VOYAGE OF MAGELLAN

FERDINAND MAGELLAN

• was born in the Portuguese town of Sabrosa in or around 1480.

• 1480 – 27 April 1521

• a Portuguese explorer who organized the Spanish expedition to the East Indies from 1519 to
1522, resulting in the first circumnavigation of the Earth.

• The first circumnavigation has been called "the greatest sea voyage in the Age of Discovery"

MAGELLAN’S EXPEDITION

• After King Manuel I of Portugal refused to support his plan to reach India by a new route, by
sailing around the southern end of the South American continent, he was eventually selected by
King Charles I of Spain to search for a westward route to the Maluku Islands (the "Spice
Islands"). Commanding a fleet of five vessels, he headed south through the Atlantic Ocean to
Patagonia. Despite a series of storms and mutinies, they made it through the Strait of
Magellan into a body of water he named the "peaceful sea" (the modern Pacific Ocean).

• The expedition reached the Philippine islands, where Magellan was killed during the Battle of
Mactan. The expedition later reached the Spice Islands in 1521 and one of the surviving ships
eventually returned home via the Indian Ocean, completing the first circuit of the globe.

• Magellan had already reached the Malay Archipelago in Southeast Asia on previous voyages
traveling east (from 1505 to 1511–1512). By visiting this area again but now travelling west,
Magellan achieved a nearly complete personal circumnavigation of the globe for the first time in
history.

THE FIVE VESSELS

• On Aug. 10, 1519, Magellan set sail with 270 men and five ships:

• Trinidad (commanded by Magellan)

• San Antonio

• Victoria

• Conception

• Santiago

- The Santiago, was lost in a storm while surveying nearby waters, though no men were killed.

- From Spain, the fleet sailed to Brazil and then headed south, hugging the coast.

- Magellan barely managed to quell the mutiny, despite at one point losing control of three of his five
ships to the mutineers.
TREATY OF TORDESILLAS

• signed at Tordesillas in Spain on June 7, 1494

• divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Portuguese Empire and
the Spanish Empire.

• The treaty was signed by Spain, 2 July 1494, and by Portugal, 5 September 1494. The other side
of the world was divided a few decades later by the Treaty of Zaragoza.

MAGELLAN’S DEATH

• After several weeks in the Philippines, Magellan had converted as many as 2,200 locals to
Christianity, including Rajah Humabon of Cebu and most leaders of the islands around Cebu.
However, the island of Mactan, led by Lapu lapu, resisted conversion. In order to gain the trust
of Rajah Humabon, Magellan sailed to Mactan with a small force on the morning of 27 April
1521. During the resulting battle against Lapu-lapu's troops, Magellan was struck by a bamboo
spear, and later surrounded and finished off with other weapons.

• Battle of Mactan

• Nothing of Magellan's body survived, that afternoon the grieving rajah-king, hoping to recover
his remains, offered Mactan's victorious chief a handsome ransom of copper and iron for them
but Datu Lapu-lapu refused. He intended to keep the body as a war trophy.

18 SURVIVORS

• The 18 survivors who eventually returned aboard the Victoria in September 1522 were also
largely unfavorable to Magellan. Many, including the captain, Juan Sebastián Elcano, had
participated in the mutiny at Saint Julian. Under questioning by Valladolid's mayor, the men
claimed that Magellan refused to follow the king's orders, and that he unfairly favored his
relatives among the crew, and disfavored the Spanish captains.

• One of the few survivors loyal to Magellan was Antonio Pigafetta. Though not invited to testify
with Elcano, Pigafetta made his own way to Valladolid and presented Charles with a hand-
written copy of his notes from the journey. After returning to Venice, Pigafetta published his
diary around 1524. Scholars have come to view Pigafetta's diary as the most thorough and
reliable account of the circumnavigation, and its publication helped to eventually counter the
misinformation spread by Elcano and the other surviving mutineers.