Ferdinand Magellan
In 1495, a young man named Ferdinand Magellan entered the service of King John II of Portugal. He served as a page to Queen Eleanor, consort of that monarch. This position placed him within the inner circle of Portuguese nobility from his earliest years. His father, Pedro de Magalhães, held the title of mayor in their hometown of Sabrosa. Magellan grew up among minor nobles who managed local affairs for the crown.
By March 1505, at age twenty-five, he enlisted in a fleet of twenty-two ships bound for India. Francisco de Almeida commanded this force as the first viceroy of Portuguese India. Magellan spent eight years serving in Goa, Cochin, and Quilon across the Malay Archipelago. He fought in the battle of Cannanore during 1506, where he sustained a wound to his body. Later, he participated in the Battle of Diu in 1509 against rival forces.
His career took him under the command of Diogo Lopes de Sequeira on an embassy to Malacca. There, a conspiracy unfolded that threatened the entire expedition. Magellan warned Sequeira about the danger and risked his life to rescue Francisco Serrão and others stranded ashore. In 1511, he joined Afonso de Albuquerque's conquest of Malacca. The campaign yielded rich plunder and promoted Magellan further in rank.
He returned to Portugal in 1512 or 1513 alongside Enrique of Malacca, a Malay man he had indentured and baptized. This enslaved interpreter would later become crucial to communication during the Pacific voyage. Meanwhile, Serrão remained behind in the Moluccas, eventually marrying a woman from Amboina and advising the Sultan of Ternate.
King Manuel I of Portugal refused to support Magellan's plan to reach the Spice Islands by sailing westwards around the American continent. The monarch denied all persistent requests for an expedition to travel east while avoiding the need to sail around Africa. Magellan fell out of favor after taking leave without permission in mid-1513.
In August of that year, he fought against the Moroccan stronghold of Azemmour. He sustained a leg wound there that left him with a permanent limp. Accusations of illegal trade with the Moors followed, though they were proven false. Despite his innocence, no offers of employment came after the 15th of May 1514. He rejected a crew position on a Portuguese ship later in 1515.
After a quarrel with Manuel I in 1517, Magellan left for Spain. He befriended Diogo Barbosa, a countryman who lived in Seville. Soon he married Maria Caldera Beatriz Barbosa, daughter of Diogo's second wife. They had two children named Rodrigo de Magallanes and Carlos de Magallanes. Both sons died at a young age before their mother passed away in Seville around 1521.
Magellan devoted himself to studying recent charts alongside cosmographer Rui Faleiro. They investigated a gateway from the Atlantic to the South Pacific. Their research suggested the Moluccas might fall within Spanish territory under the Treaty of Tordesillas. King Manuel saw this betrayal as an insult and ordered vandalism of Magellan's family coat of arms displayed at Sabrosa.
Charles I of Spain approved Magellan's project to seek a southwestern passage around South America. The fleet consisted of five ships carrying supplies for two years of travel. About 270 men of different origins formed the crew, though numbers vary among scholars based on contradicting documents. Sixty percent were Spaniards from virtually all regions of Castile.
Portuguese and Italian sailors followed with twenty-eight and twenty-seven seamen respectively. Mariners from France numbered fifteen while Greeks totaled eight. Five came from Flanders, three from Germany, two from Ireland, and one each from England and Malaysia. Others remained unidentified in the records. This diverse group prepared in Seville before departure.
The Tupi natives they encountered had already engaged with Portuguese and French loggers. Their first fatal casualty occurred during the Atlantic crossing when Antonio Salomon raped a cabin boy. He was tried, found guilty, and garroted two months later on the shore of Guanabara Bay.
After searching for three months including a false start in the estuary of Río de la Plata, weather conditions forced the fleet to stop their search. They found a sheltered natural harbor at Saint Julian and remained there for five months. Shortly after landing, mutineers led by Juan de Cartagena, Gaspar de Quesada, and
Luis de Mendoza rose up against command.
Magellan barely managed to quell the rebellion despite losing control of three ships temporarily. Mendoza died during the conflict while Quesada faced execution orders. Cartagena received marooning as punishment instead of death. Lower-level conspirators performed hard labor in chains over the winter before eventual release. One ship named Santiago was lost in a storm while surveying nearby waters without killing any men.
In October 1520, the fleet resumed its search for passage to the Pacific. Three days later, they discovered a bay leading to what became known as the Strait of Magellan. While exploring this narrow waterway, another vessel named San Antonio deserted the fleet and returned east to Spain. The remaining ships reached the Pacific by late November 1520.
Based on incomplete geographical understanding, Magellan expected a short journey perhaps taking only three or four days. Instead, the crossing took three months and twenty days. Food and water supplies exhausted themselves completely around thirty men died mostly from scurvy. Magellan himself stayed healthy possibly due to his personal supply of preserved quince.
On the 6th of March 1521, the exhausted fleet made landfall at Guam where native Chamorro people came aboard ships. They took items such as rigging, knives, and a ship's boat during what may have been a trade exchange. Crew members interpreted these actions as theft and sent a raiding party ashore to retaliate.
Several Chamorro men were killed while their houses burned down.
By March 16, the fleet sighted Samar island in the eastern Philippine Islands. They anchored in Homonhon where sick crew members recuperated for a week. Magellan befriended tattooed locals on neighboring Suluan island and traded goods while learning about regional customs. On March 28, they anchored off Limasawa after encountering an outrigger boat called boloto.
Enrique of Malacca served as interpreter between Magellan and the boat's crew. Two large balangay warships arrived carrying Rajah Kulambo of Butuan and one of his sons. They met Kulambo's brother Rajah Siawi of Surigao who hosted them on a hunting expedition. Golden jewelry and artifacts piqued Magellan's interest among the tattooed rulers.
On March 31, the first Mass occurred in the Philippines with a cross planted on the highest hill. Rulers recommended visiting Cebu as the largest nearby trading port. The fleet reached its port on April 7 accompanied by local warships.
Magellan met King Humabon of Cebu who initially demanded tribute as trade payment. Spaniards insisted they needed no tribute since sent by Spain's most powerful king. They offered peace or war depending on the ruler's choice. Humabon welcomed them into the Kingdom of Cebu instead of demanding more gold.
A cross was planted on
shorelines to mark Christianity's arrival in the Far East. Magellan converted locals including Queen Humamay who received the image of Child Jesus from him. Her baptism brought tears of contrition before she begged for the sacred image. A Blood Compact cemented allegiance between Spaniards and Cebuanos.
King Humabon asked Magellan to subdue Datu Lapulapu on Mactan island. Unlike Cebu residents, Lapulapu resisted conversion efforts entirely. On the 27th of April 1521, Magellan led a small force against Lapulapu's troops during morning hours. Bamboo spears struck him first followed by other weapons that finished off his life.
Antonio Pigafetta and Ginés de Mafra documented these events later. The battle resulted in European forces being overpowered completely. Magellan died surrounded by enemies after being shot with a poison arrow.
Following Magellan's death, co-commanders Juan Serrano and Duarte Barbosa took charge initially. Other officers led subsequent phases until the fleet left the Philippines in November 1521. They reached the Moluccas laden with spices but found only one ship named Victoria seaworthy enough to return home.
Juan Sebastián Elcano captained the Victoria which sailed west
across the Indian Ocean then north along Africa's Atlantic coast. It finally returned to Spain by the 6th of September 1522 completing the circumnavigation. Only eighteen or nineteen survivors remained out of the original 270 men who departed.
Charles summoned Elcano to Valladolid inviting him to bring two guests. He chose sailors Francisco Albo and Hernándo de Bustamante while excluding Antonio Pigafetta from testimony. Under questioning by Valladolid's mayor, these men claimed Magellan refused royal orders causing mutiny at Saint Julian. They alleged he unfairly favored relatives among crew members while disfavoring Spanish captains.
In immediate aftermath few celebrated Magellan for accomplishments since widely discredited in both Spain and Portugal. Some Portuguese historians like Damião de Goes called him a disgruntled man planning the voyage principally to spite Manuel. In Spain, reputation suffered due largely unflattering accounts given by expedition survivors.
News arrived first from San Antonio led by Estêvão Gomes which deserted in Strait of Magellan returning the 6th of May 1521. Deserters faced trial but were eventually exonerated after producing distorted versions depicting Magellan as disloyal. Casa de Contratación withheld salary from wife Beatriz considering outcome placing
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Common questions
When was Ferdinand Magellan born and what was his early life like?
Ferdinand Magellan was born in 1480 and entered the service of King John II of Portugal in 1495. He served as a page to Queen Eleanor within the inner circle of Portuguese nobility from his earliest years.
Why did Ferdinand Magellan leave Portugal for Spain in 1517?
King Manuel I of Portugal refused to support Magellan's plan to reach the Spice Islands by sailing westwards around the American continent. Magellan fell out of favor after taking leave without permission in mid-1513 and received no offers of employment after the 15th of May 1514.
How many ships and men were in Ferdinand Magellan's fleet when it departed Seville?
The fleet consisted of five ships carrying supplies for two years of travel with about 270 men of different origins forming the crew. Sixty percent were Spaniards from virtually all regions of Castile while others included Portuguese, Italian, French, Greek, Flemish, German, Irish, English, and Malaysian sailors.
When and how did Ferdinand Magellan die during his voyage?
On the 27th of April 1521, Magellan led a small force against Datu Lapulapu's troops on Mactan island where he was shot with a poison arrow and finished off by other weapons. He died surrounded by enemies after being overpowered completely by bamboo spears and other weapons used by local forces.
Who completed the circumnavigation of the globe after Ferdinand Magellan died?
Juan Sebastián Elcano captained the Victoria which sailed west across the Indian Ocean then north along Africa's Atlantic coast to return to Spain by the 6th of September 1522. Only eighteen or nineteen survivors remained out of the original 270 men who departed on the expedition.