ferdinand magellan number of voyages

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Ferdinand Magellan

By: History.com Editors

Updated: October 4, 2023 | Original: October 29, 2009

In search of fame and fortune, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480-1521) set out from Spain in 1519 with a fleet of five ships to discover a western sea route to the Spice Islands. En route he discovered what is now known as the Strait of Magellan and became the first European to cross the Pacific Ocean. The voyage was long and dangerous, and only one ship returned home three years later. Although it was laden with valuable spices from the East, only 18 of the fleet’s original crew of 270 returned with the ship. Magellan himself was killed in battle on the voyage, but his ambitious expedition proved that the globe could be circled by sea and that the world was much larger than had previously been imagined.

Ferdinand Magellan’s Early Years

Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480–1521) was born in Sabrosa, Portugal, to a family of minor Portuguese nobility. At age 12 Ferdinand Magellan ( Fernão de Magalhães in Portuguese and Fernando de Magallanes in Spanish) and his brother Diogo traveled to Lisbon to serve as pages at Queen Leonora’s court. While at the court Magellan was exposed to stories of the great Portuguese and Spanish rivalry for sea exploration and dominance over the spice trade in the East Indies, especially the Spice Islands, or Moluccas, in modern Indonesia. Intrigued by the promise of fame and riches, Magellan developed an interest in maritime discovery in those early years.

Did you know? Clove was the most valuable spice in Europe during Magellan's day. It was used to flavor food, but Europeans also believed that its essence could improve vision, its powder could relieve fevers and that it could enhance intercourse when mixed with milk.

In 1505, Magellan and his brother were assigned to a Portuguese fleet headed for India. Over the next seven years, Magellan participated in several expeditions in India, Southeast Asia, and Africa and was wounded in several battles. In 1513 he joined the enormous 500-ship, 15,000-soldier force sent by King Manuel to Morocco to challenge the Moroccan governor who refused to pay its yearly tribute to the Portuguese empire. The Portuguese easily overwhelmed the Moroccan forces, and Magellan stayed on in Morocco. While there he was seriously wounded in a skirmish, which left him with a limp for the rest of his life.

Magellan: From Portugal to Spain

In the 15th century, spices were at the epicenter of the world economy, much like oil is today. Highly valued for flavoring and preserving food as well as masking the taste of meat gone bad, spices like cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and especially black pepper were extremely valuable. Since spices could not be cultivated in cold and arid Europe, no effort was spared to discover the quickest sea route to the Spice Islands. Portugal and Spain led the competition for early control over this critical commodity. Europeans had reached the Spice Islands by sailing east, but none had yet to sail west from Europe to reach the other side of the globe. Magellan was determined to be the first to do so.

By now an experienced seaman, Magellan approached King Manuel of Portugal to seek his support for a westward voyage to the Spice Islands. The king refused his petition repeatedly. In 1517, a frustrated Magellan renounced his Portuguese nationality and relocated to Spain to seek royal support for his venture.

When Magellan arrived in Seville in October 1517, he had no connections and spoke little Spanish. He soon met another transplanted Portuguese named Diogo Barbosa, and within a year he had married Barbosa’s daughter Beatriz, who gave birth to their son Rodrigo a year later. The well-connected Barbosa family introduced Magellan to officers responsible for Spain’s maritime exploration, and soon Magellan secured an appointment to meet the king of Spain.

The grandson of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, who had funded Christopher Columbus ’s expedition to the New World in 1492, received Magellan’s petition with the same favor shown by his grandparents. Just 18 years old at the time, King Charles I granted his support to Magellan, who in turn promised the young king that his westward sea voyage would bring immeasurable riches to Spain.

Strait of Magellan

On August 10, 1519 Magellan bade farewell to his wife and young son, neither of whom he would ever see again, and the Armada De Moluccas set sail. Magellan commanded the lead ship Trinidad and was accompanied by four other ships: the San Antonio , the Conception , the Victoria and the Santiago . The expedition would prove long and arduous, and only one ship, the Victoria , would return three years later across the Pacific, carrying a mere 18 of the fleet’s original crew of 270.

In September 1519 Magellan’s fleet sailed from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain, and crossed the Atlantic Ocean, which was then known simply as the Ocean Sea. The fleet reached South America a little more than one month later. There the ships sailed southward, hugging the coast in search of the fabled strait that would allow passage through South America. The fleet stopped at Port San Julian where the crew mutinied on Easter Day in 1520. Magellan quickly quelled the uprising, executing one of the captains and leaving another mutinous captain behind. Meanwhile Magellan had sent the Santiago to explore the route ahead, where it was shipwrecked during a terrible storm. The ship’s crew members were rescued and assigned out among the remaining ships. With those disastrous events behind them, the fleet left Port San Julian five months later when fierce seasonal storms abated.

On October 21, 1520 Magellan finally entered the strait that he had been seeking and that came to bear his name. The voyage through the Strait of Magellan was treacherous and cold, and many sailors continued to mistrust their leader and grumble about the dangers of the journey ahead. In the early days of the navigation of the strait, the crew of the San Antonio forced its captain to desert, and the ship turned and fled across the Atlantic Ocean back to Spain. At this point, only three of the original five ships remained in Magellan’s fleet.

The Magellan Expedition: Circumnavigation the Glob e

After more than a month spent traversing the strait, Magellan’s remaining armada emerged in November 1520 to behold a vast ocean before them. They were the first known Europeans to see the great ocean, which Magellan named Mar Pacifico, the Pacific Ocean, for its apparent peacefulness, a stark contrast to the dangerous waters of the strait from which he had just emerged. In fact, extremely rough waters are not uncommon in the Pacific Ocean, where tsunamis, typhoons and hurricanes have done serious damage to the Pacific Islands and Pacific Rim nations throughout history.

Little was known about the geography beyond South America at that time, and Magellan optimistically estimated that the trip across the Pacific would be rapid. In fact, it took three months for the fleet to make its way slowly across the vast Mar Pacifico. The days dragged on as Magellan’s crew anxiously waited to utter the magic words “Land, ho!” At last, the fleet reached the Pacific island of Guam in March 1521, where they finally replenished their food stores.

Magellan’s fleet then sailed on to the Philippine archipelago landing on the island of Cebu, where Magellan befriended the locals and, struck with a sudden religious zeal, sought to convert them to Christianity . Magellan was now closer than ever to reaching the Spice Islands, but when the Cebu asked for his help in fighting their neighbors on the island of Mactan, Magellan agreed. He assumed he would command a swift victory with his superior European weapons, and against the advice of his men, Magellan himself led the attack. The Mactanese fought fiercely, and Magellan fell when he was shot with a poison arrow. Ferdinand Magellan died on April 27, 1521.

Magellan would never make it to the Spice Islands, but after the loss of yet another of his fleet’s vessels, the two remaining ships finally reached the Moluccas on November 5, 1521. In the end, only the Victoria completed the voyage around the world and arrived back in Seville, Spain, in September 1522 with a heavy cargo of spices but with only 18 men from the original crew, including Italian scholar and explorer Antonio Pigafetta. The journal Pigafaetta kept on the voyage is a key record of what the crew encountered on their journey home.

Impact of Ferdinand Magellan

Seeking riches and personal glory, Magellan’s daring and ambitious voyage around the world provided the Europeans with far more than just spices. Although the trip westward from Europe to the east via the Strait of Magellan had been discovered and mapped, the journey was too long and dangerous to become a practical route to the Spice Islands. Nevertheless, European geographic knowledge was expanded immeasurably by Magellan’s expedition. He found not only a massive ocean, hitherto unknown to Europeans, but he also discovered that the earth was much larger than previously thought. Finally, although it was no longer believed that the earth was flat at this stage in history, Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe empirically discredited the medieval theory conclusively.

Though Magellan is often credited with the first circumnavigation of the globe, he did so on a technicality: He first made a trip from Europe to present-day Malaysia, eastward via the Indian Ocean, and may have continued further east to the Spice Islands. He then later made his famous westward voyage that brought him to the Philippines. So he did cover the entire terrain, but it was not a strict point A to point A, round-the-world trip, and it was made in two different directions. His enslaved servant Enrique was born in the region, possibly near Malacca or Cebu, and had come to Europe with Magellan by ship. Enrique reached Cebu (and possibly Mallaca) on the expedition’s westward voyage, meaning he may have been the first person to circumnavigate the world in one direction to return to the same starting point.

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Voyages of Ferdinand Magellan

First voyage, king charles i finances the voyage, rio de janeiro, strait of magellan, philippines, death in battle, rounding the cape, voyage home.

The Magellan expedition, also known as the Magellan–Elcano expedition, was the first voyage around the world. It was a 16th century Spanish expedition initially led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan to the Moluccas, which departed from Spain in 1519, and completed in 1522 by Spanish navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano, after crossing the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, culminating in the first circumnavigation of the world.

The expedition accomplished its primary goal – to find a western route to the Moluccas (Spice Islands). The fleet left Spain on 20 September 1519, sailed across the Atlantic ocean and down the eastern coast of South America, eventually discovering the Strait of Magellan, allowing them to pass through to the Pacific Ocean (which Magellan named). The fleet completed the first Pacific crossing, stopping in the Philippines , and eventually reached the Moluccas after two years. A much-depleted crew led by Juan Sebastián Elcano finally returned to Spain on 6 September 1522, having sailed west across the great Indian Ocean, then around the Cape of Good Hope through waters controlled by the Portuguese and north along the Western African coast to eventually arrive in Spain.

The fleet initially consisted of five ships and about 270 men. The expedition faced numerous hardships including Portuguese sabotage attempts, mutinies, starvation, scurvy, storms, and hostile encounters with indigenous people. Only 30 men and one ship (the Victoria) completed the return trip to Spain. Magellan himself died in battle in the Philippines, and was succeeded as captain-general by a series of officers, with Elcano eventually leading the Victoria's return trip.

The expedition was funded mostly by King Charles I of Spain, with the hope that it would discover a profitable western route to the Moluccas, as the eastern route was controlled by Portugal under the Treaty of Tordesillas. Though the expedition did find a route, it was much longer and more arduous than expected, and was therefore not commercially useful. Nevertheless, the expedition is regarded as one of the greatest achievements in seamanship, and had a significant impact on the European understanding of the world.

In March 1505 at the age of 25, Magellan enlisted in the fleet of 22 ships sent to host Francisco de Almeida as the first viceroy of Portuguese India . Although his name does not appear in the chronicles, it is known that he remained there eight years, in Goa, Cochin and Quilon. He participated in several battles, including the battle of Cannanore in 1506, where he was wounded. In 1509 he fought in the battle of Diu.

After having his proposed expeditions to the Spice Islands repeatedly rejected by King Manuel of Portugal, Magellan turned to Charles I, the young King of Spain (and future Holy Roman Emperor). Under the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, Portugal controlled the eastern routes to Asia that went around Africa. Magellan instead proposed reaching the Spice Islands by a western route, a feat which had never been accomplished. Hoping that this would yield a commercially useful trade route for Spain , Charles approved the expedition, and provided most of the funding.

On 10 August 1519, the five ships under Magellan's command left Seville and descended the Guadalquivir River to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, at the mouth of the river. There they remained more than five weeks. The fleet left Spain on 20 September 1519, sailing west across the Atlantic toward South America. Magellan's fleet consisted of five ships, carrying supplies for two years of travel. The crew consisted of about 270 men. Most were Spanish, but around 40 were Portuguese.

On 13 December, the fleet reached Rio de Janeiro, Brazil . Though nominally Portuguese territory, they maintained no permanent settlement there at the time. Seeing no Portuguese ships in the harbour, Magellan knew it would be safe to stop.

The fleet spent 13 days in Rio, during which they repaired their ships, stocked up on water and food (such as yam, cassava, and pineapple), and interacted with the locals. The expedition had brought with them a great quantity of trinkets intended for trade, such as mirrors, combs, knives and bells. The locals readily exchanged food and local goods (such as parrot feathers) for such items. The crew also found they could purchase sexual favours from the local women. Historian Ian Cameron described the crew's time in Rio as "a saturnalia of feasting and lovemaking".

On 27 December, the fleet left Rio de Janeiro. Pigafetta wrote that the natives were disappointed to see them leave, and that some followed them in canoes trying to entice them to stay.

After three months of searching (including a false start in the estuary of Río de la Plata), weather conditions forced the fleet to stop their search to wait out the winter. They found a sheltered natural harbor at the port of Saint Julian, and remained there for five months. Shortly after landing at St. Julian, there was a mutiny attempt led by the Spanish captains Juan de Cartagena, Gaspar de Quesada and Luis de Mendoza. Magellan barely managed to quell the mutiny, despite at one point losing control of three of his five ships to the mutineers. Mendoza was killed during the conflict, and Magellan sentenced Quesada and Cartagena to being beheaded and marooned, respectively. Lower-level conspirators were made to do hard labor in chains over the winter, but later freed.

During the winter, one of the fleet's ships, the Santiago, was lost in a storm while surveying nearby waters, though no men were killed. Following the winter, the fleet resumed their search for a passage to the Pacific in October 1520. Three days later, they found a bay which eventually led them to a strait, now known as the Strait of Magellan, which allowed them passage through to the Pacific. While exploring the strait, one of the remaining four ships, the San Antonio, deserted the fleet, returning east to Spain. The fleet reached the Pacific by the end of November 1520. Based on the incomplete understanding of world geography at the time, Magellan expected a short journey to Asia, perhaps taking as little as three or four days. In fact, the Pacific crossing took three months and twenty days. The long journey exhausted their supply of food and water, and around 30 men died, mostly of scurvy. Magellan himself remained healthy, perhaps because of his personal supply of preserved quince.

On 6 March 1521, the exhausted fleet made landfall at the island of Guam and were met by native Chamorro people who came aboard the ships and took items such as rigging, knives, and a ship's boat. The Chamorro people may have thought they were participating in a trade exchange (as they had already given the fleet some supplies), but the crew interpreted their actions as theft. Magellan sent a raiding party ashore to retaliate, killing several Chamorro men, burning their houses, and recovering the 'stolen' goods

On 16 March, the fleet reached the Philippines , where they would remain for a month and a half. Magellan befriended local leaders on the island of Limasawa, and on 31 March, held the first Mass in the Philippines, planting a cross on the island's highest hill. Magellan set about converting the locals to Christianity . Most accepted the new religion readily, but the island of Mactan resisted.

On 27 April, Magellan and members of his crew attempted to subdue the Mactan natives by force, but in the ensuing battle, the Europeans were overpowered and Magellan was killed by Lapulapu, a native chieftain in Mactan.

Following his death, Magellan was initially succeeded by co-commanders Juan Serrano and Duarte Barbosa (with a series of other officers later leading). The fleet left the Philippines (following a bloody betrayal by former ally Rajah Humabon) and eventually made their way to the Moluccas in November 1521. Laden with spices, they attempted to set sail for Spain in December, but found that only one of their remaining two ships, the Victoria, was seaworthy.

The Victoria set sail via the Indian Ocean route home on 21 December 1521, commanded by Juan Sebastián Elcano. By 6 May 1522 the Victoria rounded the Cape of Good Hope, with only rice for rations.

Twenty crewmen died of starvation by 9 July 1522, when Elcano put into Portuguese Cape Verde for provisions. The crew was surprised to learn that the date was actually 10 July 1522, as they had recorded every day of the three-year journey without omission. They had no trouble making purchases at first, using the cover story that they were returning to Spain from the Americas. However, the Portuguese detained 13 crew members after discovering that Victoria was carrying spices from the East Indies. The Victoria managed to escape with its cargo of 26 tons of spices (cloves and cinnamon).

On 6 September 1522, Elcano and the remaining crew of Magellan's voyage arrived in Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Spain aboard Victoria, almost exactly three years after they departed. They then sailed upriver to Seville, and from there overland to Valladolid, where they appeared before the Emperor. When Victoria, the one surviving ship and the smallest carrack in the fleet, returned to the harbour of departure after completing the first circumnavigation of the Earth, only 18 men out of the original 270 men were on board. In addition to the returning Europeans, the Victoria had aboard three Moluccans who came aboard at Tidore.

Magellan has come to be renowned for his navigational skill and tenacity. The first circumnavigation has been called "the greatest sea voyage in the Age of Discovery", and even "the most important maritime voyage ever undertaken". Appreciation of Magellan's accomplishments may have been enhanced over time by the failure of subsequent expeditions which attempted to retrace his route, beginning with the Loaísa expedition in 1525 (which featured Juan Sebastián Elcano as second-in-command). The next expedition to successfully complete a circumnavigation, led by Francis Drake, would not occur until 1580, 58 years after the return of the Victoria.

Magellan named the Pacific Ocean (which was also often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century), and lends his name to the Strait of Magellan.

Even though Magellan did not survive the trip, he has received more recognition for the expedition than Elcano has, since Magellan was the one who started it, Portugal wanted to recognize a Portuguese explorer, and Spain feared Basque nationalism.

How Did the Caravel Change the World?

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Holy Roman Emperor

Ferdinand Magellan

Portuguese Explorer

Juan Sebastián Elcano

Castilian Explorer

Juan de Cartagena

Spanish Explorer

Francisco de Almeida

Mactan Datu

• The First Voyage Round the World, by Magellan, full text, English translation by Lord Stanley of Alderley, London: Hakluyt, [1874] – six contemporary accounts of his voyage
• Guillemard, Francis Henry Hill (1890), The life of Ferdinand Magellan, and the first circumnavigation of the globe, 1480–1521, G. Philip, retrieved 8 April 2009
• Zweig, Stefan (2007), Conqueror of the Seas – The Story of Magellan, Read Books, ISBN 978-1-4067-6006-4

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Ferdinand Magellan Facts, Voyages, and Route

Published: Jun 1, 2012 · Modified: Nov 11, 2023 by Russell Yost · This post may contain affiliate links ·

Ferdinand Magellan  (1480 – 27 April 1521) was born in Portugal in 1480 but would sail under the Spanish flag. His expedition would become the first to circumnavigate the earth, although he did not complete the voyage. Along the way, he discovered new islands, water passageways, and a new sea route to Asia.  The sea route to Asia was accomplished by sailing around the South American continent. This would be the only way the West could travel to Asia by using the Western route until the Panama Canal was finished in 1914.

Early Career in Portugal

Voyage of circumnavigation, death of ferdinand magellan, online resources.

• Ferdinand Magellan was born around 1480 in Portugal. He would have been a young child when Bartolmeu Dias and Vasco da Gama discovered the eastern route around the tip of Africa.
• Magellan's parents were highly influential Portuguese citizens with claims to the Portuguese throne. They died when he was 10 years old.
• After their death, Queen Leonor made Magellan a page. He would stay a page until the age of 25, when he was sent as the first viceroy of Portuguese India. A post that he held for 8 years.
• While viceroy Ferdinand Magellan became an exceptional navigator and well-versed in naval warfare, he fought in multiple battles under the Portuguese flag, such as the Battle of Cannanore and the Battle of Diu.
• During the Battle of Diu, his skill earned him honors and a promotion. Shortly after his promotion, Magellan helped conquer Malacca. Ferdinand Magellan continued to serve the Portuguese Crown but fell out of favor with the King after being accused of illegally trading with the Moors.
• The accusations were proven to be false, but the stigma remained, and Magellan found it hard to find work as a Portuguese seaman. After arguing with King Manuel I, Magellan left Portugal and would not be seen again until he was sailing under the Spanish flag. He would devote himself to the study of the possibility of a new passageway to the East.
• While in Spain, Ferdinand Magellan befriended Diogo Barbosa and married his daughter. The couple would have two children, but neither would make it to adulthood. His unnamed wife would die in 1521.
• In 1492, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabel of Castile commissioned Christopher Columbus to find a western passage to Asia. Although he thought he had reached India, he had not, and it was confirmed by men such as Amerigo Vespucci and Vasco de Nunez Balboa .
• Even so, Spain's economy boomed with the New World's discovery, and new trade was established with new natural resources. The export of sugar became a wealthy commodity for the Spanish.
• A few short years afterward, the Portuguese established a lucrative spice trade with India through Vasco da Gama, who, along with Bartolomeu Dias, discovered the eastern route around the tip of Africa.
• With this discovery, the small nation of Portugal became a global economic powerhouse. The Portuguese never cared much about the New World, as their focus was primarily on the African coast and Asia.
• They did not have the military power to compete with nations such as France, Spain, England, or the Holy Roman Empire, but their economic strength made them a formidable enemy because they would be able to fund a defensive campaign.
• With the success of the Portuguese and a treaty signed between Portugal and Spain giving Portugal control of the eastern route, The Spanish looked for another route to get access to the riches of Asia. Ferdinand Magellan began researching possible ways around the southern tip of the New World and believed he had found a southwest passage to the New World.
• With this knowledge, he was granted an audience with King Charles I. King Charles showed great interest in the idea that Magellan presented. This would allow the Spanish to open up a spice route without damaging the relations with the neighboring Portuguese.
• Although Portugal's military was not nearly as strong as the Spanish Military, King Charles knew and understood the European Theatre. He would eventually become Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and fight wars with England, France, and the Ottoman Empire. Avoiding conflict with Portugal would play to his advantage in years to come.
• A monopoly of the discovered route for 10 years.
• 5% of the net gains in the land or islands he discovered
• 5th of the gains of travel.
• The right to levy 1,000 ducats on future trips and pay only 5% on the rest
• Granting an island to him that was not one of the six richest.
• Ferdinand Magellan's voyage was approved, and his fleet was ready by August 10, 1519.
• Upon learning of Magellan's voyage, King Manuel I sent a detachment to follow him, but it was to no avail. Magellan easily avoided them and sailed to the Canary Islands, where he stopped for a short period and then sailed to Cape Verde and then to Cape St. Augustine in Brazil.
• Magellan knew that Brazil was Portuguese territory, so he sailed past it and put his anchor down near Rio de Janeiro. After a delay due to inclement weather, he continued down the South American coast to find the strait that would lead them to the Eastern lands.
• They continued down the coast and established a settlement which they named Puerto San Julian.
• Magellan then faced some opposition as his crew mutinied against him. It was easily squashed, and the instigators were impaled on the coast. This would be confirmed when Sir Francis Drake of England circumnavigated the earth and found the bones of the mutinous crew on the coast.
• After putting down the riot, Magellan sent a small detachment under Duarte Barbosa to scout the southern coast. His ship was destroyed by a violent storm, but all the crew members survived. Magellan decided to wait to avoid the storms and then continued down the South American coast.
• On October 21, Ferdinand Magellan reached what would become known as the Strait of Magellan. This strait would take the crew around the tip of South America and into the east. Magellan would continue northwest to find the wealth of Asia and establish a Spanish spice route. Along the way, he looked for new lands and islands.
• Magellan reached the equator on February 13, 1521, and soon after came across the islands of Marianas and Guam. On March 17, 1521, Magellan reached the Philippine archipelago.
• He and his Spaniards went ashore to meet the natives, and to their shock, they were not the first Europeans to make it to the Philippines. The Portuguese had begun trading with the natives during the time between Magellan's banishment from King Manuel's court and King Charles' funding of Magellan's voyage.
• Ferdinand Magellan came in contact with the native tribes of Cebu and was able to communicate with them through his interpreter Enrique, who had been indentured to him in 1511 while Magellan was still sailing for Portugal.
• The leader of Cebu, Rajah Humabon, was friendly towards Magellan and his crew. Rajah and his queen had been converted to Christianity by the Europeans, which aided Magellan's relations with them.
• After much talk, Rajah Humabon, along with his ally Data Zula, enlisted the help of Magellan to kill their enemy based in Lapu-Lapu. Magellan did not want to immediately attack them but first wanted to try to convert them to Christianity. When those efforts failed, he organized an attack force and marched on the coast of Lapu-Lapu.
• The battle marked the end of Ferdinand Magellan's voyage as he was surrounded by the Lapu-Lapu and speared to death.
• The voyage continued without him, and the surviving men sailed throughout the east and around the coast of Africa and into the Spanish harbor.
• The survivors managed to trade a bit with the East, but little was accomplished. Magellan's voyage can be viewed as a success in reconnaissance but a failure in established a spice route. The Spanish would eventually establish trade with the East, but it would be with their New World colonies.

• Wikipedia - Ferdinand Magellan
• Age of Exploration - Ferdinand Magellan Biography
• Royal Museums Greenwich
• Journal of Magellan's Voyages
• Eyewitness to History - Death of Magellan
• Over The Edge of the World
• The History Junkie's Guide to Famous Explorers
• The History Junkie's Guide to European Colonization

Ferdinand Magellan

While in the service of Spain, the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan led the first European voyage of discovery to circumnavigate the globe.

(1480-1521)

Who Was Ferdinand Magellan?

As a boy, Ferdinand Magellan studied mapmaking and navigation. By his mid-20s, he was sailing in large fleets and was engaged in combat. In 1519, with the support of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Magellan set out to find a better route to the Spice Islands. He assembled a fleet of ships which, despite huge setbacks and Magellan’s death, circumnavigated the world in a single voyage.

Magellan was born in Portugal, either in the city of Porto or in Sabrosa, circa 1480. His parents were members of the Portuguese nobility and after their deaths, Magellan became a page for the queen, at age 10. He studied at Queen Leonora's School of Pages in Lisbon and spent his days poring over texts on cartography, astronomy, and celestial navigation — subjects that would serve him well in his later pursuits.

Navigator and Explorer

In 1505, when Magellan was in his mid-20s, he joined a Portuguese fleet that was sailing to East Africa. By 1509, he found himself at the Battle of Diu, in which the Portuguese destroyed Egyptian ships in the Arabian Sea. Two years later, he explored Malacca, located in present-day Malaysia, and participated in the conquest of Malacca's port. It was there that he acquired a native servant he named Enrique. It is possible that Magellan sailed as far as the Moluccas, islands in Indonesia, then called the Spice Islands. The Moluccas were the original source of some of the world's most valuable spices, including cloves and nutmeg. The conquest of spice-rich countries was, as a result, a source of much European competition.

While serving in Morocco, in 1513, Magellan was wounded and walked the remainder of his life with a limp. After his injury, he was falsely accused of trading illegally with the Moors, and despite all of his service to Portugal, and his many pleas to the king, any further offers of employment were withheld him.

Final Years and Death

Magellan presented his plan to King Charles I of Spain (soon to become Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire), who gave his blessing. On September 20, 1519, he set out with a fleet of five fully supplied ships, but hardly adequate to sail the distances he proposed. The fleet sailed first to Brazil and then down the coast of South America to Patagonia. There an attempted mutiny took place and one of the ships was wrecked. Despite the setback, the crew continued on with the four remaining vessels.

By October 1520, Magellan and his men had entered what is now called the Strait of Magellan. It took them over a month to pass through the strait, during which time the master of one of the ships deserted and sailed back home. The remaining ships sailed across the Pacific Ocean. In March 1521, the fleet anchored in Guam.

Later in March, 1521, Magellan’ fleet reached Homonhom Island on the edge of the Philippines with less than 150 of the 270 men who started the expedition. Magellan traded with Rajah Humabon, the island king, and a bond was quickly formed. The Spanish crew soon became involved in a war between Humabon and another rival leader and Magellan was killed in battle on April 27, 1521.

The remaining crew escaped the Philippines and continued on towards the Spice Islands, arriving in November 1521. The Spanish commander of the last ship, the Victoria, set sail December and reached Spain on September 8, 1522.

The Controversy Over Who was First

There has been considerable debate around who were the first persons to circumnavigate the globe. The easy answer is Juan Sabastian Elcano and the remaining crew of Magellan’s fleet starting from Spain on September 20, 1519, and returning in September 1522. But there is another candidate who might have gone around the world before them — Magellan’ servant Enrique. In 1511, Magellan was on a voyage for Portugal to the Spice Islands and participated in the conquest of Malacca where he acquired his servant Enrique. Fast forward ten years later, Enrique is with Magellan in the Philippines. After Magellan’s death, it is reported that Enrique was grief-stricken and when he found out he was not going to be freed, contrary to Magellan’s will, he ran away. At this point the record gets murky. Some accounts state Enrique fled into the forest. Official Spanish records list Enrique as one of the men massacred in the attack, but some historians question the records’ credibility or accuracy, citing a bias against Indigenous peoples.

So, it is possible that if Enrique had survived after his escape, he might have made his way back to Malacca where he was originally enslaved by Magellan back in 1511. If true, it would mean Enrique — not Elcano and the surviving members of the crew — was the first person to circumnavigate the globe, albeit not in a single voyage.

QUICK FACTS

• Name: Ferdinand Magellan
• Birth Year: 1480
• Birth City: Sabrosa or Porto
• Birth Country: Portugal
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: While in the service of Spain, the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan led the first European voyage of discovery to circumnavigate the globe.
• Nationalities
• Death Year: 1521
• Death date: April 27, 1521
• Death City: Mactan
• Death Country: Philippines

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240 men started Magellan's voyage around the world. Only 18 finished it.

The explorer died on a Philippines beach in April 1521, joining the scores who perished in Spain's quest to circumnavigate the globe.

As it moored under Seville’s imposing skyline on September 8, 1522, the Victoria   may not have stood out as anything exceptional among the bustle of Spanish ships arriving from the Americas. When 18 men stepped off board, “leaner than old, worn-out nags,” as one of them later recalled, they stepped into the history books as the first people to have sailed entirely around the world.

It had been a brutal voyage, led by the brilliant, if ruthless, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan. When they set out from Seville, three years before in summer 1519, they were a crew of 240 manning five ships. A series of blows—including starvation, illness, mutiny, executions, and the death of their leader—decimated their numbers and their fleet before returning to Spain.

These men had, however, completed their global journey, despite the violence and greed that marred it from the outset. The venture would be remembered for the skill and endurance of many of its members. As the first Europeans to enter the eastern Pacific, the expedition radically altered Europe’s understanding of the world, while posterity would lionize Magellan for an accomplishment that he never lived to see.

Despite the aura of heroism that has formed around Magellan, his voyage was not driven by geographic curiosity, but by trade and Spain’s struggle to surpass Portugal. Following Christopher Columbus’s voyages of the 1490s and the discovery of a landmass to the west, the two premier naval powers competed to control the new vistas opening before them. In 1493 Pope Alexander VI drew a line from north to south down the Atlantic, decreeing that Spain could exploit the new continent to the west. The papal bull did not specify, however, that Portugal could exploit the territory to the east of the line.  

Portugal cried foul, pointing out that the pope, a Borgia of Spanish descent, was not an impartial arbiter. To avoid a war, direct talks opened between Portugal and Spain and the line was moved farther west in the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas. This allowed Portugal more room to maneuver down the eastern coastline of Africa. Happily for the Portuguese, Pedro Álvares Cabral’s 1500 discovery of the eastern coastline of South America fell on Portugal’s side of the 1494 line.

Portugal had already bested Spain in the exploration race, when in 1497 Vasco de Gama was the first European to discover a sea route to India around Africa. While this period of global exploration is often associated with the Americas, both powers were also seeking riches in the Asia-Pacific. It was there that Magellan gained experience vital to his later expedition. ( Was Magellan the first to sail around the world? Think again. )

A sea change

Born Fernão de Magalhães in northern Portugal in 1480, Magellan grew up in a noble family. At age 10 he was sent to Lisbon to train as a page in the court of Queen Leonora. He came of age as Europe began shaking off its medieval sensibilities and looking outward. The few sources on his early life suggest he became fascinated with maps and charts, an interest that may have coincided with the news, at age 13, of the Spanish expedition under Columbus that had made landfall in the Americas.

Portuguese eastward expansion began to move rapidly after Vasco de Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1497. By 1505 the 25-year-old Magellan was with the Portuguese fleet heading around the Cape, and up the other side, to East Africa. The aim of King Manuel of Portugal was to wrest control of the entire Indian Ocean from the Arabs so as to control trade with India.

In 1507 Magellan participated in a naval battle that consolidated Portuguese power over the Indian Ocean. More Portuguese victories followed in Goa (western India), and in 1511 the Portuguese seized Malacca on the Malay Peninsula. The city overlooks the strait through which the spices from modern-day Indonesia were funneled westward. By controlling Malacca, Portugal could exert control over the spice trade.

An older relative (and possible cousin) of Magellan, Francisco Serrão, had also forged a dramatic career as a sailor and took part in the seizure of Malacca before going on an expedition to the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, in 1512. His venture would later inspire Magellan’s own goal to reach them by sailing west from Europe.

Magellan took part in the battle for Malacca and honed his navigational skills during Portugal’s eastern victories. After returning to Europe, in 1514 he entered into a bitter dispute with King Manuel over the king’s refusal to reward him. Having used up all his appeals, Magellan rejected his native land and traveled to the Spanish court at Valladolid in 1517 to offer his services to the Spanish king Charles I (who would become Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in June 1519). From that day, Fernão de Magalhães would be known by his Spanish name, Fernando de Magallanes.

By offering his services to Spain, Magellan was not engaging in any truly scandalous behavior. Seafaring expertise often crossed borders, and crews were drawn from different nations. Columbus too, a Genoan from northern Italy, had offered himself to the Spanish crown after initially working for the Portuguese. Magellan’s plan was strikingly similar to Columbus’s from nearly 30 years earlier: to sail west to bring back spices from the Moluccas, the Spice Islands of Indonesia.   ( Discover the secrets hidden in a 500-year-old map used by Columbus. )

Citing the theories of other navigators at the time, Magellan postulated that a strait cut through the Americas to a sea whose eastern shore was first glimpsed by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513. If he could find it, this passage would allow Spain a kind of “back-door” access to the Moluccas, bypassing Portugal’s Cape route. Magellan’s reputation as a sailor and his knowledge of the east convinced Charles, and the expedition received royal assent.

Not all were happy that this Portuguese interloper had gained such favor with the king. The nobility and the Casa de Contratación (the state body that controlled such expeditions) took every opportunity to obstruct Magellan’s preparations. Under two-thirds of the crew were Spaniards; of the foreigners, 24 were Portuguese and 27 were Italian.

Marvels and mutiny

Among the crew was a young Venetian nobleman named Antonio Pigafetta, a student of astronomy and geography. Pigafetta’s lively journal became history’s principal written source for detailed information on the entire voyage.

“On Monday, August 10, St. Lawrence’s day, the fleet, having been supplied with all the things necessary for the sea, made ready to leave the harbor of Seville,” Pigafetta recorded in his log. Five ships in total—the San Antonio,   the Concepción,   the Victoria,   the Santiago , and the flagship, the Trinidad —struck out west from Spain via the Canary Islands. Pigafetta’s observations were not solely nautical. He took a lively interest in geography and zoology and science, noting different kinds of birds and wildlife.

While Pigafetta wrote his log, Magellan was deeply concerned about his authority. He was officially the supreme commander, but prior to departure, pressure from the Spanish authorities had forced him to accept a nobleman, Juan de Cartagena, as the voyage’s second-in-command. This decision led to violent power struggles during the voyage. Early on, Magellan was forced to arrest and demote Cartagena for insubordination. As a royal appointee, he was otherwise untouchable, but his resentful presence would prove nearly catastrophic for Magellan later.

The coast of modern-day Brazil, which Europeans had only been aware of for 20 years, was a source of wonder. But it was its inhabitants that captured Pigafetta’s attention most. He recorded in his journal that some of the people of “Verdin” (as he called it)

live a hundred, or a hundred and twenty, or a hundred and forty years, and more; they go naked, both men and women. Their dwellings are houses that are rather long . . . [and] in each of these houses . . . there dwells a family of a hundred persons, who make a great noise. In this place they have boats, which are made of a tree, all in one piece, which they call “canoo.” These are not made with iron instruments, for they have not got any . . . Into these thirty or forty men enter.  

Pigafetta’s writings revealed a condescending attitude toward the indigenous peoples. His descriptions of the peoples he meets in Patagonia, the Pacific Islands, and lands in Asia are centered on the amount of clothing worn, physical traits including skin color, height, and build, and whether they could be converted to Christianity. He recorded certain words from their languages, many of which related to commodities that could be of use to colonial Spain. ( See a shipwreck from explorer Vasco da Gama's fleet. )

The small armada sailed south, scanning for any strait or opening in the great landmass to starboard. A great inlet in early 1520 aroused much excitement. Once it had been ascertained it was not the longed-for strait, but a river mouth (the Río de la Plata), the fleet continued south to San Julián, where, in April, surrounded on all sides by the frozen expanse of Patagonia, a full-scale mutiny was launched against Magellan by the captains of the four other ships.

Played out across five vessels, the scenes were chaotic and confusing, but Magellan prevailed. In the ensuing skirmishes, the rebellious captains of the Victoria and the Concepción were arrested and executed. One of the leaders of the revolt was the demoted and resentful Juan de Cartagena. Magellan opted to maroon him on an island, thus avoiding shedding the blood of a powerful nobleman, while also ridding himself of an incompetent troublemaker. Cartagena’s fate is unknown, but other mutineers were pardoned, including one of the officers, Juan Sebastián Elcano.

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Shortly after the failed mutiny, as resentments still simmered, Magellan lost the Santiago   in a storm. Unbowed, the reduced fleet continued south until glacial conditions forced a halt for two months to provision; then it set out once more. Finally, as Pigafetta records on “the day of the feast of the eleven thousand virgins,” St. Ursula’s Day which falls on October 21, they sighted a strait “surrounded by lofty mountains laden with snow... Had it not been for the captain-general, we would not have found that strait, for we all thought that it was closed on all sides.”

For over a month, buffeted by storms and currents, the fleet ventured down the strait that Charles V would later name for Magellan. The commander named an archipelago they saw on the south side Tierra del Fuego (“land of fire”) in reference to the many bonfires lit there by its indigenous hunter-gatherer peoples, who had occupied this tip of South America for millennia.

In the course of this passage, another ship disappeared: the San Antonio . Pigafetta records it had been believed lost; in fact, it had deserted and was returning to Spain. Equipped now with only three vessels, Magellan and his men “on Wednesday, November 28, 1520, . . . debouched from that strait, engulfing . . . in the Pacific Sea.” They were the first Europeans to enter that vast ocean from its eastern shore.

Hard crossing

After being borne northward along what is today the Chilean coast, Magellan’s fleet finally struck out northwest in search of land beyond. Magellan knew that the Malay archipelago he had visited years before must lie somewhere to the west. To find it, the limping expedition had to sail through rough seas for over three months.

Hunger and disease stalked the crossing. Pigafetta records how he and his crewmates ate sawdust, ox hides, and “biscuit, which was no longer biscuit, but powder of biscuits swarming with worms, and which stank strongly of the urine of rats.” General privation, the lack of food, and illness greatly reduced their numbers. Perhaps the most devastating was scurvy, the distinctive symptoms of which Pigafetta captured: “[I]t was that the upper and lower gums of most of our men grew so much that they could not eat, and in this way so many suffered, that nineteen died.” ( Scurvy killed more people than the American Civil War. )

Savaged by scurvy

While crossing the Pacific, Pigafetta recorded how many of Magellan’s crew seemed to waste away from a horrific illness: Their gums bled, their limbs ulcerated, and delirium addled their minds. Scurvy and its symptoms, which are caused by a lack of vitamin C, would ravage many European expeditions. The captain who completed the Magellan expedition, Juan Sebastián Elcano, succumbed to scurvy on a later voyage, and it killed an estimated two million sailors between the 15th and 18th centuries. The medical properties of vitamin C were not discovered until the 1920s, but it became common wisdom in the 1700s that citrus fruit could be a preventative, a remedy that was resisted by some in the British Navy. It was not until the 1790s that fruit was distributed routinely among crews. 

On March 6, 1521, after 100 days in Pacific waters, the exhausted armada finally was able to make landfall in the Mariana Islands where they restocked the ships and then continued west. Days later, they reached an archipelago (later christened the Philippines by another Spanish explorer) of many inhabited islands that Magellan would attempt to claim for Spain. The crew celebrated mass on the island of Limasawa in late March and then converted the rulers of Cebu Island to Christianity.

Magellan heard that rivals of the Becu who lived on the nearby island of Mactan refused to convert and submit to Spain. Magellan tried to claim their land for Spain and their souls for the church, but the occupants of Mactan Island, led by the chieftain known traditionally as Lapulapu, stood firm in the face of Spanish guns and swords. On April 27, 1521, Magellan led 60 men to the island with an ultimatum to surrender. The islanders refused, and a fierce battle ensued, which Pigafetta recounted:

When we reached land we found the islanders fifteen hundred in number . . . they came down upon us with terrible shouts . . . seeing that the shots of our guns did them little or no harm [they] would not retire, but shouted more loudly, and . . . at the same time drew nearer to us, throwing arrows, javelins, spears hardened in fire, stones, and even mud, so that we could hardly defend ourselves.  

Pigafetta reported that Magellan was killed by Lapulapu and his warriors on the shore. Despite Spanish firepower, the islanders quickly overcame the invaders with their numbers and bravery and drove them back. The Europeans retreated, leaving their commander to die on the beach; Magellan’s body was never recovered. Later, the king of Cebu would turn against the Europeans, too, and kill 26 of them. The remaining Europeans soon departed.

Their numbers dwindling, the surviving crew, under the command of Juan Sebastián Elcano, did finally reach the Moluccas in November 1521. They were able to stock up the ships with spices and goods to bring back to Spain. Having been forced to abandon two of their three remaining ships, the crew would return to Spain in a fleet of one—the Victoria . Ten months later, the ship and its bedraggled crew of 18, including Pigafetta, entered Seville’s harbor. ( Who really discovered Antarctica? )

Final frontier

The first continuous circumnavigation of the world was complete. It took almost exactly three years and, surprisingly, turned a profit. The 381 sacks of cloves brought back by the Victoria   were worth more than all five ships that had set out on the voyage. Despite the hopes and funds invested, it did not translate into immediate meaningful economic benefits for Spain. The treacherous course around the tip of South America was never a practical route for trade with the Moluccas.

Despite the death and destruction brought on by the voyage, many historians believe Magellan’s expedition was a worthy accomplishment. The careful records kept by Pigafetta and others dramatically expanded Europe’s knowledge of the world beyond the Atlantic, giving cartographers a firm sense of the world’s actual size and future navigators intelligence on the conditions and currents of the Pacific Ocean. Europeans had known of the eastern shore of the Pacific since 1513, but Magellan revealed its sheer size and power, knowledge that transformed Europeans’ understanding of the extent of the globe.

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Biography and Legacy of Ferdinand Magellan

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• Ph.D., Spanish, Ohio State University
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One of the greatest explorers of the Age of Discovery, Ferdinand Magellan is best known for leading the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe. However, he personally did not complete the route and perished in the South Pacific. A determined man, he overcame personal obstacles, mutinies, uncharted seas, biting hunger, and malnutrition during the course of his voyage. Today, his name is synonymous with discovery and exploration.

Early Years and Education

Fernão Magalhães (Ferdinand Magellan is an anglicized version of his name) was born in approximately 1480 in the small Portuguese town of Villa de Sabroza. As the son of the mayor, he led a privileged childhood, and at an early age, he went to the royal court in Lisbon to serve as page to the Queen. He was very well educated, studying with some of the finest tutors in Portugal , and from an early age showed an interest in navigation and exploration.

The De Almeida Expedition

As a well-educated and well-connected young man, it was easy for Magellan to sign on with many of the different expeditions departing from Spain and Portugal at the time. In 1505, he accompanied Francisco De Almeida, who had been named Viceroy of India. De Almeida had a fleet of 20 heavily-armed ships, and they sacked settlements and established towns and forts in north-eastern Africa along the way. Magellan fell out of favor with De Almeida around 1510 when he was accused of illegally trading with Islamic locals. He returned to Portugal in disgrace and offers for him to join new expeditions dried up.

From Portugal to Spain

Magellan was convinced that a new route to the lucrative Spice Islands could be found by going through the New World. He presented his plan to the King of Portugal, Manuel I. He was rejected, possibly because of his past problems with De Almeida. Determined to get funding for his trip, Magellan went to Spain. Here, he was granted an audience with Charles V , who agreed to finance his journey. By August of 1519, Magellan had five ships: the Trinidad (his flagship), Victoria , San Antonio , Concepción , and the Santiago . His crew of 270 men was mostly Spanish.

Departure, Mutiny, and the Wreck

Magellan’s fleet left Seville on August 10, 1519. After stopovers in the Canary and Cape Verde Islands, they headed for Portuguese Brazil. Here, they anchored near present-day Rio de Janeiro in January of 1520 to take on supplies, trading with locals for food and water. It was at this time that serious troubles began: the Santiago was wrecked and the survivors had to be picked up. The captains of the other ships attempted to mutiny. At one point, Magellan was forced to open fire on the San Antonio . He reasserted command and executed or marooned most of those responsible, pardoning the others.

The Strait of Magellan

The four remaining ships headed south, searching for passage around South America. Between October and November 1520, they navigated through the islands and waterways on the continent’s southern tip. The passage they found was named the Strait of Magellan. They discovered Tierra del Fuego as the sailed. On November 28, 1520, they found a tranquil-looking body of water. Magellan named it the Mar Pacífico, or the Pacific Ocean. During the exploration of the islands, the San Antonio deserted. The ship returned to Spain and took too much of the remaining provisions with it, forcing the men to hunt and fish for food.

Across the Pacific

Convinced the Spice Islands were only a short sail away, Magellan led his ships across the Pacific , discovering the Marianas Islands and Guam. Although Magellan named them the Islas de las Velas Latinas (Islands of the Triangular Sails), the name Islas de los Ladrone s (Islands of Thieves) stuck because locals made off with one of the landing boats after giving Magellan’s men some supplies. Pressing on, they landed on Homonhon Island in the Philippines. Magellan found he could communicate with the people, as one of his men spoke Malay. He had reached the Eastern edge of the world known to Europeans.

Homonhon was uninhabited, but Magellan’s ships were seen and contacted by some locals who led them to Cebu, home of Chief Humabon, who befriended Magellan. Humabon and his wife even converted to Christianity along with many of the locals. They then convinced Magellan to attack Lapu-Lapu, a rival chieftain on nearby Mactan Island. On April 17, 1521, Magellan and some of his men attacked a much larger force of islanders, trusting their armor and advanced weapons to win the day. The attack was fought off, however, and Magellan was among those killed. Efforts to ransom his body failed. It was never recovered.

Return to Spain

Leaderless and short on men, the remaining sailors decided to burn the Concepción and return to Spain. The two ships managed to find the Spice Islands and loaded up the holds with valuable cinnamon and cloves. As they crossed the Indian Ocean , however, the Trinidad began to leak. It eventually sank, although some of the men made it to India and from there back to Spain. The Victoria kept going, losing several men to starvation. It arrived in Spain on September 6, 1522, more than three years after it had left. There were only 18 sickly men crewing the ship, a fraction of the 270 who had set out.

Ferdinand Magellan Legacy

Magellan is credited with being the first to circumnavigate the world in spite of two somewhat glaring details: first, he died halfway through the journey and second, he never intended to travel in a circle. He simply wanted to find a new route to the Spice Islands. Some historians have said that Juan Sebastián Elcano , who captained the Victoria back from the Philippines, is a worthier candidate for the title of first to circumnavigate the globe. Elcano had begun the voyage as master on board the Concepción .

There are two written records of the journey. The first was a journal kept by an Italian passenger who paid to go on the trip, Antonio Pigafetta. The second was a series of interviews with the survivors made by Maximilianus of Transylvania upon their return. Both documents reveal a fascinating voyage of discovery.

The Magellan expedition was responsible for several major discoveries. In addition to the Pacific Ocean and numerous islands, waterways and other geographic information, the expedition also sighted a great many new animals, including penguins and guanacos. The discrepancies between the log book and the date when they returned to Spain led directly to the concept of the International Date Line. Their measurements of distances traveled helped contemporary scientists determine the size of the earth. They were the first to sight certain galaxies visible in the night sky, now aptly known as the Magellanic Clouds. Although the Pacific had been first discovered in 1513 by Vasco Nuñez de Balboa , it is Magellan's name for it that stuck. Balboa called it the "South Sea."

Immediately upon the return of the Victoria , European sailing ships began trying to duplicate the voyage, including an expedition led by surviving captain Elcano. It wasn’t until Sir Francis Drake’s 1577 voyage, however, that anyone managed to do it again. Still, the knowledge gained from Magellan's voyage immensely advanced the science of navigation at the time.

Today, Magellan’s name is synonymous with discovery and exploration. Telescopes and spacecraft bear his name, as does a region in Chile. Perhaps because of his untimely demise, his name does not have the negative baggage associated with it like fellow explorer Christopher Columbus , blamed by many for subsequent atrocities in the lands he discovered.

Thomas, Hugh. "Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire, from Columbus to Magellan." Paperback, Random House Trade Paperback, May 31, 2005.

• Biography of Ferdinand Magellan, Explorer Circumnavigated the Earth
• Biography of Juan Sebastián Elcano, Magellan's Replacement
• Explorers and Discoverers
• A Brief History of the Age of Exploration
• Amerigo Vespucci, Explorer and Navigator
• A Timeline of North American Exploration: 1492–1585
• The First New World Voyage of Christopher Columbus (1492)
• Biography of Christopher Columbus
• Profile of Prince Henry the Navigator
• Captain James Cook
• 10 Facts About Christopher Columbus
• Biography of Christopher Columbus, Italian Explorer
• Biography of Jacques Cartier, Early Explorer of Canada
• Circling the Globe: The Voyage of the Great White Fleet
• The Fourth Voyage of Christopher Columbus
• The Second Voyage of Christopher Columbus

Magellan, Elcano and Their Voyage Around the World

Discover the details of the first circumnavigation of the globe..

By Naval Museum

Museo Naval

We Were The First: Magellan, Elcano, and the Voyage Around the World Naval Museum

The Voyage Around the World In 2019, Spain celebrated 500 years since 5 ships set sail from Seville, heading west in search of a new route to the spices of the east. Around 250 men from at least 9 different countries began the journey, which was funded by the Spanish monarch King Charles I. It was a journey that would end 3 years later with the arrival of just 1 ship carrying 18 men, having completed the first circumnavigation of the world.

Chart of Juan de la Cosa (1500) by Juan de la Cosa Original Source: Museo Naval Madrid.

The World of Magellan and Elcano

Finding a maritime route to the east was a constant preoccupation in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period. The decline of the overland trade route called the Silk Road forced European powers to look for new ways to the east. Portugal began crossing the Atlantic and Spain's Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand II and Isabella I, financed Christopher Columbus' voyage in search of a new route.

Ptolemy's Mappamundi (1472) by Claudio Ptolomeo Original Source: Museo Naval. Madrid. Todos los derechos reservados.

When Columbus set sail for the Indies in 1492, sea voyages were an adventure into the unknown. The discovery of new lands helped improve cartography, which was essential for navigation. Claudius Ptolemy's Geography, an ancient Roman atlas, was hugely influential in this, as it was the first example of using a systematic method to map the world.

The first map to depict the Americas was produced in 1500 by Juan de la Cosa. It represents the limits of European knowledge of this new world by the time Ferdinand Magellan's expedition set sail in 1519.

The Cantino planisphere. The original is in the Biblioteca Estense Universitaria library in Modena (1502-1505) by Anonimuos Original Source: Museo Naval. Madrid. Todos los derechos reservados.

In the east, accounts from merchants and travelers alluded to rich and fertile lands. To the south, Portuguese explorers had provided more specific details of the outline of the African coast. Looking west, the tales of Spanish conquistadors described the recently discovered Americas as a new land full of natural riches.

In 1502, Alberto Cantino's Planisphere, or world map, was the first to depict the meridian designated by the Treaty of Tordesillas. Signed in 1494, the treaty divided the rights to sail to and conquer new lands in the Atlantic Ocean and the New World between the Spanish monarchy and Portugal.

Model of the Victoria (2019) by Francisco Fernández González, Luis Fariña Filgueira, Fernando Sagra Sanz, José Antonio Álvarez Manzanares Original Source: Museo Naval. Madrid. All rights reserved.

Inspiration and Preparation for the Voyage

By that time, Europe had begun to realize that the Americas were a new continent rather than part of Asia, and so continued to send expeditions there. During one of these, Vasco Núñez de Balboa discovered the South Sea (now known as the Pacific Ocean) in 1513. This created new opportunities for navigation on the other side of Panama.

Ratification of the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) Original Source: Archivo del Museo Naval. Madrid. Todos los derechos reservados.

Spain and Portugal began searching for a passage to this ocean to reach the Indies, while adhering to the boundaries established in the Treaty of Tordesillas. Signed in 1494, this treaty comprised a series of agreements between King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile on the one hand, and King John II of Portugal on the other. These established a new line of demarcation between their kingdoms from pole to pole, 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands.

Portrait of Ferdinand Magellan (19th Century) by Spanish anonimous Original Source: Museo Naval. Madrid. Todos los derechos reservados.

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese-born sailor who knew the Portuguese route to Africa and Asia, having sailed in the service of King Manuel I of Portugal for over 20 years. He wanted to begin a journey that would take a new route to the Moluccas (Spice Islands), but the idea did not get far at the Portuguese court. That is how he ended up in Spain, where he was welcomed by the young monarch Charles I, grandchild of Ferdinand and Isabella.

Model of the Victoria (2019) by Francisco Fernández González, Luis Fariña Filgueira, Fernando Sagra Sanz, José Antonio Álvarez Manzanares. Original Source: Museo Naval. Madrid. Todos los derechos reservados.

In 1518, an agreement (the Capitulaciones de Valladolid) was signed between Magellan, his cosmographer Rui Faleiro, and the Spanish monarch to find a new western route to the Spice Islands that avoided the areas under Portuguese control. They had five ships with which to make the journey (the "Trinidad", "San Antonio", "Concepción", "Victoria", and "Santiago"), which the Casa de la Contratación (House of Commerce) supplied with provisions for a planned two-year voyage.

The Voyage (1519–22)

The expedition left Seville on August 10, 1519, arriving in Sanlucár de Barrameda 10 days later to collect the final provisions and equipment. From there, they set sail into the unknown, on a journey that would take three years.

Map of South America (1630) by Gerardis Mercatoris Original Source: Museo Naval. Madrid. Todos los derechos reservados.

The Familiar: From Seville to Río de Solís Leaving Seville, they journeyed south and, at the beginning of October, they headed southwest across the Atlantic Ocean, which was already familiar to the experienced sailors. On December 13, they dropped anchor in Santa Lucia Bay (now Rio de Janeiro), where they picked up food supplies. In January 1520, they reached the mouth of Río de Solís (now Río de la Plata).

Map of America (Siglo XVI) by Diego Gutierrez Original Source: Museo Naval. Madrid.

The Unknown: From the Río de Solís to The South Sea Due to the weather, they decided to stop in Port St. Julian. The "Santiago" was lost on a reconnaissance mission, although the crew and cargo were saved. Discontent was starting to grow among the crew due to the rationing of supplies and not knowing which route to follow. Juan de Cartagena, led a mutiny with the support of the "Victoria" and the "Concepción". Magellan quelled the uprising, killing the captain of the "Victoria" (Luis de Mendoza) and the captain of the "Concepción" (Gaspar de Quesada), and abandoning Juan de Cartagena on an island in Patagonia.

Tierra del Fuego (18th century) by Anónimo Original Source: Museo Naval. Madrid.

On August 24, the expedition set off again, but with one less ship after the "Santiago" crashed into a sandbank. “On the 21st of the said month [October 1520] … we saw an opening like a bay … within this bay we found a strait … and passing this strait we found another small bay, and then we found another strait …” (Francisco Albo). They had finally found the passage. What is now known as the Strait of Magellan allowed them access to a new ocean that they called the Pacific.

Penguin Original Source: Museo Naval. Madrid.

The accounts of Antonio Pigafetta describe the never-before-seen animals they discovered there, such as the penguin, now known as the Magellanic penguin. During this discovery, the "San Antonio" deserted the expedition and turned east, back to Spain.

Model of a rowboat (rocking boat) (19th Century) by Spanish anonimous Original Source: Museo Naval. Madrid. Todos los derechos reservados.

The seas gradually became more difficult to navigate. They crossed open waters that were unknown to them, leading to a shortage in supplies and illness among the crew. The expedition landed on islands such as San Pablo, Guam, and the Caroline Islands, signing treaties of loyalty to the king of Spain and spreading Christianity along the way. Finally, in 1521, they reached the Archipelago of San Lazaro, now the Philippines.

Kris with wavy blade (c. 1840) by Philippine anonimous Original Source: Museo Naval. Madrid. Todos los derechos reservados.

Magellan's Death The commander of the expedition established good relations with the king of Cebu, Rajah Humabon, arousing suspicion in the other local kings. Quarrels broke out, with some in favor of the Spanish and others against, creating a hostile environment. Finally, in 1521, Magellan and 60 men confronted Lapu-Lapu, the king of Mactan. The island's reefs stopped the Spanish artillery boats from landing and they were attacked by 1,500 islanders. Magellan died in the battle.

Primus Circumdedisti Me (2019) by Augusto Ferrer Dalmau Original Source: Museo Naval. Madrid.

Elcano and the Arrival at the Moluccas The early departure from the Philippines led to a reorganization of the remaining crew. They set fire to the "Concepción", which was in poor condition, and the crew were split between the two remaining ships. The "Trinidad" was commanded by Gonzalo Gómez de Espinosa, and Juan Sebastián Elcano became captain of the "Victoria". At last, on November 8, 1521, they caught sight of the Moluccas, landing on Tidore.

Juan Sebastián Elcano (1854) by J. Donon Original Source: Museo Naval. Madrid. Todos los derechos reservados.

After arriving at these islands, they discovered the "Trinidad" was no longer seaworthy. Gómez de Espinosa stayed for a few months to repair the ship and wait for more favorable winds to help them sail east and return via the Americas. Meanwhile, Elcano began the return journey across the Indian Ocean towards Africa, setting course for the Cape of Good Hope, which was under Portuguese control.

The Return of the Victoria from the Moluccas to Seville Following more storms and illnesses, the "Victoria" landed in Cape Verde, in Portuguese territory, in May 1522 to carry out repairs and take on supplies. When the Portuguese discovered their cargo and the origin of the crew, they were forced to abandon the island suddenly, leaving some of the crew on land.

Juan Sebastián Elcano returning to Seville in 1522 (Ca. 1944-45) by Elías Salaverría Inchaurrandieta Original Source: Museo Naval. Madrid. Todos los derechos reservados.

“On the 4th of the said month [September 1522], in the morning, we saw land, and it was Cape St. Vincent, and it was to the northeast of us, and so we changed our course to the southeast …” (Francisco Albo). They had finally returned home. The "Victoria" reached Seville with 18 survivors, 4 days after catching sight of Cape St. Vincent. They had made it possible to carry out commercial trade around the world. They were the first to circumnavigate the globe.

Charles V welcoming back Elcano (1854) by Carlos Mugica y Pérez Original Source: Museo Naval. Madrid. Todos los derechos reservados.

The king summoned Juan Sebastián Elcano to Valladolid, where he gave him a personal report on the mission and requested the rescue of the crew members held prisoner in Cape Verde. The monarch granted him a lifetime income of 500 gold ducats a year—which he never paid him—and a coat of arms featuring a world globe with the inscription, "Primus circumdedisti me (You were the first to circumnavigate me)."

Model of the barquentine Juan Sebastián de Elcano, a training ship for the Royal Spanish Navy (1927–active service) (1982-1987) by José Francisco Arregui Arambarri Original Source: Museo Naval. Madrid. Todos los derechos reservados.

Elcano died four years later, during a new mission to the Moluccas led by García Jofre de Loaísa. The current Spanish navy training ship bears his name in his honor.

Descriptio Maris Pacifici (1589) by Abraham Ortelius Original Source: Museo Naval. Madrid. Todos los derechos reservados.

Legacy: A New World

The importance of the Magellan-Elcano voyage far exceeded the original plans for the expedition.

Universal Chart (1866) by Diego Ribero Original Source: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vatican City)

What began as a mission to find a way to the Spice Islands, far from the Portuguese routes, became a successful enterprise for two other reasons: it helped prove the shape of the Earth and showed that the Americas were not part of the Indies, but in fact a whole new continent. It generated numerous economic, geographic, and political changes, and led to the beginnings of globalization.

Organized by the Naval Museum, Madrid Curators: Enrique Martínez Ruiz, Susana García Ramírez, José María Moreno Martín Online adaptation: Blanca Sazatornil, Alicia Suárez. Outreach Department, Naval Museum, Madrid. This exhibition is part of the First Voyage Around the World project.

Chart of Juan de la Cosa: The First Known Map of America

Naval museum, elcano's return (el regreso de elcano), navigational instruments and equipment in the 16th century, scale model ships, masters of the sea, lords of the world, midshipmen: the arrival of science in spain, isaac peral and the invention of the first electric submarine, blas de lezo, the last voyage of the mercedes, la batalla de lepanto.

Dire straits: the story of Ferdinand Magellan's fatal voyage of discovery

The renegade Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan masterminded a Spanish expedition that completed the first circuit of Earth, although it cost him his life. Writing for BBC History Revealed , Pat Kinsella tells the story and timeline of a triumph beset by mutiny, malnutrition and disaster

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If all had gone to plan during Ferdinand Magellan’s life-defining expedition, almost no one would know his name now. As it happened, everything went disastrously wrong for the Portuguese sea captain, yet he has gone down in history as the first explorer to circumnavigate the planet, even though he died in the middle of the journey.

Magellan did, however, become the first European to lead a voyage into the Pacific Ocean – although future sailors would regularly raise alarmed eyebrows at the name he bequeathed to it. The expedition he led (or at least one of the five ships that set out from Spain in 1519) performed the first known complete loop of the globe.

Although Magellan could never have predicted the extraordinary events that would follow, perhaps the thought of reputational immortality would have provided the 41-year-old with a crumb of comfort on 27 April 1521, as he floundered in the shallows of a beach on the island of Mactan in the Philippines, mortally injured and weighed down by his armour. He had been identified as the leader of the invading alien force by the enraged warriors of island chief Lapu-Lapu, and was about to suffer a pointless and wholly avoidable death after his ill-advised show of military might spectacularly backfired.

• A voyage from hell: how Magellan’s circumnavigation of the world changed history

Magellan’s final moments were frenzied and violent. But if he hadn’t made the fateful decision to lead a small force against a defending army of 1,500 battle-ready men, then perhaps he wouldn’t have been remembered as one of the greatest explorers of his era.

Who was Ferdinand Magellan?

Born into an aristocratic Portuguese family in 1480, Ferdinand Magellan was orphaned as a young boy and at the age of 12 he entered the royal court in Lisbon as a page of Eleanor of Viseu, consort of King John II. Thirteen years later, he enlisted in the fleet of the Portuguese viceroy to the Indies and spent seven years learning the ropes of his future career during action-packed voyages in Asia and Africa.

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Magellan was part of the invading force that saw Portugal secure control of the region’s most important trading routes when it conquered Malacca on the Malay Peninsula in 1511, and he may have ventured as far east as the Moluccas (Spice Islands) of modern-day Indonesia. During these adventures he bought a Malay-speaking man, Enrique de Malacca, to be his slave, interpreter and companion – and he remained so on all Magellan’s later voyages.

By 1512, Magellan was back in Lisbon with a promising-looking career ahead of him. He soon joined the huge expeditionary force of 500 ships and 15,000 soldiers that John II’s successor, King Manuel I, sent to punish the governor of Morocco for failing to pay his tribute to the Portuguese crown in 1513. It was during a skirmish that he sustained an injury that left him with a lifelong limp. But he was then accused of illegal trading with the Moors, which saw him fall from favour.

A dedicated student of maps and charts, consumed with an urge to explore, Magellan had hatched a plan to pioneer a westward route to the Spice Islands, avoiding the perilous route around the Cape of Good Hope. However, the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas and the expeditions and achievements of explorers such as Vasco da Gama had already granted Portugal full control of the eastwards route around southern Africa, and Manuel was disinterested in Magellan’s ideas.

Great reputations

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This snub left the ambitious and capable captain dangerously disaffected – a blessing for the Spanish, who were desperately seeking an alternative way of accessing the riches of India and the Far East. In 1517, Magellan decamped to Seville in Spain, where he quickly married the daughter of another Portuguese exile, had two children and began bending the ear of Charles I about a western route to the Spice Islands.

The 18-year-old Spanish king – grandson of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, who had commissioned the adventures of Columbus – was desperate to make his mark and smash the dominance his Iberian rivals had over the enormously lucrative spice trade. He seized the potential opportunity to bypass Africa, while avoiding breaking the terms of the treaty with the powerful Portuguese, and commissioned Magellan to undertake the expeditionary mission he had been itching to pursue.

Of course, Magellan wasn’t the first European explorer to sail west in search of a backdoor route to the treasures of the Orient. Columbus had ventured that way across the Atlantic looking for the East Indies in 1492, before bumping into the Bahamas instead, while John Cabot (aka Giovanni Caboto), a Venetian captain commissioned by Henry VII of England, had sailed from Bristol to Newfoundland in 1497.

• Ptolemy's maps: the father of modern Geography

Unlike Columbus – who made a further three journeys across the western ocean, but died in denial that he was actually exploring a totally new continent – the Spanish soon realised this was a different land mass (the Americas). While this revelation would ultimately return riches beyond their wildest dreams in terms of gold, Magellan’s focus was on how to get past this ‘New World’ in order to reach the Spice Islands beyond.

No European had sailed around Cape Horn – or indeed even laid eyes on it – but a Spanish adventurer named Vasco Núñez de Balboa had discovered the ocean beyond the New World in 1513, by traversing the Isthmus of Panama. Magellan, a visionary who was working with the most advanced cartographers and cosmographers of the era, was convinced there was a way of getting around the Americas.

Westward ho

In September 1519, Magellan led five vessels, manned by a multinational, 270-strong crew, into the Atlantic – his flagship the Trinidad, plus the Santiago , San Antonio , Concepción and Victoria . Word of his mission reached Manuel I, who jealously dispatched a Portuguese naval detachment to follow the expedition, but Magellan outran them.

But he couldn’t escape all his enemies so easily, especially as some were among his own men. Many of the Spanish sailors in the expeditionary party were suspicious of their Portuguese commander. Some of his crew were criminals released from prison in return for undertaking the dangerous voyage. Others joined just because they were avoiding creditors.

Many of the Spanish sailors were suspicious of their commander

The fleet was hit by a storm, which caused a delay and resulted in food rationing. Here, Juan de Cartagena – who had been appointed captain of the largest ship, the San Antonio , because of his good connections, despite being green in the business of exploration and an inexperienced seaman – began openly criticising Magellan’s competence and refusing to salute his captain-general. Magellan had Cartagena arrested, relieved of his command and imprisoned in the brig of the Victoria until they reached South America. The incident was a precursor to the much more dramatic and bloody events to come.

In December, the expedition reached South America and made landfall in Rio de Janeiro. For two weeks they interacted with indigenous people, trading trinkets for food and sexual favours, before the fleet sailed south, scouring the coastline in search of an opening. They spent fruitless weeks exploring the estuary of Río de la Plata for this elusive passage, before freezing conditions forced the party to seek shelter for the winter in Port St Julian in Patagonia.

Timeline: Ferdinand Magellan's voyage

Ten landmark moments in magellan’s voyage into the unknown, as plotted out on a 1544 copy of the agnese atlas, produced by the italian mapmaker battista agnese.

Morale was already plummeting when, in April 1520, Cartagena made his move. He escaped Victoria , reboarded the San Antonio , and begun fermenting trouble and securing support from the Spanish crew and officers, playing on bad blood about Magellan’s Portuguese nationality.

In the mutiny that followed, the San Antonio was declared independent of Magellan’s command. The captains of the Concepción and the Victoria (Gaspar de Quesada and Luiz Mendoza) joined them, as did the Victoria ’s pilot Juan Sebastián Elcano, and many of the officers and crew. A letter was sent to Magellan on the Trinidad, demanding he acknowledge that the fleet was no longer under his command.

Magellan sent his reply in the hands of an assassin

Magellan coolly sent his reply back in the hands of an assassin. After coming alongside the Victoria in a small boat, while pretending to hand over the letter to Mendoza, the man fatally stabbed the errant captain instead. Simultaneously, crew loyal to Magellan stormed aboard the ship and attacked the mutineers, who were overcome.

The rebels maintained control of the San Antonio and Concepción , with Cartagena having boarded the latter prior to the fighting breaking out. Magellan positioned the three ships he had at his disposal across the mouth of the bay, and prepared for combat.

During the night, heavy winds caused San Antonio to drag its anchor and drift towards the Trinidad. Magellan met the oncoming ship with a cannon broadside, causing the mutineers aboard the stricken carrack to surrender. Conceding defeat, Cartagena followed suit and gave up the Concepción without resistance the following morning.

Having quelled the revolt, Magellan immediately sentenced 30 men to death, but then (mindful of his threadbare resources) commuted their punishment to hard labour. The leaders of the mutiny weren’t so lucky. Quesada was beheaded for treason, and both his body and that of Mendoza’s were mutilated and put on sticks. Too fearful of Cartagena’s connections to order him executed, Magellan instead left him marooned with Padre Sánchez de la Reina, a priest who’d supported the mutineers. They were never heard of again.

The real deal

Back on course.

In July, Magellan dispatched the Santiago to scout ahead for the elusive passage. She discovered the Rio de Santa Cruz in what is now Argentina, but sank in a storm while trying to make the return journey. Remarkably, the crew survived, and two men trekked overland for 11 days to alert Magellan, who mounted a rescue mission.

In October, the entire fleet set off, and Magellan at last sighted the strait that now bears his name, a route between the tip of mainland South America and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago. However, conditions continued to be rough, and when the fleet split to explore either side of an island, the crew of the San Antonio forced their captain to desert and return to Spain (where they spread scurrilous rumours about Magellan’s brutality to avoid punishment).

While the main fleet waited in vain for the San Antonio , Gonzalo de Espinosa led an advance party along the strait, returning after six days with news that made Magellan weep with joy: they’d sighted open ocean. On 28 November, the expedition emerged into an ocean that seemed so relatively benign on the day, Magellan named it Mar Pacifico, or Peaceful Sea.

The true nature and enormity of the Pacific was soon revealed to the explorer, however. !e fleet left the coast of Chile to sail across the new-found ocean, a journey Magellan expected to last four days, but which took almost four months. The fleet was woefully underprepared and the sailors savaged by scurvy and thirst, many dying.

• Mutiny at sea: the forgotten story of murder and brutality aboard HMS Wager

Magellan crossed the equator in February 1521 and reached the Pacific island of Guam in March, where the fleet replenished its exhausted supplies. Not long afterwards they finally arrived at the Philippine archipelago. This, though, was just the beginning of Magellan’s real troubles; his erstwhile planning and leadership came dramatically undone when he needlessly embroiled himself in a dispute between two local chiefs.

In the Philippines, Magellan communicated with local rajahs through his Malay slave, Enrique. At the evangelical explorer’s behest, a number of island chiefs – including Cebu’s Rajah Humabon – converted to Christianity.

In return for his soul, however, Humabon sought Magellan’s support in a disagreement with a neighbour, Lapu- Lapu, a chief on Mactan Island, who had already irked the explorer by declining to convert or bow to the Spanish crown.

On 27 April 1521, 60 heavily armed Europeans accompanied a fleet of Filipino boats to Mactan, where Lapu- Lapu again refused to recognise the authority of Humabon or the Spanish. Facing 1,500 warriors, Magellan – confident in the shock-and-awe capability of his superior weaponry, which included guns, crossbows, swords and axes – instructed Humabon to hang back, while he waded ashore with an attack party of 49 men.

They torched several houses in an attempt to scare the islanders, but this only served to whip Lapu-Lapu’s warriors into a battle rage. In the resulting beachfront mêlée, where the Europeans were weighed down by their armour, Magellan was identified and injured by a bamboo spear thrust. Felled, he was then surrounded and killed, along with several others. With their captain dead, the survivors retreated to the boats.

After the battle, when the Europeans refused to release Enrique (despite Magellan’s orders to do so in the event of his death), Humabon turned against the Spanish. Several were poisoned during a feast, including Duarte Barbosa and João Serrão, who had assumed leadership of the expedition following the demise of Magellan.

Rounding the circle

João Carvalho took command of the fleet and ordered an immediate departure. By this time, however, too few men remained to crew the three ships. The Concepción was burnt, and the two remaining vessels made for Brunei, indulging in a spot of piracy en route, and attacking a junk bound for China. Espinosa then replaced Carvalho as leader, as well as being captain of the Trinidad , while Elcano was made the captain of the Victoria .

In November, the expedition finally reached the Spice Islands and managed to trade with the Sultan of Tidore. Loaded with cloves, they attempted to return home by sailing west across the Indian Ocean – which had never been Magellan’s intention – until the Trinidad started leaking. The wounded ship stopped for repairs, and eventually tried to return via the Pacific, but was captured by the Portuguese and subsequently sank.

Meanwhile, under the captaincy of Elcano, the Victoria continued across the Indian Ocean, eventually limping around the Cape of Good Hope in May. Tragically, 20 men starved on the last leg along the Atlantic coast of Africa, and another 13 were abandoned on Cape Verde – Elcano had put into port to resupply, but the Portuguese there caught on that they were part of a Spanish expedition; fearing for his cargo, Elcano fled.

On 6 September 1522, after three years’ absence, Victoria arrived in Spain, becoming the first ship to have sailed around the planet. Only 18 of Magellan’s original 270-man crew arrived with her. Though ultimately successful in finding a western passage that opened up the Pacific and the west coast of the Americas, the Strait of Magellan proved too far south to be a viable trade route to the Orient, which intensified the search for the elusive Northwest Passage from the mid-16th century.

Although Magellan didn’t make it home, he did complete a full circumnavigation of the globe (Philippines to Philippines, albeit in two chunks separated by several years), a feat probably matched by his Malaysian slave Enrique. But the first European to definitively do so in a single voyage was the man who captained Victoria on her final leg – the mutineer Elcano.

Drake's fortune

Pat Kinsella specialises in adventure journalism as a writer, photographer and editor

This article was first published in the September 2019 issue of BBC History Revealed

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Ferdinand Magellan & The First Voyage Around the World

During the Age of Exploration, one task was particularly noteworthy: the circumnavigation of Earth. Discover the life of Ferdinand Magellan and the first voyage around the world.

The Age of Exploration saw the achievement of incredible feats with the voyages of European expeditions. Perhaps the most famous of them all is the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the Americas, but many other expeditions are equally groundbreaking. Besides making contact with a “new continent,” the circumnavigation of the Earth was seen as an enormous feat. With Columbus’ travels and following expeditions by other explorers, the circumnavigation of the world was believed possible, but who would be first? Europe’s major powers put their efforts into completing the task, but one expedition, led by Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer serving the Spanish crown, would ultimately be successful: the Magellan expedition.

Magellan’s Early Life & First Travels

Magellan was born in the north of Portugal in 1480. His family was of noble origin and enjoyed a minor presence yet sufficient status among the higher classes of the Kingdom of Portugal. His father, Rui Magellan, was the mayor of a small town. Ferdinand served as a page to Queen Eleanor, consort of John II of the Portuguese crown. After the death of John, Magellan served under Manuel I. When Magellan was 25, he joined a Portuguese expedition to India, where they would establish Francisco de Almeida as the first viceroy of Portuguese India. Magellan stayed in India for almost a decade; then, he traveled to Malacca, where, in 1511, the Portuguese conquered the city under the governor Alfonso de Albuquerque.

Magellan received great riches and promotions from his participation in the conquest of Malacca. He received a slave, baptized under the name Enrique of Malacca, who would join Magellan through many of his travels and endeavors. Magellan’s behavior became increasingly rebellious and not in tune with the Portuguese authorities’ expectations. He took leave without permission, was accused of illegally trading in Morocco, and even quarreled with the Portuguese King Manuel I.

Magellan dedicated himself to studying the most recent nautical charts available to him. He investigated, alongside cosmographer Rui Faleiro, the possibility of reaching the Moluccas through a gateway from the Atlantic to the South Pacific in the Americas. While in Malacca, Magellan befriended the navigator Francisco Serrao, who reached and stayed in the Spice Islands (the Moluccas). His letters to Magellan would prove very useful for his consequent travels to the Islands.

Magellan the Spanish Explorer: Pledging Loyalty to the Opposing Crown

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When Magellan fell out of favor with the Portuguese King, he turned to the Spanish crown. Magellan had been refused time and time again an expedition made possible by the Portuguese crown. King Manuel I disapproved of Magellan’s planned expedition. Thus, Magellan renounced his Portuguese nationality and proposed his travel expedition to King Charles I of Spain (Charles V as Holy Roman Emperor ).

At the time of Magellan’s proposed expedition, Spain was at the start of its expansion into other continents, mainly the Americas, which would be decisive for the Spanish to consolidate their empire.

Portugal had a similar situation. The Portuguese Empire had explored most of the coasts of Africa, reached the Indies through said passage, and established colonies all throughout Africa and Asia.

However, both Iberian empires had become rivals whose differences were often solved only through external intervention. The Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494 established a division of lands outside of Europe between Spain and Portugal. The treaty was largely left unsettled, but in 1529, the Treaty of Zaragoza clarified and formalized the divisions. Before its formalization, however, Magellan and his fleet would achieve the first circumnavigation of the Earth, arguably abusing the agreement set in the Tordesillas treaty.

Magellan convinced the Spanish king that his expedition would not be opposed to the agreement between Spain and Portugal; thus, he was allowed to sail. King Manuel I was greatly insulted by Magellan’s expedition and work under the Spanish crown. The preparations of the Spanish fleet were disrupted by the Portuguese, and a fleet was sent after Magellan, though it failed to capture him.

Expedition through the Atlantic & Reaching the Americas

Magellan and his fleet left Spain from the port of Seville in 1519. The fleet traveled through the Guadalquivir River until they reached the Atlantic through the port of Sanlucar de Barrameda. The fleet remained in place for weeks, going back and forth from Seville to solve unforeseen difficulties. More than a month later, they departed. The fleet reached the Canary Islands, then passed next to Cape Verde and the coasts of Sierra Leone. Four months went by before the fleet reached the coasts of the Americas.

In December 1519, Magellan and his fleet touched land in what is now Rio de Janeiro. They traveled through the estuary of the Rio de la Plata River, then reached and named the region of Patagonia . In Patagonia, the Spaniards met local Indigenous people for the first time. After making contact and trading with them, the Spanish kidnapped some to bring them back for the king. Unfortunately, the kidnapped Indigenous people didn’t survive.

In March 1520, the fleet found itself in harsh conditions. They took refuge in the port of San Julian, but after considering the expedition had failed, some of the crew attempted to overthrow Magellan as their leader. The insurrection ultimately failed; the leaders of the unsatisfied crew were killed or banished, and Magellan forgave the rest as he needed them to continue. Later, the crew of one of the five ships, San Antonio , once again rose against Magellan and turned back for Spain.

The Strait of Magellan & the Voyage in the Pacific

After facing difficulties finding a passage to the Pacific Ocean (known to them as Mar del Sur ), the fleet reached the Strait of Magellan. Magellan originally named it the Strait of All Saints ( estrecho de Todos los Santos ), but the strait gained its name in honor of Magellan and his expedition, having been the first European explorer to find the strait.

Known to be a harsh place, the Strait of Magellan was challenging to pass through. The Spaniards saw bonfires lit by the natives and thus named the territory “ Tierra del Fuego ” (Land of Fire). Indigenous people lived or had reached as far down as Antarctica . The ocean known to them as Mar del Sur was then baptized the Pacific Ocean for its tranquil waters. For three months, after passing through the strait, the fleet was unable to reach land and disembark. The conditions aboard were challenging, to say the least.

The difficulties during the voyage in the Pacific decreased once the fleet reached the Mariana Islands . The state of the fleet was in tatters, having barely survived over three months without touching land. They then reached the Philippines, becoming the first Europeans to do so. Magellan and his fleet carried out the conversion of the local islanders to Catholicism. Magellan won over the locals by proving his strength and urging them to convert so that they could become like them. Thus, the fleet remained in the region before continuing to the Moluccas.

The Battle of Mactan, Magellan’s Death, & the First Circumnavigation of the World

In the Philippines, the locals were manipulated into converting to Catholicism, but when attempting to form an alliance with one chieftain, Magellan proposed to battle an opposing leader to win over his potential ally. Magellan and his fleet went to the Island of Mactan to fight, convert, and make the chieftain Lapulapu submit to the Spanish crown. The battle was a decisive defeat for the Spanish, who were unprepared and outnumbered. Magellan himself was killed during combat. After Magellan’s death, the expedition under his command had to choose a new leader.

The expedition chose Magellan’s brother-in-law and Juan Serrano as co-commanders, but their leadership would be short-lived. On the first of May, the Spanish disembarked to join the Cebuanos for a feast, yet once the meal was finished, they were surprised and murdered by the Cebuanos. The Spaniards had been betrayed by Magellan’s slave Enrique, who was supposed to be freed after his master’s death but was forced to continue working as an interpreter for them. Enrique made a deal with the island’s leader, Humabon, in order to regain his freedom.

With both co-commanders murdered, Juan Lopez de Carvalho was named captain. The fleet chose to continue with just two ships: Trinidad and Victoria . Carvalho was deemed unable to command, and Gonzalo Gomez de Espinosa was chosen as the new captain, leading the ship Trinidad . Meanwhile, Juan Sebastian Elcano was to captain the ship Victoria . When the fleet reached the Moluccas, it was decided that they should leave for Spain at once, yet the Trinidad was in no shape for that sort of travel, so only the Victoria would continue, and the Trinidad would follow later. Elcano and his ship circumnavigated the African continent for their return, and in September 1522, they reached Spain, completing the first circumnavigation of the world .

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By Francisco Perpuli BA History (in progress) Francisco is completing a History degree at the University of Guadalajara. He has a keen interest in the study of culture and the arts. In his spare time, he tries to explore and develop other interests while saving up to travel the world.

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Ferdinand Magellan and the first Trip around the World

Ferdinand Magellan (1480 – 1521)

On 10 August 1519, five ships under Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan ‘s command left Seville and descended the Guadalquivir River to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, at the mouth of the river. After further preparation 5 weeks later the ships set sail for the very first circumnavigation of the earth.

Growing up in Lisbon

Magellan was born Fernão de Magalhães (or Magalhãens) to an impoverished noble family in the northern Portuguese province of Trás-os-Montes . His father, Rui de Magalhães, was mayor of his home village Sabrosa . His mother was Alda de Mesquita. When he was ten years old, Magellan lost his parents. In 1492, like his brother before him, he went to the royal court of King John II of Portugal and Queen Eleonora as a page. Here, in Lisbon, together with his cousin Francisco Serrão, he enjoyed a comprehensive education, possibly by Martin Behaim , and was raised to the rank of squire in 1496.

Expeditions to India and Malacca

In 1505 he participated in the India expedition of the viceroy Francisco de Almeida , where he distinguished himself as a lifesaver and prevented a mutiny. Under Afonso de Albuquerque he took part in the conquest of the important port of Malacca , now Malaysia, in 1511 and played an important role in the storming of the city on 10 August. In December 1511, an expedition of three ships under the command of António de Abreu sailed on to the Spice Islands . According to a source, Magellan was among the 100-man crew and was appointed captain during the expedition. A short time later, however, Magellan lost his captain’s post again because he had sneaked away from the fleet with his ship and sailed further east.

Fighting in Morocco , Disgrace in Portugal, Service for Spain

On his return he was sent to Morocco in 1513, where he fought in the Battle of Azamor and was wounded at the knee. Because of illegal trade with the Moors, he fell out of favour with King Manuel I and was released from Portuguese civil service on 15 May 1514. Thereupon he went to Spain and offered his services in 1517 to the Spanish King Charles I (from 1519 as Charles V Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire).

In Search for the Spice Islands

Magellan had probably found a secret map in the Portuguese Maritime Archives which indicated that a paso , a passage to the Pacific Ocean, existed in South America. It is possible that the large estuary delta of the Río de la Plata had been misconstrued as a strait. He decided to be the first to use this path to the west to reach the Spice Islands (today’s Moluccas). They were a strategically important starting point for the lucrative spice trade. Moreover, Magellan was convinced that, according to the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494, the Spice Islands were located on the world half promised by Pope Spain.[4] On 22 March 1518 he signed a contract in Valladolid with Charles I of Spain, who provided Magellan with five ships with which he was to find the Spice Islands.

Starting for a Trip around the World

The provided fleet consisted of five ships of which the flagship Trinidad sailed under Ferdinand Magellan’s command. The crew consisted of 270 men across the continent and took off on August 10, 1519. The ships sailed from Seville down the Guadalquivir, at its mouth near Sanlúcar de Barrameda, where the Spanish authorities tried to prevent the Portuguese admiral from travelling for more than five weeks. It was not until September 20, 1519 that the fleet set sail from here. On his flagship, the Trinidad, Magellan had a torch installed at night so that the other ships could maintain visual contact. Magellan sailed first to the Canary Islands, where he took up supplies in Tenerife on 26 September, and then to the Cape Verde Islands (3 October), where he set course for Brazil. On November 20th, his fleet crossed the equator. On December 6, the fleet reached the South American coast, where it anchored on December 13 in a bay named by Magellan as Bahia de Santa Lucía (now Guanabara Bay) – after the day saint Santa Lucia. The Portuguese later gave it the name of St. Januarius . It is today’s bay of Rio de Janeiro .

Magellan’s ship Victoria , detail from a world map by Abraham Ortelius, 1590

Reaching the South Sea

On March 30, the fleet reached a bay called Puerto San Julián. As the southern winter was approaching, Magellan decided to hibernate. Because of running out of supplies, he had his food rations cut. Already on April 1, the poor supply situation led to a mutiny. Due to hunger, disease and exhaustion, some crew members demanded their return to Spain. In October 1520 the four ships left Puerto San Julián after seven months of winter quarters. Again all bays and estuaries were searched in detail for the paso. On October 21, 1520, Magellan reached a cape he called Cabo Vírgenes. The Concepción and the San Antonio were sent on a reconnaissance trip south of the cape and discovered the entrance to the long sought-after passage. Before the passage, Magellan asked the captains of the other ships whether they favoured a continuation of the voyage or a return. No one except the pilot of the San Antonio  dared to recommend a change. Since the passage is divided several times, a boat and two ships were sent out for exploration. From the crew of the boat came the message that the road had an exit to the northwest: The South Sea was reached.

The Island of Thieves

The fleet continued and in early 1521 they reached the equator and later Guam . The cities they traveled to were named by Magellan according to the features he observed. For instance he renamed the island to the ‘ Island of Thieves ‘ since his small boats on board of the Trinidad were stolen.

The Magellan–Elcano voyage. Victoria, one of the original five ships, circumnavigated the globe, finishing 16 months after Magellan’s death.

The Philippines and a Poisoned Arrow

After taking up much-needed supplies, Magellan’s fleet sailed on to the Philippines . At that time, 150 sailors were still alive. With the help of his interpreter Enrique Melaka, Ferdinand Magellan was able to exchange gifts with the Prince of Limasawa, Raja Kolambu, who led the Spaniards to the island of Cebu , where they succeeded in converting the prince of Cebu, Rajah Humabon, and many of his subjects to Christianity. The chief Lapu-Lapu on the neighbouring island of Mactan , however, rejected the idea of supremacy and missionary work. As a result, Magellan tried to take possession of the island by force for his ally and thus for Spain and Christianity. The military action on Mactan on 27 April 1521 failed: despite their firearms, the Spaniards were pushed back on the shore by the locals and had to mourn several casualties. Magellan was killed in that battle. According to the reports of his chronicler Pigafetta , he was one of the last to fight in the water to cover the retreat of his people. A poisoned arrow had pierced his thigh; shortly thereafter he had been struck down by two lance shots, one wounding him in the face, the other under his right arm. Soon after the failed attack on Mactan, the prince of Cebu renounced Christianity and lured the Europeans into a trap. 35 sailors were killed.

Elcano Finishing the Journey

The Spaniards barely escaped, but they were now so few that they sank the Concepción themselves and distributed the survivors to Trinidad and Victoria. Juan Sebastián Elcano captained the Victoria and Gonzalo Gómez de Espinosa the Trinidad . Elcano had been chosen captain, although he had only been a simple bosun at the beginning of the voyage. They began their journey home with the flagship and the Victoria, arriving in September, 1522. Through interviewing some of the survivors, Europe learned about the first circumnavigation of the globe. Also during this journey, the crew observed numerous animals that were completely new to Europeans. Afterwards, several straits and locations were named after Ferdinand Magellan and even craters on the Moon and Mars have been named after him.

Since the 19th century, Ferdinand Magellan’s name has been associated primarily with the first historically documented circumnavigation of the Earth. However, Magellan neither circumnavigated the earth himself, nor did he ever plan to do so – even if his companion and admirer Antonio Pigafetta claimed he did. But Pigafetta’s statements about Magellan are clearly written with apologetic intent, that is, he wanted to defend the reputation of his late boss against his enemies and critics. In the documents from the planning phase of the expedition, there is not a single indication that Magellan or anyone else had planned a circumnavigation of the earth at that time. In the end, this came about only out of necessity, because Juan Sebastián Elcano , the last captain of the Victoria , and his crew hoped to bring their worn-out ship with its valuable spice cargo back to Spain this way – which they eventually succeeded in doing. Consequently, Elcano and his crew first reaped the glory of being the first humans to circumnavigate the earth. Since every educated contemporary at the time knew that the earth was a sphere, the voyage of the Victoria was seen not so much as proof of the spherical shape as of the superiority of their own time, in which they lived, over antiquity. Before the 19th century, little of this fame fell on Magellan. While his Spanish patrons did not hold him in particularly high esteem either during his lifetime or afterwards, his Portuguese compatriots reviled him as a traitor. However, his seafaring and military achievements were certainly recognized – especially the discovery and passage of the strait between South America and Tierra del Fuego, known as the “ Estrecho de Magallanes ” ( Strait of Magellan ) from around the middle of the 16th century.

However, subsequent expeditions – notably that of García Jofre de Loaísa in 1525, in which Elcano also participated – showed that the practical value of the sea route to the Pacific and on to Asia found by Magellan was very small. The passage of the Strait of Magellan was a gamble, and the Pacific Ocean was not only immensely large, but made it impossible to establish lasting trade and dominion relations as long as it could only be crossed from east to west. The opposite direction was not achieved until 1565, when Andrés de Urdaneta succeeded in making his way back from the Visayas to Mexico by sailing far out into the North Pacific and taking advantage of the prevailing westerly winds there. Only now were the Spaniards able to colonize the Philippines (soon to be called the Philippines).

References and Further Reading

• [1]  Magellan at Britannica  
• [2] Stefan Zweig (2007), Conqueror of the Seas – The Story of Magellan
• [3]  The Voyage of Ferdinand Magellan
• [4]  How the Pope divided the New World among Spain and the Rest of the World , SciHi Blog
• [5]  Juan Sebastián Elcano and the First Circumnavigation of the Earth , SciHi Blog
• [6]  Dr. Gallup-Diaz,  Great Voyages: Ferdinand Magellan, ‘Our One True Guide’: The First Circumnavigation of the Globe , Penn Museum @ youtube
• [7]  Primera vuelta al mundo Magallanes-Elcano – V Centenario , official Spanish website for the 500th anniversary of the first circumnavigation of the earth
• [8] Antonio Pigafetta :  Magellan’s voyage around the world.  3 vol. Ed. by James Alexander Robertson, Cleveland (Ohio), 1906.
• [9] Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas :  Historia general de los hechos de los castellanos en las islas y tierra firme del mar océano.  Madrid 1601.
• [10] Ferdinand Magellan at Wikidata
• [11] Timeline of 16th Century Explorers via DBpedia and Wikidata

Tabea Tietz

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Though Magellan is often credited with the first circumnavigation on the globe, he did so on a technicality: He first made a trip from Europe to the Spice Islands, eastward via the Indian Ocean, and then later made his famous westward voyage that brought him to the Philippines. So he did cover the entire terrain, but it was not a strict point A to point A, round-the-world trip, and it was made in two different directions. His slave, Enrique, however, was born in either Cebu or Mallaca and came to Europe with Magellan by ship. Ten years later, he then returned to both Cebu (with Magellan) and Mallaca (after Magellan died) by ship on the armada s westward route. So Enrique was the first person to circumnavigate the world in one direction, from point A to point A.

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World History Edu

• Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan: Life & Major Accomplishments

by World History Edu · March 22, 2024

Ferdinand Magellan (Fernão de Magalhães in Portuguese, Fernando de Magallanes in Spanish) was a Portuguese explorer who led the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe, proving that the Earth is round and that the oceans are interconnected.

Born around 1480 in Sabrosa, Portugal, Magellan’s life and career were marked by his quest to find a westward route to the Spice Islands (the Maluku Islands in modern Indonesia), which were famed for their valuable spices like cloves and nutmeg.

Here are some key aspects of Magellan’s life and contributions:

Early Life and Career

Magellan came from a family of minor Portuguese nobility and served as a page at the court of Portugal. He gained early maritime experience participating in expeditions to India and Africa, learning about navigation and the sea routes critical to Portugal’s burgeoning empire.

Switching Allegiances

After being denied support by the Portuguese king for his plan to reach the Spice Islands by sailing westward, Magellan renounced his Portuguese citizenship and offered his services to Spain. King Charles I of Spain (later Holy Roman Emperor Charles V) approved Magellan’s ambitious plan, hoping to find a new route to the Spice Islands that would give Spain a competitive edge over Portugal.

Ferdinand Magellan is remembered as one of the greatest navigators in history. His expedition had a profound impact on European understanding of the world, opening new maritime trade routes and contributing to the era of global exploration. Image: A portrait of Ferdinand Magellan.

The Expedition

On September 20, 1519, Magellan set sail from Spain with a fleet of five ships and about 270 men. The expedition headed westward across the Atlantic, down the coast of South America, searching for a passage to the Pacific Ocean.

Discovery of the Strait of Magellan

In October 1520, after navigating through treacherous waters and facing mutinies, hardships, and the unknown, Magellan’s fleet entered a strait that would later bear his name. The Strait of Magellan provided a passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, which was a monumental achievement in navigation and exploration.

Crossing the Pacific and Reaching the Philippines

Magellan then led the first known successful crossing of the Pacific Ocean. In March 1521, he arrived in the Philippines, where he became involved in local political disputes and was killed in the Battle of Mactan on April 27, 1521.

Legacy and Circumnavigation Completion

Although Magellan did not complete the circumnavigation himself, one of his ships, the Victoria, under the command of Juan Sebastián Elcano, continued the journey. The Victoria returned to Spain in September 1522, completing the first circumnavigation of the Earth. This monumental voyage proved conclusively that the world was round and demonstrated the vastness of our planet.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are some of the most asked questions about the life and major voyages embarked upon by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan:

What was Magellan’s early career like?

As a young man, he served as a page to Queen Eleanor at the court of King John II of Portugal, who had previously engaged Vasco da Gama’s father for an exploratory mission. Magellan’s early career was marked by his participation in significant maritime ventures, including the voyage to establish the first Portuguese viceroy in India in 1505 and the conquest of Malacca, which brought him considerable wealth.

Why did Magellan switch allegiance from Portugal to Spain?

Magellan’s fortunes waned as he fell out of favor with the Portuguese Crown, leading to the rejection of his proposal to reach the Moluccas, known for their valuable spices. Faced with this setback, Magellan approached King Charles I of Spain, leveraging the geopolitical tensions and ambiguities left by the Treaty of Tordesillas, which had divided the New World between Spain and Portugal but did not clearly define the territories he aimed to explore.

What were some of his notable feats?

In 1519, Magellan’s persistence paid off when he led a Spanish fleet on an audacious journey. Despite the perilous conditions, including navigating the treacherous strait later named in his honor, he crossed the Atlantic, explored parts of South America, and ventured across the Pacific.

How did Ferdinand Magellan die?

Ferdinand Magellan died in the Philippines during the Battle of Mactan on April 27, 1521. The famed explorer had become involved in local political conflicts after his arrival in the archipelago. He had formed an alliance with Rajah Humabon of Cebu, who was an enemy of Lapu-Lapu, the chieftain of Mactan Island.

Magellan decided to support Humabon in a dispute against Lapu-Lapu. With a small force of men, he attempted to convince or force Lapu-Lapu to submit to the authority of the Spanish crown and convert to Christianity. However, Magellan and his men were met with fierce resistance from Lapu-Lapu’s warriors during a landing on Mactan Island.

The battle was a disastrous encounter for Magellan and his crew. Outnumbered and facing determined opposition, Magellan was struck by a bamboo spear and then surrounded and killed by the warriors of Lapu-Lapu.

His death marked a significant turning point in the expedition, leaving the remaining crew members to continue without their leader. Despite this setback, the expedition eventually succeeded in completing the first circumnavigation of the Earth under the command of Juan Sebastián Elcano.

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