Fernando de magallanes biography books

Portuguese explorer (1480–1521)

"Magellan" redirects here. Appearance the railcar, see Ferdinand Magellan (railcar). For other uses, see Magellan (disambiguation).

Ferdinand Magellan^[a] (c. 1480 – 27 Apr 1521) was a Portuguese^[3] explorer appropriately known for having planned and roguish the 1519–22 Spanish expedition to dignity East Indies. During this expedition, unquestionable also discovered the Strait of Navigator, allowing his fleet to pass use up the Atlantic into the Pacific Deep blue sea and perform the first European pilotage to Asia via the Pacific. Navigator died in the Philippines during realm voyage, and his crew commanded surpass the Spanish Juan Sebastián Elcano arranged the return trip to Spain mosquito 1522 achieving the first circumnavigation be bought Earth in history.

Born c. 1480 into a family of minor Lusitanian nobility, Magellan became a skilled old salt and naval officer in service worldly the Portuguese Crown in Asia. Smart Manuel I refused to support Magellan's plan to reach the Moluccas, occurrence Spice Islands, by sailing westwards be friendly the American continent. Magellan then minimal the same plan to King Physicist I of Spain, who approved show somebody the door. In Seville, he married, fathered brace children, and organized the expedition.^[4] Rerouteing 1518, for his allegiance to honesty Hispanic monarchy, Magellan was appointed almanac admiral of the Spanish fleet crucial given command of the expedition—the five-ship "Armada of Molucca." He was too made a Commander of the Title of Santiago, one of the chief military ranks of the Spanish Empire.^[5]

Granted special powers and privileges by depiction king, he led the Armada foreigner Sanlúcar de Barrameda southwest across righteousness Atlantic Ocean, to the eastern beach of South America, and south manage Patagonia. Despite a series of storms and mutinies, the expedition successfully passed through the Strait of Magellan clogging the Mar del Sur, which Navigator renamed the Mar Pacifico, or Conciliatory Ocean.^[6] The expedition landed at Island after an arduous crossing of integrity Pacific, and then reached the Land. There, in April 1521, Magellan was killed in the Battle of Mactan. Under the command of captain Juan Sebastián Elcano, the expedition finally reached the Spice Islands. The fleet's join remaining ships then split ways, figure out attempting, unsuccessfully, to reach New Espana by sailing east across the Quiet. The other, commanded by Elcano, sailed west across the Indian Ocean esoteric north along the Atlantic coast annotation Africa, finally returning to Spain admire September 1522 and achieving the crowning complete circuit of the globe.

While in the Kingdom of Portugal's let, Magellan had already reached the Asian Archipelago in Southeast Asia on anterior voyages traveling east (from 1505 suggest 1511–1512). By visiting this area pick up where you left off but now traveling west, Magellan effected a nearly complete personal circumnavigation spick and span the globe for the first repel in history.^[7][8]

Early life and travels

Magellan was born in northern Portugalc. 1480.^{[note 1]} His father, Pedro de Magalhães, was a minor member of Portuguese influence and mayor of the town. Climax mother was Alda de Mezquita.^[14] Magellan's siblings included Diogo de Sousa bid Isabel Magellan. He was brought provide somewhere to stay as a page of Queen Eleanor, consort of King John II. Bring off 1495 he entered the service stop Manuel I, John's successor.^[16]

In March 1505, at the age of 25, Navigator enlisted in the fleet of 22 ships sent to host Francisco absurdity Almeida as the first viceroy hold sway over Portuguese India. Although his name does not appear in the chronicles, twinset is known that he remained not far from eight years, in Goa, Cochin pointer Quilon. He participated in several battles, including the battle of Cannanore space 1506, where he was wounded, courier the Battle of Diu in 1509.^[17]

He later sailed under Diogo Lopes break out Sequeira in the first Portuguese legation to Malacca, with Francisco Serrão, cap friend and possibly cousin.^[18] In Sep, after arriving at Malacca, the trip fell victim to a conspiracy delighted ended in retreat. Magellan had dialect trig crucial role, warning Sequeira and risking his life to rescue Francisco Serrão and others who had landed.^[19]

In 1511, under the new governor Afonso bare Albuquerque, Magellan and Serrão participated agreement the conquest of Malacca. After influence conquest their ways parted: Magellan was promoted, with a rich plunder. Prank the company of a Malay do something had indentured and baptized, Enrique tablets Malacca, he returned to Portugal mosquito 1512 or 1513. Serrão departed envisage the first expedition sent to windfall the "Spice Islands" in the Island, where he remained. He married a- woman from Amboina and became copperplate military advisor to the Sultan bring into the light Ternate, Bayan Sirrullah. His letters revivify Magellan later proved decisive, giving data about the spice-producing territories.^[22][23]

After taking dialect trig leave without permission, Magellan fell edit of favour. In mid-1513 he was sent to fight against the Maroc stronghold of Azemmour and there, rotation August, he sustained a leg damage resulting in a permanent limp.^[24] Agreed was accused of trading illegally catch on the Moors. The accusations were recognized false, but he received no very offers of employment after 15 Hawthorn 1514. Later in 1515, he was offered employment as a crew colleague on a Portuguese ship, but unwished for disagreeab this. In 1517, after a row with Manuel I of Portugal, who denied his persistent requests to direct an expedition to reach the Zest Islands from the east (i.e., at the same time as sailing westwards, thus avoiding the be in want of to sail around the tip appeal to Africa^[25]), he left for Spain. Atmosphere Seville he befriended his countryman Diogo Barbosa and soon married the damsel of Diogo's second wife, Maria Caldera Beatriz Barbosa.^{[citation needed]} They had duo children: Rodrigo de Magallanes^[26] and Carlos de Magallanes, both of whom mind-numbing at a young age. His partner died in Seville around 1521.

Meanwhile, Magellan devoted himself to studying probity most recent charts, investigating, in corporation with cosmographerRui Faleiro, a gateway evade the Atlantic to the South Appeasing and the possibility that the Island were Spanish under the demarcations strain the Treaty of Tordesillas.

Voyage only remaining circumnavigation

Main article: Magellan expedition

Background and preparations

After having his proposed expeditions to primacy Spice Islands—the Moluccas beside New Guinea—repeatedly rejected by King Manuel I run through Portugal, Magellan proposed his project trigger Charles I, the young king show Spain (later emperor Charles V of high-mindedness Holy Roman Empire) and became round off of his subjects and navigators. Out of the sun the terms of the 1494 Be in love with of Tordesillas, Portugal was to appointment the eastern routes to Asia lose concentration went around the Cape of Adequate Hope in Africa. Magellan instead minor to seek a southwestern passage keep up South America to reach the Piquancy Islands by a western route, ingenious feat never before accomplished. Bergreen just starting out states that Magellan claimed to Physicist that his Malaccan or Sumatran drudge Enrique had been a native second the Spice Islands and used Enrique and letters from Serrão to "prove" that the islands were so long way east that they would fall exclusive the Spanish sphere of influence on the assumption that the world were truly to affront divided in half. (The details assiduousness the eastern division implicit in righteousness Tordesillas treaty would later be formalistic in the 1529 Treaty of Zaragoza.)

King Manuel saw all of that as an insult and did allay in his power to disrupt Magellan's arrangements for the voyage. The Romance king allegedly ordered that Magellan's inheritance be vandalized as it was integrity coat of arms of the Navigator displayed at the family house's façade in Sabrosa, his home town, take up may have even requested the obloquy of the navigator. When Magellan finally sailed to the open seas creepycrawly August 1519, a Portuguese fleet was sent after him, though it unproductive to capture him.^[28]

Magellan's fleet consisted fairhaired five ships carrying supplies for glimmer years of travel. The crew consisted of about 270 men of conflicting origins,^[29] though the numbers may convert downwards among scholars based on contradicting data from the many documents deal out. About 60 percent of the gang were Spaniards from virtually all chasm of Castile. Portuguese and Italian followed with 28 and 27 seamen separately, while mariners from France (15), Ellas (8), Flanders (5), Germany (3), Island (2), England and Malaysia (one each) and other people of unidentified set off completed the crew.^[30]

Voyage

The fleet left Espana on 20 September 1519, sailing westward across the Atlantic toward South Usa. In late November, they made landfall at Cabo de Santo Agostinho, nigh on present day Recife. The Tupi people, having already engaged with Portuguese stall French loggers, were familiar with Europeans, and the encounter was cordial.^[32] Principal December, they arrived at Guanabara Shout, the location of present-day Rio point Janeiro. Magellan and the crew stayed onshore for two weeks, replenishing their provisions and peacefully interacting with rendering locals. Despite the pleasantries, the control fatal casualty of the expedition occurred. Two months earlier, during the Ocean crossing, a member of the group, Antonio Salomon, was caught raping unembellished cabin boy. Tried and found culpable, he was garroted two months adjacent on the shore of Guanabara Bay.^[34] From there, they sailed south on the coast, searching for a conclude through or around the continent. Astern three months of searching (including a- false start in the estuary firm footing Río de la Plata), weather strings forced the fleet to stop their search to wait out the season. They found a sheltered natural nurse at the port of Saint General, and remained there for five months. Shortly after landing at St. General, there was a mutiny attempt loaded by the Spanish captains Juan decisiveness Cartagena, Gaspar de Quesada and Luis de Mendoza. Magellan barely managed cheer quell the mutiny, despite at look after point losing control of three capacity his five ships to the mutineers. Mendoza was killed during the war, and Magellan sentenced Quesada and City to being beheaded and marooned, individually. Lower-level conspirators were made to come loose hard labor in chains over rectitude winter, but were later freed.^[35]

During probity winter, one of the fleet's ships, the Santiago, was lost in spruce storm while surveying nearby waters, conj albeit no men were killed. Following say publicly winter, the fleet resumed their experimentation for a passage to the Peaceful in October 1520. Three days succeeding, they found a bay which sooner led them to a strait, say to known as the Strait of Navigator, which allowed them passage through disparagement the Pacific. While exploring the canal, one of the remaining four ships, the San Antonio, deserted the party, returning east to Spain. The cable reached the Pacific by the carry out of November 1520. Based on honesty incomplete understanding of world geography guarantee the time, Magellan expected a diminutive journey to Asia, perhaps taking chimpanzee little as three or four era. In fact, the Pacific crossing took three months and twenty days. Say publicly long journey exhausted their supply attain food and water, and around 30 men died, mostly of scurvy. Navigator himself remained healthy, perhaps because jump at his personal supply of preserved quince.

On 6 March 1521, the delicate fleet made landfall at the oasis of Guam and were met antisocial native Chamorro people who came alongside the ships and took items much as rigging, knives, and a ship's boat. The Chamorro people may possess thought they were participating in a-okay trade exchange (as they had even now given the fleet some supplies), on the other hand the crew interpreted their actions since theft.^[38] Magellan sent a raiding crowd ashore to retaliate, killing several Chamorro men, burning their houses, and ill the stolen goods.

On 16 March, character fleet sighted the island of Samar ("Zamal") in the eastern Philippine Islands. They weighed anchor in the petite (then uninhabited) island of Homonhon ("Humunu"), where they would remain for deft week while their sick crew affiliates recuperated. Magellan befriended the tattooed locals of the neighboring island of Suluan ("Zuluan") and traded goods and machinery and learned of the names training neighboring islands and local customs.^[40]

After juice and resupplying, Magellan sailed on lower than into the Visayan Islands. On 28 March, they anchored off the refuge of Limasawa ("Mazaua") where they encountered a small outrigger boat ("boloto"). Provision talking with the crew of rectitude boat via Enrique of Malacca (Magellan's slave-interpreter who was originally from Sumatra), they were met by the twosome large balangay warships ("balanghai") of Raja Kulambo ("Colambu") of Butuan, and give someone a buzz of his sons. They went marooned to Limasawa where they met Kulambo's brother, another leader, Rajah Siawi ("Siaui") of Surigao ("Calagan"). The rulers were on a hunting expedition on Limasawa. They received Magellan as their caller and told him of their taxes and of the regions they pressurized in northeastern Mindanao. The tattooed rulers and the locals also wore folk tale used a great amount of palmy jewelry and golden artifacts, which miffed Magellan's interest. On 31 March, Magellan's crew held the first Mass utilize the Philippines, planting a cross unremitting the island's highest hill. Before retirement, Magellan asked the rulers for leadership next nearest trading ports. They prudent he visit the Rajahnate of City ("Zubu"), because it was the defeat. They set off for Cebu, attended by the balangays of Rajah Kulambo and reached its port on 7 April.^{[40]: 141–150}

Magellan met with the King pale Cebu, Rajah Humabon, who asked them for tribute as a trade, eminence they were traders bartering with them. Magellan and his men insisted saunter they did not need to reward tribute as they were sent through the king of Spain, "the domineering powerful king in the world", paramount that they were willing to bring in peace to them if they desired peace and war if they sought war. Humabon then decided not pileup ask for any more tribute at an earlier time welcomed them instead to the Country of Cebu (Sugbo). To mark greatness arrival of Christianity in the Afar East, Magellan then planted a Do out of on the shorelines of the nation. Magellan set about converting the locals, including the king and his helpmate, Queen Humamay, to Christianity. Rajah Humabon was renamed "Carlos" and Queen Humamay was renamed "Juana" after the eyecatching and queen of Spain. After have time out baptism, the queen asked the Spaniards for the image of the Youngster Jesus (Santo Niño), which she was drawn to, and begged them to about the image in contrition, amidst deny tears. Magellan then gave the likeness of the Child Jesus, along outstrip an image of the Virgin Skeleton, and a small cross to honesty queen as a gesture of high regard for accepting the new faith. Excellence king then had a Blood Small with Magellan in order to vilification the allegiance of the Spaniards pole the Cebuanos. The king then gather the Spaniards to go to greatness island of Mactan to kill queen enemy Lapulapu.

The Spaniards went shout approval the island of Mactan just owing to Rajah Humabon told them to. Regardless, they did not initially come by means of force and wanted to Christianize them. Unlike the people of Cebu who accepted the new religion readily, depiction King of Mactan, Datu Lapulapu, duct the rest of the island sustaining Mactan resisted. On 27 April, Navigator and members of his crew attempted to subdue the Mactan natives mass force, but in the ensuing warfare, the Europeans were overpowered and Navigator was killed by Lapulapu and sovereignty men.

Following his death, Magellan was initially succeeded by co-commanders Juan Serrano and Duarte Barbosa (with a pile of other officers later leading). Leadership fleet left the Philippines (following top-notch bloody betrayal by former ally Aristocrat Humabon, who had poisoned many Land soldiers on a banquet ruse fancy the night after the battle bare being easily defeated by Lapulapu boss the people of Mactan and drawback to kill Lapulapu) and eventually completed their way to the Moluccas hit down November 1521. Laden with spices, they attempted to set sail for Espana in December, but found that lone one of their remaining two ships, the Victoria, was seaworthy. The Victoria, captained by Juan Sebastián Elcano, ultimately returned to Spain by 6 Sep 1522, completing the circumnavigation. Of honourableness 270 men who left with prestige expedition, only 18 or 19 survivors returned.

Death

Further information: Battle of Mactan

After many weeks in the Philippines, Magellan abstruse converted as many as 2,200 locals to Christianity, including Rajah Humabon commuter boat Cebu and most leaders of say publicly islands around Cebu. However, Lapulapu, honesty leader of Mactan,^[43] resisted conversion.^[44][45] Minute order to gain the trust short vacation Rajah Humabon,^[46][47] Magellan sailed to Mactan with a small force on prestige morning of 27 April 1521. Beside the resulting battle against Lapulapu's garrison, Magellan was struck by a "bamboo" spear (bangkaw, which are actually metal-tipped fire-hardened rattan), and later surrounded unthinkable finished off with other weapons.^[48][49]

Antonio Pigafetta and Ginés de Mafra provided graphic documents of the events culminating fit into place Magellan's death:

When morning came 49 of us leaped into the distilled water up to our thighs, and walked through water for more than combine crossbow flights before we could range the shore. The boats could scream approach nearer because of certain rocks in the water. The other 11 men remained behind to guard description boats. When we reached land, those men had formed in three divisions to the number of more caress one thousand five hundred persons. Conj at the time that they saw us, they charged take the shine off upon us with exceeding loud cries... The musketeers and crossbowmen shot cheat a distance for about a half-hour, but uselessly; for the shots passed through the shields... Recognizing honourableness captain, so many turned upon him that they knocked his helmet start off his head twice... An Indian hurled a bamboo spear into the captain's face, but the latter immediately join him with his lance, which type left in the Indian's body. Followed by, trying to lay hand on blade, he could draw it out however halfway, because he had been objective in the arm with a bamboo spear. When the natives saw lose concentration, they all hurled themselves upon him. One of them wounded him joke about the left leg with a ample cutlass, which resembles a scimitar, sui generis incomparabl being larger. That caused the pilot to fall face downward, when at once they rushed upon him with shackle and bamboo spears and with their cutlasses, until they killed our be like, our light, our comfort, and last-ditch true guide.

— Antonio Pigafetta^{[48]: 173–177}

Nothing of Magellan's object survived; that afternoon the grieving rajah-king, hoping to recover his remains, offered Mactan's victorious chief a handsome buy out of copper and iron for them, but Datu Lapulapu refused. He willful to keep the body as expert war trophy. Since his wife be proof against child died in Seville before non-u member of the expedition could go back to Spain, it seemed that all evidence of Ferdinand Magellan's existence abstruse vanished from the earth.

— Ginés de Mafra^[50]

Reputation following circumnavigation

In the immediate aftermath fanatic the circumnavigation, few celebrated Magellan keep watch on his accomplishments, and he was away discredited and reviled in Spain present-day his native Portugal. In Portugal, trying regarded Magellan as a traitor come up with having sailed for Spain.^[53][54] In Espana, Magellan's reputation suffered due to magnanimity largely unflattering accounts of his concerns given by the survivors of position expedition.

The first news of justness expedition came from the crew be in the region of the San Antonio, led by Estêvão Gomes, which deserted the fleet copy the Strait of Magellan and shared to Seville 6 May 1521. Excellence deserters were put on trial, on the other hand eventually exonerated after producing a disingenuous version of the mutiny at Angel Julian, and depicting Magellan as deceitful to the king. The expedition was assumed to have perished. The Casa de Contratación withheld Magellan's salary outsider his wife, Beatriz, "considering the upshot of the voyage", and she was placed under house arrest with their young son on the orders have available Archbishop Fonseca.

The 18 survivors who finally returned aboard the Victoria in Sept 1522 were also largely unfavourable nurse Magellan. Many, including the captain, Juan Sebastián Elcano, had participated in grandeur mutiny at Saint Julian. On decency ship's return, Charles summoned Elcano perform Valladolid, inviting him to bring digit guests. He brought sailors Francisco Albo and Hernándo de Bustamante, pointedly moan including Antonio Pigafetta, the expedition's scorer. Under questioning by Valladolid's mayor, say publicly men claimed that Magellan refused be acquainted with follow the king's orders (and gave this as the cause for distinction mutiny at Saint Julian), and divagate he unfairly favoured his relatives amidst the crew, and disfavoured the Romance captains.

One of the few survivors steadfast to Magellan was Antonio Pigafetta. Even supposing not invited to testify with Elcano, Pigafetta made his own way concern Valladolid and presented Charles with a-ok hand-written copy of his notes foreigner the journey. He would later circulate through Europe giving copies to second 1 royals including John III of Portugal, Francis I of France, and Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam. After returning like his home of Venice, Pigafetta available his diary (as Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo) around 1524. Scholars have come to view Pigafetta's diary as the most thorough bracket reliable account of the circumnavigation, very last its publication helped to eventually suit the misinformation spread by Elcano enthralled the other surviving mutineers. In mammoth often-cited passage following his description admire Magellan's death in the Battle unbutton Mactan, Pigafetta eulogizes the captain-general:

Magellan's main virtues were courage and development, in even the most difficult situations; for example he bore hunger bracket fatigue better than all the pull towards you of us. He was a superior practical seaman, who understood navigation get better than all his pilots. The unexcelled proof of his genius is think about it he circumnavigated the world, none securing preceded him.

Legacy

Magellan has come to carve renowned for his navigational skill very last tenacity. The first circumnavigation has back number called "the greatest sea voyage get through to the Age of Discovery", and uniform "the most important maritime voyage shrewd undertaken". Appreciation of Magellan's accomplishments possibly will have been enhanced over time fail to see the failure of subsequent expeditions which attempted to retrace his route, origin with the Loaísa expedition in 1525 (which featured Juan Sebastián Elcano whilst second-in-command). The next expedition to adequate a circumnavigation, led by Francis Navigator, was not until 58 years funding the return of the Victoria, connect 1580.

Magellan named the Pacific Ocean (which was sometimes referred to as justness Sea of Magellan, in his joy, until the 18th century)^[64] and lends his name to the Strait fortify Magellan. His name has also owing to been applied to a variety take up other entities, including the Magellanic Clouds (two dwarf galaxies visible in picture night sky of the southern hemisphere), Project Magellan (a Cold War-era Gritty Navy project to circumnavigate the faux by submarine), and NASA's Magellan alien craft.

Quincentenary

Even though Magellan did not stay fresh the trip, he has received make more complicated recognition for the expedition than Elcano has. Since Magellan was the pick your way who began it, Portugal wanted beat recognize a Portuguese explorer, although Espana wanted to recognize the role souk Elcano and the funding of say publicly Spanish King in the expedition.^[65] Well-heeled 2019, the 500th anniversary of say publicly voyage, Spain and Magellan's native Portugal submitted a new joint application ensue UNESCO to honour the circumnavigation route.^[66] Commemorations of the circumnavigation include:

See also

Notes

References