The first circumnavigation of the world under the leadership of Ferdinand Magellan began on September 20, 1519 and ended on September 6, 1522. The idea of the expedition was in many ways a repetition of Columbus's idea: to reach Asia by heading west. The colonization of America had not yet brought significant profits, unlike the Portuguese colonies in India, and the Spaniards wanted to sail to the Spice Islands themselves and benefit. By that time it had become clear that America was not Asia, but it was assumed that Asia lay relatively close to the New World.
In March 1518, Ferdinand Magellan and Rui Faleiro, a Portuguese astronomer, appeared in Seville at the Council of the Indies 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 get to these “Spice Islands” by a western route, so as not to arouse the suspicions of the Portuguese, through the South Sea, opened and annexed by Balboa to the Spanish possessions. And Magellan convincingly argued that between the Atlantic Ocean and South Sea there must be a strait south of Brazil.
After a long bargaining with the royal advisers, who negotiated for themselves a substantial share of the expected income and concessions from the Portuguese, an agreement was concluded: Charles 1 undertook to equip five ships and supply the expedition with supplies for two years. Before sailing, Faleiro abandoned the enterprise, and Magellan became the sole leader of the expedition.
Magellan himself personally supervised the loading and packaging of food, goods and equipment. As provisions they took on board crackers, wine, olive oil, vinegar, salted fish, dried pork, beans and beans, flour, cheese, honey, almonds, anchovies, raisins, prunes, sugar, quince jam, capers, mustard, beef and rice. In case of clashes there were about 70 cannons, 50 arquebuses, 60 crossbows, 100 sets of armor and other weapons. For trade they took cloth, metal products, women's jewelry, mirrors, bells and mercury (it was used as a medicine).
Magellan raised the admiral's flag on the Trinidad. The Spaniards were appointed captains of the remaining ships: Juan Cartagena - “San Antonio”; Gaspar Quezada - "Concepcion"; Luis Mendoza - "Victoria" and Juan Serrano - "Santiago". The staff of this flotilla numbered 293 people; there were another 26 freelance crew members on board, among them the young Italian Antonio Pigafetga, the historian of the expedition. An international team set off on the first voyage around the world: in addition to the Portuguese and Spaniards, it included representatives of more than 10 nationalities from different countries Western Europe.
On September 20, 1519, a flotilla led by Magellan left the port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda ( river mouth Guadalquivir).
Ferdinand Magellan and the first expedition around the world
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Start of the expedition
September 20, 1519 5 ships went on a voyage from the mouth of Guadalquivir. Magellan developed in advance special for the flotilla a signal system that allowed ships don't lose each other on the high seas. Every day the ships converged at close range to report daily and receive instructions.
Fortunately for posterity and historians, on the flagship Magellan's ship"Trinidad" sailed a man named Antonio Pigafetta who kept a diary and left a detailed report on all events. Thanks to him, Magellan’s flotilla is almost absent from the voyage." white spots", unlike, for example , from the first trip Columba.
Why did Magellan hide his voyage route from everyone?
Magellan deliberately hid the intended voyage route, including from his captains and helmsmen. Why? To prevent information leakage. Confrontation with the Portuguese was a real threat. It was obviously clear that the flotilla would have to descend to the south latitude of Hierro what violated Treaty of Tordesillas. And in America it would inevitably have to go along the Portuguese possessions.
When the Spanish captains set out to sea, they began to demand clarification about the route. But even here Magellan refused them: “Your task is to follow me.” As a result of the right maneuvers, Magellan managed to never run into the Portuguese.
The Spanish captains continued to muddy the waters. The toughest of the Spanish captains, the commander of the San Antonio Cartagena, having been appointed “supervisor” by the king, behaved inappropriately towards the commander. Then Magellan showed firmness and arrested Cartagena. And he made his own man Alvar Mishkita captain of San Antonio.
December 26, 1519 - the mouth of the La Plata River, where the search for the supposed strait began. It quickly became clear that this was not a strait, but rather 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, reaching 49°S. the flotilla wintered in a bay called San Julian. (Remember that winter in the southern hemisphere falls during our summer.)
Mutiny in St. Julian's Bay
Having got up for the winter, Magellan ordered to cut rations and reduce food distribution standards. Which caused understandable discontent among the team. A bunch of conspirators took advantage of this. 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. Captain "Victoria" Mendoza and captain "Concepcion" Quesado pointedly ignored the invitation. On the night of April 1-2, the rebellion begins. The rioters entered the San Antonio, captured the sleeping captain Mishkita and put him in chains. The helmsman Juan de Eloriaga, who tried to resist, is killed by Quesado with a knife. The command of San Antonio is entrusted to Sebastian Elcano.
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Magellan learns about the rebellion only in the morning. At his disposal are still two ships, the Trinidad and the Santiago, which are inferior to the other ships in combat equipment. Seeing their superiority, the rebels did not go into armed conflict. It was important for them only to remove Magellan from power. A boat was sent to the commander with a letter saying that their goal was only to force Magellan to correctly carry out the king’s orders. The rebels agree to continue to consider Magellan in charge, but he must take them into account and not act without their consent. And they invited Magellan to their place for negotiations. Magellan responded by inviting them to his place. The rebels refused.
Then Magellan manages to capture their boat. Having extensive experience in naval battles in India and South-East Asia, Magellan decides to strike first. He puts the “parliamentarians” under the command of Gomez de Espinosa into the boat and directs it to the Victoria, which had many Portuguese on board. Climbing aboard, Espinosa hands Captain Mendoza a new invitation from Magellan to come for negotiations. The captain begins to read it with a grin, but does not have time to finish reading it. Espinoza stabs him in the neck. Taking advantage of the crew's confusion, another group of Magellan's supporters, already well armed, climbs aboard the Victoria. The “paratroopers” were led by Duerte Barbosa, who arrived on another boat. The Victoria crew surrenders without resistance. After which "Trinidad", "Victoria" and "Santiago" block the exit from the bay. The rebels attempted to slip past them into the ocean, but the San Antonio was fired upon and boarded. "Concepcion" surrendered to the mercy of the winner.
Magellan arranged a tribunal over the rebels, as during military operations. Apparently he had such powers. Several dozen rebels were sentenced to death, but were immediately pardoned for obvious reasons. Only one Quesada was executed. Magellan did not dare to execute the representative of the king of Cartagena and one of the priests who actively participated in the rebellion, 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, the ship will enter the same bay and will also have to circumnavigate the world. On his flotilla the conspiracy will be revealed and a trial will take place in the bay. He will offer the rebel a choice: execution, or he will be left on the shore, like Magellan to Cartagena. The defendant will choose execution
The expedition moved on to search for the strait. After some time, the Santiago sent on reconnaissance crashed on the rocks. Magellan made its commander, Joao Serran, 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" Barbosa.
Magellan announced to the crew 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 found themselves near a narrow strait leading inland. "San Antonio" and "Concepcion" are sent for reconnaissance. The water was salty all the time, and the lot did not reach the bottom. The ships returned with news of possible success.
We will not go into detail about how the ships sailed into the unknown for several weeks along a narrow, dangerous strait. Magellan called a general meeting of captains to develop a strategy. Esteban Gomes, the helmsman of San Antonio, spoke in favor of returning home due to the complete uncertainty ahead. But Magellan knew well the history of the campaign of Bartolomeo Dias, who went around Africa from the south, but gave in to the demands of the team and did not go further. After which Dias, despite all his merits, was never allowed to lead expeditions again.
", BGCOLOR, "#ffffff", FONTCOLOR, "#333333", BORDERCOLOR, "Silver", WIDTH, "100%", FADEIN, 100, FADEOUT, 100)"> Magellan takes full responsibility and declares that he will go forward no matter what. And they went forward. But Gomes seized the moment, rebelled the crew, arrested captain Mishkita and took the San Antonio to Spain.
The remaining three Magellan ships November 28, 1520 brought out to the ocean expanse.
Coming out of the strait, the flotilla sailed steeply north for 15 days. After 38° S. w. turned to the northwest, and having reached 30° S. sh., turned to the northwest. With such maneuvers, Magellan tried to “get” exactly to the Spice Islands, the latitude coordinates of which he knew.
The new ocean remained calm throughout the transition, for which it received the nickname Quiet from Magellan’s team. And so it stuck with him. In total, we walked 17,000 kilometers along 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 sighted the island of Guam from the Mariana Islands group. The crossing of the Pacific Ocean is over. Magellan missed and went north of the Moluccas. (Perhaps deliberately to avoid an accidental collision with the Portuguese). The islands were inhabited and they knew about the existence of Europeans. Here the sailors ate and regained their strength. And for some reason Magellan got involved in the internal political feuds of local leaders.
The last fight of Ferdinand Magellan. This is how the great navigator died
As a result of military clashes with the aborigines, the brave knight Ferdinand Magellan died the death of the brave. That's why he couldn't circumnavigate the world! ", BGCOLOR, "#ffffff", FONTCOLOR, "#333333", BORDERCOLOR, "Silver", WIDTH, "100%", FADEIN, 100, FADEOUT, 100)"> 
His body remained with the islanders; what they did with it 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 Joao Serran and Duarte Barbosa.
It is not clear why it was necessary to spend so much time and effort on the various Mariana and Philippine islands, when the goal - the Spice Islands - was so close? If Magellan had gone straight to the Moluccas, loaded up with spices and provisions, and departed back the same way he came, he would have completed his task 100%. But, alas!
The expedition nevertheless visited the Moluccas and managed to fill the holds with spices. But the Spaniards learned that the Portuguese king ordered Magellan to be detained and the ships to be seized as booty of war. There was no strength for war. The ships are dilapidated. "Concepcien" was burned due to the impossibility of repair. Only Trinidad and Victoria remained. The Trinidad was patched up and she headed back, due east to the shores of Panama. Finding himself in a strip of headwinds, he returned and was captured by the Portuguese.
Back to Spain or partisan round the world "Victoria"
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Moreover, they decided to leave the Moluccas with vegetable gardens, just as the partisans took a steep course 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, sailed north for 2 months and 9 June 1522 year reached the Cape Verde Islands. It was a Portuguese patrimony, but the Spaniards had no other choice - absolutely all supplies of water and food had run out. I had to resort to cunning.
Here's 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 at 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 won them over in this way, and also given 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 might also detain us, we hastily moved on."
Victoria's victorious return
September 6, 1522"Victoria" reached Spain. 18 barely alive sailors and only one ship out of five returned to their home 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 ship Trinidad were taken to Spain. Also, those members of the Victoria crew who were captured by the Portuguese during a forced stop on the Cape Verde Islands were also redeemed from Portuguese captivity.
Results of Magellan's expedition
This first circumnavigation in the history of mankind was the main and final proof of the sphericity of the earth.
The expedition proved that following the west, Can reach the Moluccas Islands. Thus, these islands (as well as other territories) automatically passed into the sphere of influence of Spain according to (*).
The sale of the cargo brought by Victoria not only covered all the expenses of the expedition, but also, despite the death of four of the five ships, made a significant profit.
Unlike previous expeditions, an account of Magellan's expedition was published and detailed travel notes by Antonio Pigafetta were published.
Lost day
In addition, it was the Victoria team that first discovered the “lost day.” A logbook was carefully kept on board the ship. Not a single day was missed. But since there were no chronometers on ships at that time, time was measured using hourglasses - flasks. May they be reliable mechanical watches, already in the Pacific Ocean it would have become clear that the clock was showing something wrong - if it was noon in Spain, then in the Strait of Magellan the sun was already setting. But there were no chronometers; it was impossible to notice the gradual change in standard time. In total, 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 one day younger! This phenomenon is now described in school textbooks, but then it caused everyone great bewilderment.
Ferdinand Magellan was born on November 20 (in some sources October 17), 1480 in the Portuguese city of Sabrosa into a noble family. His first known sea expedition was a voyage to India in 1505 on the squadron of the Portuguese Viceroy Francisco de Almeida. In 1506, Magellan went to Mozambique, and then again to India.
Participation in wars. Emigration to Spain
In 1508-1513, and without that interesting biography Fernand Magellan's life was enriched by such events as participation in various expeditions, battles with the Moors, Indians and Arabs. In 1511, the navigator was among those who took Mallaka, and in 1514 he participated in the capture of Morocco.
Upon returning to Portugal, Ferdinand Magellan firmly decided to reach the Moluccas Islands (Indonesia). The navigator turned to the Portuguese King Manuel I for help, but the monarch did not approve of this expedition.
Soon Magellan emigrated to Spain. In 1517, the Spanish King Charles I gave permission to organize a trip to the Molucco Islands. The navigator's flotilla consisted of five ships: Trinidad, San Antonio, Concepcion, Victoria, Santiago.
Trip around the world
On September 20, 1519, Magellan's five ships set off. The team rounded the eastern shore South America. In March 1520, some of the sailors expressed a desire to return to Spain, but Magellan managed to calm the brewing rebellion. In May 1520, the ship Santiago was lost, so the expedition continued on four ships. In September, Ferdinand Magellan and his flotilla passed through the Strait, later called the Magellanic Strait. Immediately after this, the ship San Antonio returned to Spain.
Magellan's flotilla reached the Pacific Ocean and passed through it for more than three months. Arriving at the islands (later called Philippine), the navigator decided to subjugate the population to the Spanish king. In a skirmish with the natives, on April 27, 1521, Magellan was killed.
During his short biography, Magellan showed himself to be a brave warrior and was awarded the rank of sea captain.
End of the expedition
Without Magellan, the remaining ships of the flotilla reached the Moluccas, where they purchased spices. Two ships left the islands - "Trinidad" and "Victoria". The first went east, but was forced to return to the Molucco Islands, where he was captured by the Portuguese on the orders of the king, who called the navigator Magellan a deserter. And only the ship “Victoria” returned to its homeland, having circumnavigated Africa.
Other biography options
- Option 2 is more condensed for a report or message in class.
- In his youth, Magellan was a page to Queen Leonora of Aviz (wife of John III).
- The main reason for Magellan's move to Spain was a quarrel with the Portuguese king, who did not pay the navigator for his devoted service.
- Magellan called the ocean Pacific because during the entire voyage the ships never encountered a storm.
- In memory of Magellan's discoveries, his monument was erected on the island of Mactan. Many writers (S. Zweig, A. Pigafetta, I. Nozdrin, etc.) created works based on data about the legendary expedition, including books for children.
Biography test
Well remembered short biography Magellan? Take the test to find out.
The flotilla left the port of San Lucar at the mouth of the Guadalquivir on September 20, 1519. When crossing the ocean, Magellan developed a good signaling system, and the different types of ships of his flotilla were never separated.
On September 26, the flotilla approached, on November 29 it reached the coast of Brazil, on December 13 - Guanabara Bay, and on December 26 -. The expedition's navigators were the best at that time: they determined latitudes and made adjustments to the map of the already known part of the continent. Thus, Cape Cabo Frio, by their definition, is not located at 25° south. sh., and at 23°. Magellan explored both low-lying banks of La Plata for about a month; Continuing the discovery of the flat territory of Pampa, begun by Juan Lizboa and Juan Solis, the chief pilot of Castile, he sent the Santiago up the river and, of course, did not find a passage to the South Sea. Further on stretched 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 to the coast as possible only during the day, and stop in the evening. At a stop on February 13 in the large bay of Bahia Blanca he discovered, the flotilla withstood a terrifying one, during which St. Elmo's lights appeared on the masts of the ships - electrical discharges in the atmosphere, shaped like luminous brushes. On February 24, Magellan discovered another large bay - San Matias, went around the Valdez Peninsula that he had identified and took refuge for the night in a small harbor, which he called Puerto San Matias (Golfo Nuevo Bay on our maps). Further south, near the mouth of the Chubut River, on 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 unexpected 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 killed animals. Having collected the “procurers,” Magellan moved south, pursued by storms, explored another bay, San Jorge, and spent six stormy days in a narrow bay. On March 31, he decided to spend the winter in San Julian Bay. Four ships entered the bay, and the Trinidad anchored at its entrance. The Spanish officers wanted to force Magellan to “follow the royal instructions”: turn to the Cape of Good Hope and take the eastern route to the Moluccas. That same night a riot began. Magellan treated the rebel captains harshly: he ordered Quesada's head to be cut off, Mendoza's corpse to be quartered, Cartagena and the conspirator-priest to be thrown onto the deserted shore, and the rest of the rebels were spared.
At the beginning of May, the admiral sent the Santiago south for reconnaissance, but the ship crashed against the rocks near the Santa Cruz River and its crew barely managed to escape. On August 24, the flotilla left San Julian Bay and reached the mouth of Santa Cruz, where it remained until mid-October. On October 18, the flotilla moved south along the Patagonian coast, which forms the wide bay of Bahia Grande in this area. 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 to 75° S. sh., i.e. he himself doubted the existence of the “strait” (as Magellan called it), but wanted to continue the enterprise until the last opportunity. The bay or strait leading to the west was found on October 21, 1520 after Magellan discovered the previously unknown Atlantic coast of South America for about 3.5 thousand km. Having rounded Cape Dev (Cabo Virgenes), the admiral sent two ships forward to find out whether there was access to the open sea in the west. At night a storm arose that lasted two days. The sent ships were in danger of death, but at the most difficult moment they noticed a narrow strait, rushed there and found themselves in a relatively wide bay; They continued their journey along it and saw another strait, behind which a new, wider bay opened. Then 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. However, it was still far from entering the South Sea: Magellan sent San Antonio and Concepcion for reconnaissance. 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 named this cape “Desired.”
"Trinidad" and "Victoria" entered the southwestern channel, anchored there for four days and returned back to join two other ships, but only the "Concepcion" was there: in the southeast it came to a dead end - in the Bay of Bahia -Inutil - and turned back. "San Antonio" on the way back found itself in another dead end. The officers, not finding the flotilla on the spot, wounded and shackled Mishkita and at the end of March 1521 returned to. To justify themselves, the deserters accused Magellan of treason, and they were believed: Mishkita was arrested, Magellan’s family was deprived of government benefits. 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 shore of the greatly narrowed "Patagonian Strait", he rounded the most southern point South American continent - Cape Froward (on the Brunswick Peninsula, 53с54 "S) and for another five days (November 23 - 28) he led three ships to the northwest as if along the bottom of a mountain gorge. High mountains (southern end of the Patagonian Cordillera) and bare the shores seemed to be deserted, but in the south one could see smoke during the day, and at night - the lights of fires. And Magellan called this southern land, the size of which he did not know, “Land of Fire” (Tierra del Fuego). On our maps it is called Tierra del Fuego. 38 days later, after Magellan had found the Atlantic entrance to the strait that actually connected the two oceans, he passed Cape Desired (now Pilar) at the Pacific outlet of the Strait of Magellan (about 550 km).
On November 28, 1520, Magellan left the strait into the open ocean and led the remaining three ships first north, trying to quickly leave the high latitudes and staying about 100 km from the rocky coast. On December 1, it passed near the Taitao Peninsula, and then the ships moved away from the mainland - on December 5, the maximum distance was 300 km. On December 12 - 15, Magellan again came quite close to the shore and saw high mountains- Patagonian Cordillera and the southern part of the Main Cordillera. From Mocha Island the ships turned to the northwest, and on December 21 - to the west-northwest. It cannot, of course, be said that during his 15-day voyage north from the Strait, Magellan discovered the coast of South America over 1,500 km, but he at least proved that the western coast of the mainland to the latitude of Mocha Island has an almost meridional direction.
Crossing, Magellan's flotilla traveled at least 17 thousand km, most of them in the waters of South and, where countless small islands are scattered. It is amazing that during this entire time the sailors encountered only “two deserted islands, on which they found only birds and trees.” Historians are puzzled why Magellan crossed the equator and went beyond 10° N. sh., - he knew that the Moluccas were located. And it is there that the South Sea lies, already known to the Spaniards. Perhaps Magellan wanted to make sure whether 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 Mariana group).
On March 15, 1521, having traveled to the west about another 2 thousand km, the sailors saw mountains rising from the sea - it was the island of Samar of the East Asian group of islands, later named. Magellan looked in vain for a place to anchor - the coast of the island was rocky, and the ships moved a little south, to the islet of Siargao, near the southern tip of Samar Island, 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 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 Atlantic Ocean. The discovery of the passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the South Sea and Magellan's voyage through this sea produced a real revolution in geography. It turned out that most of the surface of the globe is occupied not by land, but by the ocean, and the existence of a single World Ocean was proven.
Out of caution, Magellan moved from Siargao on March 17 to the uninhabited island of Homonkhon, lying south of the large island of Samar, to stock up on water and give people a rest. Residents 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. The Spaniards saw gold earrings and bracelets, cotton fabrics embroidered with silk, and edged weapons decorated with gold from the local elder. A week later, the flotilla moved southwest and stopped at the island of Limasawa. A boat approached the Trinidad. And when the Malayan Enrique, Magellan's slave, called out to the rowers in his native language, they immediately understood him. A couple of hours later, two large boats arrived with people and with the local ruler, and Enrique freely explained himself to them. It became clear to Magellan that he was in that part of the Old World where the Malay language was widespread, that is, not far from the “Spice Islands.” Thus, Magellan completed the first circumnavigation in history. As 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, as a result of which eight Spaniards, four allied islanders and Magellan himself died. The old saying was confirmed: “God gave the Portuguese a very small country to live in, but the whole world to die.”
After the death of Magellan, “Victoria” and “Trinidad”, leaving the strait, passed by the island “where the people are black, as in” (the first indication of the Philippine Negritos); The Spaniards named this island Negros. In Mindanao, they first heard of the large island of Luzon located to the northwest. Random pilots guided ships through the Sudu Sea to Palawan, the westernmost island of the Philippine group. From the island of Palawan, the Spaniards arrived - the first of the Europeans - to the giant island of Kalimantan and anchored near the city, after which they, and then other Europeans, began to call the entire island Borneo. The Spaniards entered into alliances with local rajahs, bought food and local goods, sometimes robbed oncoming ships, but still could not find out the way to the “Spice Islands”. On September 7, the Spaniards set sail along the northwestern coast of Kalimantan and, having reached its northern tip, 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, who on November 8 led the ships to the spice market on the island of Tidore off the western coast of Halmahera, the largest of the Moluccas. Here the Spaniards bought spices cheaply - 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 take the Victoria to her homeland by the western route, around the Cape of Good Hope.
Of Magellan's five ships, only one circumnavigated the globe, and only 18 people from its crew returned home (there were three Malays on board). 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 laid claim to the Moluccas.
Magellan (Magalhaes, Magalhaes) Fernand (about 1480 - April 27, 1521) - navigator whose expedition made the first circumnavigation of the world. Portuguese by origin. Born in the village of Sabroza, Traz os Montis region, in the family of a knight. He served as a soldier in an expedition sent to India in 1505. After the capture of Cannanore (1506) he was a Portuguese agent in Sofala (East Africa). In 1508 he again served in India, then visited Malacca, was on the Moluccas, Sumatra, Java, Banda Islands, Amboina; in 1513 he returned to Portugal.
In 1517, Magellan, after the Portuguese king Manuel I rejected his project to reach the Moluccas by a western route, emigrated to Spain. By that time, access to the Pacific Ocean (1513) showed the possibility of reaching Asia by a western route. Without doubting the existence of a strait in the south of South America, Magellan argued that the Moluccas are located in the western, Spanish hemisphere (according to the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, which divided the world into two parts - Spanish and Portuguese) and the path to them is not far. The project to reach the Moluccas, proposed by Magellan, found the support of the “Indian Council”, which was in charge of overseas affairs, and in the spring of 1518, the Spanish king Charles I signed an agreement according to which he took equipment for the expedition at the expense of the treasury, and Magellan was given the title of governor of all lands, which he will open, and the right to a twentieth share of the income from them. The expedition's equipment encountered many obstacles. Magellan had to overcome great difficulties even after going to sea: Portuguese agents, taking advantage of the diversity of the crews, sowed discord. The Spanish captains, dissatisfied with subordination to a foreigner, also fueled the troubles.
Magellan's flotilla, consisting of five ships with a crew of 265 people, left the port of San Lucar in September 1519 and reached Brazil at the end of November. Following the coast to the south, the squadron at the end of March 1520 entered the Bay of San Julian and stopped for the winter; here a mutiny broke out on three ships, brutally suppressed by Magellan. In May, the Santiago ship sent for reconnaissance was lost. In October, the flotilla entered the Strait (later called the Strait of Magellan), from where the ship San Antonio deserted to Spain. With the three remaining ships, Magellan set out in November into the ocean, which he called the Pacific Ocean. Magellan passed through the most deserted part of it, encountering only two uninhabited islands. Before reaching the Mariana Islands in March 1521, Magellan could not replenish food and water supplies, which led to scurvy and the death of part of the crew. In March, Magellan approached the first Asian group of islands - the Philippines. In an effort to conquer the newly discovered lands, he intervened in the feuds of local rulers. Having entered into an alliance with the ruler of the island of Cebu, who declared himself a vassal of the Spanish king, Magellan organized a punitive campaign on the island of Matan, during which he died in a skirmish with the inhabitants of the island.
On two ships (the third - "Concepcion" - was burned due to disrepair) - "Victoria" and "Trinidad" - 113 sailors under the command of J. Carvalho, and after his removal - G. de Espinosa, continuing the search for "spicy" islands, visited Borneo (Kalimantan) and in November 1521 reached the island of Tidore of the Moluccas group. Taking a cargo of spices, the ships split up: the Trinidad, after an unsuccessful attempt to return across the Pacific Ocean, was captured by the Portuguese, and the Victoria, whose commander was the experienced sailor Juan Elcano, crossed the Indian Ocean and, bypassing the Cape of Good Hope, reached San Francisco in September 1522. Lucara. Only 18 people completed the trip around the world.
The appearance of the Spaniards in the Moluccas caused a sharp escalation in the rivalry of the Iberian powers and opened the Pacific Ocean to European expansion. The voyage of Magellan's expedition finally proved the sphericity of the Earth, established the presence of a single pestilent ocean and showed that most of the Earth's surface is covered with water.
The Strait of Magellan is named after Magellan.
F. Magellan's first circumnavigation of the world
The poor Portuguese nobleman Ferdinand Magellan, as he is commonly called, took part in the conquest of India and Malacca from 1505 to 1511; His real name is Magalhães. He was born about 1480 in Portugal; in 1509 and 1511 on Portuguese ships reached Malacca, 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 company with the Portuguese astronomer Rui Faleiro, who claimed that he had found a way to accurately determine geographical longitudes. In March 1518, both appeared in Seville at the Council of the Indies 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 penetrate to these “Spice Islands” it is necessary to take a 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 Faleiro first demanded the same rights and benefits that were promised to Columbus. After a long bargaining 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 affair, became the sole leader 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 Quezada; “Victoria” (85 tons) – Luis Mendoza and “Santiago” (75 tons) –
Juan, Serrano. The staff of the entire flotilla numbered 293 people; there were 26 more freelance crew members on board, among them the 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, the assistant navigator, kept on the Trinidad. An international team set off on the first voyage around the world: in addition to the Portuguese and Spaniards, it included representatives of more than 10 nationalities.
On September 20, 1519, the flotilla left the port of San Lucar at the mouth of the Guadalquivir. When crossing the ocean, Magellan developed a good signaling system; the different types of ships of his flotilla were never separated. Disagreements between him and the Spanish captains began very soon: beyond the Canary Islands, Cartagena demanded that the commander consult with him regarding any change of course. Magellan calmly and proudly replied: “Your duty is to follow my flag during the day and my lantern at 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 collar and ordered him to be kept in custody on the Victoria, and appointed his relative, the “supernumerary” sailor Alvara Mishkita, as captain of the San Antonio.
On September 26, the flotilla approached the Canary Islands, and on November 29 reached the coast of Brazil near 8° S. sh., December 13 - Guanabara Bay, and December 26 - La Plata. The expedition's navigators were the best at that time: while determining latitudes, they made adjustments to the map of the already known part of the continent. Thus, Cape Cabo Frio, according to their definition, is located not at 25° S, but at 23° S. – their error was less than 2 km from its true position. Not trusting the reports of Solis's satellites, Magellan explored both low-lying banks of La Plata for about a month; Continuing the discovery of the flat territory of Pampa, begun by Lizboa and Solis, he sent the Santiago up the Paraná, and, of course, did not find a passage to the South Sea. Further on stretched 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 to the coast as possible only during the day, and stop in the evening. While anchored on February 13 in the large bay of Bahia Blanca he discovered, the flotilla withstood a terrifying thunderstorm, during which the lights of St. Elmo appeared on the masts of the ships. On February 24, Magellan discovered another large bay - San Matias, rounded the Valdez Peninsula he had identified and took refuge for the night in a small harbor, which he named Puerto San Matias (Golfo Nuevo Bay on our maps, at 43° S latitude) . To the south, near the mouth of the river. Chubut On 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 unexpected 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 killed animals. Having collected the “procurers,” Magellan moved south, pursued by storms, explored another bay, San Jorge, and spent six stormy days in a narrow bay (the estuary of the Rio Deseado River, near 48° S). 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 anchored at its entrance. The Spanish officers wanted to force Magellan to “follow the royal instructions”: turn to the Cape of Good Hope and take the eastern route to the Moluccas. That same night a riot began. Cartagena was released, the rebels captured the Victoria, Concepción and San Antonio, arrested Mishkita, and Quezada mortally wounded an assistant loyal to Magellan. They pointed their guns at the Trinidad and demanded that Magellan come to them for negotiations. Opposite the admiral's two ships were three rebel ones, preparing for battle. But the rebels did not trust their sailors, and on one ship they even disarmed them.
Under dire circumstances, Magellan showed calm determination. He sent his loyal alguacil (police officer) Gonzalo Gomez Espinosa with several sailors to the Victoria to invite its captain for negotiations on the admiral's ship. He refused, then Alguacil thrust 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 to prevent them from deserting, the prudent admiral, as mentioned above, took up a convenient position in advance at the exit of the bay. The San Antonio tried to break into the ocean, but the sailors, after a salvo from the Trinidad, tied up the officers and surrendered. The same thing happened at Concepción. Magellan dealt harshly with the rebel captains: he ordered Quesada's head to be cut off, Mendoza's corpse to be quartered, and the conspirator-priest to be landed on the deserted shore of Cartagena, but he spared the rest of the rebels.
At the beginning of May, the admiral sent Serrano to the south on the Santiago for reconnaissance, but on May 3 the ship crashed on the rocks near the river. Santa Cruz (at 50° S) and its crew barely managed to escape (one sailor died).
Magellan transferred Serrano as captain to the Concepción.
Very tall Indians approached the wintering site. They were called Patagonians (in Spanish “patagon” means 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 at the end of 1891, ranged from 183 to 193 cm). On August 24, the flotilla left San Julian Bay and reached the mouth of Santa Cruz, where it remained 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 to 75° S. sh., i.e. he himself doubted the existence of the “Patagonian Strait”, but wanted to continue the enterprise until the last opportunity. A bay or strait leading to the west was found on October 21, 1520, beyond 52° S. latitude, after Magellan discovered the previously unknown Atlantic coast of South America for about 3.5 thousand km (between 34 and 52° S).
Having rounded Cape Dev (Cabo Virgenes), the admiral sent two ships forward to find out whether there was access to the open sea in the west. At night a storm arose that lasted two days. The sent ships were in danger of death, but at the most difficult moment they noticed a narrow strait, rushed there and found themselves in a relatively wide bay; They continued along it and saw another strait, behind which a new, wider bay opened.
Then 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 reaching the South Sea: Magellan walked south through narrow straits for several days until he saw two channels near the island. Dawson: one to the southeast, the other to the southwest. He sent the San Antonio and Concepcion 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 named this cape Desired.
"Trinidad" and "Victoria" entered the southwest channel, stood at anchor there waiting for four days and returned back to join two other ships, but only the "Concepcion" was there: in the southeast it reached a dead end - in Inutil Bay - and turned back. San Antonio hit another dead end; on the way back, not finding the flotilla in place, the officers wounded and shackled Mishkita, and at the end of March 1521 he returned to Spain. The deserters accused Magellan of treason to justify themselves, and they were believed: Mishkita was arrested, Magellan’s family was deprived of government 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 shore of the greatly 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 another five 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 smoke was visible in the south during the day, and the lights of fires at night. And Magellan called this southern land, the extent of which he did not know, "Land of Fire" (Tierra del Fuego). On our maps it is inaccurately called Tierra del Fuego. 38 days after Magellan found the Atlantic entrance to the strait that actually connects the two oceans, he passed Cape “Zhelanny” (now Pilar at the Pacific exit from the Strait of Magellan (about 550 km).
Magellan left the strait into the open ocean on November 28, 1520 and led the remaining three ships first north, trying to quickly leave the cold high latitudes and staying 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 came quite close to the coast at 40 and 38 ° 30 "S, that is, at no less than three points he saw high mountains - the Patagonian Cordillera and the southern part of the Main Cordillera. From Mocha Island ( 38 ° 30 "S) the ships turned to the northwest, and on December 21, being at 30 ° S. w. And. 80° W d., to the west-northwest.
It cannot, of course, be said that during his 15-day voyage north from the Strait, Magellan discovered the coast of South America over 1,500 km, but he at least proved that in the latitude range from 53°15" to 38°30" S . w, the western coast of the mainland has an almost meridional direction.
“...We... plunged into the vastness Pacific sea. For three months and twenty days we were completely deprived of fresh food. We ate crackers, but they were no longer crackers, but cracker dust mixed with worms... It smelled strongly of rat urine. We drank yellow water that had been rotting for many days. We also ate cowhide covering the yards... We soaked them in sea water for four to five days, after which they placed it on hot coals for a few minutes and ate it. We often ate sawdust. Rats were sold for half a ducat apiece, but even for that price it was impossible to get them” (Pigafetta). Almost everyone suffered from scurvy; 19 people died, including a Brazilian and a Patagonian “giant”. Fortunately, the weather was good all the time; That is why Magellan called the ocean Pacific.
It was probably during their passage across the Pacific Ocean in the southern hemisphere that Magellan's satellites noticed two star systems, which were later called the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. " South Pole not as stellar as the northern one,” writes Pigafetta, “Clusters are visible here 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 the two stars of the circumpolar constellation Hydra. The Spaniards also discovered “five unusually brightly sparkling stars arranged in a cross...” - the constellation Cross, or Southern Cross.
Crossing the Pacific Ocean, Magellan's flotilla covered at least 17 thousand km, most of them in the waters of Southern Polynesia and Micronesia, where countless small islands are scattered. It is amazing that during this entire time the sailors encountered 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 located at 16° 15", and the second (Tivurones, i.e. "Sharks", February 4) is at 10° 40" S. w. Magellan and Albo determined latitude very accurately for that time, but since there is no need to talk about the correct calculation of longitude in the 16th century, it is impossible to confidently identify these islands with any islands on our maps (Most likely, San Pablo is one from the northeastern islands of the Tuamotu archipelago, Tivurones is one of the southern Line Islands (Central Polynesia). On this segment Magellan perform the first measurement depths of the sea, which can be classified as "scientific". He was unable to 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 puzzled why Magellan crossed the equator and went beyond 10° N. w. - he knew that the Moluccas are located at the equator. But that’s where the South Sea lies, already known to the Spaniards. Perhaps Magellan wanted to make sure whether 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 Mariana group). Dozens of boats with balance beams came out to meet the strangers. They sailed with the help of triangular “Latin” sails made from palm leaves. Off Guam (13°30" N), the inhabitants - dark, well-built people, naked (the women wore loincloths, "a narrow strip of paper-thin bark"), but wearing small hats made of palm leaves - climbed onto the ship and They 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 behind the stern, an irritated Magellan went ashore with a detachment, burned dozens of 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, looked at it with great amazement, and so died...”
On March 15, 1521, having traveled about another 2 thousand km to the west, the sailors saw mountains rising from the sea - it was Fr. Samar is an East Asian group of islands later called the Philippines. Magellan looked in vain for a place to anchor - the rocky coast of the island did not offer a single chance. The ships moved a little south, to the island of Siargao near the southern tip of the island. Samar (at 10 ° 45 "N) 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 that was 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 proven.
Out of caution, Magellan moved from Siargao on March 17 to the uninhabited island of Homonkhon, which lies south of the big island. Samar to stock up on water and give people a rest. Residents 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. The Spaniards saw gold earrings and bracelets, cotton fabrics embroidered with silk, and edged weapons decorated with gold from the local elder. A week later, the flotilla moved southwest and stopped at about. Limasawa (10°N, 125°E, south of Leyte Island). A boat approached the Trinidad. And when the Malayan Enrique, Magellan's slave, 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 himself to them. It became clear to Magellan that he was in that part of the Old World where the Malay language was widespread, 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 circumnavigation in history.
The ruler of the island gave Magellan pilots who accompanied the ships to the major trading port of Cebu. In Albo's journal and in Pigafetta, new island names appear for Europeans - Leyte, Bohol, Cebu, etc. Western European historians call this the discovery of the Philippines, although they had long been visited by Asian sailors, and Magellan and his companions saw Chinese goods there, such as porcelain dishes In Cebu they met the order 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 gave him information about other islands of the archipelago. As a result, for the first time, names such as Luzon, Mindanao and Sulu entered into geographical use with minor distortions.
As 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 get close to the shore. Magellan, leaving crossbowmen and musketeers in the boats, waded to the island with 50 people. There, near the village, three detachments were waiting for them and attacked. They began firing at them from the boats, but arrows and even musket bullets at such a distance could not penetrate the wooden shields of the attackers. Magellan ordered the village to be set on fire. This enraged the Mactanians, and they began to shower the strangers with arrows and stones and throw spears at them. “...Our people, with the exception of six or eight people who remained with the captain, immediately fled... Having recognized the captain, many people attacked him... but still he continued to hold firm. Trying to pull out 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 then they pelted him... with spears and began to strike him with cutlasses, until they destroyed... our light, our joy... He kept turning back to see if we had all managed to get into the boats” (Pigafetta). In addition to Magellan, eight Spaniards and four allied islanders were killed. Among the sailors there were many wounded. Confirmed the old saying: “The Lord God gave the Portuguese a very small country to live in, but the whole world to die.”
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 Concepción pilot, Portuguese Joao Lopes Carvalho - returned, suspecting evil. Hearing screams and cries on the shore, they ordered the ships to come closer to the shore and fire their guns at the city. At this time, the Spaniards saw Serrano wounded, wearing only his shirt; he shouted to stop shooting, otherwise he would be killed and all his comrades would be killed, except for the Malay translator Enrique, begged to be ransomed, but Corvalho forbade the boat to approach the shore.
“...And he did this with the goal,” writes Pigafetta, “so that they alone would remain masters of the ships. And despite Juan Serrano crying and begging him not to raise the sails so quickly, as they would kill him... we immediately left.” Immediately, Carvalho was declared the head of the expedition, and Espinosa was elected captain of the Victory. There were 115 people left on the ships, many of them sick. It was difficult to manage three ships with such a crew, so the dilapidated Concepcion was burned in the strait between the islands of Cebu and Bohol.
"Victoria" and "Trinidad", leaving the strait, passed an island "where the people are black, like in Ethiopia" (the first reference to the Philippine Negritos); The Spaniards named this island Negros. In Mindanao, they first heard about the large island located to the northwest. Luzon. Random pilots guided ships through 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 touched by Magellan's expedition. They bear no resemblance to the originals and can only be identified by their names: Samar, the first of the islands visited, Homonkhon, where the first landing was made, Mactan, the place of the death of Magellan, and Panaon,
Leyte, Cebu and Palawan. From Fr. Palawan Spaniards arrived - the first of the Europeans - to the giant island. Kalimantan and on July 9 anchored off the city of Brunei, after which they, and then other Europeans, began to call the entire 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 made productive use of the Victoria's month-long stay - he spent almost the entire month of 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 would take three months to circumnavigate it in a prau” (Malayan ship).
On September 7, the Spaniards set sail along the northwestern coast of Kalimantan and, having reached its northern tip, 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 captain of the Victoria was the former assistant navigator on the Concepción, Basque Juan Sevastian Elcano, otherwise known as 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 the ships to the spice market on the island. Tidore, off the western coast of Halmahera, the largest of the Moluccas islands, here the Spaniards bought spices cheaply - 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 take the Victoria to her homeland by the western route, around the Cape of Good Hope.
On December 21, Victoria, with a crew of 60 people, including 13 Malays captured on the Indonesian islands, moved south from Tidore. At the end of January 1522, a Malay pilot led the ship to about. Timor. On February 13, the Spaniards lost sight of him and set course 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 way Portuguese ships, meeting with which threatened the Spaniards with prison and, perhaps, execution. In the southern part Indian Ocean the sailors saw only one island (at 37°50" S, Amsterdam). This happened on March 18. On May 20, Victoria rounded the Cape of Good Hope.
Having passed first in this part of the Indian Ocean, Elcano proved that the “Southern” continent does not reach 40° S. w. During the passage through the unknown sea expanses of the Indian Ocean, the ship's crew was reduced to 35 people, including four Malays. On the Cape Verde Islands, belonging to Portugal, where a stop was made to replenish supplies of fresh water and food, it turned out that the sailors “lost” one day, going around the land from the west. For this “loss”, all surviving members of the Victoria crew were subjected to humiliating punishment - public repentance: from a church point of view, such “negligence” led to incorrect observance of fasts. Here, at Santiago, 12 more Spaniards and one Malay fell behind, arrested on suspicion of having reached the Moluccas by the eastern route. On September 6, 1522, the Victoria, having lost another sailor on the way, reached the mouth of the Guadalquivir, completing the first circumnavigation in history in 1081 days.
Of Magellan's five ships, only one circumnavigated the globe, and of his crew of 265 people, only 18 returned home (there were three Malays on board). 13 sailors arrested on Santiago arrived home later, released by the Portuguese at the request of Charles I. But the 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 laid claim to the Moluccas.
Magellan to his circumnavigation proved that the greatest expanse of water stretches between America and Asia, 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 spherical shape. Thanks to him, scientists finally had the opportunity to establish the true size of the Earth not speculatively, but on the basis of irrefutable data.
The fate of the Trinidad team was as follows. Repairs to the Trinidad took 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 the island. Halmacher and Espinosa immediately set a course to the east, towards Panama. However, contrary winds soon forced him to turn north. In early May, he discovered the Sonsorol Islands (at 5° N, in the extreme west of the Caroline chain), and between 12 and 20° N. w. – 14 other islands from the Mariana group. From one of them, most likely from Fr. Agrikhan (at 19° N), a native was taken on board. Battling easterly winds, stormy weather and cold, Espinosa reached 43°N on June 11. w. Now we can only guess how far to the east the ship moved - probably the Spaniards were between 150 and 160° east. d, a 12-day storm, bad 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 return trip on August 22, Espinosa discovered several more northern Mariana Islands, including Maug at 20° N. sh., and returned to the Moluccas around October 20, 1522. The sailor Gonzalo Vigo, who deserted from Maug, later went by boat to about. Guam with the help of the indigenous people. Having become acquainted in this way with almost all the significant islands between Maug and Guam, he completed the discovery of the Mariana chain, which stretches more than 800 km.
Meanwhile, in mid-May 1522, the Portuguese military flotilla of Antonio Brito approached the Moluccas. Fulfilling the task of taking possession of the archipelago and preventing the violation of the Portuguese monopoly, he built a fort on the island. 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 to Ternate, which had 22 people. Britu seized the cargo and took away the nautical instruments, charts and, no doubt, the ship's log. This explains the Portuguese’s awareness of the path of Magellan’s expedition, his death and subsequent events, and Brito received additional information by interrogating “with passion” the sailors he captured. After a four-year imprisonment, only four of the Trinidad crew survived and in 1526 returned to Spain, including Gonzalo Espinosa, also completing a circumnavigation.
Bibliography
- Biographical dictionary of figures in natural science and technology. T. 2. – Moscow: State. scientific publishing house "Bolshaya" Soviet encyclopedia", 1959. – 468 p.
Magdovich I.P. Essays on the history of geographical discoveries. T. II. Great geographical discoveries(end of the 15th – mid-17th century) / I. P. Magidovich, V. I. Magidovich. – Moscow: Education, 1983. – 400 p.