The biography of Ferdinand Magellan begins with the fact that the future navigator was born in 1480, in the Portuguese city of Sabrosa, in a not very noble family.
At the age of twelve, he and his brother Diogo went to Lisbon to serve as pages at the court of Queen Leonora. There he learned of the intense competition that existed between Spain and Portugal to explore new sea routes and to dominate the spice trade from the East Indies, particularly the Moluccas (also called the Spice Islands).
In these young years, young Fernando was born with a craving for maritime affairs. Magellan's first voyage took place in 1505, when he and his brother got on a ship bound for India. Since then, for seven years, he participated in expeditions to India and Africa and was wounded in several battles.
In 1513, King Manuel sent a flotilla of five hundred ships to Morocco to challenge the Moroccan ruler who refused to pay an annual tribute to the Portuguese treasury. Portuguese troops easily broke the resistance of the enemy. In one of the battles, Magellan was seriously wounded in the leg and left lame.
In those days, spices meant as much as oil does today. People were willing to pay huge sums of money for black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and garlic to help preserve food in a time when there were no refrigeration. In addition, spices beat off the smell of spoiled meat.
It was impossible to grow them in cold, arid Europe, so it was vital for Europeans to find the shortest route to the Moluccas. The eastern route has been known for a long time. Magellan had to lay a sea route from the west.
Magellan, a traveler who by that time had gained extensive experience in numerous campaigns, decided to turn to King Manuel in order to enlist support for a planned campaign to the Moluccas along a new route. Several times the king rejected his petitions. In 1517, a disappointed Magellan renounced his Portuguese citizenship and moved to Spain to try his luck there. This act was already a small feat: Fernando had no connections in the country and practically did not speak Spanish.
There he met his countryman and soon married his daughter. The Barbosa family, who had good connections at court, managed to get him permission to meet with the Spanish monarch. King Charles, who was only 18 at the time, was the great-grandson of the king who financed the Columbus expedition. He did not break with tradition, and Magellan's expedition received approval and much-needed funds.
In this way, trip around the world Magellan set himself the task of circumnavigating the globe from the west. Fernand thought that perhaps this path would be shorter. On August 10, 1519, five ships left the Spanish port. Magellan was on Trinidad, followed by San Antonio, Concepción, Santiago and Victoria.
In September, the ships crossed the Atlantic Ocean, then known simply as the Ocean, and reached the shores of South America. They moved along the coast in the hope of finding a strait that would allow them to sail further west. One of the discoveries of Ferdinand Magellan after a year of wandering was the strait, which was later named after him.
Leaving the strait behind, the travelers became the first Europeans to see a new ocean in front of them, which the fearless captain called "Pacifico", which means "quiet". Now the path of Magellan lay through completely unexplored waters. Then they were waiting for the Philippines, where he tried to conduct the activities of a preacher and made friends with the local population. At that moment, he was practically at the target - the Moluccas were very close.
However, he allowed himself to be drawn into the battle of the local population with a tribe from a neighboring island. Believing that European weapons would help to win an easy victory, the great traveler walked ahead of his army ... An arrow poisoned with poison put an end to the round-the-world trip and the biography of Ferdinand Magellan.
He died on April 27, 1521. The two remaining ships reached the Moluccas six months later. As a result, in 1522, only the Victoria arrived in Spain, loaded to the brim with spices, but only with a couple of dozen people on board.
In search of fame and fortune, the daring escapade of a traveler around the world brought Europeans not only spices. Ferdinand Magellan discovered a new ocean, the geographical knowledge of that time made a huge leap forward, and it was recognized that the earth is much larger than previously thought. The route along which Magellan's round-the-world trip took place was recognized as too long and dangerous way to the Moluccas and was never used again for trade purposes.
Why is it said that Magellan is the first person to circumnavigate the world if he never returned to Spain? He is the first person to visit the Philippines from two sides: first arriving there through the Indian Ocean and subsequently through the Pacific and Atlantic.
The first person to travel around the world "from point A to point A" was his slave Enrique: he was born on one of the islands and was brought by Magellan to Spain, and a few years later went with him on the famous journey, which eventually led him to native island.
Ferdinand Magellan.
Ferdinand Magellan- This is a Portuguese and Spanish navigator who made the first trip around the world, as well as the first European who passed from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific.
Youth
Ferdinand Magellan born 20 November 1480 years, but the exact place of birth is not known. Little is known about the family, it is only known that Magellan resembled a noble family. AT 1505 made his first voyage with the first admiral and king of Portugal, Francisco Almeida. And under the command of Almaida, Magellan began his expeditions to India, Malki.Expeditions
AT 1511 In the year Magellan set out on an expedition to conquer Malak (now Malaysia), the expedition was successful. After, Magellan asks the Portuguese king to finance an expedition to the Spice Islands (Moluccas) and find a Western route to India, but the king refuses to help him. And then Magellan asks for help from the Spanish king Charles I, and he agrees to support the expedition.Ferdinand Magellan on five ships sets off along the coast of South America, then bypasses it from the South and reaches Malak through the West.
The expedition went with September 20, 1519 to September 6, 1522- Later this trip was called the first circumnavigation. 18 people and one ship returned from the expedition, and five ships with a crew of 280 on board set off. Most of the crew members died from disease, food shortages, and military clashes with the natives.
Achievements
Made the first trip around the world;He gave the name to the Pacific Ocean due to the fact that during the 30 days he walked on it, the ocean was calm, he met not a single storm (in fact, the Pacific Ocean is the most violent of all);
Opened the strait, which was called the Strait of Magellan;
He became the first European to travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
Ferdinand Magellan was killed by the natives who did not want to submit to the Spanish crown on the island of Mactan Lapu-Lapu April 27, 1521.
Fernand (Magalhaes) Magellan was born in 1480, in Sabroz, province of Vila Real, Portugal, and died in April 1521, on the island of Mactan, Philippines. A navigator from Portugal who proved that the earth is spherical. Magellan is the discoverer of the passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, which he crossed first. Magellan's expedition made only one trip around the world. In 1519-1521, Fernand led a Spanish expedition to find a western route to the Moluccas. He discovered all the coasts of South America south of La Plata, circled the continent from the south, discovered the strait and the Patagonian Cordillera; first, in 1520, crossed the Pacific Ocean, discovering the island of Guam, and then reached the Philippine Islands.
Now about everything in order
The poor, but rather noble nobleman Ferdinand Magellan in 1492-1504 served as a simple page in the retinue of the Portuguese queen. He was fond of astronomy and navigation, studied cosmography. In 1505-1513 he took part in naval battles with Indians, Arabs and Moors. In these battles, he performed very well and was soon given the rank of captain. But, because of the false accusation, his career could be put an end to. Fernand had no choice but to resign. In 1517 he moved to Spain. King Charles took him to his service and soon Magellan offered him a round-the-world voyage, which the Portuguese had previously refused. After much bargaining and disputes, the king gave the go-ahead and Magellan set off.
September 20, 1519 - the start of a round-the-world expedition led by Magellan was launched - a flotilla consisting of 5 ships and 256 people left the port of Sanlucar de Barrameda. The expedition stocked up on food for two years. Magellan commanded a ship called the Trinidad. All the ships in the flotilla were not new, and the crew consisted mainly of tavern regulars.
Arriving at Dawson Island, Ferdinand Magellan decided to divide his fleet, since the strait was divided into two channels. The Concepción, along with the San Antonio, went southeast, while the other two ships remained to rest. They decided to send a boat to the southwest. Three days later, the boat returned and reported open water ahead. At the end of November 1520, Magellan's ships went out into the open ocean. The journey through the strait took about thirty-eight days. The flotilla sailed over 15,000 kilometers across the Pacific Ocean. Many sailors were not quite ready for such a long voyage and experienced real torment. Severe hunger and disease haunted travelers. It took three long months to cross the ocean and reach the blooming Marianas.
During the journey, Magellan's Flotilla deviated slightly from the route and ended up just north of the islands, to which they actually headed. At the end of January 1521, an uninhabited island (the Tuamotu archipelago) appeared to the sailors, and ten days later they discovered another island (the Line archipelago). It was impossible to land on these islands, so the sailors took up catching fish and sharks to replenish their provisions.
And so, in early March 1521, Magellan and his team saw the island of Guam from the Mariana Islands group. The island was inhabited. Local residents on boats surrounded Magellan's expedition and violent trade began. But soon, the sailors noticed that the natives were not clean-handed and were slowly stealing from the ships what was bad. The team of Ferdinand Magellan endured these antics for a long time, but when the natives, one might say insolently, began to drag the boat from the ship, the sailors' patience snapped. Magellan's team landed on the island and burned the village, killing several people in the process. They took their boat, other valuables and things from them and went to their ships, while the locals tried to prevent them by throwing stones, however, without much success. And what could they do. The islands were named Landrones (translated as thieves).
A few days later, the flotilla reached the Philippine Islands, which Fernand called the archipelago of Saint Lazarus. The team was tired and Magellan, fearing some new skirmishes, began to look for a small uninhabited island to take a breath. In mid-March, the team landed on the small island of Homonhom. An infirmary was set up on this island, where they began to transport all the sick and wounded. Fresh food quickly raised the spirits of the team, and the sailors set off on their further journey among the islands. On one of these islands, Magellan's slave Enrique, who was born in Sumatra, met people who spoke his mother tongue. The circle was closed. For the first time, a man circumnavigated the earth. The Pacific crossing is over.
In early April 1521, the flotilla entered the port of Cebu on the island of the same name. It already smelled of civilization. They even wanted to take a fee from Magellan's team, but they refused so as not to strain the situation.
Trade has begun. Gold and products of the islanders were exchanged for iron products. They did not know the price of gold, so they easily parted with it.
The ruler of the island, Raja Humabon, who was impressed by the strength of the Spaniards, decided to surrender himself under the protection of the Spanish king and soon called himself Carlos. He was followed by his entire family, as well as many ordinary residents. But one of the leaders opposed the new order and did not want to surrender to the power of Humabon. Magellan decided to correct this matter and organized a military expedition. The goal was to show the islanders the full power of the Spanish fleet, but the battle was failed. Because of the shallows, ships and boats were not able to come closer to the coast to support the ground forces. And the locals didn't waste their time. They studied the weaknesses of the Spaniards and began to move quickly, so that it would be difficult for an enemy in heavy armor to attack them. They themselves aimed at the Spaniards' legs, since they were not covered by armor. The sailors were forced to retreat to the shore and in this retreat Magellan was killed.
As a result of the battle, only nine sailors died, but the reputation was badly tarnished. Juan Serran and Duarte Barbosa, who led the expedition, tried to negotiate with the islanders on the extradition of the body of Fernand Magellan, but they did not make any concessions. The failure completely undermined the prestige of the Spanish sailors and even their ally Humabon betrayed them. Inviting them to his place for dinner, he massacred almost all the sailors and the entire command staff. The survivors had to urgently escape from the island. Being almost at the goal, the sailors spent several months to reach the Moluccas.
On the islands, they bought spices and set off on their way back.
At this time they learned that Ferdinand had been declared a deserter by the King of Portugal, and his ships were to be arrested. By that time, there were practically no ships in combat and in a normal floating state, the Concepción had previously been burned. There are only 2 ships left. Trinidad was repaired and headed east to the Spanish possessions in Panama, while Victoria went west around Africa. Soon the Trinidad fell into a strip of headwinds, and he had no choice but to return back to the Moluccas, where he was captured by the Portuguese.
"Victoria", under the command of Juan Sebastian Elcano, stubbornly continued its route, replenished with a team of islanders, who, however, soon died because they were not prepared. Soon there was not enough food on the ship. All that was left was rice and water. The meat has gone bad. Part of the team began to demand that the captain change course to Mozambique, which belonged to Portugal. However, the captain and his faithful sailors decided to get to the Spanish coast at any cost. "Victoria", with great difficulty, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and then for almost two months, without any stops, walked along the African coast to the northwest.
In early July 1522, an almost worn-out ship with an exhausted crew arrived at the Cape Verde Islands, which were owned by Portugal. Part of the team went ashore and went for provisions and water. They did not return, they were arrested and the team was forced to urgently sail from the island in a hurry.
In early September 1522, the Victoria barely made it to Spain and became the only ship from Ferdinand Magellan's fleet to return home. There were 18 people on the ship. In 1525, 4 more people from the crew of the ship "Trinidad" were taken to Spain. Later, those sailors of the Victoria team who were captured by the Portuguese during a forced stay on the Cape Verde Islands were redeemed from Portuguese captivity.
The sale of the cargo brought by the Victoria team not only covered all the expenses of the expedition, but despite the loss of four ships out of five, it made a huge profit.
Ferdinand (Fernando) Magellan(port. Fernão de Magalhães , Spanish Fernando (Hernando) de Magallanes [(f)eɾ"nando ðe maɣa"ʎanes], lat. Ferdinandus Magellanus; city, Sabrosa, Traz-os-Montes region, Kingdom of Portugal - April 27, Mactan Island, Philippines) - Portuguese and Spanish navigator with the title of adelantado. He commanded the expedition that made the first known circumnavigation of the world. He opened the strait, later named after him, becoming the first European to travel by sea from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
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Magellan was born on November 20 (according to other sources, October 17), 1480. The place of his birth is debatable, the main authors indicate the city of Sabrosa as such, but he may have been born in the city of Porto. Little is also known about the family of the navigator, in particular, that she belonged to the nobility. It is assumed that his father was Rui or Rodrigo de Magalhaes [ ] (1433-1500), who at one time was the mayor of the fortress of Aveiro. Mother of Alda de Mosquita (Mishkita). In addition to Magellan, they had four children. Nothing is known about their lives. In his youth, Magellan was a page with Queen Leonora of Avisa, wife of João II.
The usual five-year term for the Portuguese in India was coming to an end, and Magellan went on one of the flotillas to Portugal. Two ships, one of which was sailing Magellan, crashed on the Padua Bank off the Laccadive Islands. The teams escaped on a small island. Part of the crew had to go on the remaining boats for help, part - to stay on the island. It so happened that all the officers were among those leaving on the boats, and only sailors remained on the island. This caused outrage from the team and fears that they would not return for ordinary people. Magellan turned out to be the only noble who agreed to stay on the island, and thereby reassured the team. Apparently, at that time his authority was already quite high.
After 10 days, they were rescued, and Magellan returned to India, where, obviously, he engaged in trade, since it is known that in 1510 he lent one merchant 200 crusades, which they did not return to him, and he managed to sue them only after 6 years.
During these years, the Portuguese capture Goa, lose it, and prepare for a new campaign against the city. For solutions important issue Whether to use merchant ships for the attack, Viceroy Albuquerque convenes a council of 16 people. Among them is Magellan, who until relatively recently was just a simple soldier, and at the time described became a man whose opinion was considered by the Viceroy. Most likely, he was already a captain. He, like most of the council members, is in favor of merchant ships not participating in a military campaign, but going to Europe so as not to miss the monsoon. Warships go alone and capture Goa.
Immediately after the capture of Malacca, Albuquerque sent an expedition of three ships to the Spice Islands. One of the three ships was commanded by Francisco Serran. Perhaps Magellan also participated in the expedition (sources differ). Serran's ship was in a disaster, and he himself escaped and settled on the island of Tidore, taking a high position with the local ruler.
Portugal
It is difficult to say when Magellan had an idea for a journey that would glorify him. Friend Serran wrote letters from the Moluccas, from which it could be concluded that the Spice Islands are very far in the East and relatively close to America. In one of his response letters, Magellan hinted to him that he might soon arrive on these islands, "if not through Portugal, then through Castile". It is not known when this letter was written, but it is quite possible that even while Magellan was in Portugal. At this time, he studies the Portuguese maps available to him, talks with the captains.
During one of the audiences with Manuel I, Magellan asks to give him naval service and send him on a voyage. The king refuses. Then he asks permission to offer his services to other states. The king permits. He doesn't need Magellan. Some sources claim that Magellan renounced the citizenship of Portugal, but there are no documents about this. Soon a whole group of Portuguese sailors moved from Portugal to Spain.
Spain
Magellan sets out the idea of his expedition in the Seville "Chamber of Contracts" (a department that organizes expeditions). He does not meet support there, but Juan de Aranda, one of the leaders of the Chamber, comes into contact with Magellan and promises him his support for 20% of future profits. Soon an associate of Magellan, astronomer Rui Falera, arrives in Spain. With his help, he manages to bargain for 1/8 of the profit due to Aranda. The contract was notarized. Soon Magellan presented his project to the leadership of Spain, and it was approved. Preparations for the expedition began.
Traveling across the world
Five ships were prepared for the expedition with a supply of food for two years. Magellan personally oversaw the loading and packing of food, goods and equipment. Magellan commanded the Trinidad. The Santiago was commanded by Juan Serran, the brother of Francisco Serran, who was rescued by Magellan in Malacca. Three other ships were commanded by representatives of the Spanish nobility, with whom Magellan immediately began conflicts. The Spaniards did not like that the expedition was commanded by the Portuguese. In addition, Magellan hid the proposed route of navigation, and this caused discontent among the captains. The opposition was quite serious. Captain Mendoza was even given a special demand from the king to stop bickering and submit to Magellan. But already in the Canary Islands, Magellan received information that the Spanish captains agreed among themselves to remove him from his post if they consider that he interferes with them.
On November 29, the flotilla reached the coast of Brazil, and on December 26, 1519, La Plata, where the prospective strait was searched. The Santiago was sent west, but soon returned with the message that this was not a strait, but the mouth of a giant river. The squadron began to slowly move south, exploring the coast. On this way the sailors saw penguins. The advance to the south was slow, the ships were hampered by storms, winter was approaching, but there was still no strait. March 31, 1520, having reached 49 ° S. latitude. the flotilla winters in a bay named San Julián.
In May, Magellan sent the Santiago, led by Juan Serran, south to reconnoiter the area. Santa Cruz Bay was found 60 miles to the south. A few days later, having fallen into a storm, the ship lost control and crashed. The sailors, except for one person, escaped and ended up on the shore without food and supplies. They tried to return to the wintering grounds, but due to fatigue and exhaustion, they joined the main detachment only after a few weeks. The loss of a ship specially designed for reconnaissance, as well as the supplies on board, caused great damage to the expedition.
October 21 at 52°S the ships ended up at a narrow strait leading deep into the mainland. "San Antonio" and "Concepción" are sent to reconnaissance. Soon a storm hits, lasting two days. The sailors feared that the ships sent for reconnaissance were lost. And they, indeed, almost died, but when they were carried to the shore, a narrow passage opened in front of them, into which they entered. They ended up in a wide bay, followed by more straits and bays. The water remained salty all the time, and the lot very often did not reach the bottom. Both ships returned with good news about a possible strait.
During the voyage, the expedition reached 10 °C. and turned out to be noticeably north of the Moluccas, which she aspired to. Perhaps Magellan wanted to make sure that the South Sea discovered by Balboa was part of this ocean, or perhaps he was afraid of meeting with the Portuguese, which would have ended in failure for his battered expedition. On January 24, 1521, sailors saw an uninhabited island (from the Tuamotu archipelago). There was no way to land on it. After 10 days, another island was discovered (in the Line archipelago). They also failed to land, but the expedition caught sharks for food.
On March 6, 1521, the flotilla saw the island of Guam from the group of the Marianas. It was inhabited. Boats surrounded the flotilla, trading began. It soon became clear that the locals steal from the ships everything that comes to hand. When they stole the boat, the Europeans could not stand it. They landed on the island and burned the village of the islanders, killing 7 people in the process. After that, they took the boat and took fresh food. The islands were named Thieves (Landrones). When the flotilla left, the locals chased the ships in boats, throwing stones at them, but without much success.
P
After Balboa discovered the South Sea, the Spaniards became very suspicious of the appearance of Portuguese ships in Caribbean waters. Spanish authorities on about. Hispaniola (Haiti) at the end of 1512 received an order from King Ferdinand to “keep an eye on the non-existent strait” and capture any ship. The first victim of this order was the Portuguese captain Ishtevan Froish in 1512, hunting for slaves off the northern coast of South America. His caravel needed repairs, and he decided to approach the shores of Hispaniola. Here he was immediately captured and thrown into prison with the whole team. Another caravel accompanying Froish, under the command of Juan Lijboa, already familiar to us, managed to disappear and safely reach Madeira; then, apparently without fear, he entered the Spanish port of Cadiz, where he sold his cargo of brazilwood. At the port or in Madeira, as they now say, he was interviewed by the "correspondent" of a small newspaper published in the city of Augsburg. Lizboa told the "journalist" that somewhere in South America there was a long strait through which one could pass to the "Eastern Indies". A note about this discovery, published no later than 1514, reported, without mentioning the names and names of ships, about the voyage "to the Plata River." Historians of discoveries today believe that J. Froish and J. Lizhboa reached approximately 35 ° S. sh., entered the Gulf of La Plata, but did not explore to the end - its length is 320 km - and therefore was mistaken for a strait. It can therefore be said that they discovered the coast of South America from 26° 15" S to 35° S over more than 1,500 km.
T
it is difficult to say whether the Spaniards knew about the voyage of Froish and Lizhboa, but it is known for sure that King Ferdinand, who in 1514 received news of the discovery of the South Sea, decided to send a flotilla of three ships to search for the strait. He appointed Juan Diaz Solis as its commander, who from 1512 (after Amerigo Vespucci) became the chief pilot of Castile. Solis sailed not earlier than October 8, 1515, but it is not known where he touched the South American mainland, and, moving along the Brazilian coast deviating to the southwest, at 35 ° S. sh. reached the new Fresh Sea. He then rounded a small ledge (Montevideo) and traveled west for about 200 km, probably convinced that he had found a passage to the Eastern Ocean. But he opened the mouths of two big rivers- Paranas and Uruguay. Solis landed in mid-February 1516 and was killed there by the Indians. Two ships of his flotilla returned to Spain in September of the same year. Later, Magellan named the common mouth of the two rivers Rio de Solis (from the middle of the 16th century - La Plata).
The Magellan project and the composition of his expedition
ATthe conquest of India and Malacca from 1505 to 1511 was attended by a poor Portuguese nobleman Ferdinand Magellan- so it is customary to call it; his true surname is Magallans. He was born about 1480 in Portugal, in 1509 and 1511. reached Malacca on Portuguese ships, and according to S. Morison, even the "Spice Islands" (Ambon Island). In 1512 - 1515. he fought in North Africa, where he was wounded. Returning to his homeland, he asked the king for a promotion, but was refused. Insulted, Magellan left for Spain and entered into a company with a Portuguese astronomer. Rui Faleiro, who claimed that he had found a way to accurately determine geographic longitudes. In March 1518, both came to Seville to the Council of the Indies. The institution that was in charge of the affairs of the newly discovered territories. and declared that the Moluccas, the most important source of Portuguese wealth, should belong to Spain, since they are located in the western, Spanish hemisphere (according to the treaty of 1494), but it is necessary to penetrate to these "Spice Islands" by the western route, so as not to arouse the suspicions of the Portuguese, through The South Sea, open and annexed by Balboa to the Spanish possessions. And Magellan convincingly argued that between the Atlantic Ocean and the South Sea there should be a strait south of Brazil. Magellan and Faleyru demanded at first the same rights and privileges that had been promised to Columbus.
After a long bargain with the royal advisers, who negotiated for themselves a substantial share of the expected income, and after concessions from the Portuguese, an agreement was concluded with them: Charles I undertook to equip five ships and supply the expedition with supplies for two years. Before sailing, Faleiro abandoned the enterprise, and Magellan, undoubtedly the soul of the whole thing, became the sole head of the expedition. He raised the admiral's flag on the "Trinidad" (100 tons). The Spaniards were appointed captains of the remaining ships: "San Antonio" (120 tons) - Juan Cartagena, who also received the powers of the royal controller of the expedition; "Concepcion" (90 tons) - Gaspar Quesada; "Victoria" (85 tons) - Luis Mendoza and "Santiago" (75 tons) - Juan Serrano. The staff of the entire flotilla was estimated at 293 people, there were 26 more freelance crew members on board, among them a young Italian Antonio Pigafetta, the future historian of the expedition. Since he was neither a sailor nor a geographer, a very important primary source is the entries in the ship's logs that Francisco Albo, assistant navigator, kept on the Trinidad. An international team went on the first round-the-world voyage: in addition to the Portuguese and Spaniards, it included representatives of more than 10 nationalities.
September 1519 the flotilla left the port of San Lucar at the mouth of the Guadalquivir. When crossing the ocean, Magellan developed good system signaling, the different types of ships of his flotilla never parted. Disagreements between him and the Spanish captains began very soon: beyond the Canary Islands, Cartagena demanded that the chief consult with him regarding any change of course. Magellan calmly and proudly replied: "Your duty is to follow my flag by day and my lantern by night." A few days later, Cartagena raised the issue again. Then Magellan, who, despite his small stature, was distinguished by great physical strength, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and ordered him to be kept in custody on the Victoria, and appointed his relative, a “supernumerary” sailor, as the captain of the San Antonio Alvar Mishchit.
On September 26, the flotilla approached the Canary Islands, on November 29 it reached the coast of Brazil near 8 ° S. sh., December 13 - Guanabara Bay, and December 26 - La Plata. The navigators of the expedition were the best at that time: performing the determination of latitudes, they made adjustments to the map of the already known part of the mainland. Thus, Cape Cabo Frio, by their definition, is not at 25 ° S. sh., and at 23 ° S. sh. - their error was less than 2 km from its true position. Not trusting the messages of the satellites of Solis, Magellan examined both low-lying banks of La Plata for about a month; continuing the discovery of the flat territory of the Pampa, begun by Lisboa and Solis, he sent the Santiago up the Parana, and, of course, did not find a passage to the South Sea. Beyond lay an unknown, sparsely populated land. And Magellan, fearing to miss the entrance to the elusive strait, on February 2, 1520, ordered to weigh anchor and move as close as possible to the coast only during the day, and stop in the evening. At the stop on February 13 in the large bay of Bahia Blanca he discovered, the flotilla withstood a terrible thunderstorm, during which the fires of St. Elmo appeared on the masts of the ships. Electrical discharges in the atmosphere in the form of luminous tassels. On February 24, Magellan discovered another large bay - San Magias, rounded the Valdes Peninsula he identified and took refuge for the night in a small harbor, which he called Puerto San Matias (Golfo Nuevo Bay of our maps, at 43 ° S. lat.) . To the south, near the mouth of the river. Chubut, February 27, the flotilla came across a huge concentration of penguins and southern elephant seals. To replenish food supplies, Magellan sent a boat to the shore, but an unexpectedly flowing squall threw the ships into the open sea. The sailors who remained on the shore, in order not to die from the cold, covered themselves with the bodies of dead animals. Having taken the “procurers”, Magellan moved south, pursued by storms, explored another bay, San Jorge, and spent six stormy days in a narrow bay (Rio Deseado estuary, near 48 ° S. lat.). On March 31, when the approach of winter became noticeable, he decided to spend the winter in San Julian Bay (at 49 ° S). Four ships entered the bay, and the Trinidad stood at anchor at the entrance to it. The Spanish officers wanted to force Magellan to "follow the royal instructions": turn to the Cape of Good Hope and go east to the Moluccas. That same night the riot began. Cartagena was released, the rebels captured the Victoria, Concepción and San Antonio, arrested Mishquita, and Quesada mortally wounded an assistant loyal to Magellan. They aimed their guns at the Trinidad and demanded that Magellan come to them for negotiations. Against the two ships of the admiral were three rebellious, prepared for battle. But the rebels did not trust their sailors, and on one ship they even disarmed them.
In difficult circumstances, Magellan showed a calm determination. He sent an alguacil (police officer) loyal to him Gonzalo Gomez Espinosu with several sailors on the "Victoria" - to invite her captain for negotiations on the admiral's ship. He refused, then the alguasil plunged a dagger into his throat, and one sailor finished him off. Magellan's brother-in-law, the Portuguese Duarte Barbosa, immediately took possession of the Victoria and was appointed her captain. Now the rebels had only two ships, and so that they would not desert, the prudent admiral, as mentioned above, had previously taken a convenient position at the exit from the bay. The San Antonio tried to break into the ocean, but the sailors, after a volley from the Trinidad, tied up the officers and surrendered. The same thing happened at the Concepción. Magellan dealt harshly with the rebel captains: he ordered the head of Quesada to be cut off, the corpse of Mendoza to be quartered, and Cartagena to be landed on the deserted coast along with the conspiring priest, but he spared the rest of the rebels.
In early May, the admiral sent Serrano to the Santiago south for reconnaissance, but on May 3 the ship crashed on the rocks near the river. Santa Cruz (at 50° S) and his crew managed to escape with difficulty (one sailor died).
Magellan transferred Serrano as captain on the Concepción. Indians of very tall stature approached the wintering place. They were called Patagonians (in Spanish "patagon" - big-footed), their country has since been called Patagonia. Pigafetta exaggeratedly described the Patagonians as real giants. The name of this tribe is Tehuelchi. Capes made of guanaco skins with high hoods and moccasins made them taller than they really were: the height of the Indians, according to measurements of the end of 1891, was from 183 to 193 cm. On August 24, the flotilla left San Julian Bay and reached the mouth of Santa Cruz, where it stayed until mid-October, waiting for the onset of spring. On October 18, the flotilla moved south along the Patagonian coast, which forms in this area (between 50 and 52 ° S) the wide bay of Bahia Grande. Before going to sea, Magellan told the captains that he would look for a passage to the South Sea and turn east if he did not find a strait before 75 s. sh., that is, he himself doubted the existence of the "Patagonian Strait", but wanted to continue the enterprise to the last opportunity. The bay, or strait, leading to the west, was found on October 21, 1520 at 52 ° S. sh., after Magellan discovered the previously unknown Atlantic coast of South America for about 3.5 thousand km (between 34 and 52 ° S. latitude).
Rounding Cape Dev (Cabo Virgenes), the admiral sent two ships ahead to find out if there was an exit to the open sea in the west. A storm arose during the night and lasted two days. The ships sent were threatened with death, but at the most difficult moment they noticed a narrow strait, rushed in a direction and found themselves in a relatively wide bay; along it they continued their journey and saw another strait, behind which a new, wider bay opened.
Young Charles I, King of Spain (later Emperor Charles V), grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella
Illustrator: Bernard van OrleyThen the captains of both ships - Mishkita and Serrano - decided to return and report to Magellan that, apparently, they had found a passage leading to the South Sea. “... We saw these two ships approaching us in full sail with flags fluttering in the wind. Coming closer to us ... they began to fire their guns and noisily greet us. However, it was still far from entering the South Sea: Magellan walked south for several days through narrow straits until he saw two channels near about. Dawson: one to the southeast, the other to the southwest. He sent the San Antonio and the Concepción to the southeast, and a boat to the southwest. The sailors returned "three days later with the news that they had seen the cape and the open sea." The Admiral shed tears of joy and called this Cape Desired.
"Trinidad" and "Victoria" entered the southwestern channel, anchored there waiting for four days and returned back to connect with two other ships, but there was only "Concepción": in the southeast she reached a dead end - in Inutil Bay - and turned back. The San Antonio hit another stalemate; on the way back, without finding the flotilla on the spot, the officers wounded and shackled Mishkita and at the end of March 1521 returned to Spain. The deserters accused Magellan of treason in order to justify themselves, and they were believed: Mishkita was arrested, Magellan's family was deprived of state benefits. His wife and two children soon died in poverty. But the admiral did not know under what circumstances the San Antonio disappeared. He believed that the ship was lost, since Mishkita was his trusted friend. Following along the northern coast of the strongly narrowed Patagonian Strait (as Magellan called it), he rounded the southernmost point of the South American continent - Cape Froward (on the Brunswick Peninsula, 53 ° 54 "S) and five more days (23– November 28) led three ships to the northwest as if along the bottom of a mountain gorge.The high mountains (the southern end of the Patagonian Cordillera) and the bare shores seemed to be deserted, but in the south there were smokes during the day, and fires at night - fires. And Magellan called this southern land, the size of which he did not know, "Land of Fire" (Tierra del Fuego). According to another version, he called the southern country the "Land of Smokes" (hearths) - Tierra de los Humos (as shown on the Spanish map of 1529) But Charles I renamed it the "Land of Fires" on the grounds that "there is no smoke without fire." On our maps, it is inaccurately called Tierra del Fuego. 38 days later, after Magellan found the Atlantic entrance to the strait, which really connects the two oceans, he passed Cape Desired (now Pilar) at the Pacific exit from the Strait of Magellan (about 550 km).
So, on November 28, 1520, Magellan left the strait for the open ocean and led the remaining three ships first to the north, trying to leave the cold high latitudes as soon as possible and keeping about 100 km from the rocky coast. On December 1, it passed near the Taitao Peninsula (at 47 ° S), and then the ships moved away from the mainland - on December 5, the maximum distance was 300 km. On December 12 - 15, Magellan again approached the coast quite close at 40 ° and 38 ° 30 "S, that is, at least at three points he saw high mountains - the Patagonian Cordillera and the southern part of the Main Cordillera. From Mocha Island (38 ° 30 "S. latitude) the ships turned to the north-west, and on December 21, being at 30 ° S. latitude. sh. and 80° W. D., west-northwest.
Of course, it cannot be said that during his 15-day voyage north from the Strait Magellan discovered the coast of South America for 1500 km, but he at least proved that in the latitude range from 53 ° 15 "to 38 ° 30" S . sh. the western coast of the mainland has an almost meridional direction.
“... We ... plunged into the expanses of the Pacific Sea. For three months and twenty days we were completely deprived of fresh food. We ate breadcrumbs, but they were no longer crackers, but breadcrumbs mixed with worms ... It smelled strongly of rat urine. We drank yellow water that had been rotting for days. We also ate cowhides that covered the yards... We soaked them in sea water for four or five days, after which we put them on hot coals for several minutes and ate them. We often ate sawdust. Rats were sold for half a ducat apiece, but even at that price it was impossible to get them ”(Pigafetta). Almost everyone had scurvy; 19 people died, including a Brazilian and a Patagonian "giant". Fortunately, the weather was good all the time: that's why Magellan called the Pacific Ocean.
Probably, it was during the passage through the Pacific Ocean in the southern hemisphere that the satellites of Magellan drew attention to two star systems, which later received the name of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. “The south pole is not as stellar as the north,” writes Pigafetta, “here you can see clusters a large number small stars resembling clouds of dust. There is little distance between them and they are somewhat dim. Among them are two large, but not very bright stars, moving very slowly. He meant two stars in the circumpolar constellation Hydra. The Spaniards also discovered "five extraordinarily brightly sparkling stars arranged in a cross ..." - the constellation Cross, or the Southern Cross.
Crossing the Pacific Ocean, Magellan's flotilla covered at least 17 thousand km, most of them in the waters of South Polynesia and Micronesia, where countless small islands are scattered. It is amazing that at the same time, the sailors met for all the time only "two deserted islands, on which they found only birds and trees." According to Albo's records, the first (San Pablo), discovered on January 24, 1521, is at 16 ° 15 "and the second (Tivurones, i.e. "Sharks", February 4) is at 10 ° 40" S. sh. Magellan and Albo determined the latitude very accurately for that time, but since the correct calculation of longitude in the 16th century. needless to say, it is impossible to confidently identify these islands with any of the islands on our maps. It is most likely that San Pablo is one of the northeastern islands of the Tuamotu archipelago, Tivurones, one of the southern Line Islands (Central Polynesia). On this segment, Magellan made the first measurement of the sea depths, which can be classified as "scientific". He could not reach the bottom with the help of six connected lines of several hundred fathoms and came to the conclusion that he had discovered the deepest part of the ocean.
Historians are perplexed why Magellan crossed the equator and went beyond 10 ° N. sh. - he knew that the Moluccas are located near the equator. But it is precisely there that the South Sea, already known to the Spaniards, lies. Perhaps Magellan wanted to make sure that it was really part of the newly discovered ocean.
On March 6, 1521, two inhabited islands finally appeared in the west (Guam and Rota, the southernmost of the Marianas group). Dozens of boats with balancers went out to meet the foreigners. They sailed with the help of triangular "Latin" sails sewn from palm leaves. At Guam (13 ° 30 "N. latitude), the inhabitants are swarthy, well-built people, naked, Women wore loincloths, "a narrow strip of paper-thin bark". but in small hats made of palm leaves, they climbed onto the ship and grabbed everything that caught their eye, as a result of which this group was called the "Robber Islands" (Ladrones).
When the islanders stole a boat tied to the stern, an annoyed Magellan landed on the shore with a detachment, burned several dozen huts and boats, killed seven people and returned the boat. “When one of the natives was wounded by arrows from our crossbows, which pierced him through, he swung the end of the arrow in all directions, pulled it out, examined it with great amazement, and died like that ...”
March 15, 1521, having traveled west for about 2 thousand km, the sailors saw mountains rising from the sea - it was Fr. Samar is an East Asian group of islands later called the Philippines. Magellan searched in vain for a place to anchor - the rocky coast of the island did not present a single chance. The ships moved a little to the south, to the islet of Siargao near the southern tip of about. Samar (at 10 ° 45 "N. Lat.) and spent the night there. The length of the path traveled by Magellan from South America to the Philippines turned out to be many times greater than the distance shown on the maps of that time between the New World and Japan. In fact, Magellan proved that between America and tropical Asia lies a gigantic expanse of water, much wider than the Atlantic Ocean.The discovery of a passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the South Sea and Magellan's voyage through this sea made a real revolution in geography.It turned out that most of the surface of the globe is not occupied by land, but the ocean, and the existence of a single world ocean was proved.
out of caution, Magellan on March 17 moved from Siargao to the uninhabited island of Homonkhon, The water area to the west of it has become famous in our time: on October 24–26, 1944, American naval forces defeated the Japanese fleet here; as a result, the Americans occupied all the Philippine Islands, except for about. Luzon. lying south of the big about. Samar to stock up on water and give people a rest. The inhabitants of the neighboring island delivered fruits, coconuts and palm wine to the Spaniards. They reported that "there are many islands in this region." Magellan named the archipelago San Lazaro. At the local elder, the Spaniards saw gold earrings and bracelets, cotton fabrics embroidered with silk, edged weapons decorated with gold. A week later, the flotilla moved southwest and stopped at about. Limasava (10°N, 125°E, south of Leyte Island). A boat approached the Trinidad. And when the Malay Enrique, a slave of Magellan, called out to the rowers in his native language, they immediately understood him. A couple of hours later, two large boats full of people arrived with the local ruler, and Enrique freely explained to them. It became clear to Magellan that he was in that part of the Old World where the Malay language is spoken, that is, not far from the "Spice Islands" or among them. And Magellan, who visited about. Ambon (128° E) as part of the expedition of A. Abreu, thus completed the first ever circumnavigation of the world.
The ruler of the island gave Magellan pilots who accompanied the ships to the major commercial port of Cebu. In the journal Albo and Pigafetta, new names for the islands appear for Europeans - Leyte, Bohol, Cebu, etc. Western European historians call this the discovery of the Philippines, although they have long been visited by Asian sailors, and Magellan and his companions saw Chinese goods there, for example porcelain dishes. In Cebu, they met the orders of the real "civilized" world. The Raja (ruler) began by demanding that they pay a fee. Magellan refused to pay, but offered him friendship and military assistance if he recognized himself as a vassal of the Spanish king. The ruler of Cebu accepted the offer and a week later he was even baptized along with his family and several hundred subjects. Soon, according to Pigafetta, "all the inhabitants of this island and some from other islands" were baptized. On about. Cebu, he talked with several Arab merchants who informed him of information about other islands of the archipelago. As a result, for the first time, such names as Luzon, Mindanao and Sulu entered into geographical use with minor distortions.
In the role of the patron of new Christians, Magellan intervened in the internecine war of the rulers of the island of Mactan, located opposite the city of Cebu. On the night of April 27, 1521, he went there with 60 people in boats, but because of the reefs they could not come close to the shore. Magellan, leaving crossbowmen and musketeers in boats, with 50 people wade across to the island. There, near the village, they were expected and attacked by three detachments. They began firing at them from the boats, but arrows and even musket bullets at such a distance could not penetrate the attackers' wooden shields. Magellan ordered the village to be set on fire. This infuriated the Maktans, and they began to shower arrows and stones at the strangers and throw spears at them. “... Ours, with the exception of six or eight people who remained with the captain, immediately fled ... Recognizing the captain, many people attacked him ... but still he continued to stand firm. Trying to draw his sword, he only drew it halfway, as he was wounded in the arm ... One [of the attackers] wounded him in the left leg ... The captain fell face down, and they threw him hard ... with spears and began to strike cleavers, until they destroyed ... our light, our joy ... He kept turning back to see if we all had time to dive into the boats ”(Pigafetta). In addition to Magellan, eight Spaniards and four allied islanders were killed. There were many wounded among the sailors. The old saying was confirmed: "God gave the Portuguese a very small country for life, but the whole world for death." On the deserted shore Mactan, where Magellan found his death, a monument was erected to him in the form of two cubes topped with a ball.
After the death of Magellan, D. Barbosa and X. Serrano were elected captains of the flotilla. The newly baptized ruler of Cebu, having learned that the ships were about to leave, invited his allies to a farewell feast. 24 sailors, including Barbosa and Serrano, accepted the invitation and went ashore, but two - G. Espinosa and the pilot of the Concepción, Portuguese Juan Lopes Carvalho - returned, suspecting evil. Hearing screams and screams on the shore, they ordered the ships to come closer to the shore and bombard the city with guns. At this time, the Spaniards saw Serrano wounded, in one shirt; he shouted to stop shooting, otherwise he would be killed and that all his comrades were killed, except for the Malay interpreter Enrique. He begged to ransom him, but Corvalho forbade the boat to approach the shore. “... And he did so with the aim,” Pigafetta writes, “so that they alone remain masters on the ships. And despite the fact that Juan Serrano weepingly begged him not to raise the sails so quickly, as they would kill him ... we immediately departed. Immediately, Carvalho was declared the head of the expedition, and Espinosa was elected captain of the Victoria. There were 115 people left on the ships, many of them sick. It was difficult to manage three ships with such a crew, therefore, in the strait between the islands of Cebu and Bohol, the dilapidated Concepcion was burned.
"Victoria" and "Trinidad", leaving the strait, passed by the island, "where the people are black, as in Ethiopia" (the first indication of the Filipino negritos); The Spaniards called this island Negros. In Mindanao, they first heard of the large island located to the northwest. Luzon. Random pilots led the ships across the Sulu Sea to Palawan, the westernmost island of the Philippine group.
Pigafetta - an accurate and thorough chronicler - was not a professional cartographer. But as an impartial artist, he made rough sketches of a number of islands in the Philippine archipelago, which were touched by the expedition of Magellan. They bear no resemblance to the originals and can only be identified by their names: Samar, the first of the visited islands, Homonkhon, where the first landing was made, Mactan, the place of the death of Magellan, as well as Panaon, Leyte, Cebu and Palawan. From about. Palawan, the Spaniards arrived - the first of the Europeans - to the giant about. Kalimantan and on July 9 anchored off the city of Brunei, after which they, and then other Europeans, began to call the whole island Borneo. The Spaniards made alliances with local rajahs, bought food and local goods, sometimes robbed oncoming ships, but still could not find the way to the Spice Islands.
Pigafetta productively used the Victoria's monthly parking lot - he spent almost the entire July as a guest of the Sultan of Brunei and collected the first reliable information about Fr. Kalimantan: "This island is so large that it will take three months to sail around it in a prau" (Malay ship).
September 7, the Spaniards set sail along the northwestern coast of Kalimantan During this detour, Pigafetta saw a rocky peak and dubbed it "Mount St. Peter" - this is Kinabalu (4101 m), the highest point of the Malay Archipelago. and, having reached its northern tip, they stood for almost a month and a half near a small island, stocking up on food and firewood. They managed to capture a junk with a Malay sailor who knew the way to the Moluccas. Carvalho was soon removed "for failure to comply with royal decrees" and Espinosa was elected admiral. The former assistant navigator on the Concepción Basque became the captain of the Victoria Juan Sebastian Elcano, otherwise - del Cano. On October 26, in the Sulawesi Sea, the ships weathered the first storm after leaving the Strait of Magellan. On November 8, a Malay sailor led ships to the spice market on about. Tidore, off the western coast of Halmahera, the largest of the Moluccas. Here the Spaniards bought cheap spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves. The Trinidad needed repairs, and it was decided that upon completion, Espinosa would go east to the Gulf of Panama, and Elcano would lead the Victoria home by a western route around the Cape of Good Hope.
December "Victoria" with a crew of 60 people, including 13 Malays captured on the islands of Indonesia, moved from Tidore to the south. At the end of January 1522, the Malay pilot brought the ship to about. Timor. On February 13, the Spaniards lost sight of him and headed for the Cape of Good Hope, spending three times more time wandering among the Malay Islands than crossing the Pacific Ocean.
Elcano deliberately stayed away from the usual path of the Portuguese ships, a meeting with which threatened the Spaniards with prison and, possibly, execution. In the southern part of the Indian Ocean, sailors saw only one island (at 37 ° 50 "S, Amsterdam). This happened on March 18. On May 20, the Victoria rounded the Cape of Good Hope.
Passing first in this part of the Indian Ocean, Elcano proved that the "Southern" continent does not reach 40 ° S. sh. During the passage through the unknown sea expanses of the Indian Ocean, the crew of the ship was reduced to 35 people, including four Malays. On the islands of Cape Verde, belonging to Portugal, where a stop was made in order to replenish fresh water and food, it turned out that the sailors "lost" one day, bypassing the land from the west; For this “loss”, all the surviving crew members of the Victoria were subjected to a humiliating punishment - public repentance: from the church point of view, such “negligence” led to improper observance of fasts. This fact is a vivid illustration of the ignorance of the churchmen, who refused to even suggest the possibility of a natural explanation for the interesting fact of the "loss" of the day, which first manifested itself during the circumnavigation of Magellan and his companions. here, at Santiago, 12 more Spaniards and one Malay fell behind, arrested on suspicion that they had come to the Moluccas by the eastern route. On September 6, 1522, the Victoria, having lost another sailor along the way, reached the mouth of the Guadalquivir, completing the first circumnavigation of the world in 1081 days.
Of the five ships of Magellan, only one circled the globe, and out of its crew of 265 people, only 18 returned to their homeland (there were three Malays on board). 13 sailors arrested at Sant'ngu arrived home later, released by the Portuguese at the request of Charles I. But "Victoria" brought so many spices that their sale more than covered the costs of the expedition, and Spain received the "right of first discovery" to the Mariana and Philippine Islands and made claims to the Moluccas.
Magellan with his circumnavigation proved that between America and Asia stretches the greatest expanse of water, and established the existence of a single world ocean. Magellan put an end to the debate about the shape of our planet forever by providing practical evidence of its sphericity. Thanks to him, finally, scientists were able to establish the true size of the Earth not speculatively, but on the basis of irrefutable data.
The Trinidad's dismantling dragged on for more than three months, and she sailed from Tidore under the command of Espinosa (navigator Leone Pancaldo) with a crew of 53 people and an almost 50-ton cargo of spices only on April 6, 1522. Having rounded the northern end of about. Halmahera, Espinosa immediately headed east, towards Panama. However, contrary winds soon forced him to turn north. In early May, he discovered the Sonsorol Islands (near 5 ° N, in the extreme west of the Caroline chain), and between 12 and 20 ° N. sh. - 14 other islands from the Mariana group. From one of them, most likely from Fr. Agrikhan (near 19°N), a native was taken on board. Struggling with easterly winds, stormy weather and cold, on June 11, Espinosa reached 43 ° N. sh. How far to the east the ship advanced can now only be assumed - probably the Spaniards were between 150 and 160 ° E. e. A 12-day storm, poor food and weakness forced the sailors to turn back. By this time, more than half of the team had died from hunger and scurvy. On the way back, on August 22, Espinosa discovered several more northern Marianas, including Maug at 20°N. sh., and returned to the Moluccas around October 20, 1522. A sailor who deserted at Maug Gonzalo Vigo later moved by boat to Fr. Guam with the help of indigenous people. Having familiarized himself in this way with almost all the significant islands between Maug and Guam, he completed the discovery of the Mariana chain, which stretched for more than 800 km.
Meanwhile, in mid-May 1522, a Portuguese military flotilla approached the Moluccas António Brito. Fulfilling the task - to take possession of the archipelago and prevent the violation of the Portuguese monopoly, he built a fort on about. Ternate. Having received news at the end of October that a European ship was near the Moluccas, Brito sent three ships with orders to capture it, and they brought the Trinidad, with 22 people, to Ternate. Brito seized the cargo and took away the nautical instruments, maps and, no doubt, the ship's log. This explains the awareness of the Portuguese about the route of Magellan's expedition, his death and later events, and Brito received additional information by interrogating the sailors he captured "with predilection". After a four-year prison term, only four of the Trinidad crew survived and returned to Spain in 1526, including Gonzalo Espinosa, having also completed their circumnavigation.
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