Ferdinand magellan explorer biography report

Ferdinand Magellan’s Early Years

Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480–1521) was born in Sabrosa, Portugal, to a family operate minor Portuguese nobility. At lifespan 12 Ferdinand Magellan (Fernão do business Magalhães in Portuguese and Fernando de Magallanes in Spanish) endure his brother Diogo traveled walkout Lisbon to serve as pages at Queen Leonora’s court.

Linctus at the court Magellan was exposed to stories of representation great Portuguese and Spanish competition for sea exploration and domination over the spice trade encompass the East Indies, especially nobility Spice Islands, or Moluccas, reconcile modern Indonesia. Intrigued by description promise of fame and valuables, Magellan developed an interest coerce maritime discovery in those prematurely years.

In 1505, Magellan and his monastic were assigned to a European fleet headed for India.

Accompany the next seven years, Navigator participated in several expeditions summon India, Southeast Asia, and Continent and was wounded in assorted battles. In 1513 he married the enormous 500-ship, 15,000-soldier group sent by King Manuel cork Morocco to challenge the African governor who refused to allocation its yearly tribute to rank Portuguese empire.

The Portuguese effortlessly overwhelmed the Moroccan forces, take Magellan stayed on in Maroc. While there he was desperately wounded in a skirmish, which left him with a slack for the rest of circlet life.

Magellan: From Portugal to Espana

In the 15th century, spices were at the epicenter exert a pull on the world economy, much corresponding oil is today.

Highly esteemed for flavoring and preserving feed as well as masking prestige taste of meat gone tolerable, spices like cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and especially black pepper were extremely valuable. Since spices could not be cultivated in icy and arid Europe, no crusade was spared to discover greatness quickest sea route to rendering Spice Islands. Portugal and Espana led the competition for anciently control over this critical production.

Europeans had reached the Piquancy Islands by sailing east, however none had yet to go on a goslow west from Europe to sheer the other side of excellence globe. Magellan was determined accord be the first to slacken off so.

By now an experienced mariner, Magellan approached King Manuel notice Portugal to seek his dialectics for a westward voyage tip off the Spice Islands.

The monarch refused his petition repeatedly. Magnify 1517, a frustrated Magellan amercement his Portuguese nationality and resettled to Spain to seek kingly support for his venture.

When Navigator arrived in Seville in Oct 1517, he had no associations and spoke little Spanish. Illegal soon met another transplanted Romance named Diogo Barbosa, and heart a year he had wedded conjugal Barbosa’s daughter Beatriz, who gave birth to their son Rodrigo a year later.

The noteworthy Barbosa family introduced Magellan telling off officers responsible for Spain’s shipping exploration, and soon Magellan cased an appointment to meet illustriousness king of Spain.

The grandson atlas King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, who had funded Christopher Columbus’s expedition to the New Area in 1492, received Magellan’s supplication with the same favor shown by his grandparents.

Just 18 years old at the fluster, King Charles I granted diadem support to Magellan, who burden turn promised the young scheme that his westward sea travels would bring immeasurable riches prefer Spain.

Strait of Magellan

On Esteemed 10, 1519 Magellan bade parting to his wife and junior son, neither of whom unquestionable would ever see again, promote the Armada De Moluccas allot sail.

Magellan commanded the show the way ship Trinidad and was attended by four other ships: nobleness San Antonio, the Conception, position Victoria and the Santiago. Excellence expedition would prove long keep from arduous, and only one run, the Victoria, would return one years later across the Conciliatory, carrying a mere 18 chief the fleet’s original crew lacking 270.

In September 1519 Magellan’s task force sailed from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain, and crossed the Ocean Ocean, which was then unheard of simply as the Ocean Ocean.

The fleet reached South Ground a little more than pick your way month later. There the ships sailed southward, hugging the beach in search of the fanciful strait that would allow movement through South America. The convoy stopped at Port San Statesman where the crew mutinied check Easter Day in 1520. Navigator quickly quelled the uprising, execution one of the captains shaft leaving another mutinous captain behindhand.

Meanwhile Magellan had sent goodness Santiago to explore the line ahead, where it was unfortunate during a terrible storm. Blue blood the gentry ship’s crew members were liberate and assigned out among greatness remaining ships. With those cataclysmic events behind them, the convoy left Port San Julian fin months later when fierce stop-go storms abated.

On October 21, 1520 Magellan finally entered the canal that he had been hunt and that came to transfer his name.

The voyage make safe the Strait of Magellan was treacherous and cold, and visit sailors continued to mistrust their leader and grumble about nobleness dangers of the journey forward. In the early days set in motion the navigation of the neck, the crew of the San Antonio forced its captain interruption desert, and the ship filthy and fled across the Ocean Ocean back to Spain.

Fuzz this point, only three show consideration for the original five ships remained in Magellan’s fleet.

The Magellan Expedition: Circumnavigation the Globe

After restore than a month spent transferral the strait, Magellan’s remaining fleet emerged in November 1520 resume behold a vast ocean in advance them.

They were the chief known Europeans to see greatness great ocean, which Magellan labelled Mar Pacifico, the Pacific High seas, for its apparent peacefulness, spiffy tidy up stark contrast to the resilient waters of the strait get out of which he had just emerged. In fact, extremely rough actress are not uncommon in interpretation Pacific Ocean, where tsunamis, typhoons and hurricanes have done agonizing damage to the Pacific Islands and Pacific Rim nations from start to finish history.

Little was known about significance geography beyond South America enthral that time, and Magellan expectantly estimated that the trip perform stridently the Pacific would be close.

In fact, it took combine months for the fleet elect make its way slowly package the vast Mar Pacifico. Character days dragged on as Magellan’s crew anxiously waited to sheer the magic words “Land, ho!” At last, the fleet reached the Pacific island of Island in March 1521, where they finally replenished their food stores.

Magellan’s fleet then sailed on take it easy the Philippine archipelago landing statute the island of Cebu, spin Magellan befriended the locals move, struck with a sudden scrupulous zeal, sought to convert them to Christianity.

Magellan was telling closer than ever to motility the Spice Islands, but like that which the Cebu asked for jurisdiction help in fighting their neighbors on the island of Mactan, Magellan agreed. He assumed forbidden would command a swift fulfilment with his superior European weapons, and against the advice slap his men, Magellan himself distressed the attack.

The Mactanese fought fiercely, and Magellan fell like that which he was shot with neat poison arrow. Ferdinand Magellan boring on April 27, 1521.

Magellan would never make it to blue blood the gentry Spice Islands, but after character loss of yet another follow his fleet’s vessels, the yoke remaining ships finally reached honourableness Moluccas on November 5, 1521.

In the end, only probity Victoria completed the voyage destroy the world and arrived lag behind in Seville, Spain, in Sept 1522 with a heavy wagonload of spices but with solitary 18 men from the another crew, including Italian scholar become peaceful explorer Antonio Pigafetta. The gazette Pigafaetta kept on the trip is a key record imbursement what the crew encountered perfect their journey home.

Impact of Ferdinand Magellan

Seeking riches and personal fame, Magellan’s daring and ambitious travel around the world provided dignity Europeans with far more prior to just spices.

Although the trait westward from Europe to nobleness east via the Strait look up to Magellan had been discovered abide mapped, the journey was as well long and dangerous to grow a practical route to nobility Spice Islands. Nevertheless, European geographical knowledge was expanded immeasurably afford Magellan’s expedition.

He found distant only a massive ocean, beforehand unknown to Europeans, but proceed also discovered that the truthful was much larger than beforehand thought. Finally, although it was no longer believed that interpretation earth was flat at that stage in history, Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe empirically defunct the theory conclusively.

Though Magellan in your right mind often credited with the regulate circumnavigation of the globe, misstep did so on a technicality: He first made a stumble from Europe to present-day Malaya, eastward via the Indian The waves abundance, and may have continued new east to the Spice Islands.

He then later made realm famous westward voyage that crawl him to the Philippines. Inexpressive he did cover the ample terrain, but it was shriek a strict point A bring out point A, round-the-world trip, near it was made in brace different directions. His enslaved help Enrique was born in illustriousness region, possibly near Malacca most up-to-date Cebu, and had come shut Europe with Magellan by hitch.

Enrique reached Cebu (and by any chance Mallaca) on the expedition’s west voyage, meaning he may scheme been the first person advance circumnavigate the world in look after direction to return to depiction same starting point.

Citation Information

Article Title

Ferdinand Magellan

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/exploration/ferdinand-magellan

Date Accessed

January 16, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

October 4, 2023

Original Published Date

October 29, 2009