Ferdinand Magellan

Ella Beidler

In my paper, I seek to determine why Ferdinand Magellan had the greatest success during
the Age of Exploration. The Age of Exploration mainly took place after the Renaissance; it was a
time when European countries such as Portugal, Spain, England, and the Netherlands sailed the
unchartered seas in search for a direct route to Asia. The motivation to find this sea route was
because these countries wanted to have direct access to spices such as cloves and nutmeg, which
were highly valued at the time. Brave men set out to find this sea route to claim fame and fortune
for themselves and their country. Doing this, Europeans found more than just sea routes, they
found new and undiscovered territories. Ferdinand Magellan was one of the many explorers who
sailed west and eventually impacted the world. I argue that Ferdinand Magellan had the greatest
success because he had circumnavigated the world. I will prove this by analyzing how his
expedition changed European view of Earth, his many geographical discoveries along the way
that are still recognized in this century, and how he was credited as a famous explorer today.
First, I seek to interpret how Ferdinand Magellan changed the way Europeans viewed the
Earth. Before Magellans voyage, Europeans had an inaccurate view of the Earth. Many
explorers underestimated the size of the Earth when they set out to sea, Ferdinand was one of
them. In fact, he and his crew were not fully prepared for the journey as they sailed for months
longer than they expected. According to history.com, Little was known about the geography
beyond South America at that time, and Magellan optimistically estimated that the trip across the
Pacific would be rapid. In fact it took three months for the fleet to make its way slowly across the
vast Mar Pacifico. Another way Magellan changed the Europe was that he proved that the
Earth was not flat. By sailing around the globe, Magellan discredited the medieval theory for

good. These discoveries helped Europeans overall because it improved maps and sea charts that
would later benefit other explorers who changed history.
Secondly, I seek to explain how Ferdinand Magellan found and named geographic
regions that we recognize on our maps today. On his journey out west, Magellan followed
Christopher Columbus trail to the Caribbean and sailed south along the coast of South America.
He reached the southern tip of South America and sailed through a strait that eventually led them
to a new ocean. Ferdinand named this the Strait of Magellan, after himself. Another geographical
area Ferdinand named was the Pacific Ocean. According to history.com, They were the first
known Europeans to see the great ocean, which Magellan named Mar Pacifico, the Pacific
Ocean, for its apparent peacefulness, a stark contrast to the dangerous waters of the strait from
which he had just emerged. Magellan and his crew were the first people ever to sail on the
Pacific Ocean and eventually reach India. Today, Ferdinand Magellan has left his legacy in
history as his accomplishments are still recognized and preserved today such as the names of the
lands and seas he had discovered.
Finally, I seek to identify how Magellan made history by successfully circumnavigating
the globe. Before Magellan, explorers were mainly focused on pursuing Bartolomeu Dias route
around Africa to get to India. When Christopher Columbus discovered the West Indies, it was
Magellan who decided to take a step further and to sail into uncharted territory. He sailed for
months until sadly, Magellan was killed in an attack. Taken from history.com, Magellan never
made it to the Spice Islands, but after a loss of yet another of his fleets vessels, the two
remaining ships finally reached the Moluccas on November 5, 1521. In the end, only the Victoria
completed the voyage around the world and arrived back in Seville Spain, in September 1522
with a heavy cargo of spices but with only eighteen men from the original crew. Despite not

surviving the voyage, Ferdinand Magellan is still credited for being the first to sail around the
globe. This is because without his curiosity and courageousness, his fleet would have never
reached its final destination. Without this discovery, people today would have never thought of
sailing around the world because they wouldnt have known it was possible without him.
Overall, these discoveries have made Ferdinand Magellan an important part in our
history. His discoveries are what made him a success to this day. He did this by not only by being
the first person ever to circumnavigate the world, but also improving European knowledge of the
world by proving that the Earth is much larger and rounder than previously thought. He also
discovered geographical parts of the world such as the Pacific Ocean and the Strait of Magellan.
As history.com puts it, Seeking riches and personal glory, Magellans daring and ambitious
voyage around the world provided the Europeans with far more than just spices. Although the
trip westward from Europe to the East via the Strait of Magellan had been discovered and
mapped, the journey was too long and dangerous to become a practical route to the Spice Islands.
Nevertheless European geographic knowledge was expanded immeasurable by Magellans
expedition Without Magellan sailing the world, people would see the planet differently than
how it is seen today.