FERDINAND MAGELLAN

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WHO IS HE?

Ferdinand Magellan was born in 1480 in northern Portugal. He served for King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the Spice Islands. From 1519 1522 he conducted the first ever expedition to sail from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific and cross it. Although he did not finish the whole expedition himself, (because of his death during the Battle of Mactan), it was an impressive feat because it was the first circumnavigation of the Earth. He is mostly known for sailing past the southern tip of South America, which is now known as the Strait of Magellan. Finally, during his expedition, he discovered numerous islands, waterways, animals such as the Penguin and Guanacos, and the sight of certain galaxies visible in the night sky, which are now known as Magellanic Clouds.

WHERE DID HE EXPLORE AND GOALS INTENDED

The reason Magellan traveled was to find a western route to the Spice Islands. This was “in tune” with the time because Christopher Columbus wanted to do the same thing. The goal was to establish direct commercial relations between Spain and Asian kingdoms. In order to do this they did not want to damage relations with the Portuguese because of the Treaty Of Tordesillas, which reserved all eastern routes to the people of Portugal. As a result, the King of Spain gave it the “okay” and it was up to Magellan to find a crew, funds, an expert cartographer, and supplies.

ROUTE CHOSEN

The route Magellan chose to take was to go across the Atlantic and down the coast of South America.  From there he traveled through the treacherous Magellan straight, which was later named after him, into the Pacific ocean.  Then, they traveled straight across the Pacific all the way to the Philippines where Magellan sadly passed away along with 30 other men.  Shortly after the remaining ships and there men reached the Spice Islands.  Departing from the spice islands were only two of the original five ships which shortly turned into one ship after one started to take on water.  The remaining ship traveled around Africa and up to Spain where it finally arrived on Sept. 6th 1522.  The journey took three years in all.Click Here To Learn More About His Trip!

HOW WAS THE TRIP FINANCED?

Ferdinand Magellan financed his trip by going to the Spanish king Charles I,  the future Holy Roman Emperor.  The idea of finding a new trade route to the spice islands was intriguing to the king.  Later he granted Magellan and his men ships and enough supplies for two years of travel.  During the preparation for the trip many problems arose.  One problem was that the Spanish Crown was lacking money to pay for their expenditures so it delayed the expected departure date and put more pressure on Magellan to find supplies and money.   Also, the king of Portugal tried to stop them before the trip began.  Magellan used his smarts to find ways to gather money and make everything work.  He got many wealthy men to help fund part of the trip.

     With him he took five ship with about 270 crew men from many different countries across Europe.  Having men from so many different countries brought along many problem.  Spanish authorities made him switch his mainly Portuguese crew to a mainly Spanish crew.

WHY WAS IT IMPORTANT?

Magellan's journey to the spice island and back to Europe was one of the most important explorations ever.  One of the main reasons is because him and his crew were the first people to prove it was possible to travel around the world and they left a record of how to do so.  They were the first people to debunk the beliefs of Copernicus about the ocean falling at the edge of the world.  The main reason for the entire voyage was to find a quicker and better way to the Philippine islands.  They not only accomplished that but did much more, such as discovering the Straight of Magellan and many animal species such as penguins. 

REFERENCES

"Ferdinand Magellan Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 02 May 2013

 

"Magellan's Voyage Around The World." Internet History Sourcebooks At Fordham. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2013.

 

"Ferdinand Magellan Biography." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 02 May 2013.