While in Spain’s service, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan led the first European invention to block the world with his courage and vigor. Magellan exploration route has been the guideline and clue for many conquerors from century to century.
Overview
Ferdinand Magellan was born in Sarda 1, Portugal. As a child, he studied map making and navigation. In his mid-20s, he sailed aboard a large fleet and engaged in warfare. In 1519, with the help of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Magellan set sail for the Spice Islands to find a better path. He assembled a fleet of ships that, despite the huge shock and Magellan’s death, made the world a lonely voyage.
The first half of life
Ferdinand Magellan was born in Portugal, Porto, or Sabrosa, Sarka. His parents were members of the Portuguese elite, and after his death, Magellan became a pageant for the Queen at the age of 10. She studied at Queen Leonora’s School of Pages in Lisbon and spent her days on cartography, astronomy, and skyscrapers on topics that she could pursue later.
Navigator and Explorer
At 3, while Ferdinand Magellan was in his mid-20s, he joined a Portuguese fleet that sailed for East Africa. In 1509, he discovered himself at the Battle of Dew, where the Portuguese destroyed Egyptian ships in the Arabian Sea. Two years later he searched Malacca in present-day Malaysia and took part in the conquest of the port of Malacca.
There he acquired a local servant named Enrique. It is possible that Magellan called the Spice Islands in Indonesia, the Moluccas of Indonesia as mucus was the main source of some of the world’s most expensive spices, including cloves and nutmeg. The conquest and Magellan exploration route of the spice-rich countries was, consequently, the source of much European competition.
While serving in Morocco in 1513, Magellan was injured and spent the rest of his life on a paralyzed leg. After his injury, he lied illegally with the Moors, and despite all his service in Portugal and his many pleas to the king, his further job offers were withheld.
In 1517, Magellan moved to the Spanish city of Seville to supply his skills in a Spanish court. His departure from Portugal came at an opportune time. All newly discovered and not yet explored territories, declared the Treaty of Tordesillas, were given to Portugal before the borderline (30° W) and all territories west of the line were given to Spain.
In the three years since he left Portugal, Magellan has religiously studied all of the most recent navigation charts. Like all navigators of the time, he understood from Greek lessons that the world was round.
He believed that by crossing the Atlantic Ocean across South America and the surrounding Pacific, he could find another short way to the Spice Islands. It was not a new idea, Christopher Columbus and Vasco Nez de Balboa paved the way, but such travel gave the Spice Islands open access to the Spanish without having to travel to Portuguese-controlled territories.
Final Years
Ferdinand Magellan presented his plan to King Charles I of Spain (soon to be Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire), who blessed him. In September 1519, he sailed with five sailing vessels, but Magellan voyage proposed distances were hardly sufficient to sail.
The fleet first sailed to Brazil and then south to the coast of South America to Patagonia. There a rebellion was attempted and a ship was destroyed. Despite the push, the crew continued with the remaining four ships.
By October 1520, Magellan and his men had fallen into what is now known as the Magellan Strait. It took them more than a decade to cross the Strait, at which time the owner of one of the ships returned home alone. The rest of the ships sailed across the Pacific. In March 1521, the aircraft anchored in Guam.
Later in March 1521, the Magellan fleet reached the island of Hnnhomme on the shores of the Philippines, marking less than 150 of the 270 men who made the voyage. Magellan did business with King Humaban, the king of the island, and a bond was quickly formed. The Spanish crew soon became involved in a battle between humans and another rival leader, and Magellan was killed in battle on April 27, 1521.
The remaining crew fled the Philippines and headed for the Spice Islands, arriving on November 12. The Spanish commander of the last ship, Victoria, sailed in December and arrived in Spain on September 8, 1522.
Controversy with Who’s Who First
There is a lot of controversy surrounding who was the first person in the world. The simple answer is that Juan Sebastian Alcano and the rest of Magellan’s crew are returning from Spain on September 20, 1519, returning to Spain in September 1522 but there is one more candidate who has traveled around the world before them – Magellan’s servant Enrique.
In 1511, Magellan was traveling from Portugal to the Spice Islands and took part 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 in mourning and when he found out that he could not be released contrary to Magellan’s wishes, he escaped. The record weakens at this point. By some accounts, Enrique escapes into the forest.
Official Spanish records have listed Enrique as one of the victims of the massacre, but some historians have questioned the credibility or accuracy of the record, favoring the locals.
So, it is possible that if Enrique survived his escape, he would return to Malacca, where Magellan first imprisoned him in the 5th. If true, this would mean that Elekano and not his surviving members of the crew were the first people to cover the earth, though not traveling alone for the Magellan voyage.
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