Magellan expedition preparation, ships, equipment and personnel. What was one of the main goals of Ferdinand Magellan's trip around the world
Fernando Magellan and the first round-the-world expedition
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Expedition start
September 20, 1519 year 5 ships went on a campaign from the mouth of the Guadalquivir. Magellan developed in advance for fleet special a signaling system that allowed ships not to lose each other on the high seas. Every day the ships converged at close range for a daily report and instructions.
Fortunately for posterity and historians, on the flagship ship of Magellan"Trinidad" sailed a man named Antonio Pigafetta who kept a diary and left a detailed report on all events. Thanks to him, there are almost no "white spots" in the journey of Magellan's flotilla, in contrast, for example , from the first trip Columbus.
Why did Magellan hide the sailing route from everyone?
Magellan deliberately concealed the intended route of navigation, including from his captains and helmsmen. Why? To prevent information leakage. The confrontation with the Portuguese was a real threat. It was obviously clear that the flotilla would have to descend south latitude Hierro that violated Tordesillas Agreement. Yes, and in America it would inevitably have to go along the Portuguese possessions.
The Spanish captains, on going to sea, began to demand clarification about the route. But even here Magellan refused them: "Your task is to follow me." As a result of the correct maneuvers, Magellan managed to never run into the Portuguese.
The Spanish captains continued to muddy the waters. The "coolest" of the Spanish captains, the commander of the "San Antonio" Cartagena, being put "looking" from the king, behaved inappropriately towards the commander. Then Magellan showed firmness and arrested Cartagena. And he put his man Alvara Mishkita as the captain on the San Antonio.
December 26, 1519 - the mouth of the La Plata River, where the search for the proposed strait began. It quickly became clear that this was not a strait, but the mouth of a river, only a very large one.
The search for the strait continued, the expedition went south along the coast.
March 31, 1520, having reached 49 °S. the flotilla wintered in a bay called san julian. (Recall that winter in the southern hemisphere falls on our summer.)
Mutiny in St Julian's Bay
Getting up for the winter, Magellan ordered to cut the rations to reduce the norms for the issuance of food. That caused understandable dissatisfaction of the team. This was used by a bunch of conspirators. Events began to develop rapidly, as in an action-packed adventure novel.
April 1, 1520, on Palm Sunday, Magellan invited the captains to a church service and a festive dinner. The captain of the Victoria, Mendoza, and the captain of the Concepcion, Quesado pointedly ignored the invitation. On the night of April 1-2, the rebellion begins. The rebels infiltrated the San Antonio, captured the sleeping captain Mishkita and put him in chains. Pilot Juan de Eloryago, who tried to resist, Quesado kills with a knife. The command of the San Antonio is entrusted to Sebastian Elcano.
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Magellan learns about the rebellion only in the morning. At his disposal are two ships "Trinidad" and "Santiago", inferior to the rest of the ships in combat equipment. Seeing their superiority, the rebels did not go to an armed clash. It was important for them only to remove Magellan from power. A boat was sent to the commander with a letter stating that their goal was only to force Magellan to correctly carry out the orders of the king. The rebels agree to continue to consider Magellan the main one, but he must reckon with them and not act without their consent. And they invited Magellan to their place for negotiations. Magellan in response invited them to his place. The rebels refused.
Then Magellan manages to capture their boat. Having extensive experience in naval battles in India and Southeast Asia, Magellan decides to strike first. He puts the "parliamentarians" under the command of Gomez de Espinoza in the boat and directs her to the "Victoria", on board of which there were many Portuguese. Climbing aboard, Espinosa presents Captain Mendoza with a new invitation from Magellan to come to the negotiations. The captain begins to read it with a smirk, but does not have time to finish reading it. Espinosa stabs him in the neck with a knife. Taking advantage of the crew's confusion, another group of Magellan's supporters, already heavily armed, climbs aboard the Victoria. The paratroopers were led by Duerte Barbosa, who came up on another boat. The crew of the Victoria surrenders without resistance. After that, "Trinidad", "Victoria" and "Santiago" block the exit from the bay. The rebels made an attempt to slip into the ocean past them, but the San Antonio was fired upon and boarded. "Concepción" surrendered to the mercy of the winner.
Magellan arranged a tribunal over the rebels, as during hostilities. Apparently, he had such powers. Several dozen rebels were sentenced to death, but were immediately pardoned for obvious reasons. Only one Quesada was executed. The representative of the king of Cartagena and one of the priests who actively participated in the rebellion, Magellan did not dare to execute, and they were left on the shore after the flotilla left. Nothing more is known about them.
Interestingly, in a few decades, history will repeat itself. In 1577, it will enter the same bay, which will also have to circumnavigate the world. A conspiracy will be revealed on his flotilla and a trial will be held in the bay. He will offer the rebel a choice: execution, or he will be left on the shore, like Magellan Cartagena. Defendant chooses execution
The expedition moved on in search of the strait. After some time, the Santiago sent for reconnaissance crashed against the rocks. Magellan made his commander João Serran the captain of the Concepción. Thus, all the remaining four ships ended up in the hands of Magellan's supporters. "San Antonio" was commanded by Mishkita, "Victoria" by Barbosa.
Magellan announced to the team that he would search for the strait up to 75 ° south latitude. Quite a bold statement - let me remind you that the Arctic Circle is located at 66 °, and 75 ° S. This is Antarctica!
October 21, 1520 at 52°S the ships ended up near a narrow strait leading deep into the mainland. "San Antonio" and "Concepción" are sent to reconnaissance. The water was salty all the time, and the lot did not reach the bottom. The ships returned with news of possible good fortune.
We will not describe in detail how the ships sailed for several weeks into the unknown along a narrow, dangerous strait. Magellan gathered a general meeting of captains to develop a strategy. Esteban Gomes, San Antonio's pilot, has spoken out in favor of returning home in view of the uncertainty ahead. But Magellan knew well the history of the campaign of Bartolomeo Dias, who bypassed Africa from the south, but yielded to the demands of the team and did not go further. After that, Dias, despite all the merits, was never again allowed to lead expeditions.
", BGCOLOR, "#ffffff", FONTCOLOR, "#333333", BORDERCOLOR, "Silver", WIDTH, "100%", FADEIN, 100, FADEOUT, 100)"> Magellan takes full responsibility and announces that he will go forward no matter what. And they went ahead. But Gomes seized the moment, rebelled the team, arrested the captain Mishkita and took the San Antonio to Spain.
The remaining three Magellan ships November 28, 1520 brought to the ocean.
Pacific Ocean
Leaving the strait, the flotilla sailed steeply to the north for 15 days. After 38°S sh. turned to the northwest, and reaching 30 ° S. sh., turned to the northwest. Magellan, by such maneuvers, tried to “get” exactly into the Spice Islands, the coordinates of which he knew in latitude.
The new ocean remained calm all the time of the transition, for which it received the nickname Pacific from the team of Magellan. And so it stuck with him. In total, 17,000 kilometers passed through the water surface of this ocean. This voyage lasted almost four months. All supplies ran out, the team was simply dying from exhaustion.
Islands in the ocean
On March 6, 1521, the flotilla saw the island of Guam from the Mariana Islands group. The Pacific crossing is over. Magellan did miss and went north of the Moluccas. (Perhaps deliberately to avoid an accidental encounter with the Portuguese). The islands were inhabited and they knew about the existence of Europeans. Here the sailors ate and regained their strength. And Magellan for some reason got involved in the internal political strife of local leaders.
Last fight of Fernando Magellan. So the great navigator died
As a result of clashes with the natives, the brave knight Fernando Magellan died the death of the brave. Therefore, he could not make a round-the-world trip! ", BGCOLOR, "#ffffff", FONTCOLOR, "#333333", BORDERCOLOR, "Silver", WIDTH, "100%", FADEIN, 100, FADEOUT, 100)"> 
His body remained with the islanders, what they did with him is unknown. Left without a leader, the Spaniards were forced to urgently retreat. The chronicler of the expedition, Antonio Pigafetta, described in sufficient detail how the great navigator died. The expedition was led by Juan Serran and Duarte Barbosa.
It is not clear why it was necessary to spend so much time and effort on the different Mariana and Philippine Islands, when the goal - the Spice Islands - was so close? If Magellan went straight to the Moluccas, loaded himself with spices, provisions and departed back the same way that he came, he would have 100% completed the task. But, alas!
The expedition nevertheless visited the Moluccas and managed to fill the holds with spices. But the Spaniards became aware that the Portuguese king ordered Magellan to be detained, and the ships to be seized as war booty. There were no forces for the war. The ships were dilapidated. "Concepcion" was burned due to the impossibility of repair. Only Trinidad and Victoria remained. The Trinidad was patched up and headed back, straight east to the coast of Panama. Having fallen into a strip of headwinds, he returned and was captured by the Portuguese.
Back to Spain or partisan circumnavigation of the world "Victoria"
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Moreover, they decided to leave the Moluccas with vegetable gardens, as the partisans took it steeply to the south in order to pass away from the Portuguese trade routes. "Victoria" boldly crossed the Indian Ocean at its widest point, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, went north for 2 months and June 9, 1522 reached the Cape Verde Islands. It was a Portuguese fiefdom, but the Spaniards had no other choice - absolutely all supplies of water and food ran out. I had to resort to trickery.
Here is what Pigafetta writes:
“On Wednesday, July 9, we reached the St. James Islands and immediately sent a boat ashore for provisions, inventing a story for the Portuguese that we had lost our foremast under the equator (in fact, we lost it off the Cape of Good Hope) , and during this time that we were restoring it, our captain-general left with two other ships for Spain. Having positioned them in this way towards us, and also giving them our goods, we managed to get from them two boats loaded with rice ... When our boat again approached the shore for rice, thirteen crew members were detained along with the boat. Fearing that some caravels would not detain us as well, we hurriedly moved on.
The victorious return of "Victoria"
September 6, 1522"Victoria" reached Spain. 18 barely alive sailors and only one ship out of five returned to their native harbor. This ship was the first in the world to circumnavigate the world, leaving behind three world oceans and more than fifty thousand kilometers.
Later, in 1525, four more of the 55 crew members of the Trinidad ship were taken to Spain. Also, those members of the Victoria team who were captured by the Portuguese during a forced stop on the Cape Verde Islands were also redeemed from Portuguese captivity.
The results of the expedition of Magellan
This first round-the-world voyage in the history of mankind was the main and last proof of the sphericity of the earth.
The expedition proved that following the west, Can reach the Moluccas. Thus, these islands (as well as other territories) seemed to automatically pass into the sphere of influence of Spain according to (*).
The sale of the cargo brought by the Victoria not only covered all the expenses of the expedition, but, despite the loss of four of the five ships, made a significant profit.
Unlike previous expeditions, the report on Magellan's expedition was published and Antonio Pigafetta's detailed travel notes were published.
lost day
In addition, it was the Victoria team that first discovered the “lost day”. The logbook was carefully kept on the ship. Not a single day was missed. But since there were no chronometers on ships then, time was measured with hourglasses - flasks. If they had reliable mechanical watches, it would have become clear already in the Pacific Ocean that the clock was showing something wrong - if it was noon in Spain, then the sun was already setting in the Strait of Magellan. But there were no chronometers; it is impossible to notice a gradual change in standard time. In sum, it turned out that the expedition members lost a whole day. And yet, as it turned out, the expedition members "lost", or rather, won the whole day. Thus, the travelers returned rejuvenated for one day! This phenomenon is now described in school textbooks, but then it caused great bewilderment among everyone.
Acquaintance with the heroes that were the first to dare to challenge the elements, I owe to my grandfather. He spent more than thirty years at sea, but preferred to talk not about his work, but about the brave discoverers who plowed the vast expanses long before his birth.
The roots of the great geographical discoveries
Why was it necessary to look for this route to India? Why was it necessary to swim in an incomprehensible place? To understand where this need arose, it is necessary to go back in time and consider communication routes of ancient civilizations of Eurasia.
First of all, I'm talking about those extremities:
- European civilization ();
- Han;
The communication of the first two, as far as I know, began by means of Silk Road in the second century BC. The second significant trade route - spice road,connecting India and Europe.
The reader who did not skip history lessons at school may already have guessed where I am leading. In the seventh to eighth century AD Arab conquests cut off European civilization from the routes described above, which brings Europe into the so-called dark ages. A few centuries later, the Arabs are turning from aggressive conquerors into settled traders, and it seems that life is getting better. Or not getting better, in the 15th century begins its capture of post-Mongolian state entities Timurid Empire, around the same time, the Ottoman Turks capture Constantinople, Europe starts to choke again.
However, this time the European civilization is well informed about the outside world, and also has access to Arabic astronomy and a compass. Appears idea to find a workaround first to black africa, and if you're lucky, then and to the much-desired India.
Magellan's motivation and the first circumnavigation of the world
Of all the figures of this era, I was most struck by the feat of one person, we are talking about Fernand Magellane, whose expedition circumnavigated the globe, having made the first circumnavigation of the world in human history.
Magellan was on Portuguese service, however fell into disgrace and decided to offer their services Catholic kings(name of the government of the union of Aragon and Castile). Fernand offers sail to India from the west and thereby impale the system (a loophole in what is really located to the west of the demarcation line). The Spanish leadership approves the expedition and even agrees to appoint an ambitious navigator as governor of the largest of the discovered islands.
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As a child, I had an interesting book - "Encyclopedia of Geographical Discoveries". That's where I read all the details first circumnavigation and I'll add a few facts.
First trip around the world
Almost 500 years ago to the port Spain ship arrived with only 18 people. These people changed the course of history by doing the unthinkable at the time - trip around the world. During the voyage, it was crossed 3 oceans, new trade routes appeared, and most importantly, information was received on the actual size of our planet. Despite the awareness of the expedition, there are still unknown facts.
Commercial purposes
In August 1519 guided only by your intuition, Magellan led an expedition of 5 ships. The goal is not the desire to circumnavigate the globe. As with most expeditions of the time, the main goal is the thirst for profit. Like the journey of Columbus, the expedition involved reaching the cherished shores Asia. The previously discovered continent was little studied and did not bring significant profit, which cannot be said about the Portuguese colonies in India. It was clear that - not Asia, but the cherished country of spices lies a little further. It was for these purposes that 5 ships were equipped:
- Victoria;
- Concepción;
- Santiago.
Made up name
In fact Magellan- a fictitious name. Real name - Fernand de Magalhaes, and was changed upon entering the royal service.
The hardships of circumnavigating the world
In addition to the meager diet and psychological stress, the team members experienced a sense of fear. Even the sky above their heads looked different, and the devout sailors wondered Southern Cross and a cluster of several bright stars surrounded by strange clouds. Nowadays, these clusters are known as the nearest galaxies, and nebulae - magellanic clouds.
Disappointment
Shortly before his death, Magellan was disappointed: such coveted shores of spices ended up in Portuguese hemisphere. It's all about the deal between Spain And Portugal according to which the world was divided into two hemispheres. Everything that extended west of the 49th meridian fell into the dominion of Spain, the eastern part retreated to the eternal enemy - Portugal.
Fernand knew perfectly well what this ultimately meant. After all, all the values were on Spanish side, which means that the whole undertaking was undertaken in vain, and in fact he deceived the king. Much larger than he expected, the size of the globe, could not stop him, but played a cruel joke.
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The first trip around the world was made by Ferdinand Magellan. The journey started on September 20, 1519 and ended on September 6, 1522. It involved five ships with a crew of about 280 people. But as a result of civil strife, conflicts and skirmishes, only 18 people returned to Spain on board one ship - the Victoria.
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Everyone must have watched or read Jules Verne and his immortal “ Around the world in 80 days? Who cares, but I wanted to catch up and overtake this record until the burning sensation in my heels! With a modern transport system, this task can be completed in a couple of days. What was it like for the first travelers? How the first circumnavigation of the world? The textbook about this was boring and small, so I had to rely on my own strength.
Who pioneered the world tour
The pioneer in this endeavor was Spaniard Ferdinand Magellan with his fleet. Of the five ships released on September 20, 1519 from Sanlúcar de Barrameda only Victoria is back to Spain on September 6, 1522. Magellan himself also did not return, killed in a skirmish near the island of Cebu. Completed the route Tocaptain of the Victoria Juan Sebastian Elcano, therefore, the laurels of the first circumnavigation can be safely divided into two.
The composition of the flotilla:
- Trinidad;
- Santiago;
- San Antonio;
- Concepción;
- Victoria.
Why was it necessary
Like Columbus, many wanted find a western route to Asia. In addition, through Isthmus of Panama it was clear that America was not the end of the world and there were plenty of prospects for searching. Yes and economic incentive to do without intermediaries in the spice trade is not the last reason. That's why To The Ukrainians of Europe took an active part in the preparation of the expedition. by the king Magellan and Phaler(companion astronomer) were promised and shares in income from the expedition, and governorship in new lands, and even ownership of part of the new islands.
Route
The flotilla passed along west coast of africa, having wintered in b ukhte San Julian (Argentina), having survived several riots due to distrust, fatigue and lack of food, having lost the Santiago, found the same Prole in the southern part of the South American continent named after Magellan. Already as part of 3 ships (the rebellious San Antonio went back to Spain), the expedition crossed the strait in 38 days.
Almost 4 months took their way to the Marianas. This size of the ocean turned out to be unexpectedly large even for experienced sailors.
On one of the Visayas, Mactan, in conflict with local forces, Magellan was killed.
A few months later, dilapidated ships, already without "Concepcion" abandoned and burned by the crew, reached Molluk Islands, Where "Trinidad" was arrested on orders Portuguese kingI.
Team only "Victoria", rounding Africa managed to finish what he started.
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I remember that in my school years I was a fairly well-read child, I was interested in history and geography (and where did I turn the wrong way?). I never pretended to be a know-it-all, but I periodically had disputes with a geographer about different points of view, and somehow she categorically refused to take seriously the hypotheses of eminent scientists from the lips of a seventh grader ...
Seeing a question about first trip around the world, I wiped a stingy nostalgic tear and climbed to refresh my knowledge in Google. Well, now I can tell you who this brave navigator really was.
First round the world expedition
It is believed that first circumnavigation of the world (1519-1522) committed Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese navigator who was going to reach Asia by sailing west and at the same time find a new way to spice islands for the Spaniards.
The journey itself can be divided into several stages:
And exactly Elcano the Spanish king recognized the person who completed the first circumnavigation of the world, A NotMagellan. Why? Because he is just did not live to see the end of the expedition. It was a harsh 16th century: Magellan was followed west by almost 300 people on five ships, but only returned 18 .
"Slave Traveler"
Enrique de Malaca born on the island Sumatra, but soon was taken prisoner Portuguese and then ransomed by Ferdinand Magellan. During the trip, he was on the ship something like an interpreter, and after the death of the owner, when the ships stopped at one of Philippine Islands, escaped and soon returned to Sumatra. Perhaps he was the one. the first person in history to circumnavigate the globe.
Travels of Zheng He
I also want to mention one curious assumption of the writer and former submariner Gavin Menzies. He also claims that in the 15th century the first circumnavigation of the world made by the Chinese admiral Zheng He, and takes as an argument old maps found in China, which, among other things, bear
Five ships led by "Victoria" went west to return home from the east - Magellan, like Columbus, believed that the earth was round.
More 17,000 km The traveler sailed along with his comrades the seas and oceans, where trials and many dangers awaited them.
Ferdinand Magellan discovered Europe unknown by that time Atlantic coast of South America. Thanks to the security system that the navigator came up with, his ships never lost each other in the sea.
Do you know, dear friend, that the name Pacific Ocean Ferdinand Magellan gave it? And not in vain. For four whole months of sailing by the ocean, not a single storm occurred.
The journey turned out to be much more difficult than Magellan expected. The crew was gripped by hunger and disease. Reaching in 1522nd previously unseen Philippine Islands, Magellan died in a fight with the natives.
The surviving crew hastily returned to the ships and continued to move west. Only two ships were destined to return home. In September 1522, she completed her round-the-world trip. "Victoria". arrived a little later and "Trinidad". The wealth brought by the sailors of this ship made it possible to fully compensate for the losses from the loss of other ships.
So, as you already guessed, Magellan and his associates proved that the earth is round and, having sailed to the west, one can return back from the east. Travelers also discovered that there are more oceans on the planet, and not land, as Columbus previously believed.
The journey of Magellan was of great importance for a better understanding of the world by mankind. Named after the famous navigator strait separating the mainland of South America from the islands of Tierra del Fuego.
The name of the traveler is also carried by two clusters of stars - Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.
(Total 5 photos)
Magellan, like Columbus, was driven by a desire to find a shortcut to Indian spices. And here again, there was no idea to go around the globe, he went for spices and the path in the direction of America seemed to him optimal.
Magellan's goal was the Moluccas. Europeans have been buying spices there for a long time, and there were a lot of them in local markets, and most importantly at insanely low prices.
But the problem was that the transportation took a huge amount of time, and the path was very dangerous. Fernand offered the King of Portugal a route through the Americas. The king did not accept this idea at all, because there were already established trade routes of the same Portuguese traders through the Indian and Atlantic oceans. Then Magellan moves to Spain and offers the same project to the king there.
The Spanish king was either more trusting or riskier and agreed to the project. And on September 20, 1519, a flotilla of five ships with 256 people on board, led by Ferdinand Magellan, leaves Sanlucar de Barrameda.
The first losses happened off the coast of America. After a long voyage along the coast of the continent, part of the team decides that there will be no sense in the expedition and decides to return.
Ferdinand Magellan
Three captains mutiny. Magellan severely suppresses him - one captain is killed by him, the second is executed, the sailors are reassured and inspired again. On the same section of the route, one of the ships runs into rocks and sinks.
Having reached the southern tip of the mainland, the ships pass through the strait, later named after the naval commander. Here the flotilla loses another ship, which simply turns the wrong way, and sets off on its way back to Spain. The ships go to the Pacific Ocean.
It follows a long 100-day journey across the endless water surface. Food is running out, the crews are eating leather gear and, as a delicacy, rats. In this part of the journey, almost half of the team perishes.
In the spring of 1521, Fernand approaches the Philippine Islands. Magellan tries to bring the local population under the rule of the Spanish crown, intervenes in tribal squabbles and dies.
Monument to Ferdinand Magellan
On Mactan Island in 1886, monuments were erected on the same square to the famous traveler who died on this spot, and to the leader Lapu-Lapu, who killed him.
Monument to the leader Lapu-Lapu
After the death of Magellan, the team hastily sails from the island and gets to the Moluccas for several more months. There the ships are being repaired, one really has to be burned as hopeless, they are loaded with coveted spices and they disperse. "Trinidad" turns back to the Pacific Ocean, wanting to get to Panama, in Spanish possessions. The second ship - "Victoria" - goes home through the old trade route through Africa.
"Trinidad" as a result is captured by the Portuguese, and his team ends up in penal servitude in India.
The first circumnavigation of the world ends on September 8, 1522 in Seville. 18 people returned to the Victoria, they went through storms, scurvy, the Portuguese ....
They immediately go to church upon arrival, and order a thanksgiving service at the end of a terrible journey. After returning, all the laurels go to the captain of the Victoria - Elcano.
He receives fame, awards, pensions, even a coat of arms with a globe and the motto "You were the first to go around me." By the way, formally, this is quite a fair statement. But then Magellan gets only curses. Later, of course, justice triumphs, Fernand takes his place in the pantheon of discoverers.
This expedition brought several discoveries at once. She proved that all the oceans of the Earth are connected, that the Earth is round, that there is much more water on the planet than land. And it became clear that there was no shortcut to India through America.
And for the first time, the paradox of the “lost day” was discovered. It lies in the fact that when moving to the west, the day gradually lengthens and after a while the whole day is lost. As a result, according to the meticulous Victoria magazine, the ship arrived on September 7th.
By the way, some researchers hypothesize that Magellan had very old and very accurate maps. Because the route used the ocean currents very well, the peculiarities of the winds, which, in theory, were not known to the sailors of that time ....
Ferdinand Magellan - Portuguese navigator. Born in 1470 into a noble family. As a child, he served as a page in the retinue of the Portuguese queen, received a good education, studied cosmography, navigation and astronomy.
In March 1518, in the Spanish city of Valladolid, where he had died twelve years earlier, the Royal Council considered the project of Ferdinand Magellan on a sea voyage by the southwestern route to the Spice Islands, to these "wonderful Malacca Islands, the possession of which will enrich Spain!".
flagship caravel "Trinidad"
In September 1519, a flotilla of five ships departed from Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The flagship was the Trinidad with a displacement of 110 tons. A small man with a stiff beard and cold, prickly eyes looked at the receding shore, and occasionally gave short commands.
A forty-year-old nobleman from the Portuguese outback, now the chief captain of the fleet, Fernand de Magallanes, achieved the goal that he had been striving for for so many years. Behind him is participation in pirate raids on the African cities of Kiloa and Mombasa, trips to India and the Malay Archipelago, Banda Island, where nutmeg grows in abundance, and Ternat Island - the birthplace of the best cloves in the world. But the gold went into other hands. Now here it is, the flotilla that will bring him wealth. His project was rejected by the Portuguese king Manuel, but an agreement was concluded with the king of Spain, Charles V, according to which a twentieth of the income from the newly discovered lands would go to him, Ferdinand Magellan.
expedition of Ferdinand Magellan in the ocean
ships, of course, were not new. And "San Antonio", "Concepsion", "Victoria", "Sant Yago", all of them have seen a lot in their lifetime, and the team is mostly visitors to port taverns. But a fresh breeze filled the sails. The relatively safe voyage of Magellan lasted only a few days, to the Canary Islands. Chief Captain fleet refused the recommendation of the Portuguese pilots and, having reached the latitude of the Gulf of Guinea, his caravels turned to the south-west. The decision of the flagship aroused the displeasure of Juan de Cartagena, a relative of the king, the captain of the San Antonio, who was appointed inspector of the expedition by Charles V. As soon as the flotilla crossed the equator, the inspector declared that he was violating royal instructions. A heated argument ended with an order for the arrest of the inspector. Cartagena held a grudge. In the end of November caravels reached Brazil, and on January 10 entered the mouth of La Plata. For the first time, the name "Montvidi" is applied to the map of the area (now the capital of Uruguay, Montevideo, is located here). Great Magellan frantically looking for a strait in the South Sea. But neither La Plata nor the Gulf of San Matias lived up to the hopes of the expedition. The captain decided to take shelter for the winter in the harbor of San Julian. The irony of fate: the sailors were literally next to the strait they were looking for. On April 2, 1519, a rebellion broke out among the expedition members, but thanks to strength and cunning Magellan order was restored. It was necessary to have strong-willed qualities in order to continue sailing with people who were ready for any betrayal for their own benefit. It was the perseverance of the flotilla captain that led to the opening of a passage from the Atlantic to the South Sea. At the 52 south parallel, a wide excavation was opened, reconnaissance, consisting of two ships, confirmed that this was not a river - there was salt water everywhere.
Fernand world map Magellan
After a twenty-day voyage through the strait, later named after the discoverer, Magellan We saw another sea in front of us - the South. The desired goal has been achieved. In the vast ocean, the captain never encountered a storm. The ocean was surprisingly quiet and calm. It was called "Pacifico" - "Quiet", "Peaceful". In the 17th century, this name was finally established instead of the name "South Sea". Severe hunger and disease haunted travelers. It took three months to cross the ocean and reach the blooming Mariana Islands. A new stage of the expedition began - acquaintances and battles, where the leader dies in one of them. This is how the great navigator crossed two oceans to find his end in a robber skirmish! And only two ships completed the mission Ferdinand Magellan- they saw the Spice Islands, located in the Moluccas archipelago. Ships loaded with spices set off on their return journey. "Trinidad" went to the shores of Panama across the Pacific Ocean, "Victoria" - across the Indian and Atlantic Ocean to Spain. The Trinidad ship wandered for six months in the waters of the Pacific Ocean and was forced to return to the Moluccas. The sailors were captured, where they died in prisons and on plantations.
Caravel "Victoria"
