The Life of Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan was born in Sabrosa, Portugal, 1480.  At the age of 12, he and his brother Diogo traveled to Lisbon to serve as pages at Queen Leonora's court.  It was there where Magellan was exposed to stories of the Portuguese and Spanish's rivalry for sea exploration and dominance over the spice trade in the East Indies.  Hooked by the thought of fame and fortune, Magellan developed an interest in exploration in his early years.  In 1505, he and brother were assigned to a Portuguese fleet headed for India.  Over the next seven years, Magellan participated in several expiditions in India and Africa and was wounded in several battles.  In 1513, he joined an enormous fleet of 500 ships and 15,000 soldiers sent by King Manuel to Morocco to challenge the Moroccan governor who refused to pay its yearly tribute to the Portuguese empire.  Morocco was easily beaten and Magellan settled down in Morocco.  Unfortunately for him, he was seriously hurt in a skirmish which left him limp for the rest of his life.  By then in the 15th century, spices were the center of the world economy.  Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and black pepper were booming in prices.  Europeans have traveled east to reach the Spice Islands, but Magellan thought of something: perhaps there is a way of getting to the Spice Islands westward by traveling through a channel in South America.  He met King Manuel of Portugal for support for his voyage, but the king turned him down.  Angry, Magellan renounced his Portuguese nationality and turned to Spain for support.  Magellan arrived in Seville 1517, where he soon met another Portuguese, Diogo Barbosa.  Within a year, he had married Barbosa's daughter Beatriz, who gave birth to their son Rodrigo a year later.  Soon, Magellan secured an appointment to meet the king of Spain.  Fortunately,  King Charles I showed just as much interest in Magelland's expidition as his grandparents (King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella) had towards Christopher Columbus'.  Only 18 at the time, the king granted his support to Magellan, who in return promised the him immeasurable riches to Spain from his westward voyage.  Sadly, he said goodbye to his wife and young son, not knowing he would never see them again.  Leading the Armada De Moluccas, Magellan commanded the lead ship Trinidad which was accompanied by four other ships: the San Antonia, the Conception, the Victoria, and the Santiago.  They set out on what would be a long, treacherous three years of traveling.  In about month, the armada had crossed the Atlantic Ocean to South America.  The ships sailed close to the east coast of South America, continuing their expidition south searching for the channel that would allow them across South America.  The fleet stopped at Port San Julian where the crew rebeled on Easter Day in 1520.  Magellan crushed the uprising swiftly, executing one of the captains and marooning another.  Magellan then sent the Santiago to explore the waters ahead, but the ship was wrecked in a fierce storm.  Luckily, all the men onboard were rescued, and five months later, the fleet once again set out. They finally found the Strait of Magellan at the very southern tip of South America.  The journey through the strait was extremely dangerous and was freezing in temperatures.  The crew grew so angry and afraid that the men on the San Antonio dumped their captain and headed back to Spain.  When the remaining three ships finally came out of the strait, they were surprised to find yet another vast ocean in front of them.  Since they were the first Europeans to see it, they named it Mar Pacifico for the ocean's peacefulness.  Magellan estimated that the fleet should be able to sail across the ocean pretty quickly.  Unfortunately, neither of these were true.  The roughness of the Pacific Ocean starved and thirsted the crew of the armada and the voyage across it took 3 months!  Luckily, Magellan and his men reached the island of Guam just in time to refill their food storage.  Magellan then sailed on to the Philippine archipelago, landing on the island of Cebu.  There Magellan befriended the locals, and decided to help them fight their enemy on the neighboring island of Mactan.  Leading the attack, Magellan fought against the Mactanese, but unfortunately fell death to a poison arrow (April 27, 1521).  After the loss of yet another ship, the remaining two ships finally reached the Spice Islands.  The last ship Victoria and 18 remaining men reached Seville, Spain with a heavy cargo of spices on the September of 1522.

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The birthplace of Ferdinand Magellan,          The Spice Islands          The death of Ferdinand

Sabrosa, Portugal.                                                                                      Magellan.

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Sources: Websites

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

Sources: Books

-National Geographic Kids: Almanac 2011 (page 287)