Ferdinand Magellan: Exploration, Route and Discovery
Who Was Ferdinand Magellan?
A Portuguese explorer intrigued by maritime discovery from an early age, Ferdinand Magellan, honed his seamanship skills on expeditions to India and Africa, all the while daydreaming about a quick and lucrative sea route to the Spice Islands, during a time when European demand for spices held the top rank in the world economy.
In 1517, when Magellan approached King Manuel of Portugal seeking financial support for a voyage to the Spice Islands, after the king refused his repeated petitions, Magellan renounced his Portuguese citizenship and relocated to Seville Spain, where his petitions to King Charles the First at last funded the explorer on his daring voyage of discovery.
The Challenging Explorations of Ferdinand Magellan
On August 10th, 1519, Magellan said goodbye to his wife and young son, never to see either loved one again, setting sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda in his five-ship Armada De Moluccas, including his flagship Trinidad, San Antonio, Conception, Victoria and Santiago.
After a one-month sail across the Atlantic Ocean, then known simply as the Ocean Sea, the fleet coasted South America in search of a fabled shortcut through the continent. The crew mutinied on Easter Day, 1520 at Port San Julian, which was quickly put down by Magellan after the Santiago was shipwrecked on an advance expedition ahead of the fleet.
When the fleet set sail following a five-month delay due to fierce seasonal storms, the four remaining ships, at last, discovered the elusive strait that would later bear Magellan’s name (Also see, Henry Hudson). Magellan would lose the San Antonio when the crew began to grumble over the dangers that lay ahead, forcing her captain to flee across the Atlantic for an early return to Spain.
Magellan Discovers The Pacific Ocean
The three remaining ships traversed the Magellan Straits for another month, until they sailed into a new ocean, which Magellan named Mar Pacifico or the Pacific Ocean. Three months later, the fleet landed in Guam in March of 1521, then onward to the Philippine island of Cebu.
How Did Ferdinand Magellan Die?
Unwisely involving himself in a skirmish between warring islanders, Magellan was fatally wounded by a poison arrow, passing away on April 27th, 1521, and while Magellan failed to find the Spice Islands, his surviving crew would be the first Europeans to circumnavigate the world.
After the loss of another of his ships, the two remaining vessels returned to Seville with a heavy cargo of spices, manned by a crew of just 18 of the 270 men who had originally set sail from Spain. Ultimately, Magellan’s voyage proved that the earth was much larger than previously thought, while his circumnavigation of the globe at last discredited the medieval theory that the world was flat, making Magellan’s voyage a wildly important leap forward in the Age of Exploration.