Name: Ferdinand Magellan
State: Portugal, Spain
Scope of activity: Navigator
Greatest Achievement: Made the world's first trip around the world.
Ferdinand Magellan was born in 1480, on February 3, in Portugal. Magellan was an explorer and navigator. He organized the first trip around the world in Europe. Magellan's expedition became the first conclusive evidence that the Earth is round.
Early years
Ferdinand Magellan was born in Porto (Portugal) in 1480. His parents belonged to a noble family and young Magellan entered the service of the royal family at an early age. He was only 12 years old when he became the royal page of Leonora of Aviz. Since childhood, Magellan studied cartography, astronomy and navigation by the stars.
Magellan entered service in the Portuguese navy in 1505. He sailed to East Africa, then participated in the battles of Diu, during which Portugal was victorious and defeated the Egyptian fleet. Fernand traveled to Malacca (Malaysia) twice and took part in the capture of the port by the Portuguese army.
He also took part in an expedition to the Moluccas, which at that time was called the Spice Islands. The spice trade in Europe during Magellan's time was very profitable and generated a lot of competition. The Moluccas became the main source of valuable spices such as cloves and nutmeg.
In 1513, Magellan was wounded in a battle in North Africa, but the king took into account all his merits and helped him. In 1517 he went to Seville to enter the Spanish government service.
Research for Spain
Spain and Portugal in Magellan's time were major powers in great competition with each other. Both countries laid claim to the newly discovered regions of the Americas and the East. In 1494, Portugal and Spain concluded the Treaty of Tordesillas, defining spheres of influence for each power. Portugal could count on all the territories from Brazil to the East Indies, and Spain on the western lands from Brazil to Cape Verde.
In essence, the treaty divided the globe into two halves between the two countries. The Spaniards had not yet explored their half of the Earth, but they assumed that they would be able to discover part of the Spice Islands there. Magellan proposed testing this assumption by sending an expedition to the west.
Other researchers had already paved the way for Magellan's grand expedition. One of them was (1451-1506), who sailed west from the European coast to the Caribbean islands. Columbus misjudged the distance between Europe and the East Indies. He discovered America and the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean. After his voyage, many explorers became obsessed with finding a route through America to the east to give Spain access to the Spice Islands. One of these explorers was Magellan.
Ferdinand Magellan's trip around the world
King Charles V of Spain (1500-1558) accepted Magellan's offer and on September 20, 1519, he was assigned to lead a flotilla of five ships. The flotilla was supposed to head to the Atlantic.
His brother-in-law, Duarte Barbosa, also set sail with Magellan. Arriving in Brazil, the flotilla headed along the South American coast to San Julian Bay, in Patagonia.
The explorers stayed there from March to August 1520. During this time, there was an attempt on the ships to raise a mutiny against the captain, who was suppressed. Subsequently, however, the mutinous ship Santiago was completely destroyed, and its crew was taken on board by the remaining ships.
After leaving San Julian, the flotilla headed south. On October 21, 1520, she entered the strait, which now bears the name of Magellan. On November 28, only three ships entered the Pacific Ocean. This was followed by a long voyage north across the Pacific Ocean. On March 6, 1521, the flotilla anchored in Guam.
Magellan headed east to Cebu, Philippines, where he tried to get help from the local government. Involuntarily, he was drawn into hostilities and killed in battle on April 27, 1521. Barbosa was also killed soon after. The remaining crew was forced to destroy the Concepción (ship) and the great voyage around the world was completed. Magellan's ship Victoria was led by former rebel Juan Sebastian del Cano. He crossed the Indian Ocean and finally returned to Seville from the Cape of Good Hope on September 8, 1522. Meanwhile, Trinidad (the ship) attempted to return home via the Pacific Ocean. In the Moluccas, the crew was captured by the Portuguese and sent to prison. Only four of them were later able to return to Spain.
Magellan's Legacy
Economically, Magellan's project was a failure for Spain. As a result of the division of the world, Portugal received a part of the world that was more advantageous in terms of resources. Spain miscalculated and did not gain access to the Moluccas. Magellan lost his flotilla, his people and his own life. Despite this, his voyage became the most important historical event, because it was the first proof that the Earth is a ball. Magellan's voyage is considered one of the most important explorations in human history.
After the publication of Vespucci's letters, vague rumors spread in Europe about the existence of a route to India south of the American continent. Some geographical maps recorded this passage back in 1515, although with an error. The Spaniards and Portuguese set out to find him. Solis's expedition was equipped precisely for this purpose, as is clear from his reports. It was especially important for the Spaniards to find this passage in order to get to Asia, where the Portuguese were conducting intensive colonial trade.
The Portuguese navigator Fernando de Magellan was the first to develop a plan for a large expedition. Magellan visited the Portuguese possessions in India and the islands of the southern seas and heard from one of his pilot friends about the discovery of the Moluccas, which, due to their geographical location, should have belonged to Spain. Having been naturalized in Spain, Magellan presented the king with a plan for the expedition, which he approved.
Between the king, on the one hand, and Magellan and his friend Faleiro, on the other, a special agreement was signed, which provided for the granting (if a passage was found) to Magellan and Faleiro the exclusive right of navigation through the strait to the Moluccas for a period of 10 years; the right to receive income from the discovered islands, if there are no more than six of them, and if more are discovered. In addition, under this agreement, Magellan received all the valuables acquired during the first expedition, as well as the position of royal governor and ruler, and this position was inherited by Magellan’s children.
On September 20, 1519, an expedition of five ships headed for the shores of Brazil. Having explored part of its shores, the expedition headed to the mouth of the La Plata River, where Magellan, struck by the appearance of one hill, gave it the name Monte Vidia or Video (now Montevideo). Having suppressed the uprising of several native tribes in Puerto San Julian, the expedition moved on.
After many adventures, Magellan, having discovered a land along the way, which he called Patagonia (because, as it seemed to him, all the inhabitants of this country had very long legs), with only three ships he passed through the strait, which has since bore his name (November 26 1520), and went out into the Pacific Ocean. Setting a course to the north and then to the northwest, Magellan discovered a number of islands belonging to the groups of Laugronsknzh (Mariana) and Philippine Islands.
On the island of Cebu, he established relations with the local leader, who already had information about the Portuguese who ruled in the nearby lands. Magellan entered into an agreement with this leader, according to which he pledged to help conquer the neighboring islands in exchange for recognition of the supreme power of the Spanish king. On one of these islands - Matan (or Mactans) - Magellan and several of his companions were killed by the natives. Lopez de Carvajo took command of the expedition. The expedition continued to move on, visiting other islands of the Philippine group along the way, then Borneo and the Moluccas, where the ships were loaded with colonial goods.
Of the three ships that passed through the Strait of Magellan, only one ship, the Victoria, under the command of the Basque Sebastian de Elcano, was able to continue its voyage at the end of December 1521. After visiting Bura and Timor, Victoria headed to the southern part of the Indian Ocean, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and headed north. On September 6, 1522, the Victoria arrived in Sanlúcar (Seville), ending her trip around the world, which lasted three years. The king received the members of Magellan's expedition very well. He gave Elcano a coat of arms that depicted the globe.
In 1525, Elcano, together with Loaiza, made a new expedition, which ended very unsuccessfully. Only one ship reached Timor. The Spaniards decided to turn this island into a center for trade in colonial goods, in which they wanted to compete with the Portuguese. A year later, a similar expedition was undertaken by Sebastian Cabot (or Cabotto), a navigator who was in the service of Charles. It also ended unsuccessfully; the travelers only reached the La Plata River.
The Portuguese followed Magellan's expedition with displeasure and, although they did not formally interfere with it, they made every effort to delay the return to Spain of those Elcano companions who remained in Timor in 1521. The Portuguese considered themselves a monopoly in the development of this area and , contrary to Magellan, included the Moluccas in their sphere.
To peacefully resolve this issue, the kings of Spain and Portugal appointed a mixed commission, which, after several meetings, without reaching any decision, ceased to exist. In fact, it was impossible to reach an agreement given the ambiguity that existed in the definition of longitude and latitude, and with the disagreements that emerged from the very first day on the issue of dividing spheres of influence.
Finally, this issue was resolved by a special treaty (April 22, 1529), according to which Charles ceded all his rights to the Moluccas to Portugal for a large monetary reward. In addition, the treaty established the western border of Spanish possessions, which was to pass 17° east of the Moluccas. Thus, the Portuguese maintained their dominant position in trade with Asia.
But the Spaniards continued to send expeditions (from Mexico) to the islands of Oceania, even to those that directly penetrated the Portuguese possessions. These expeditions discovered many new lands, especially in the northern part of Oceania, and, in particular, New Guinea was discovered. The Spaniards tried to establish themselves in the Philippines, but due to the resistance of the Portuguese, this task remained unresolved.
Magellan's journey also caused a series of sea expeditions to the South Pacific Ocean, during which the coasts of Chile and others were discovered and explored. The heroes of these geographical discoveries were Ruy Diaz, Juan Fernandez, Alonso Quintero and especially Alonso Camarco (1539).
Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480 - 1521) - an outstanding Portuguese navigator who made the first trip around the world. He discovered the entire coast of South America south of La Plata, the strait named after him, the Patagonian Cordillera, and was the first to circumnavigate America from the south, crossing the Pacific Ocean, discovering the islands of Guam and Roth. He proved the existence of a single World Ocean and provided practical proof of the sphericity of the Earth. The two galaxies closest to Earth, the Magellanic Clouds, bear his name.
Fernand Magalhães, who became known throughout the world as Ferdinand Magellan, was born around 1480 in the city of Sabros, Portuguese province of Traz os Leontes, into the family of an impoverished knight from the Magalhães clan. In 1490, the father managed to place his son at the court of King João II, where he was raised and studied at the expense of the treasury, and two years later he became a page of Queen Leonora.
Later, Fernand was enlisted in the Naval Order and, as a naval officer, went to India as part of the squadron of the Viceroy of India Francisco d'Almeida. Later, the young officer took part in an expedition to the Malacca Peninsula, in a campaign against Morocco, where he was seriously wounded in the leg. Then his service record was enriched by service in Sofal, which by that time had become one of the Portuguese military fortifications on the way from Lisbon to India. In 1509, Magalhães took part in the defeat of the Venetian-Egyptian squadron at Diu, and in 1510 he received it again. seriously wounded during the storming of Calicut (Kozhikode). He understood his services to the crown and, upon returning to Lisbon in 1512 or 1513, asked the king for a promotion. Having been refused, the offended Magalhães decided to move to Spain, which he did in 1517. .
While still in Portugal, remembering the impressions received in the East Indies, Magellan began studying cosmography and marine sciences, and also wrote the book “Description of the Kingdoms, Coasts, Harbors and Islands of India.” In Spain he met with the Portuguese astronomer Ruy Faleiro. Together they made a plan: sailing west to reach the Moluccas, which at that time were under Portuguese rule and were the main source of spices for Lisbon. Naturally, the Portuguese stood guard over their interests and arrested any foreign ship that appeared in the waters they controlled.
The companions believed that the islands lie in that part of the Earth that, according to the famous papal bull of 1493 Inter cetera, belongs to Spain. In order not to arouse the suspicions of the Portuguese, they should have been reached by the western route, passing from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean through a passage that, as Magellan believed, was located south of Brazil. With this plan, he and Faleiro in March 1518 turned to the Council of the Indies, demanding for themselves, if the enterprise was successful, the same rights and benefits that Columbus had stipulated. After lengthy negotiations, the project was accepted, and Charles I (aka German King Charles V) undertook to equip 5 ships and provide supplies for two years. In the event of the discovery of new lands, companions were given the right to become their rulers. They received 20% of the income. In this case, the rights had to be inherited. But soon Faleiro, citing a bad horoscope, refused to participate in the expedition. Thus, Magellan became its sole leader and organizer.
On September 20, 1519, the ships "Trinidad", "San Antonio", "Concepcion", "Victoria" and "Santiago" left San Lucar at the mouth of the Guadalquivir, having on board 293 crew members and another 26 non-staff members. Among them was Antonio Pigafetta, who became the chronicler of the expedition. The flagship ship was the Trinidad.
Descriptions of swimming exist in many variations. It is widely known about the fires along the shores of the land called Tierra del Fuego (more correctly “Land of Fire” - Tierra del Fuego), why the Pacific Ocean became Pacific, and the Patagonians have a name that means “big-footed”, about the discovery of the Magellanic clouds (expedition made discoveries not only on earth, but also in the sky), etc. In a brief summary, the expedition route is as follows.
On September 26, the flotilla approached the Canary Islands, on November 29 it reached the Bay of Rio de Janeiro, and on January 10, 1520, the mouth of La Plata, the extreme point of the then known coast. From here Magellan sent the Santiago upstream to check if there was a passage to the South Sea. After the return of the ship, the expedition moved south, and the transitions were carried out only as far as possible and as close to land as possible, so as not to miss the strait.
We spent the winter in San Julian Bay off the coast of Patagonia (49° S), which we entered on March 31. Here Magellan experienced a serious test. A riot broke out on three ships. The crews demanded to turn to the Cape of Good Hope and go to the Moluccas the traditional way. The revolt was suppressed thanks to the determination of the admiral and the devotion of some of his companions. The rebel captains were treated mercilessly: one was executed, the body of another, who died, was quartered, and the third was landed on a deserted shore along with the conspirator-priest. But Magellan did not punish the sailors.
On August 24, wintering ended. The flotilla left San Julian Bay and moved further along the coast, and on October 21, 1520, the sailors saw the long-awaited strait leading to the west. But the admiral still had doubts, fearing that there was another bay in front of him, and sent two ships ahead, which returned three days later with the news “that they had seen the cape and the open sea.” We spent some more time in these waters, exploring the narrow straits, channels and bays, and lost the San Antonio. Magellan never found out that the ship's crew mutinied, the captain was wounded and shackled, and then the ship was turned back to Spain. At home, the new arrivals accused the admiral of treason. Magellan's family was deprived of government benefits. His wife and children soon died in poverty.
The flotilla moved further along the northern shore of the Strait, which Magellan called Patagonian (later on maps it will be designated as Magellan), rounded Cape Froward (53 ° 54 "S) - the southernmost point of the mainland and for another five days walked through the Strait surrounded gloomy high coasts, the southern of which was Tierra del Fuego, and on November 28, 1520, the sailors saw the open ocean. The passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, which Columbus had searched in vain, was finally found.
The three remaining ships of the flotilla (except for the deserted San Antonio, which lost the Santiago that crashed on the rocks) first sailed north 100 km from the rocky coast, trying to leave the cold waters, in mid-December from the island. Moga (38°30" S) turned to the northwest, and a little later - to the west-northwest. During the journey across the ocean, many islands were discovered, but inaccurate calculations do not allow us to identify them with any specific points on the map. But the discovery in early March of the islands of Guam and Rota, the southernmost of the Mariana group and called “Robber Islands” by Magellan, can be considered proven. The islanders stole a boat from the travelers, and Magellan, landing with a detachment on the shore, burned several huts and burned them. boats. Several natives were killed.
From these islands the flotilla moved west and on March 15, 1521 found itself near the island. Samar (Philippines). They anchored off the neighboring island of Siargao, and later moved to the uninhabited Homonkhon. A week later, moving west, we arrived at the island. Limasawa, where Magellan's Malay slave Enrique heard Malay speech. This meant that the travelers were somewhere near the Spice Islands, that is, they had completed their task.
Accompanied by a pilot, the ships moved to the island. Cebu, where a large trading port and the residence of the Rajah were located. Soon both the ruler and members of his family converted to Christianity, and Magellan intervened in the internecine war on the island. Mantan. On the night of April 27, 1521, the admiral, accompanied by a small detachment, landed on the shore, where they were attacked by local residents. Here the great navigator died under the blows of spears and cutlasses, but “... he kept turning back to see if we had all managed to get into the boats.” This small touch, recorded by the devoted Pigafetta, says a lot about the personality of Ferdinand Magellan - not only a talented naval commander, but also a man who possessed rare qualities in those harsh times. Along with the head of the expedition, eight more sailors died there.
Magellan's voyage was completed by Sebastian Elcano (del Cano). Under his leadership, two ships sent through North Kalimantan (Borneo) reached the Moluccas and purchased spices there. Only Victoria was able to sail further. On it, carefully avoiding the paths laid by the Portuguese, Elcano crossed the southern part of the Indian Ocean, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and, through the Cape Verde Islands, on September 7, 1522, arrived at the harbor of San Lucar.
Of the 256 people who left with Magellan, only eighteen came ashore, and all of them were extremely exhausted - according to an eyewitness, “worse than the most starved nag.” They had a hard time here. Instead of honors, the team received public repentance for one lost day (as a result of moving through time zones around the Earth in a westerly direction). From the point of view of the church authorities, this could only happen as a result of a violation of the fasts. Elcano, however, received honors. He received a coat of arms depicting the globe with the inscription “You were the first to circle around me,” and a pension of five hundred ducats. No one remembered Magellan. The true role of this remarkable man in history was appreciated by his descendants, and, unlike Columbus, it was never disputed. On the deserted shore of. Mantan, on the spot where Magellan died, a monument was erected in the form of two cubes topped with a ball.
Magellan's voyage revolutionized ideas about the Earth. After this trip, any attempts to deny the sphericity of the Earth completely stopped, it was proven that the World Ocean is one, ideas about the size of the planet were obtained, it was finally established that America is an independent continent, the coast of South America with a length of about 3.5 thousand km was studied, found a strait between two oceans, etc. All this would be more than enough for not one, but a good dozen people. But these discoveries were inspired and made by one person - Ferdinand Magellan, whose deeds are rightly considered a feat accomplished for the benefit of all mankind.
Magellan's journey is described by his companion Antonio Pigafetta in the book "The Travels of Magellan", the manuscript of which he presented to the king. It has been published several times and translated into all major European languages, including Russian. This translation was published in two editions, in 1800 and 1950.
Http://www.seapeace.ru/seafarers/captains/274.html
The first circumnavigation of the world under the leadership of Ferdinand Magellan began on September 20, 1519 and ended on September 6, 1522. The idea of the expedition was in many ways a repetition of Columbus's idea: to reach Asia by heading west. The colonization of America had not yet brought significant profits, unlike the Portuguese colonies in India, and the Spaniards wanted to sail to the Spice Islands themselves and benefit. By that time it had become clear that America was not Asia, but it was assumed that Asia lay relatively close to the New World.
In March 1518, Ferdinand Magellan and Rui Faleiro, a Portuguese astronomer, appeared in Seville at the Council of the Indies and declared that the Moluccas - the most important source of Portuguese wealth - should belong to Spain, since they are located in the western, Spanish hemisphere (according to the treaty of 1494), but it is necessary to get to these “Spice Islands” by a western route, so as not to arouse the suspicions of the Portuguese, through the South Sea, opened and annexed by Balboa to the Spanish possessions. And Magellan convincingly argued that between the Atlantic Ocean and the South Sea there should be a strait south of Brazil.
After a long bargaining with the royal advisers, who negotiated for themselves a substantial share of the expected income and concessions from the Portuguese, an agreement was concluded: Charles 1 undertook to equip five ships and supply the expedition with supplies for two years. Before sailing, Faleiro abandoned the enterprise, and Magellan became the sole leader of the expedition.
Magellan himself personally supervised the loading and packaging of food, goods and equipment. The provisions taken on board were crackers, wine, olive oil, vinegar, salted fish, dried pork, beans and beans, flour, cheese, honey, almonds, anchovies, raisins, prunes, sugar, quince jam, capers, mustard, beef and rice In case of clashes there were about 70 cannons, 50 arquebuses, 60 crossbows, 100 sets of armor and other weapons. For trade they took cloth, metal products, women's jewelry, mirrors, bells and mercury (it was used as a medicine).
Magellan raised the admiral's flag on the Trinidad. The Spaniards were appointed captains of the remaining ships: Juan Cartagena - “San Antonio”; Gaspar Quezada - "Concepcion"; Luis Mendoza - "Victoria" and Juan Serrano - "Santiago". The staff of this flotilla numbered 293 people; there were another 26 freelance crew members on board, among them the young Italian Antonio Pigafetga, the historian of the expedition. An international team set off on its first voyage around the world: in addition to the Portuguese and Spaniards, it included representatives of more than 10 nationalities from different countries of Western Europe.
On September 20, 1519, a flotilla led by Magellan left the port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda (the mouth of the Guadalquivir River).
In the village of Sabrosa in Portugal.
Magellan came from a poor provincial noble family and served as a page at the royal court. In 1505 he went to East Africa and served in the navy for eight years. He took part in ongoing clashes in India, was wounded and recalled to Portugal in 1513.
Returning to Lisbon, Ferdinand Magellan developed a project to sail the western route to the Moluccas, where valuable herbs and spices grew. The project was rejected by the Portuguese king.
In 1517, Magellan went to Spain and proposed this project to the Spanish king, who appointed him commander-in-chief of a flotilla heading to find a western sea route to India.
Magellan's flotilla consisted of five ships - the flagship Trinidad, San Antonio, Santiago, Concepcion and Victoria.
On September 20, 1519, the navigator set off from the port of Sanlúcar (at the mouth of the Guadalquivir). Magellan did without nautical charts, and although he knew how to determine latitude from the sun, he did not have reliable instruments even to approximately determine longitude.
At the end of November, the flotilla reached the coast of Brazil, and about a month later - the mouth of La Plata, without finding a passage to the west of it, in February 1520
Magellan moved south and traced the coast of an unknown land (which he called Patagonia) for more than two thousand kilometers, discovering the large bays of San Matnas and San Jorge.
In March 1520, the flotilla entered the Bay of San Julian, where a mutiny broke out on three ships, suppressed by Magellan. In August 1520, after wintering in San Julian Bay, Magellan with four ships moved further south and on October 21, 1520, opened the entrance to the strait (later named Magellan), explored it, discovering the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south.
In November 1520, Magellan entered the ocean, which his companions called the Pacific Ocean and, having traveled more than 17 thousand kilometers without stopping, in March 1521 he discovered three islands from the Mariana Islands group at 13° north latitude, including the island of Guam, and then the Philippine Islands. islands (Samar, Mindanao, Cebu). Magellan entered into an alliance with the ruler of the island of Cebu, undertook a campaign for him against the neighboring island of Mactan, and on April 27, 1521 he was killed in a skirmish with local residents.
The team continued their journey west. The "Victoria" and "Trinidad", which remained underway by this time, were the first of the Europeans to reach the island of Kalimantan and anchored near the city of Brunei, after which they began to call the entire island Borneo. In early November, the ships reached the Moluccas, where spices were purchased - cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Soon the Trinidad was captured by the Portuguese, and only the Victoria, having completed the world's first circumnavigation of the world, returned to Seville in September 1522 with 18 people on board. The sale of the brought spices covered all the expenses of the expedition. Spain received the "right of first discovery" to the Mariana and Philippine Islands and laid claim to the Moluccas.
