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FERDINAND MAGELLAN (1480?-1521) Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese sea captain who commanded the ship that was the first to sail around the world. He first went to sea in 1505. He was interested in the way that Columbus sailed and as a result he studied Columbus's maps of that route for many years.
In 1513 Magellan asked King Manuel's permission to sail to the Spice Islands. His best maps convinced him that he could sail to the Spice Island by going south of South America. He thought that that route would be shorter than the Eastward trip to the southern tip of Africa and across the Pacific Ocean. Manuel (the king) refused because he didn't like Magellan.
Magellan then studied astronomy and navigation for about two years. He met a man named Ruy Falesrio who enjoyed listening to what Magellan had to say. He influenced Magellan's life and in a way became Magellan's partner. They finished their studies on the territory of the Spice Islands that was awarded to Spain in 1494.
In 1517 Magellan went back to Spain and presented the information he had learned about the territory of the Spice Islands. The year after that, Magellan convinced Charles I of Spain to support his voyage. The king promised Magellan one fifth of the profits from the voyage to the Spice Islands.
Getting the voyage ready took more that a year. The voyage began on September 20,1519. His first destination was southern Spain. From his ship Magellan commanded a total of 241 men and a fleet of five ships. The fleet sailed across the Atlantic ocean and the ships followed the South American coast. They landed on the bay where Rio de Janeiro now stands. They remained there for two weeks and then sailed south to find a passage to the Pacific Ocean. However, they could not find the passage before the end of summer in the southern hemisphere.
In late March 1520, Magellan's fleet anchored for the winter at Puerto San Julian in what is now southern Argentina. During the winter a storm destroyed the Santiago. In addition, a mutiny broke out shortly after the men set up their winter quarters. Magellan and his crew resumed their voyage on Oct. 18,1520.
They were the first Europeans ever to sail across the Pacific, and it was far larger then anyone had imagined. They went for 98 days without seeing any land and ran out of food and used almost all their water. They ate rats and sawdust to avoid starvation. 19 men died before they reached Guam on March 6,1521. Conflicts with the people of Guam and the nearby islands prevented Magellan from fully resupplying his ships. The crew finally got enough food to set out for the Philippines.
Magellan and his crew stayed in the Philippines for many weeks and they got to know the islanders very well. On April 27, 1521, Ferdinand Magellan was killed when he took part in a battle between rival Filipino groups on the island of Mactan.
After the battle only about 110 of the original members remained. That was not enough to sail three ships. Therefore they abandoned one of the ships called, Conception. The two remaining ships sailed to the Spice Islands. At the Spice Islands the ships were loaded up with spices for the trip back.
The ship called the Trindad sailed eastward to the Pacific Ocean and was caught in really bad weather. More that half of the crew members died. The rest of the group was forced to return to the Spice Islands and the Portuguese imprisoned them.
The last ship that was remaining was named theVictoria. That ship continued back to Spain. The Victoria experienced many hardship and many of the crew members died of malnutrition and starvation. On September 6,1522 they reached Sanlucar de Barrameda nearly three years after the voyage started. Only Del Cano and 17 other survivors returned to the starting spot and those people would not have been able to sail around the world if it was not for Ferdinand Magellan.
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