Ferdinand Magellan

Born to the nobility

Dismissal from the Portugese court

His project: to sail around the world

Ruy Faleiro the astronomer, another Portuguese exile, aided him in the working out of his plan, and he found an invaluable financial ally in Christopher de Haro, a member of a great Antwerp firm, who owed a grudge to the king of Portugal. On 22 March 1518, Magellan and Faleiro, as joint captains-general, signed an agreement with King Charles by which one-twentieth of the clear profits would fall to them; further, they and their heirs would gain the government of any lands discovered, with the title of Adelantados.

Upon hearing of his departure, King Emanuel of Portugal ordered a naval detachment to pursue him, but Magellan contrived to shake off the Portuguese. His next great challenge was a mutiny by his Spanish captains, which he put down by imprisoning his second-in-command. Soon the fleet reached the South American coast, where the weather and the natives were generally friendly. These good conditions caused them to delay, so that the southern winter struck while they were still on the Argentinian coast.

Magellan decided to spend the winter in a place he called Puerto San Julian in Patagonia. Another mutiny occurred here, involving three of the five ships' captains, but it was again put down, because the crew remained loyal, and two expedition leaders (one, a priest) were marooned on that inhospitable coast. One ship, the Santiago,was sent down the coast on a scouting expedition, but it was wrecked on the return trip. Only two sailors returned, overland, to inform Magellan of what had happened. At 'exactly 52° south' latitude, on October 21, 1520 they started an arduous passage through what is now known as the Strait of Magellan. Magellan assigned San Antonio and Concepcion to explore the strait. Their crews concluded they had found the passage, because the waters were brine, deep inland. The four ships thus started the passage, three of them entering the South Pacific on November 28. Magellan named the waters the Pacific Ocean because of their apparent stillness.

Three ships were left now (after Estevan Gomez took the San Antonio and turned back during the Straits passage), crossed the Pacific and on March 6, 1521 found the Marianas and on March 16 the island of Homonhon in the Philippines. By this time, there were 150 crewmen left. Magellan was able to communicate with the native peoples because his Malay interpreter could understand their language. They traded gifts with Rajah Calambu of Limasawa, who guided them to Cebu, on April 7. Rajah Humabon of Cebu was friendly to them, and even agreed to accept Christianity. Magellan died in the Philippines on April 27, at the Battle of Mactan, after intervening with about 50 armored crewmen in a local conflict between Lapu-Lapu of Mactan and Rajah Humabon of Cebu. Eight crewmen died as they faced 1500 warriors. The crew were forced to leave Magellan to die, surrounded by warriors, in the surf.

The three ships fled westward to Palawan, which they left on June 21 1521, where they were guided to Brunei, Borneo by Moro pilots, who could navigate the shallow seas. They anchored off the Brunei breakwater for 35 days, where the Venetian Pigafetta mentions the splendor of Rajah Siripada's court (gold, 2 pearls the size of hens eggs, etc.). In addition, Brunei boasted tame elephants and armament of 62 cannon, more than 5 times the armament of Magellan's ships. Brunei disdained the cloves which were to prove more valuable than gold, upon the return to Spain. Pigafetta mentions some of the technology of the court, such as porcelain (which was not yet widely available in Europe), and spectacles (eye-glasses were only just becoming available in Europe).

After reaching the Moluccas (the Spice Islands) November 6 1521, 115 crew were left. They managed to trade with the Sultan of Tidore, a rival of the Sultan of Ternate, who was the ally of the Portugese.

The Concepcion was abandoned, and her spices were transferred to Victoria and Trinidad, but Trinidad was captured by the Portugese, when attempting to return via the Pacific route. The Victoria set sail via the eastern route home on December 21 1521. By May 6, 1522, the Victoria, commanded by Sebastian Elcano, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, with only rice for rations. Twenty crewmen died of starvation before Elcano put in to the Cape Verde Islands, a Portugese holding, where he abandoned 13 more crewmen July 9 in fear of losing his cargo of 26 tons of spices (cloves and cinnamon). They returned to Spain, on September 6, 1522. The expedition actually eked a small profit, but the crew were not paid their full wages.

Four crewmen of the original 55 on the Trinidad finally returned to Spain in 1525.

• A 'camel without humps' -- which could been the llama, guanaco, or alpaca
• A black 'goose' which had to be skinned instead of plucked -- the penguin
• A 'seawolf', with the head of a calf -- the seal
• Two of our closest galaxies, the Magellanic Clouds, visible from the Southern Hemisphere
• The extent of the Earth -- their voyage was '14,460 leagues' (or 69 000 Km)

Further reading