Magellan (Magalyansh, Magalhaes) Fernand (about 1480 - April 27, 1521) - navigator, whose expedition made the first circumnavigation of the world. Portuguese by origin. He was born in the village of Sabroza in the region of Traz osh Montis in the family of a knight. He served as a soldier on an expedition sent to India in 1505. After the capture of Cannanore (1506) he was a Portuguese agent in Sofala (East Africa). In 1508 he again served in India, then visited Malacca, was in the Moluccas, Sumatra, Java, the Banda Islands, Amboina; in 1513 he returned to Portugal.
In 1517, Magellan, after the rejection by the Portuguese king Manuel I of the project he put forward to reach the Moluccas by the western route, emigrated to Spain. By that time, access to the Pacific Ocean (1513) showed the possibility of reaching Asia by the western route. Without doubting the existence of a strait in the south of South America, Magellan argued that the Moluccas are located in the western, Spanish hemisphere (according to the Tordesillas Treaty of 1494, which divided the world into two parts - Spanish and Portuguese) and the path to them is not far. The project to reach the Moluccas, proposed by Magellan, found the support of the "Indian Council", which was in charge of overseas affairs, and in the spring of 1518 the Spanish king Charles I signed an agreement according to which he took the equipment of the expedition to the treasury, and Magellan was given the title of governor of all lands, which he will open, and the right to a twentieth share of the income from them. The equipment of the expedition met with many obstacles. Magellan had to overcome great difficulties even after going to sea: the Portuguese agents, taking advantage of the diversity of the crews, sowed discord. The Spanish captains, dissatisfied with submission to a foreigner, also kindled the turmoil.
The flotilla of Magellan, consisting of five ships with a crew of 265 people, left the port of San Lucar in September 1519 and reached Brazil at the end of November. Following along the coast to the south, the squadron at the end of March 1520 entered the bay of San Julian and stood up for the winter; here a rebellion broke out on three ships, brutally suppressed by Magellan. In May, the Santiago ship sent for reconnaissance was lost. In October, the flotilla entered the Strait (later called the Strait of Magellan), from where the San Antonio ship deserted to Spain. With the three remaining ships, Magellan entered the ocean in November, which he called the Pacific. Magellan passed through the most deserted part of it, meeting only two uninhabited islets. Until the Mariana Islands, reached in March 1521, Magellan could not replenish food and water supplies, which led to scurvy and the death of part of the crew. In March, Magellan approached the first Asian group of islands - the Philippines. In an effort to conquer the newly discovered lands, he intervened in the feuds of local rulers. Having entered into an alliance with the ruler of the island of Cebu, who declared himself a vassal of the Spanish king, Magellan organized a punitive campaign on the island of Matan, during which he died in a skirmish with the inhabitants of the island.
On two ships (the third - "Concepción" - was burned due to dilapidation) - "Victoria" and "Trinidad" - 113 sailors under the command of J. Carvalho, and after his displacement - G. de Espinosa, continuing the search for "spicy" islands, visited Borneo (Kalimantan) and in November 1521 reached the island of Tidore of the Moluccan group. Having taken a cargo of spices, the ships separated: Trinidad, after an unsuccessful attempt to return across the Pacific Ocean, was captured by the Portuguese, and Victoria, commanded by an experienced sailor Juan Elcano, crossed the Indian Ocean and, bypassing the Cape of Good Hope, in September 1522 reached San Lucar. Only 18 people completed the round-the-world trip.
The appearance of the Spaniards in the Moluccas caused a sharp aggravation of the rivalry of the Iberian powers and opened the Pacific Ocean for European expansion. The voyage of the expedition of Magellan finally proved the sphericity of the Earth, established the existence of a single sea ocean and showed that most of the Earth's surface is covered with water.
The Strait of Magellan is named after Magellan.
F. Magellan's first circumnavigation
In the conquest of India and Malacca from 1505 to 1511, the poor Portuguese nobleman Ferdinand Magellan participated - as he is commonly called; his true surname is Magallans. He was born about 1480 in Portugal; in 1509 and 1511 reached Malacca on Portuguese ships, and according to S. Morison, even the "Spice Islands" (Ambon island)
In 1512, 1515 he fought in North Africa, where he was wounded. Returning to his homeland, he asked the king for a promotion, but was refused. Insulted, Magellan left for Spain and entered into a company with the Portuguese astronomer Rui Faleiro, who assured that he had found a way to accurately determine geographic longitudes. In March 1518, both appeared in Seville at the Council of India and declared that the Moluccas, the most important source of Portuguese wealth, should belong to Spain, as they are located in the western, Spanish hemisphere (according to the treaty of 1494), but penetrate to these "Spice Islands" it is necessary by the western route, so as not to arouse the suspicions of the Portuguese, through the South Sea, open 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. Magellan and Faleyru demanded at first the same rights and privileges that had been promised to Columbus. After a long bargain with the royal advisers, who negotiated for themselves a substantial share of the expected income, and after concessions from the Portuguese, an agreement was concluded with them: Charles I undertook to equip five ships and supply the expedition with supplies for two years. Before sailing, Faleiro abandoned the enterprise, and Magellan, undoubtedly the soul of the whole thing, became the sole head of the expedition. He raised the admiral's flag on the "Trinidad" (100 tons). The Spaniards were appointed captains of the remaining ships: "San Antonio" (120 tons) - Juan Cartagena, who also received the powers of the royal controller of the expedition; "Concepcion" (90 tons) - Gaspar Quesada; "Victoria" (85 tons) - Luis Mendoza and "Santiago" (75 tons) -
Juan, Serrano. The staff of the entire flotilla was estimated at 293 people, there were 26 more freelance crew members on board, among them the young Italian Antonio Pigafetta, the future historian of the expedition. Since he was neither a sailor nor a geographer, the entries in the ship's logs that Francisco Albo, assistant navigator, kept on the Trinidad, are a very important primary source. An international team went on the first round-the-world voyage: in addition to the Portuguese and Spaniards, it included representatives of more than 10 nationalities.
On September 20, 1519, the flotilla left the port of San Lucar at the mouth of the Guadalquivir. When crossing the ocean, Magellan developed a good signaling system; the different types of ships of his flotilla never parted. Disagreements between him and the Spanish captains began very soon: beyond the Canary Islands, Cartagena demanded that the chief consult with him regarding any change of course. Magellan calmly and proudly replied: "Your duty is to follow my flag by day and my lantern by night." A few days later, Cartagena raised the issue again. Then Magellan, who, despite his small stature, was distinguished by great physical strength, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and ordered him to be kept in custody on the Victoria, and appointed his relative, the supernumerary sailor Alvara Mishkita, as the captain of the San Antonio.
On September 26, the flotilla approached the Canary Islands, on November 29 it reached the coast of Brazil near 8 ° S. sh., December 13 - Guanabara Bay, and December 26 - La Plata. The navigators of the expedition were the best at that time: performing the determination of latitudes, they made adjustments to the map of the already known part of the mainland. So, Cape Cabo Frio, by their definition, is located not at 25 ° S, but at 23 ° S. – their error was less than 2 km from its true position. Not trusting the messages of the satellites of Solis, Magellan examined both low-lying banks of La Plata for about a month; continuing the discovery of the flat territory of the Pampa, begun by Lisboa and Solis, he sent the Santiago up the Parana, and, of course, did not find a passage to the South Sea. Beyond lay an unknown, sparsely populated land. And Magellan, fearing to miss the entrance to the elusive strait, on February 2, 1520, ordered to weigh anchor and move as close as possible to the coast only during the day, and stop in the evening. On February 13, in the great bay of Bahia Blanca he discovered, the flotilla withstood a terrible thunderstorm, during which St. Elmo's fires appeared on the masts of the ships. On February 24, Magellan discovered another large bay - San Matias, rounded the Valdez Peninsula he identified and took refuge for the night in a small harbor, which he called Puerto San Matias (Golfo Nuevo Bay of our maps, at 43 ° S. lat.) . To the south, near the mouth of the river. Chubut On February 27, the flotilla came across a huge concentration of penguins and southern elephant seals. To replenish food supplies, Magellan sent a boat to the shore, but an unexpectedly flowing squall threw the ships into the open sea. The sailors who remained on the shore, in order not to die from the cold, covered themselves with the bodies of dead animals. Having taken the “procurers”, Magellan moved south, pursued by storms, explored another bay, San Jorge, and spent six stormy days in a narrow bay (estuary of the Rio Deseado, near 48 ° S. latitude). On March 31, when the approach of winter became noticeable, he decided to spend the winter in San Julian Bay (at 49 ° S). Four ships entered the bay, and the Trinidad anchored at the entrance to it. The Spanish officers wanted to force Magellan to "follow the royal instructions": turn to the Cape of Good Hope and go east to the Moluccas. That same night the riot began. Cartagena was released, the rebels captured the Victoria, Concepción and San Antonio, arrested Mishchita, and Quesada mortally wounded an assistant loyal to Magellan. They aimed their guns at the Trinidad and demanded that Magellan come to them for negotiations. Against the two ships of the admiral were three rebellious, prepared for battle. But the rebels did not trust their sailors, and on one ship they even disarmed them.
In difficult circumstances, Magellan showed a calm determination. He sent his faithful alguacil (police officer) Gonzalo Gomez Espinosa with several sailors to the Victoria to invite her captain for negotiations on the admiral's ship. He refused, then the alguasil plunged a dagger into his throat, and one sailor finished him off. Magellan's brother-in-law, the Portuguese Duarte Barbosa, immediately took possession of the Victoria and was appointed her captain. Now the rebels had only two ships, and so that they would not desert, the prudent admiral, as mentioned above, had previously taken a convenient position at the exit from the bay. The San Antonio tried to break into the ocean, but the sailors, after a volley from the Trinidad, tied up the officers and surrendered. The same thing happened at the Concepción. Magellan dealt harshly with the rebel captains: he ordered the head of Quesada to be cut off, the corpse of Mendoza to be quartered, and Cartagena to be landed on a deserted coast with a conspiring priest, but he spared the rest of the rebels.
In early May, the admiral sent Serrano to the Santiago south for reconnaissance, but on May 3 the ship crashed on the rocks near the river. Santa Cruz (at 50 ° S. Lat.) and his team managed to escape with difficulty (one sailor died).
Magellan transferred Serrano as captain on the Concepción.
Indians of very tall stature approached the wintering place. They were called Patagonians (in Spanish "patagon" - big-footed), their country has since been called Patagonia. Pigafetta exaggeratedly described the Patagonians as real giants (The name of this tribe is Tehuelchi. Capes made of guanaco skins with high hoods and moccasins made them taller than they were in reality: the growth of the Indians, according to the measurements of the end of 1891, ranged from 183 to 193 cm.). On August 24, the flotilla left San Julian Bay and reached the mouth of Santa Cruz, where it stayed until mid-October, waiting for the onset of spring. On October 18, the flotilla moved south along the Patagonian coast, which forms in this area (between 50 and 52 ° S) the wide bay of Bahia Grande. Before going to sea, Magellan told the captains that he would look for a passage to the South Sea and turn east if he did not find a strait up to 75 ° S. sh., that is, he himself doubted the existence of the "Patagonian Strait", but wanted to continue the enterprise to the last opportunity. The bay, or strait, leading to the west, was found on October 21, 1520 at 52 ° S. sh., after Magellan discovered the previously unknown Atlantic coast of South America for about 3.5 thousand km (between 34 and 52 ° S. latitude).
Rounding Cape Dev (Cabo Virgenes), the admiral sent two ships ahead to find out if there was an exit to the open sea in the west. A storm arose during the night and lasted two days. The ships sent were threatened with death, but at the most difficult moment they noticed a narrow strait, rushed there and found themselves in a relatively wide bay; along it they continued their journey and saw another strait, behind which a new, wider bay opened.
Then the captains of both ships - Mishkita and Serrano - decided to return and report to Magellan that, apparently, they had found a passage leading to the South Sea. “... We saw these two ships approaching us in full sail with flags fluttering in the wind. Coming closer to us ... they began to shoot from guns and noisily and greet us. However, it was still far from entering the South Sea: Magellan walked south for several days through narrow straits until he saw two channels near about. Dawson: one to the southeast, the other to the southwest. He sent the San Antonio and the Concepción to the southeast, and a boat to the southwest. The sailors returned "three days later with the news that they had seen the cape and the open sea." The Admiral shed tears of joy and called this Cape Desired.
Trinidad and Victoria entered the southwest channel, anchored there for four days and returned to connect with two other ships, but there was only the Concepción: in the southeast she reached a dead end - in Inutil Bay - and turned back. The San Antonio hit another stalemate; on the way back, without finding the flotilla on the spot, the officers wounded and shackled Mishkita and at the end of March 1521 returned to Spain. The deserters accused Magellan of treason in order to justify themselves, and they were believed: Mishkita was arrested, Magellan's family was deprived of state benefits. His wife and two children soon died in poverty. But the admiral did not know under what circumstances the San Antonio disappeared. He believed that the ship was lost, since Mishkita was his trusted friend. Following along the northern coast of the strongly narrowed Patagonian Strait (as Magellan called it), he rounded the southernmost point of the South American continent - Cape Froward (on the Brunswick Peninsula, 53 ° 54 "S) and five more days (23- November 28) led three ships to the northwest as if along the bottom of a mountain gorge.The high mountains (the southern end of the Patagonian Cordillera) and the bare shores seemed to be deserted, but in the south during the day there were smokes, and at night - fires. And Magellan called this southern land, the size of which he did not know, "Land of Fire" (Tierra del Fuego). On our maps it is inaccurately called Tierra del Fuego. 38 days after Magellan found the Atlantic entrance to the strait, indeed connecting the two oceans, he passed Cape Desired (now Pilar at the Pacific exit from the Strait of Magellan (about 550 km).
On November 28, 1520, Magellan left the strait for the open ocean and led the remaining three ships first to the north, trying to leave the cold high latitudes as soon as possible and keeping about 100 km from the rocky coast. On December 1, it passed near the Taitao Peninsula (near 47 ° S), and then the ships moved away from the mainland - on December 5, the maximum distance was 300 km. On December 12-15, Magellan again approached the coast quite close at 40 and 38 ° 30 "S, i.e., at least at three points he saw high mountains - the Patagonian Cordillera and the southern part of the Main Cordillera. From Mocha Island ( 38°30"S) the ships turned to the north-west, and on December 21, being at 30°S. sh. and. 80°W D., to the west-northwest.
Of course, it cannot be said that during his 15-day voyage north from the Strait Magellan discovered the coast of South America for 1500 km, but he at least proved that in the latitude range from 53 ° 15 "to 38 ° 30" S . w, the western coast of the mainland has an almost meridional direction.
“... We ... plunged into the expanses of the Pacific Sea. For three months and twenty days we were completely deprived of fresh food. We ate rusk, but it was no longer rusk, but rusk dust mixed with worms ... It smelled strongly of rat urine. We drank yellow water that had been rotting for days. We also ate cowhides that covered the yards... We soaked them in sea water for four or five days, after which we put them on hot coals for several minutes and ate them. We often ate sawdust. Rats were sold for half a ducat apiece, but even at that price it was impossible to get them ”(Pigafetta). Almost everyone had scurvy; 19 people died, including a Brazilian and a Patagonian "giant". Fortunately, the weather was good all the time; that is why Magellan called the Pacific Ocean.
Probably, it was during the passage through the Pacific Ocean in the southern hemisphere that the satellites of Magellan drew attention to two star systems, which later received the name of the large and Small Magellanic clouds. “The south pole is not as stellar as the north,” writes Pigafetta, “here you can see clusters of a large number of small stars, resembling clouds of dust. There is little distance between them and they are somewhat dim. Among them are two large, but not very bright stars, moving very slowly. He meant two stars in the circumpolar constellation Hydra. The Spaniards also discovered "five extraordinarily brightly sparkling stars arranged in a cross ..." - the constellation Cross, or the Southern Cross.
Crossing the Pacific Ocean, Magellan's flotilla covered at least 17 thousand km, most of them in the waters of South Polynesia and Micronesia, where countless small islands are scattered. It is amazing that at the same time, the sailors met for all the time only "two deserted islands, on which they found only birds and trees." According to Albo's records, the first (San Pablo), discovered on January 24, 1521, is at 16 ° 15 "and the second (Tivurones, i.e. "Sharks", February 4) is at 10 ° 40" S. sh. Magellan and Albo determined the latitude very accurately for that time, but since there is no need to talk about the correct calculation of longitude in the 16th century, it is impossible to confidently identify these islands with any islands on our maps (It is most likely that San Pablo is one from the northeastern islands of the Tuamotu archipelago, Tivurones is one of the southern Line Islands (Central Polynesia).). On this segment, Magellan made the first measurement of the sea depths, which can be classified as "scientific". He could not reach the bottom with the help of six connected lines of several hundred fathoms and came to the conclusion that he had discovered the deepest part of the ocean.
Historians are perplexed why Magellan crossed the equator and went beyond 10 ° N. sh. - he knew that the Moluccas are located at the equator. But it is there that the South Sea lies, already known to the Spaniards. Perhaps Magellan wanted to make sure that it was really part of the newly discovered ocean.
On March 6, 1521, two inhabited islands finally appeared in the west (Guam and Rota, the southernmost of the Marianas group). Dozens of boats with balancers went out to meet the foreigners. They sailed with the help of triangular "Latin" sails sewn from palm leaves. At Guam (13 ° 30 "N. Lat.), the inhabitants - swarthy, well-built people, naked (the women wore loincloths, "a narrow strip of paper-thin bark"), but in small hats made of palm leaves - climbed onto the ship and they grabbed everything that came into their eyes, as a result of which this group was called the "Robber Islands" (Ladrones).
When the islanders stole a boat tied to the stern, an annoyed Magellan landed on the shore with a detachment, burned several dozen huts and boats, killed seven people and returned the boat. “When one of the natives was wounded by arrows from our crossbows, which pierced him through and through, he swung the end of the arrow in all directions, pulled it out, examined it with great amazement and died like that ...”
March 15, 1521, having traveled to the west for another 2 thousand km, the sailors saw mountains rising from the sea - it was Fr. Samar is an East Asian group of islands later called the Philippines. Magellan searched in vain for a place to anchor - the rocky coast of the island did not present a single chance. The ships moved a little to the south, to the islet of Siargao near the southern tip of about. Samar (at 10 ° 45 "N. Lat.) and spent the night there. The length of the path traveled by Magellan from South America to the Philippines turned out to be many times greater than the distance shown on the maps of that time between the New World and Japan. In fact, Magellan proved that between America and tropical Asia lies a gigantic expanse of water, much wider than the Atlantic Ocean.The discovery of a passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the South Sea and Magellan's voyage through this sea made a real revolution in geography.It turned out that most of the surface of the globe is not occupied by land, but the ocean, and the existence of a single world ocean was proved.
Out of caution, Magellan on March 17 moved from Siargao to the uninhabited island of Homonkhon, which lies south of the large island. Samar to stock up on water and give people a rest. The inhabitants of the neighboring island delivered fruits, coconuts and palm wine to the Spaniards. They reported that "there are many islands in this region." Magellan named the archipelago San Lazaro. At the local elder, the Spaniards saw gold earrings and bracelets, cotton fabrics embroidered with silk, edged weapons decorated with gold. A week later, the flotilla moved southwest and stopped at about. Limasava (10°N, 125°E, south of Leyte Island). A boat approached the Trinidad. And when the Malay Enrique, a slave of Magellan, called out to the rowers in his native language, they immediately understood him. A couple of hours later, two large boats full of people arrived with the local ruler, and Enrique freely explained to them. It became clear to Magellan that he was in that part of the Old World where the Malay language is spoken, that is, not far from the "Spice Islands" or among them. And Magellan, who visited about. Ambon (128° E) as part of the expedition of A. Abreu, thus completed the first ever circumnavigation of the world.
The ruler of the island gave Magellan pilots who accompanied the ships to the major commercial port of Cebu. In the journal Albo and Pigafetta, new names for the island appear for Europeans - Leyte, Bohol, Cebu, etc. Western European historians call this the discovery of the Philippines, although they have long been visited by Asian sailors, and Magellan and his companions saw Chinese goods there, for example, porcelain dishes. In Cebu, they met the orders of the real "civilized" world. The Raja (ruler) began by demanding that they pay a fee. Magellan refused to pay, but offered him friendship and military assistance if he recognized himself as a vassal of the Spanish king. The ruler of Cebu accepted the offer and a week later he was even baptized along with his family and several hundred subjects. Soon, according to Pigafetta, "all the inhabitants of this island and some from other islands" were baptized. On about. Cebu, he talked with several Arab merchants who informed him of information about other islands of the archipelago. As a result, for the first time, such names as Luzon, Mindanao and Sulu entered into geographical use with minor distortions.
In the role of the patron of new Christians, Magellan intervened in the internecine war of the rulers of the island of Mactan, located opposite the city of Cebu. On the night of April 27, 1521, he went there with 60 people in boats, but because of the reefs they could not come close to the shore. Magellan, leaving crossbowmen and musketeers in boats, with 50 people wade across to the island. There, near the village, they were expected and attacked by three detachments. They started shooting at him from the boats, but arrows and even musket bullets at such a distance could not penetrate the wooden shields of the attackers. Magellan ordered the village to be set on fire. This infuriated the Maktans, and they began to shower arrows and stones at the strangers and throw spears at them. “...Ours, with the exception of six or eight people who remained with the captain, immediately fled ... Recognizing the captain, many people attacked him ... but still he continued to hold on steadfastly. Trying to draw his sword, he only drew it halfway, as he was wounded in the arm ... One [of the attackers] wounded him in the left leg ... The captain fell face down, and then they threw him ... with spears and began to strike cleavers, until they destroyed ... our light, our joy ... He kept turning back to see if we all had time to dive into the boats ”(Pigafetta). In addition to Magellan, eight Spaniards and four allied islanders were killed. Among the sailors there were many wounded. Confirmed the old saying: "The Lord God gave the Portuguese a very small country for life, but the whole world for death."
After the death of Magellan, D. Barbosa and X. Serrano were elected captains of the flotilla. The newly baptized ruler of Cebu, having learned that the ships were about to leave, invited his allies to a farewell feast. 24 sailors, including Barbosa and Serrano, accepted the invitation and went ashore, but two - G. Espinosa and the pilot of the "Concepción" Portuguese Juan Lopes Carvalho - returned, suspecting evil. Hearing screams and screams on the shore, they ordered the ships to come closer to the shore and bombard the city with guns. At this time, the Spaniards saw Serrano wounded, in one shirt; he shouted to stop firing, otherwise he would be killed and all his comrades were killed, except for the Malay interpreter Enrique, begged to ransom him, but Corvalho forbade the boat to approach the shore.
“... And he did so with the goal,” Pigafetta writes, “so that they alone remain masters on the ships. And despite the fact that Juan Serrano weeping begged him not to raise the sails so quickly, as they would kill him ... we immediately departed. Immediately, Carvalho was declared the head of the expedition, and Espinosa was elected captain of the Victory. There were 115 people left on the ships, many of them sick. It was difficult to manage three ships with such a crew, therefore, in the strait between the islands of Cebu and Bohol, the dilapidated Concepcion was burned.
"Victoria" and "Trinidad", leaving the strait, passed by the island, "where the people are black, as in Ethiopia" (the first indication of the Filipino negritos); The Spaniards called this island Negros. In Mindanao, they first heard of the large island located to the northwest. Luzon. Random pilots led the ships across the Sulu Sea to Palawan, the westernmost island of the Philippine group.
Pigafetta, an accurate and thorough chronicler, was not a professional cartographer. But as an impartial artist, he made rough sketches of a number of islands in the Philippine archipelago, which were touched by the expedition of Magellan. They bear no resemblance to the originals and can only be identified by their names: Samar, the first of the visited islands, Homonkhon, where the first landing was made, Mactan, the place where Magellan died, and also Panaon,
Leyte, Cebu and Palawan. From about. Palawan, the Spaniards arrived - the first of the Europeans - to the giant about. Kalimantan and on July 9 anchored off the city of Brunei, after which they, and then other Europeans, began to call the whole island Borneo. The Spaniards made alliances with local rajahs, bought food and local goods, sometimes robbed oncoming ships, but still could not find the way to the Spice Islands.
Pigafetta productively used the Victoria's monthly parking lot - he spent almost the entire July as a guest of the Sultan of Brunei and collected the first reliable information about Fr. Kalimantan: "This island is so large that it will take three months to sail around it in a prau" (Malay ship).
On September 7, the Spaniards set sail along the northwestern coast of Kalimantan and, having reached its northern tip, stood for almost a month and a half near a small island, stocking up on food and firewood. They managed to capture a junk with a Malay sailor who knew the way to the Moluccas. Carvalho was soon removed "for failure to comply with royal decrees" and Espinosa was elected admiral. The former assistant navigator on the Concepción, Basque Juan Sevastian Elcano, or del Cano, became the captain of the Victoria. On October 26, in the Sulawesi Sea, the ships weathered the first storm after leaving the Strait of Magellan. On November 8, a Malay sailor led ships to the spice market on about. Tidore, off the western coast of Halmahera, the largest of the Moluccas, Here the Spaniards bought cheap spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves. The Trinidad needed repairs, and it was decided that upon completion, Espinosa would go east to the Gulf of Panama, and Elcano would lead the Victoria home by a western route around the Cape of Good Hope.
December 21 "Victoria" with a crew of 60 people, including 13 Malays captured on the islands of Indonesia, moved from Tidore to the south. At the end of January 1522, the Malay pilot brought the ship to about. Timor. On February 13, the Spaniards lost sight of him and headed for the Cape of Good Hope, spending three times more time wandering among the Malay Islands than crossing the Pacific Ocean.
Elcano deliberately stayed away from the usual path of the Portuguese ships, a meeting with which threatened the Spaniards with prison and, possibly, execution. In the southern part of the Indian Ocean, sailors saw only one island (at 37 ° 50 "S, Amsterdam). This happened on March 18. On May 20, the Victoria rounded the Cape of Good Hope.
Passing first in this part of the Indian Ocean, Elcano proved that the "Southern" continent does not reach 40 ° S. sh. During the passage through the unknown sea expanses of the Indian Ocean, the crew of the ship was reduced to 35 people, including four Malays. On the Cape Verde Islands, belonging to Portugal, where a stop was made in order to replenish fresh water and food supplies, it turned out that the sailors "lost" one day, bypassing the land from the west. For this “loss”, all the surviving crew members of the Victoria were subjected to a humiliating punishment - public repentance: from the church point of view, such “negligence” led to improper observance of fasts. Here, at Santiago, 12 more Spaniards and one Malay fell behind, arrested on suspicion that they had come to the Moluccas by the eastern route. On September 6, 1522, the Victoria, having lost another sailor along the way, reached the mouth of the Guadalquivir, completing the first circumnavigation of the world in 1081 days.
Of the five ships of Magellan, only one circled the globe, and out of its crew of 265 people, only 18 returned to their homeland (there were three Malays on board). 13 sailors arrested in Santiago arrived home later, released by the Portuguese at the request of Charles I. But the Victoria brought so many spices that their sale more than covered the costs of the expedition, and Spain received the “right of first discovery” to the Mariana and Philippine Islands and laid claim to the Moluccas.
Magellan, with his circumnavigation, proved that the greatest expanse of water stretches between America and Asia, and established the existence of a single ocean. Magellan put an end to the debate about the shape of our planet forever by providing practical evidence of its sphericity. Thanks to him, finally, scientists were able to establish the true size of the Earth not speculatively, but on the basis of irrefutable data.
The fate of the Trinidad team was as follows. The repair of the Trinidad dragged on for more than three months, and she sailed from Tidore under the command of Espinosa (navigator Leone Pancaldo) with a crew of 53 people and an almost 50-ton cargo of spices only on April 6, 1522. Having rounded the northern end of about. Halmahera, Espinosa immediately sculpted a course to the east, to Panama. However, contrary winds soon forced him to turn north. sh. - 14 other islands from the Mariana group. From one of them, most likely from Fr. Agrihan (near 19°N), a native was taken on board. Struggling with easterly winds, stormy weather and cold, on June 11, Espinosa reached 43 ° N. sh. How far to the east the ship advanced can now only be assumed - probably the Spaniards were between 150 and 160 ° E. e, a 12-day storm, poor food and weakness forced the sailors to turn back. By this time, more than half of the team had died from hunger and scurvy. On the way back on August 22, Espinosa discovered several more northern Mariana Islands, including Maug at 20°N. sh., and returned to the Moluccas around October 20, 1522. The sailor Gonzalo Vigo, who had deserted at Mauga, later crossed by boat to about. Guam with the help of indigenous people. Having familiarized himself in this way with almost all the significant islands between Maug and Guam, he completed the discovery of the Mariana chain, which stretched for more than 800 km.
Meanwhile, in mid-May 1522, the Portuguese military flotilla António Brito approached the Moluccas. Fulfilling the task - to take possession of the archipelago and prevent the violation of the Portuguese monopoly, he built a fort on about. Ternate. Having received news at the end of October that a European ship was near the Moluccas, Brito sent three ships with orders to capture it, and they brought the Trinidad, which had 22 people, to Ternate. Brito seized the cargo and took away the nautical instruments, maps and, no doubt, the ship's log. This explains the awareness of the Portuguese about the route of Magellan's expedition, his death and later events, and Brito received additional information by interrogating the sailors he captured "with predilection". After a four-year prison sentence, only four of the Trinidad crew survived and returned to Spain in 1526, including Gonzalo Espinosa, having also completed their circumnavigation.
Bibliography
- Biographical dictionary of figures of natural science and technology. T. 2. - Moscow: State. scientific publishing house "Great Soviet Encyclopedia", 1959. - 468 p.
Magdovich IP Essays on the history of geographical discoveries. T. II. Great geographical discoveries (the end of the 15th - the middle of the 17th century) / I. P. Magidovich, V. I. Magidovich. - Moscow: Education, 1983. - 400 p.
The flotilla left the port of San Lucar at the mouth of the Guadalquivir on September 20, 1519. When crossing the ocean, Magellan developed a good signaling system, and the different types of ships of his flotilla never parted.
On September 26, the flotilla approached, on November 29 it reached the coast of Brazil, on December 13 - Guanabara Bay, and on December 26 -. The navigators of the expedition were the best at that time: they determined the latitudes, made adjustments to the map of the already known part of the mainland. Thus, Cape Cabo Frio, by their definition, is not at 25 ° S. sh., and at 23 °. Magellan explored both low-lying banks of La Plata for about a month; continuing the discovery of the flat territory of the Pampa, begun by Juan Lijboa and Juan Solis, the chief pilot of Castile, he sent the Santiago up and, of course, did not find a passage to the South Sea. Beyond lay an unknown, sparsely populated land. And Magellan, fearing to miss the entrance to the elusive strait, on February 2, 1520, ordered to weigh anchor and move as close as possible to the coast only during the day, and stop in the evening. At the parking lot on February 13 in the large bay of Bahia Blanca he discovered, the flotilla withstood a terrifying one, during which St. Elmo's lights appeared on the masts of ships - electrical discharges in the atmosphere in the form of luminous brushes. On February 24, Magellan discovered another major bay - San Matias, circled the Valdez Peninsula he identified and took refuge for the night in a small harbor, which he called Puerto San Matias (Golfo Nuevo Bay on our maps). Further south, near the mouth of the Chubut River, on February 27, the flotilla came across a huge concentration of penguins and southern elephant seals. To replenish food supplies, Magellan sent a boat to the shore, but an unexpectedly flowing squall threw the ships into the open sea. The sailors who remained on the shore, in order not to die from the cold, covered themselves with the bodies of dead animals. Having taken the "purchasers", Magellan moved south, pursued by storms, explored another bay, San Jorge, and spent six stormy days in a narrow bay. On March 31, he decided to spend the winter in San Julian Bay. Four ships entered the bay, and the Trinidad anchored at the entrance to it. The Spanish officers wanted to force Magellan to "follow the royal instructions": turn to the Cape of Good Hope and go east to the Moluccas. That same night the riot began. Magellan treated the rebel captains cool: he ordered to cut off the head of Quesada, quarter the corpse of Mendoza, send Cartagena along with the conspirator-priest to the deserted coast, and spared the rest of the rebels.
In early May, the admiral sent the Santiago south to reconnoiter, but the ship crashed on the rocks near the Santa Cruz River and its crew barely managed to escape. On August 24, the flotilla left the bay of San Julian and reached the mouth of Santa Cruz, where it stayed until mid-October. On October 18, the flotilla moved south along the Patagonian coast, which forms a wide bay of Bahia Grande in this area. Before going to sea, Magellan told the captains that he would look for a passage to the South Sea and turn east if he did not find a strait up to 75 ° S. sh., that is, he himself doubted the existence of the "strait" (as Magellan called it), but wanted to continue the enterprise to the last opportunity. The bay or strait leading to the west was found on October 21, 1520 after Magellan discovered the previously unknown Atlantic coast of South America for about 3.5 thousand km. Rounding Cape Dev (Cabo Virgenes), the admiral sent two ships ahead to find out if there was an exit to the open sea in the west. A storm arose during the night and lasted two days. The ships sent were threatened with death, but at the most difficult moment they noticed a narrow strait, rushed there and found themselves in a relatively wide bay; along it they continued their journey and saw another strait, behind which a new, wider bay opened. Then the captains of both ships - Mishkita and Serrano - decided to return and report to Magellan that, apparently, they had found a passage leading to the South Sea. However, it was still far from entering the South Sea: Magellan sent San Antonio and Concepcion for reconnaissance. The sailors returned "three days later with the news that they had seen the cape and the open sea." The admiral shed tears of joy and named this cape "Desirable".
"Trinidad" and "Victoria" entered the southwestern channel, anchored there for four days and returned back to connect with two other ships, but there was only "Concepción": in the southeast it came to a standstill - in the Gulf of Bahia -Inutil - and turned back. The San Antonio ran into another dead end on the way back. The officers, not finding the flotilla in place, wounded and shackled Mishkita and at the end of March 1521 returned to. To justify themselves, the deserters accused Magellan of treason, and they were believed: Mishkita was arrested, Magellan's family was deprived of state benefits. The admiral did not know under what circumstances the San Antonio disappeared. He believed that the ship was lost, since Mishkita was his trusted friend. Following along the northern coast of the strongly narrowed "Patagonian Strait", he rounded the southernmost point of the South American continent - Cape Frouard (on the Brunswick Peninsula, 53s54 "S) and for another five days (November 23 - 28) led three ships to the northwest as if along the bottom of a mountain gorge. The high mountains (the southern end of the Patagonian Cordillera) and the bare shores seemed to be deserted, but in the south you could see smoke during the day, and fires at night - fires. And Magellan named this southern land, the size of which he did not know, "Land of Fire" (Tierra del Fuego). On our maps it is called Tierra del Fuego. 38 days after Magellan found the Atlantic entrance to the strait, which really connects the two oceans, he passed Cape Desired (now Pilar) at Pacific exit from the Strait of Magellan (about 550 km).
November 28, 1520 Magellan left the strait into the open ocean and led the remaining three ships first to the north, trying to leave the high latitudes as soon as possible and keeping about 100 km from the rocky coast. On December 1, it passed near the Taitao Peninsula, and then the ships moved away from the mainland - on December 5, the maximum distance was 300 km. On December 12 - 15, Magellan again approached the coast quite close and at least at three points saw high mountains - the Patagonian Cordillera and the southern part of the Main Cordillera. From the island of Mocha, the ships turned to the northwest, and on December 21 - to the west-northwest. Of course, it cannot be said that during his 15-day voyage north from the Strait of Magellan he discovered the coast of South America for 1500 km, but he at least proved that the western coast of the mainland to the latitude of the island of Mocha has an almost meridional direction.
Crossing, Magellan's flotilla traveled at least 17 thousand km, most of them in the waters of the South and where countless small islands are scattered. It is amazing that at the same time, the sailors met for all the time only "two deserted islands, on which they found only birds and trees." Historians are perplexed why Magellan crossed the equator and went beyond 10 ° N. sh., - he knew that the Moluccas are located. And it is there that lies the South Sea, already known to the Spaniards. Perhaps Magellan wanted to make sure that it was really part of the newly discovered ocean. On March 6, 1521, two inhabited islands finally appeared in the west (Guam and Rota, the southernmost of the Marianas group).
March 15, 1521, having traveled west for about 2 thousand km, the sailors saw mountains rising from the sea - it was the island of Samar of the East Asian group of islands, later named. Magellan searched in vain for a place to anchor - the coast of the island was rocky, and the ships moved a little south, to the island of Siargao, near the southern tip of Samar Island, and spent the night there. The length of the path traveled by Magellan from South America to the Philippines turned out to be many times greater than the distance shown on the maps of that time between the New World and Japan. In fact, Magellan proved that between America and tropical Asia lies a gigantic expanse of water, much wider than the Atlantic Ocean. The discovery of a passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the South Sea and the voyage of Magellan through this sea made a real revolution in geography. It turned out that most of the surface of the globe is occupied not by land, but by the ocean, and the existence of a single World Ocean was proved.
Out of caution, Magellan on March 17 moved from Siargao to the uninhabited island of Homonkhon, lying south of the large island of Samar, in order to stock up on water and give people a rest. The inhabitants of the neighboring island delivered fruits, coconuts and palm wine to the Spaniards. They reported that "there are many islands in this region." Magellan named the archipelago San Lazaro. At the local elder, the Spaniards saw gold earrings and bracelets, cotton fabrics embroidered with silk, edged weapons decorated with gold. A week later, the flotilla moved southwest and stopped at the islet of Limasava. A boat approached the Trinidad. And when the Malay Enrique, a slave of Magellan, called out to the rowers in his native language, they immediately understood him. A couple of hours later, two large boats arrived with people and with the local ruler, and Enrique spoke freely with them. It became clear to Magellan that he was in that part of the Old World where the Malay language is spoken, that is, not far from the "Spice Islands". Thus, Magellan completed the first ever circumnavigation of the world. In the role of the patron of new Christians, Magellan intervened in the internecine war of the rulers of the island of Mactan, located opposite the city of Cebu, as a result of which eight Spaniards, four allied islanders and Magellan himself died. The old saying was confirmed: "God gave the Portuguese a very small country for life, but the whole world for death."
After the death of Magellan, the Victoria and Trinidad, leaving the strait, passed by the island, “where people are black, as in” (the first indication of Filipino negritos); The Spaniards called this island Negros. In Mindanao they first heard of the large island of Luzon to the northwest. Random pilots guided the ships across the Sudu Sea to Palawan, the westernmost island of the Philippine group. From the island of Palawan, the Spaniards arrived - the first of the Europeans - to the giant island of Kalimantan and anchored near the city, after which they, and then other Europeans, began to call the whole island Borneo. The Spaniards made alliances with local rajahs, bought food and local goods, sometimes robbed oncoming ships, but still could not find the way to the Spice Islands. On September 7, the Spaniards set sail along the northwestern coast of Kalimantan and, having reached its northern tip, stood for almost a month and a half near a small island, stocking up on food and firewood. They managed to capture a junk with a Malay sailor who knew the way to the Moluccas, who on November 8 led the ships to the spice market on the island of Tidore off the western coast of Halmahera, the largest of the Moluccas. Here the Spaniards bought cheap spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves. The Trinidad needed repairs, and it was decided that upon completion, Espinosa would go east to the Gulf of Panama, and Elcano would lead the Victoria home by a western route around the Cape of Good Hope.
Of the five ships of Magellan, only one circled the globe, and from its crew only 18 people returned to their homeland (there were three Malays on board). But "Victoria" brought so many spices that their sale more than covered the costs of the expedition, and Spain received the "right of first discovery" to the Mariana and Philippine Islands and made claims to the Moluccas.
Name: Ferdinand Magellan
State: Portugal, Spain
Field of activity: Navigator
Greatest Achievement: Made the world's first trip around the world.
Ferdinand Magellan was born on February 3, 1480, in Portugal. Magellan was an explorer and navigator. He organized the first trip around the world in Europe. The expedition of Magellan was the first indisputable proof that the Earth is round.
early years
Ferdinand Magellan was born in Porto (Portugal), in 1480. His parents belonged to a noble family and the 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 Avisa. Magellan studied cartography, astronomy and celestial navigation since childhood.
Magellan entered the Portuguese Navy in 1505. He sailed to East Africa, then participated in the battles of Diu, during which Portugal won and defeated the Egyptian fleet. Fernand twice traveled to Malacca (Malaysia) and took part in the capture of the port by the Portuguese army.
He also participated in an expedition to the Moluccas, which at that time were called the Spice Islands. The spice trade in Magellan's Europe was very lucrative and highly competitive. The Moluccas have become the main source of the most valuable spices, such as cloves and nutmeg.
In 1513, Magellan was wounded in battle in North Africa, but the king took into account all his merits and helped him. In 1517 he traveled to Seville to enter the civil service in Spain.
Research for Spain
Spain and Portugal in the time of Magellan 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 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 had time to explore their half of the Earth, but they assumed that they could find part of the Spice Islands there. Magellan proposed to test this assumption by equipping an expedition to the west.
For the grandiose expedition of Magellan, other researchers have already paved the way. One of them was (1451-1506), who sailed west from the European coast to the Caribbean. 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 way across the Americas to the east to give Spain access to the Spice Islands. One such explorer was Magellan.
Round the world trip of Ferdinand Magellan
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 to head for the Atlantic.
Together with Magellan, his brother-in-law, Duarte Barbosa, also set sail. 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 mutiny against the captain, who was put down. Subsequently, however, the rebel ship Santiago was completely destroyed, and the rest of the ships took on board her crew.
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 soon killed. The remaining crew was forced to destroy the Concepción (ship) and the great circumnavigation of the world was completed. The ship of Magellan - Victoria was led by the former rebel Juan Sebastian del Cano. He crossed the Indian Ocean and from the Cape of Good Hope finally returned to Seville on September 8, 1522. Meanwhile, Trinidad (ship) tried to return home through 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, the Magellan project was a failure for Spain. Portugal, as a result of the division of the world, got a more advantageous part of the world in terms of resources. Spain miscalculated and did not gain access to the Moluccas. Magellan lost the flotilla, people and his own life. Despite this, his voyage was a major 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 the history of mankind.
Magellan Fernand Magellan Fernand
Magalhães (Portuguese Magalhães, Spanish Magallanes) (1470-1531), navigator whose expedition made the first circumnavigation of the world. Born in Portugal. In 1519-1521 he led a Spanish expedition to find a western route to the Moluccas. He discovered the entire coast of South America, south of La Plata, circled the continent from the south, discovered the strait named after him, and the Patagonian Cordillera; first crossed the Pacific Ocean (1520), discovering Fr. Guam, and reached the Philippine Islands, where he was killed in a fight with the locals. Magellan proved the existence of a single world ocean and provided practical evidence of the sphericity of the Earth. The voyage was completed by J. S. Elcano, who circled Africa from the south.
MAGELLAN FernandMAGELLAN (Magallanes) (Portuguese Magalhaes, Spanish Magallanes) Fernand (spring 1480, Sabrosa area, Vila Real province, Portugal - April 27, 1521, Mactan Island, Philippines), Portuguese navigator, whose expedition made the first circumnavigation of the world; the discoverer of part of the Atlantic coast of South America, the passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, which he crossed for the first time. Magellan proved the existence of a single world ocean and provided practical evidence of the sphericity of the Earth.
Carier start
The poor, but noble nobleman Magellan in 1492-1504 served as a page in the retinue of the Portuguese queen. Studied astronomy, navigation and cosmography. In 1505-1513 he participated in naval battles with Arabs, Indians and Moors, showed himself to be a brave warrior, for which he received the rank of sea captain. Due to a false accusation, he was denied further promotion - in 1517, having resigned, Magellan moved to Spain. Having entered the service of King Charles I, he proposed a project for a circumnavigation, which was accepted after a long bargain.
Opening of the strait between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
September 20, 1519 five small ships - "Trinidad", "San Antonio", "Santiago", "Concepsion" and "Victoria" with a crew of 265 people went to sea. When crossing the Atlantic, Magellan used his signaling system, and the different types of ships of his flotilla never parted. At the end of December, he reached La Plata, explored the bay for about a month, but did not find a passage to the South Sea. February 2, 1520 Magellan went south along the Atlantic coast of South America, moving only during the day, so as not to miss the entrance to the strait. He began wintering on March 31 in a convenient bay at 49 ° south latitude. On the same night, a mutiny began on three ships, which was soon brutally suppressed by Magellan. Sent in the spring for reconnaissance, the Santiago ship crashed against the rocks, but the team was saved. October 21 entered a narrow winding strait, later named after Magellan. On the southern coast of the strait, sailors saw the fires of fires. Magellan called this land Tierra del Fuego. A month later, a small strait (550 km) was passed by three ships, the 4th ship "San Antonio" deserted and returned to Spain, where the captain slandered Magellan, accusing him of treason to the king.
First crossing of the Pacific Ocean
On November 28, Magellan with the remaining three ships entered the unknown ocean, rounding America from the south along the strait they had discovered. The weather, fortunately, remained good, and Magellan called the Pacific Ocean. For almost 4 months, a very difficult voyage continued, when people ate rusk dust mixed with worms, drank rotten water, ate cowhide, sawdust and ship rats. Starvation and scurvy set in, and many died. Magellan, although he was not tall, was distinguished by great physical strength and self-confidence. Crossing the ocean, he traveled at least 17 thousand km, but met only two islands - one in the Tuamotu archipelago (cm. TUAMOTU), another in the Line group (cm. LINE). He also discovered two inhabited islands - Guam (cm. GUAM) and Rota from the Mariana group (cm. MARIANA ISLANDS). On March 15, the expedition approached the large Philippine archipelago. With the help of weapons, the decisive and courageous Magellan forced the ruler of the island of Cebu to submit to the Spanish king.
The death of Magellan and the completion of the round-the-world expedition
In the role of the patron of the natives baptized by him, Magellan intervened in the internecine war and was killed in a skirmish near the island of Mactan. The ruler of Cebu invited part of the crew to a farewell feast, treacherously attacked the guests and killed 24 people. Only 115 people remained on three ships - there were not enough people, and the Concepsion ship had to be burned. For 4 months the ships wandered in search of spice islands. The Spaniards bought a lot of cloves, nutmeg, etc. cheaply from the island of Tidore and split up: the Victoria with captain Juan Elcano moved west around Africa, while the Trinidad, which needed repairs, remained. Captain Elcano, fearing a meeting with the Portuguese, kept far south of the usual routes. He was the first to pass in the central part of the Indian Ocean and, having discovered only the island of Amsterdam (near 38 ° south latitude), he proved that the “southern” mainland does not reach this latitude. September 6, 1522 "Victoria" with 18 people on board completed the "Circumnavigation", which lasted 1081 days. Later, 12 more crew members of the Victoria returned, and in 1526, five from the Trinidad. The sale of brought spices more than covered all the costs of the expedition.
Magellan as an explorer and a person
Thus ended the first circumnavigation of the world, which proved the sphericity of the earth. For the first time, Europeans crossed the largest of the oceans - the Pacific, opening a passage from the Atlantic. The expedition found that a much larger part of the earth's surface is not land, as Columbus thought. (cm. Columbus Christopher) and his contemporaries, and the oceans. The warlike and vain Magellan received many wounds, one of them made him lame. His son died in 1521. The wife, who gave birth to her second child dead, died in March 1522. The strait and two star clusters (Large and Small Magellanic Clouds) were named after Magellan, which were described by the historiographer and expedition member Antonio Pifachetta. The fate of Magellan, his daring feat is dedicated to the novel by S. Zweig (cm. ZWEIG Stefan)"Magellan" (1938).
encyclopedic Dictionary. 2009 .
See what "Magellan Fernan" is in other dictionaries:
- (about 1480 1521) navigator. His expedition made the first circumnavigation of the world. Born in Portugal. The Portuguese king rejected Magellan's project to search for a strait in the south of mainland South America from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. ... ... Historical dictionary
"Magellan" redirects here; see also other meanings. Ferdinand Magellan port. Fernão de Magalhães Spanish Fernando (Hernando) de Magallanes ... Wikipedia
MAGELLAN (Magalhaes) (Portuguese Magalhaes Spanish Magallanes) Fernand (spring 1480, Sabroza area, Vila Real province, Portugal April 27, 1521, Mactan Island, Philippines), Portuguese navigator who proved the sphericity of the Earth and the unity ... ...
MAGELLAN (Magallanes) (Spanish Magallanes) Fernand (1480 1521) navigator, whose expedition made the 1st circumnavigation. Born in Portugal. In 1519 21 led a Spanish expedition to find a western route to the Moluccas about you. Opened… Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Magellan, Magalhaes (Portuguese Magalhaes, Spanish Magallanes) Fernand (about 1480, the region of Traz already Montis, Portugal, ‒ 27.4.1521, Mactan Island, Philippines), navigator. In 1505‒12 he participated in Portuguese expeditions, twice reached Malacca ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
"Magellan" redirects here. See also other meanings. Ferdinand Magellan port. Fernão de Magalhães Spanish Fernando (Hernando) de Magallanes ... Wikipedia
Magellan, Fernand- MAGELLA/N Fernand (c. 1480 1521) Spanish navigator, who practically proved the sphericity of the Earth and the existence of a single World Ocean. Portuguese by origin. He served in the Portuguese Navy as an officer, participated in the Portuguese expeditions ... ... Marine Biographical Dictionary
- (Magallanes, Ferno de) PORTRAIT OF FERNAND MAGELLAN (c. 1480 1521), leader of the first circumnavigation of the sea expedition. Born in Ponti da Barca in Portugal. Coming from a poor provincial noble family, he served as a page at the royal court ... Collier Encyclopedia
Magellan Fernand- () navigator. His expedition made the first circumnavigation of the world. Born in Portugal. The Portuguese king rejected Magellan's project to search for a strait in the south of the mainland of South America from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Moving to Spain... Encyclopedic Dictionary "World History"
One of the leaders of the Mactan Island, Lapu-Lapu, opposed the new order and was not going to surrender to the rule of Humabon. Magellan organized a military expedition against him. He wanted to visually demonstrate the power of Spain to the locals. The battle turned out to be unprepared. During the stay of Europeans in Cebu, local residents had the opportunity to study European weapons and their weaknesses. They moved quickly, preventing the Europeans from aiming, and attacked the sailors in their unarmored legs.
Thus ended the first circumnavigation of the world, which proved the sphericity of the earth. For the first time, Europeans crossed the largest of the oceans - the Pacific, opening a passage from the Atlantic. The expedition found out that much of the earth's surface is occupied not by land, as Christopher Columbus and his contemporaries thought, but by oceans. The strait and two star clusters were named after Magellan, which were described by the historiographer and expedition member Antonio Pifachetta. The fate of Magellan, his daring feat is dedicated to the novel of the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig "Magellan".
27.04.1521
Fernao de Magalhães
Great Navigator
Pioneer
News & Events
Treaty of Zaragoza on spheres of influence signed between Spain and Portugal
In the city of Zaragoza, on April 22, 1529, an agreement was signed between Spain and Portugal on the division of spheres of influence in the Eastern Hemisphere. This document became an addition to the famous Tordesillas. The new treaty defined a similar frontier in the west.
The ship "Victoria" completed the first round-the-world voyage
The sailing ship "Victoria" reached Spain on September 6, 1522, thus becoming the only ship of Magellan's flotilla to return victoriously to Seville, and the first ship in the world to circumnavigate the globe. There were eighteen survivors on the ship.
The three southernmost islands of the Marianas group have been discovered
Ferdinand Magellan - Portuguese and Spanish navigator who made the first trip around the world. He became the first European to travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific. On March 6, 1521, Magellan's expedition discovered the three southernmost Philippine Islands in the western Pacific Ocean.
Magellan discovered a new route to the Pacific Ocean called the Strait of Magellan
Magellan's flotilla entered the new strait on October 21, 1520, and began to slowly move along its winding coasts until an unknown ocean opened up in front of the flagship. He met the sailors with silence. Magellan called this ocean the Pacific.
Ferdinand Magellan went on a trip around the world
On September 20, 1519, the navigator Ferdinand Magellan left the port of Sanlucar at the head of a flotilla of five ships in the direction of Rio de Janeiro. He, like Columbus, was a supporter of the idea that the Earth is round, therefore, traveling to the west will lead to the east. Moving south, Magellan discovered the entire Atlantic coast of South America. When crossing the Atlantic, the navigator first used his signaling system, and the ships of his flotilla never lost sight of each other.
Ferdinand Magellan was born on October 8, 1480, in the locality of Sabrosa, province of Vila Real, in Portugal. Magellan's father was Ruy or Rodrigo de Magalhaes, who at one time was the alcalde of the fortress of Aveiro, his mother was Alda de Mosquita. In addition to Magellan, they had four children. In his youth, Magellan was a page of Queen Leonora of Avis, the wife of João II.
A poor but noble nobleman in 1492-1504 served as a page in the retinue of the Portuguese queen. Studied astronomy, navigation and cosmography. In 1505-1513 he participated in naval battles with Arabs, Indians and Moors, showed himself to be a brave warrior, for which he received the rank of sea captain. Due to a false accusation, he was denied further promotion and in 1517, having resigned, he moved to Spain. Having entered the service of King Charles I, he proposed a project for a circumnavigation, which was accepted after a long bargain.
In September 1519, five small ships - "Trinidad", "San Antonio", "Santiago", "Concepsion" and "Victoria" with a crew of 265 people went to sea. When crossing the Atlantic, Magellan used his signaling system, and the different types of ships of his flotilla never parted. On November 29, the flotilla reached the coast of Brazil, and on December 26, 1519, La Plata, explored the bay for about a month, but did not find a passage to the South Sea.
The ships entered the narrow winding strait on October 21, later named after Magellan. On the southern coast of the strait, sailors saw the fires of fires. Magellan called this land Tierra del Fuego. A month later, three ships passed the strait, the 4th ship "San Antonio" deserted and returned to Spain, where the captain slandered Magellan, accusing him of treason to the king.
On November 28, Magellan with the remaining three ships entered the unknown ocean, rounding America from the south along the strait they had discovered. The weather remained good, and Magellan called the Pacific Ocean. For almost 4 months, a very difficult voyage continued, when people ate rusk dust mixed with worms, drank rotten water, ate cowhide, sawdust and ship rats. Starvation and scurvy set in, and many died. Magellan, although he was not tall, was distinguished by great physical strength and self-confidence. Crossing the ocean, he traveled at least 17 thousand kilometers, but met only two islands - one in the Tuamotu archipelago, the other in the Line group. He also discovered two inhabited islands - Guam and Rota from the Mariana group. On March 15, the expedition approached the large Philippine archipelago. With the help of weapons, the decisive and courageous Magellan forced the ruler of the island of Cebu to submit to the Spanish king.
In the role of the patron of the natives baptized by him, Magellan intervened in the internecine war and was killed in a skirmish near the island of Mactan. The ruler of Cebu invited part of the crew to a farewell feast, treacherously attacked the guests and killed 24 people. Only 115 people remained on three ships - there were not enough people, and the Concepsion ship had to be burned. For 4 months the ships wandered in search of spice islands. The Spaniards bought a lot of cloves, nutmeg, etc. cheaply from the island of Tidore and split up: the Victoria with captain Juan Elcano moved west around Africa, while the Trinidad, which needed repairs, remained. Captain Elcano, fearing a meeting with the Portuguese, kept far south of the usual routes. He was the first to pass in the central part of the Indian Ocean and, having discovered only the island of Amsterdam, he proved that the "southern" mainland does not reach this latitude. September 6, 1522 "Victoria" with 18 people on board completed the "Circumnavigation", which lasted 1081 days. Later, 12 more crew members of the Victoria returned, and in 1526, five from the Trinidad. The sale of brought spices more than covered all the costs of the expedition.
