez Serrano, also known as João Rodrigues Serrão in the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

version, (

Fregenal de la Sierra Fregenal de la Sierra (originally Frexnal or Frexenal) is a municipality located in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. Geography Fregenal de la Sierra is located in the Sierra Suroeste comarca (county), among the small hills and ravi ...

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...

, 1521) was a 16th-century

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's primar ...

, born in

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The population ...

,''Auto das perguntas que se fizeram a dois espanhois que chegaram à Fortaleza de Malaca vindos de Timor na companhia de Álvaro Juzarte, capitão de um junco.'' 1 June 1522. Arquivo Nacional Torre do Tombo. Available at: https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=3801974.
transcripción Spanish-language version
(PDF 170 KB) is available on the websit
Ruta Elcano
This document would confirm the Spanish origin of Juan Serrano, «natural de Frixinal», current Fregenal de la Sierra, Badajoz, Spain. who sailed with

Fernão de Magalhães Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the East ...

during the first

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circ ...

of the world (1519-1521). Serrano was brother or cousin to

Francisco Serrão Francisco Serrão (died 1521) was a Portuguese explorer and a possible cousin of Ferdinand Magellan. His 1512 voyage was the first known European sailing east past Malacca through modern Indonesia and the East Indies. He became a confidant of Su ...

, who was residing in the

Spice Islands A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices ar ...

when the voyage began and whom Magalhaes hoped to meet, but both died almost at the same time in 1521, in the Moluku islands (

Ternate Ternate is a city in the Indonesian province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands. It was the ''de facto'' provincial capital of North Maluku before Sofifi on the nearby coast of Halmahera became the capital in 2010. It is off the we ...

) and the Philippines (

Mactan Island Mactan is a densely populated island located a few kilometers (~1 mile) east of Cebu#Cebu Island, Cebu Island in the Philippines. The island is part of Cebu province and it is divided into the city of Lapu-Lapu City, Lapu-Lapu and the municipal ...

), respectively, before this occurred. He was the pilot of a round caravel in the 4th Portuguese India Armada led by

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

in 1502. João Serrão also accompanied Fernao de Magalhaes and his brother (or cousin) Francisco, in the 7th Portuguese India Armada of 1505, led by

Francisco de Almeida Dom Francisco de Almeida (), also known as the Great Dom Francisco (c. 1450 – 1 March 1510), was a Portuguese nobleman, soldier and explorer. He distinguished himself as a counsellor to King John II of Portugal and later in the wars against the ...

, commanding the round caravel ''Botafogo'', and later also in the capture of Malacca and other actions in the East. Captain of the ship ''Santiago'' across the Atlantic and of the ''Concepcion'' across the Pacific, Serrão was involved in the events that led to a massacre on

allegedly instigated by

Enrique of Malacca Enrique of Malacca ( es, Enrique de Malaca; pt, Henrique de Malaca), was a Malay member of the Magellan expedition that completed the first circumnavigation of the world in 1519–1522. He was acquired as a slave by the Portuguese explorer ...

, but this cannot be ascertained by Antonio Pigafetta's accounts alone.

Sources

Samuel Eliot Morison Samuel Eliot Morison (July 9, 1887 – May 15, 1976) was an American historian noted for his works of maritime history and American history that were both authoritative and popular. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912, and ta ...

, ''The European Discovery of America: The Southern Voyages 1492-1616'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1974).

External links

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serrao, Joao 15th-century births 1521 deaths Portuguese explorers Explorers of Asia Portuguese explorers of the Pacific Portuguese navigators 16th-century Portuguese people 16th-century explorers Maritime history of Portugal Magellan expedition