Ferdinand Magellan By Tyler

In 1520, when three ships sailed across the Pacific Ocean, the sailors had no idea they would sail across these waters for three months nonstop. Angry though the crew was, they may have had some faint glimmering that they were making history.. Fernao de Magalhaes, the captain-general of the expedition, was born in Oporto, Portugal in 1480. To the British his name is Ferdinand Magellan. For many years, Magellan served in the Indies and Africa with the Portuguese Armed Forces. But when a new king came to the throne, Magellan was expelled from the Armed Forces and soon after went to Spain. Searching for a way to get to the Spice Islands without crossing Portuguese waters, he decided that an around the world trip was in order. Presenting his ideas to several boards and finally King Carlos I, Magellan and his partner, Faleiro were given five ships: the Victoria, the Trinidad, the Concepcion, the San Antonio and the Santiago. Faleiro was relieved of his command because of supposed insanity. Glad to be free of his demented partner, Magellan's five-ship fleet launched from Seville, Spain on August the tenth, fifteen hundred and nineteen. This report will analyze what Magellan did that earned him a place now and forever in history books.

Because Magellan was a Portuguese who defected to the Spanish and because he was trying to find a route to the Indies for Spain, the Portuguese launched Man-o-Wars to capture Magellan and arrest him for treason. Magellan's Spanish captains thought they could go right through the Portuguese barricade. Magellan reluctantly agreed, but a few days later Magellan in his flagship, the Trinidad, and the Santiago, captained by a fellow Portuguese and one of Magellan's friends, suddenly veered off course to go down the coast of Africa away from the Man-o-Wars. The Spanish captains of the Victoria, Concepcion and San Antonio had no choice but to follow or be descended on by the Portuguese ships. This did not strengthen the Spanish crew's already tenuous trust for their Portuguese captain-general.

Magellan made his way across the Atlantic slowly through the equatorial doldrums. When he and his ships finally sighted the Brazilian shore, Magellan decided the crew would spend the winter in Port San Julian (present-day Rio de Janeiro). The crew, tired and angry that their captain had led them into the windless areas around the equator, did not like the prospect of waiting for three months in an unknown land. When Magellan ordered everyone to attend Mass on Palm Sunday, three of his captains, Mendoza of the Victoria, Quesada of the Concepcion and Juan de Cartagena, the "ringleader" and former captain of the San Antonio defied him and stayed aboard their ships. That night, a boat full of Quesada's men rowed toward the San Antonio. A traitor on the San Antonio helped Cartagena aboard. Once aboard, the traitors captured and chained Alvaro de Mesquita, the ship's captain while he was sleeping. Quesada took control of the San Antonio and Cartagena was given the Concepcion. The following day Magellan had only his flagship, the Trinidad and the fleet's smallest ship, the Santiago.

Quesada invited Magellan aboard his ship to discuss surrender possibilities. Magellan and his allies captured Quesada's messengers, leaving the rebels unsure what happened on the boat. Six cloaked sailors rowed over to the Victoria to invite the ship's captain, Mendoza to a conference aboard the Trinidad. Also, 16 other men left from Magellan's flagship going to the Victoria. One of the sailors gave Mendoza the invitation. He supposedly laughed as he read it. Then, a sailor pretended to grab for the letter but really stabbed and killed the mutinous captain. At that moment the 16 sailors in the other longboat stormed the Victoria and captured it. The other traitors wondered what was happening when the newly captured Victoria pulled up anchor and floated to the entrance of the bay. Alongside the Trinidad and Santiago, the Victoria effectively blocked the harbor's mouth. The San Antonio, whose anchor cables had been cut by loyal crewmen, gradually drifted toward Magellan's flagship. Quesada's men fled from the deck, leaving the traitor alone as loyal boarding parties took over the ship. Without a choice, Cartagena surrendered the Concepcion by saying this: "We stand for King Charles of Spain and for Ferdinand Magellan as his captain-general." The final death count was one: the traitorous Captain Mendoza of the Victoria. Also, one loyal crewman was severely injured.

After the mutiny was over, Magellan went south in an effort to find a western route into what is now the Pacific Ocean. After seeing various rivers he believed were the strait, Magellan and his crew came upon a rocky coast. Magellan sent the smallest and most agile ship, the Santiago ahead to see if that was the strait. The ship crashed, but when a few of its survivors returned to the coast, they informed Magellan of a long and treacherous strait leading into a huge body of water. The San Antonio's crew overpowered the captain and deserted Magellan's fleet and went back to Spain. Magellan's fleet scoured the seas around the strait and eventually found out that the most well provisioned ship had left him. The San Antonio carried one-third of the supplies and one-fourth of the men. The loss of that ship dented deeply into the food Magellan's crew had left. The remaining voyagers truly realized this after they had completed the hazardous journey through the strait and sailed for three months with barely any stops.

With most of the provisions aboard the San Antonio, the remaining ships, the Trinidad, Victoria and Concepcion were reduced to eating rats, rope, cockroaches, bags, sawdust, cloth and ox-hide found on shoes, among other things. Because of the lack of vegetables and fruits many sailors contracted scurvy, a terrible disease, which causes the infected person to feel weak and their gums to bleed. Finally, a tired and sick group of sailors landed in what is now Guam. Many of the natives stole important things from Magellan's ship. When a group of natives stole one of the Trinidad's long boats, Magellan had had enough. Leading his men, they took everything from the natives and set fire to their houses. When they left, Magellan's crew named it the Isle of Thieves.

In the Phillipines, they met a kind chief named Colambu. Colambu led them to the Filipino capital in Cebu, where they met the Filipino king, Humabon. Both Colambu and Humabon converted to Christianity soon afterwards; a rival chief, Lapulapu did not convert in an effort to undermine Humabon's power. Magellan agreed to attack Lapulapu's village in Mactan. The assault was a disaster. As many as 3,500 men attacked Magellan's group of 60. Needless to say, the Spanish were massacred. Among the dead was Magellan. Even though Magellan did not circumnavigate the world in one voyage, it is possible that he went farther east than the Philippines on a previous voyage, meaning he had gone all the way around the world by the time of his death, albeit in different voyages. Also, Magellan did what both he and Columbus wanted to do: get to the east by sailing west. Not having enough men to crew three ships, the Concepcion was burned. Soon afterwards the seams of the flagship Trinidad burst, leaving only the Victoria. The Victoria did become the first ship to circumnavigate the world along with its final crew of 18 men. Five ships had become one and 277 men became 18 over the course of the three-year journey.

Though Magellan did not complete this epic three-year voyage, his chronicler, Pigafetta did. Pigafetta left behind extraordinary first-hand accounts of what the Spaniards on the expedition did and their thoughts along the way. The Victoria, captained by Juan Sebastian de Elcano set numerous records. The most famous feat was that it was the first ship to circumnavigate the world; also Elcano became the first captain to circumnavigate the world. The Victoria has one record that has never been broken: the longest time spent on a boat without stops. The six months from West Timor to the Cape Verde Islands was the longest open-sea voyage in history, a record which still stands today. Although, Magellan may be remembered forever as the proprietor of the entire mission, every other member, especially Pigafetta, had as much to do with its success. Ferdinand Magellan will be and has been the focus of history books because he fought his way through the oceans to prove that the world is round. Ferdinand Magellan should be remembered forever as a great navigator and strategist. If you were left in the Pacific Ocean with 20 other people how would you get back home? Would you appreciate your lifestyle as you were maneuvering between a storm, whirlpool, rocks and an enemy warship?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Stefoff, Rebecca. Ferdinand Magellan and the Discovery of the World Ocean. Chelsea House Publishers: 1990

Humble, Richard. The Voyage of Magellan. Franklin Watts: 1988

Jacobs, William Jay. Magellan: Voyager with a Dream. Franklin Watts: 1994

Hargrove, Jim. The World's Great Explorers: Ferdinand Magellan. The Children's Press: 1990