The Magellan Expedition

The Magellan Expedition

Also known as Magellan-delCano Circumnavigation
The first voyage around the world in human history. It
was a Spanish expedition that sailed from Seville in
1519 under the command of Ferdinand Magellan.
A major breakthrough in perception of the Europeans
towards world geography
Objective was to discover this alternate path to
Moluccas because of 1494s Treaty of Tordesillas, a
decree from Pope Alexander VI that had essentially
divided the world in half between the Spanish and
the Portuguese.
Lasted for 3 years (1519-1522)
Chronicled by Antonio Pigafetta

Ferdinand Magellan
Portuguese explorer who
sailed, under Spain, to reach
Moluccas without crossing
Portuguese territory.
Proposed route to Moluccas
by sailing west and through
an Atlantic passage to the
Pacific could be found.
Discovered Philippines
(named it Archipelago of St.
Lazarus)
Introduced Christianity in the
Philippines.

Magellan-delCano Circumnavigation
Route

Preparation: The Fleet

September 20, 1519 - a royal commission was
sent, allowing Magellan to head the
expedition.
The Spanish Armada de Molucca consisted of
five ships with 237 men:
Santiago under Juan Rodriguez Serrano.
San Antonio under Juan de Cartagea;
Concepcion under Gaspar de Quesada;
Trinidad (flagship) under Ferdinand Magellan
Captain General
Victoria under Louis de Mendoza;

Preparation: Crew
The crew of about 237 included men from several nations: including
Portuguese, Spanish, Italians, Germans, Flemish, Greeks, English and
French.
Spanish authorities were wary of Magellan, so that they almost prevented
him from sailing, switching his mostly Portuguese crew to mostly men of
Spain. Nevertheless, it included about 40 Portuguese, among them
Magellan's brother-in-law Duarte Barbosa, Joo Serro, a relative of
Francisco Serro, Estvo Gomes and also Magellan's indentured servant
Enrique of Malacca.
Juan Sebastin del Cano, a Spanish merchant ship captain settled at
Seville, embarked seeking the king's pardon for previous misdeeds
Antonio Pigafetta, a Venetian scholar and traveller, had asked to be on
the voyage accepting the title of "supernumerary" and a modest salary,
becoming a strict assistant of Magellan and keeping an accurate journal.
The only other sailor to report the voyage would be Francisco Albo, who
kept a formal logbook.
Juan de Cartagea was named Inspector General of the expedition,
responsible for its financial and trading operations.

Strait of Magellan and Pacific Ocean

After Santiago was shipwrecked, four ships began an
arduous trip through the 373-mile (600km) long passage
that Magellan called the Estrecho (Canal) de Todos los
Santos, ("All Saints' Channel"), because the fleet travelled
through it on 1 November or All Saints' Day. The strait is
now named the Strait of Magellan. Magellan first assigned
Concepcion and San Antonio to explore the strait, but the
latter, commanded by Gmez, deserted and returned to
Spain on 20 November.
On 20th of November the three remaining ships entered
the South Pacific. Magellan named the waters the Mar
Pacifico (Pacific Ocean) because of its apparent stillness.[19]
Magellan and his crew were the first Europeans to reach
Tierra del Fuego just east of the Pacific side of the strait.

Arrival in the Philippines

Arrival to Marianas and Guam
March 17, 1521, sighted Samar, part of a group of
islands they called Archipelago of St. Lazarus
reached the island of Homonhon in the Philippines,
(their first meeting with the Filipinos)
March 31, 1521 - First catholic mass in Limasawa
(Easter Sunday)
April 1, 1521 Arrival in Cebu, cordial relations with
Raja Humabon (conversion of 800 natives with
Humabon, his wife and daughter to Christianity),
establishment of Magellans Cross
April 27 in a war with Lapu-lapu, chief of Mactan and
Humabons enemy, was fatally wounded with a
poisoned arrow thus causing his men to retreat.

Timeline
1519
August 10: Departure from Seville.
September 20: Departure from
Sanlcar de Barrameda.
December 13: Entering the bay of
Rio de Janeiro.
December 27: Departure from Rio de
Janeiro.

1520
January 10: Entering the Ro de la Plata.
February 27: Entering Bahia de los Patos.
March 31: Begin of the overwintering stay at Puerto San Julin.
April 1 and 2: Mutiny on Victoria, Concepcion and San Antonio; death of
Louis de Mendoza. Later execution of de Quesada, marooning of de
Cartagena. Alvaro de Mesquita becomes captain of San Antonio, Duarte
Barbosa of Victoria.
End of April: Santiago is sent on a mission to find the passage. The ship is
caught in a storm and wrecked. Survivors return to Puerto San Julin.
Serrano becomes captain of the Concepcion.
July: Encounters with the Patagonian giants (likely Tehuelche people).
August 24: Departure from Puerto San Julin.
October 11: Arriving at the Cape of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, entry to
what would be known as Strait of Magellan.
End of October: San Antonio, charged to explore Magdalen Sound, fails to
return to the fleet, instead sails back to Spain under Estvo Gomes who
imprisoned the captain de Mesquita. The ship arrives in Spain on May 21,
1521.
November 28: The fleet leaves the strait and enters the Pacific Ocean.

1521
March 6: Guam.
March 17: Arrival at Suluan in the Philippines.
April 7: Cebu.
April 27: Death of Magellan participating in the Battle of Mactan.
Serrano and Barbosa are voted co-commanders.
May 1: At a local banquet Barbosa is murdered and Serrano captured,
later killed. The three remaining ships escape.
May 2: There are not enough men to handle three ships, thus the
worm-infested Concepcion is burned down. Two ships remain: Victoria
and Trinidad. Gonzalo Gomez de Espinosa becomes captain of the
Victoria. Joao Lopez Carvalho is Captain General. The ships sail to
Mindanao and Brunei.
September 21: Carvalho is replaced by Martin Mendez as Captain
General, Espinosa becomes captain of the Trinidad and Juan
Sebastin del Cano captain of the Victoria.
November 8: Arriving at Tidore in the Moluccas.
December 21: Victoria under the command of Elcano leaves the
Moluccas to return home sailing west towards the Cape of Good
Hope. Trinidad remains at Tidore for repairs.

1522
January 25: Victoria reaches Timor and starts to
cross the Indian Ocean.
April 6: Trinidad under the command of Espinosa
leaves the Moluccas heading home sailing east.
After five weeks, Espinosa decides to return to
the Moluccas where he and his ship are captured
by a Portuguese fleet under Antonio de Brito.
May 22: Victoria passes the Cape of Good Hope
and enters the Atlantic Ocean.
July 9: Reaching Santiago, Cape Verde.
September 6: Victoria returns to Sanlucar,
completing the circumnavigation.
September 8: Victoria arrives at Seville.

Return and legacy

The circumnavigation was completed by
one ship, the Victoria, under the command
of Juan Sebastin del Cano and a crew of
18 men.
Antonio Pigafetta's journal is the main
source for much of what we know about
Magellan and del Cano's voyage. The
other direct report of the voyage was that
of Francisco Albo, last Victoria's pilot, who
kept a formal logbook.

Significance of the Magellan

Expedition

The main significance of his voyage was that he

showed it was possible to sail around the world,
and left a record of how to do it.
Magellans voyage vastly increased the
geographical knowledge of mankind and proved
once and for all that the earth is round.
Considering the inadequacy of marine
instruments at the time, Magellans voyage can
be considered as the greatest single trip ever
undertaken. In terms of the hardships the men
endured and the courage they displayed,
Magellans maritime exploit has perhaps never
been surpassed. The route he took to reach the
Philippines was entirely new, and the Venetian
monopoly of the trade route to the east was thus

 His discovery of the Philippines brought the

archipelago into the awareness of Europe.
Finally, the voyage paved the way to Spanish
colonization and Christianization of the
Philippines. The later voyages of Fernando de
Villalobos and Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, to a
certain extent, owed their success to
Magellans epochal voyage to the Far East.
From the point of view of the Filipinos,
Magellans expedition was significant
because it paved the way for contacts
between the Philippines and western
civilization