At the very beginning of the autumn of 1522, a ship arrived at the port of Seville, which the city had already forgotten about. 18 emaciated, dying sailors made up his entire crew. This ship has returned from a voyage that changed the course of history and influenced the way we live today.
Three years earlier, 5 ships under the command of Magellan went in search of an unknown strait. Many doubted the success of the expedition. Nevertheless, Ferdinand Magellan fulfilled the dream of Columbus - he reached the East by sailing to the west, although this journey cost him his life.
Somewhere in Portugal
There are many white spots in the biography of Ferdinand Magellan. So, historians know very little about the childhood and family of the future navigator. Even the place of his birth cannot be precisely determined, only the year - 1480 and the country - Portugal. From about the age of 10, this descendant of an impoverished noble family served as a page in the retinue of Leonora, Queen of Portugal, where he received an education.
Instead of swordsmanship and court etiquette, the young page was interested in navigation,astronomy and cosmography. He was sullen, unsociable, strong, squat and, like many people of short stature, ambitious. Outwardly, Ferdinand was more like a commoner than a descendant of a noble knightly family. His lifetime images have not been preserved, but there is a portrait of Ferdinand Magellan (photo below), written in the 17th century.
Serving in the Navy
Believing that a person should be judged not by title and appearance, but by his actions, at the age of 25, Ferdinand traded court life for service in the Portuguese navy. Volunteering on his first journey, Magellan traveled to India and Malaysia. During a military expedition, he was promoted to officer for his prudence and courage. However, after 8 years, he had to retire due to a severe leg injury. He returned to Portugal but received a cold reception at the royal court.
New travel idea
Magellan found himself practically without money and honors, he was en titled to only a meager pension. It was then that he was captured by the idea, sailing from east to west, to open the shortest route to the Moluccas, which were famous for their spices. In that era, in Europe, nutmeg and pepper were valued on a par with gold.
However, Manuel, the king of Portugal, who equipped ships for sailing the well-known route (around Africa), considered Magellan's bold project unprofitable. Then Ferdinand went to the service of the King of Spain Charles, whom he was able to convince of the success of the upcoming expedition.
In 1494, the Pope divided the world between two maritime powers: Portugal received the entire East, and Spain the West. Magellan's idea was to find a way to the Moluccas through "Spanish" western waters. It was a daring plan, because no one had gone through this path before, no one even knew for sure if it existed. But if it is found, then Spain will become an incredibly rich country, and the discoverer himself will not remain in the loser.
Only hypotheses
Why Ferdinand Magellan thought it was possible to reach the Moluccas by sailing west, explorers don't know. Some believe that he found an old German map in the royal archives, on which he discovered a strait connecting the unknown southern sea with the Atlantic Ocean.
Others believe that Magellan only relied on rumors that replaced sailors in those days with navigation. It is possible that he was simply bluffing in order to get the support of the Spanish king. Magellan himself never shared this information with anyone.
Start of expedition
Going on a trip, Ferdinand Magellan received command of 5 carracks - ships designed for a long voyage. The route was supposed to take the expedition from familiar waters to unknown ones. Many thought it was impossible. There were no descriptions of those seas, no accurate maps, nothing to help sailors navigate. Such an undertaking required remarkable courage. And Magellan, fearing that many will refuseto accompany him on the long voyage he intended to undertake, did not fully reveal his plans.
At the end of September 1519, five Spanish ships left the port of Seville. At that time, Magellan was 37 years old. At the port, he was accompanied by his pregnant wife, Beatrice, with her recently born son. They did not yet know that they were not destined to meet again.
From Spain to the end of the known world
It would be wrong to think that Ferdinand Magellan went on a trip around the world. He did not set such a goal for himself, his plan was purely commercial.
Shortly after sailing, the weather worsened. The chronicler of the expedition, Antonio Pigafetta, then wrote in his diaries:
Since it was not possible to move forward, the sails were removed to avoid a shipwreck, and in this way we were carried back and forth all the time the storm continued, so furious was she. When it rained, the wind died down. As the sun came up, there was a lull.
After 4 months, a small flotilla reached the shores of South America. She anchored in the bay where Rio de Janeiro would later be founded. Having replenished their water and provisions, the expedition members sailed south, observing many amazing and strange things along the way:
There are countless parrots here; we were given eight pieces in exchange for one mirror. There are also small monkeys, similar to lions, but yellow and very beautiful. The natives bake round white bread from the pulp that is between the wood and the bark and resembles fermented milk; he is not very goodto taste. There is a pig with a navel on its back, as well as large birds without a tongue, but with beaks like spoons.
They finally reached the borders of the then-known world. Not a single European has climbed so far before. It seemed that this is where the strait would be found, since the coastline turned sharply to the west, and land was no longer visible in the south. Nevertheless, after 2 weeks of research, it turned out that it was not a strait, but a giant bay - the mouth of the La Plata river system. Magellan's faith in the existence of the strait was shaken, but he still decided to go where no one had been before. So they sailed south along the desert coast called Patagonia.
Suppression of the rebellion
On the last day of March 1520, the flotilla of Ferdinand Magellan took refuge in San Julian Bay (1600 km from Antarctica). The ship sent from here to reconnaissance crashed. The members of the expedition suffered from hunger, fatigue, cold and loss of spirit. When Magellan had to cut his rations and announce wintering, the captains of the ships demanded a return to Spain.
Ultimately, distrust of the secretive Portuguese and the difficulties of navigation resulted in a mutiny. Magellan strengthened his authority in the usual way in those days: he ordered the death of one of the rebel captains. After that, Magellan took control of the ship, the crew of which surrendered to his mercy, and blocked the exit of other ships from the bay. Thus the rebellion was put down. Among the rebellious Spanish officers was the young navigator Juan SebastianElcano. He, like others, was forgiven, and in the future he played an important role in this epochal voyage.
Ferdinand Magellan: what he discovered
After 7 months of wintering, four ships set off again along the coast, exploring numerous bays. Finally, the sailors found a whalebone - a sign that the open sea lies ahead. When the target was close, the crew of the San Antonio, taking advantage of the thick fog, turned back and headed for Spain.
It took Magellan more than a year to find the desired strait after sailing from Seville. On October 21, after a persistent search, his expedition nevertheless entered the rocky narrow strait between Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia, later called Magellanic.
For another month, the little flotilla zigzag among the numerous islands, until finally it came out into the open waters. The unknown ocean met them with silence and bright sun. For this he was named Quiet.
Travel to the Philippines
Magellan in December 1520 led his small flotilla to the northwest, but this was not the way to the islands, but to the very heart of the Pacific Ocean. The captain made the mistake of thinking he was 3 days sailing from the Moluccas. His conclusions were based on the maps of that time, based on the calculations of the circumference of the earth, made by Ptolemy. Magellan had to find out that the great Greek was mistaken for 11 thousand km. Instead of 3 days, they sailed for 5 months until they saw land. It was the Philippines. The Spice Islands were only a week's sail from here.
Fatalsolution
Instead of sailing to the Moluccas, Magellan began missionary work. In order to convince the natives to accept a new religion, it was necessary to demonstrate the invincibility of the Christian Spaniards. This was demonstrated, of course, by force of arms. Cannon shots frightened the locals and forced them to recognize the power of the aliens.
Simultaneously with the baptism, Ferdinand Magellan demanded that the natives now accept not only dependence on Spain, but also a way of life according to the new rules. Thus, the foundations of the colonization of the Philippines were laid.
But in April 1521, the captain made a fatal decision: in order to strengthen his authority in the eyes of the local leader, he set out to attack his opponent from Mactan Island, who refused to be baptized. Today, an annual show is played out in front of tourists at the place where the natives and Spanish sailors under the command of Magellan met. They fought bravely, but the islanders outnumbered them. The body of the deceased Magellan was dismembered and buried in different places on Mactan Island.
Long way home
Magellan did not go around the world, he did not even swim to the Moluccas. The remaining team on 2 ships went to the Moluccas, where they loaded the holds with expensive goods. But to become rich, it was still necessary to return to Spain. They had to make a choice which way to sail home.
The ship "Trinidad" headed east across the Pacific Ocean, but was soon captured by the Portuguese. They looted the cargothe ship was burned, and the crew was thrown into prison.
"Victoria" under the command of Elcano sailed to the west. The sailors were separated from their homeland by 20 thousand km, and the path passed through the sphere of influence of the Portuguese. To avoid capture, Elcano sailed the ship through uncharted waters. The sailors had to endure severe storms, they were running out of provisions. Most of the crew never made it to their native Spain, dying at sea from starvation and scurvy. Starving, sick sailors without provisions and supplies of drinking water ate wormy crackers and cowhide from sails. The most agile hunted ship rats, then selling their meat to their comrades for half a ducat of gold.
Out of 240 sailors who set off on a journey in 1519, 18 returned to Seville in 1522, making the first trip around the world. For this, Elcano received from the King of Spain a coat of arms with a globe and the inscription "You were the first to go around me." Even today it is not easy to make such a voyage, to say nothing of the beginning of the 16th century.
Expedition results
Despite the fact that he failed to complete the voyage, Ferdinand Magellan went down in history as one of the legendary sailors. The Victoria became the first ship to circumnavigate the globe. During the voyage, new trade routes were mapped, the Pacific Ocean was discovered and crossed, and the actual size of the Earth was clarified. In addition, Magellan's journey proved the theory that the earth is spherical. And the strait he discovered for the next four centuries was the main sea route to the Pacific Ocean until the construction of the Panamachannel at the beginning of the last century.
