João Serrão

Juan Rodríguez Serrano, also known as João Rodrigues Serrão in the Portuguese version, (Fregenal de la Sierra - Cebu, 1521) was a 16th-century Spanish navigator, born in Fregenal de la Sierra, Badajoz,[1] who sailed with Fernão de Magalhães during the first circumnavigation of the world (1519-1521).

For the Spanish flamenco guitarist, see Juan Serrano (Flamenco).

Serrano was brother or cousin to Francisco Serrão, who was residing in the Spice Islands 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) and the Philippines (Mactan Island, Cebu), respectively, before this occurred.

He was the pilot of a round caravel in the 4th Portuguese India Armada led by Vasco da Gama 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, 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 Cebu allegedly instigated by Enrique of Malacca, but this cannot be ascertained by Antonio Pigafetta's accounts alone.

Sources
  • Samuel Eliot Morison, The European Discovery of America: The Southern Voyages 1492-1616 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1974).

References
  1. 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. A transcripción Spanish-language version (PDF 170 KB) is available on the website Ruta Elcano. This document would confirm the Spanish origin of Juan Serrano, «natural de Frixinal», current Fregenal de la Sierra, Badajoz, Spain.
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