The armada lost another ship during the passage through the Strait: the San Antonio , which became separated from the rest of the armada, and turned around and returned to Spain. An engraving c. Once the three remaining ships reached the other side of the Strait of Magellan, the sea they found was calm and placid.
Magellan christened it the Pacific Ocean. Crossing the Pacific, the crew of the remaining ships suffered terribly. Twenty-nine sailors died during the four-month voyage. In April , the group put into an island in the Pacific: Cebu, in what is now the Philippines. Magellan befriended the local ruler, Raja Humabon, and became embroiled in local politics, which would be his downfall.
Fighting in the shallow waters off the shore, Magellan and 49 of his men squared off against over 1, Mactanese warriors.
Facing such poor odds, Magellan was killed, as well as seven of his men, and his ships returned to Cebu. A 19th-century illustration of the death of Magellan left ; a plaque in Cebu commemorating the site of Magellan's death, Philippines right. The rest of the members set sail, fleeing to the safety of the sea. For the next six months the ships engaged in piracy as they made their way to the Spice Islands. Finally, in November, they arrived at the island of Tidore, part of the Malukus, and filled their holds with cloves.
The Trinidad, which was taking on water, could not be repaired, and it was abandoned along with its crew. Detail of a map showing the Victoria , the only ship from the armada to successfully circumnavigate the earth. This voyage took over six months, during which the crew subsisted on rice alone.
On September 6, , the Victoria at last reached harbor in Spain, nearly three years after first setting out. But Magellan had found the longed-for passage in these storm-battered waters.
It took the decimated armada six weeks to reach the Pacific Ocean. From the southeast of the Pacific Ocean, they continued in a northwesterly arc for three and a half months without once encountering inhabited islands. Hunger, thirst and illness claimed 19 lives before the crews found fresh provisions on one of the Mariana Islands — a tragedy because unwittingly, Magellan's ships had passed by many islands that could have provided him and his crew with fresh water and food.
Finally, the three remaining ships and their strong crew landed in the Philippines on March 21, as the first Europeans there ever. It was Magellan's final destination. He planned to take possession of these rich islands for Spain, with an eye on a possible governorship. Others were not swayed, and when Magellan tried to conquer a village in April , he was killed by spears and a poison arrows.
Lacking sufficient sailors for three ships, two vessels quickly fled after the crews sank the third. Under the command of Juan Sebastian Elcano, the two ships sailed to the Spice Islands, where they finally took the long-desired cargo on board.
Elcano chose the route around the Cape of Good Hope for the return trip. In the end, almost three years after setting sail for the Moluccas, only one of the five ships returned home, with Captain Elcano completing Magellan's involuntary and unplanned circumnavigation of the world.
About 20 sailors survived the first historically documented circumnavigation of the world. Since the middle of the 16th century, the western passage has been named Strait of Magellan after Ferdinand Magellan. In the 19th century, many intellectuals celebrated Magellan as a hero and genius, a view that's outdated now with our perspective on colonialism, said Christian Jostmann.
You have to admire the explorer's ambition, tenacity and sheer will power, he added, but for the historian, that's not a reason to celebrate him. The Victoria was en route in the name of the Spanish crown for two years, 11 months and two weeks. The ship was one of five with which captain Ferdinand Magellan set off in September from the Spanish port of Sanlucar. Magellan didn't survive to return in , nor did most of the crew members, but they remain unforgotten as pioneers of circumnavigation.
Magellan's mission: to find a western route to the Spice Islands in Indonesia, an alternative to the dangerous sea route around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. At the southern tip of South America, he discovered an inconspicuous strait. It was the passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Ships still navigate it and, especially for Chile, it provides direct access to the Atlantic.
Nowadays whoever wins the Jules Verne Trophy is the first to circumnavigate the world in a sailboat. In this race, teams compete against each other, in contrast to the Vendee Globe. A month later, the expedition reached the Philippines. It turned out he was likely raised there before his enslavement—making him, not Magellan, the first person to circumnavigate the globe. Instead, he demanded that local Mactan people convert to Christianity and became embroiled in a rivalry between Humabon and Lapu-Lapu, two local chieftains.
They returned to Spain in September Along the way, they had encountered a new ocean, mapped new routes for European trade, and set the stage for modern globalism. Sixty thousand miles later, and after the death of 80 percent of those involved, the expedition had proven that the globe could be circumnavigated and opened the door to European colonization of the New World in the name of commerce.
Lapu-Lapu, the Mactan ruler whose forces killed Magellan, is often credited with slaying the explorer. As a result, notes Ocampo, he has become a national hero in the Philippines.
Though Lapu-Lapu likely did not do the deed, he is widely commemorated as a symbol of Filipino resistance and pride. A monument that shows the battle itself—and the group effort that brought down an epic explorer—will take its place.
All rights reserved. Culture News. Magellan was first to sail around the world, right? Think again. In September , Magellan set sail from Spain with five ships. Three years later only one ship, the Victoria depicted on a map , made it back to Spain after circumnavigating the world.
Share Tweet Email. People were amazed when they saw those on board the one remaining ship, Victoria , for they looked starved and filthy. The western sea route to the Spice Islands was not used for many years. Spain was too busy taking land in South America, and it was easier for the Portuguese to get to the East by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. Visit Us. Search Want to search our collection? Search here. We use cookies to ensure you have the best browsing experience and to help us improve our website.
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