Ferdinand Magellan was born on November 20, 1480, in Sabrosa, near Vila Real, to Rodrigo de Magalhães and Alda de Mesquita.
His parents died when he was ten years old, and hence, went to the Portuguese court to serve as a page to Queen Leonora, along with his brother, mainly because of his parents’ wealthy Portuguese connections.
He was educated at the Queen’s School of Pages, Lisbon, and was fortunate to get accustomed to subjects, such as astronomy, cartography, and celestial navigation, which proved useful in his later pursuits.
In 1505, Magellan joined a Portuguese fleet under Francisco de Almeida, first viceroy of Portuguese in India, to an expedition to India and Africa where he spent seven years. He fought in several battles, such as Battle of Cannanore (1506) wounding himself and Battle of Diu (1509), where the Portuguese destroyed Egyptian ships in the Arabian Sea. He went twice to Malacca, the Malayan spice port, participating in its conquest by the Portuguese. He may also have gone on an exploratory mission to the Molucca Islands (Spice Islands), the original source of some of the most valuable spices.
In 1513 Magellan returned to Lisbon where he joined the massive 500-ship, 15 000-soldier force sent to Morocco, by King Manuel, to fight the governor as he had refused to pay an annual tribute to the Portuguese. Magellan stayed back in Morocco, after the Moroccan forces were defeated, where he sustained a leg wound in a skirmish.
After a disagreement with King Manuel to approve his petition for sailing west from Europe to reach the Spice Islands in 1517, he renounced his Portuguese nationality and traveled to Seville to seek support from the Spanish king.
Along with cosmographer Riu Faleiro, he offered his services to King Charles I (future Holy Emperor Charles V), who had funded Columbus’ expedition to the New World in 1492.
After two years of rigorous study of the recent navigation charts and analyzing the mistakes committed by other explorers, Christopher Columbus and Vasco Nunez de Balboa, he received royal assent.
King Charles agreed to finance his trip in the hope of becoming the king of the richest nation in the world by reaching Moluccas and getting a share in the spices, without affecting relations with the Portuguese.
In 1518, Magellan and Faleiro were made captains to execute their search for the spice-rich lands through an all-water passage and were later promoted as the Commander of the Order of Santiago.
Faleiro withdrew from the voyage just before boarding and henceforth, Juan Sebastian Elcano, a Spanish merchant ship captain, embarked.
He started his westward voyage in 1519 from Seville with the lead ship Trinidad, along with four other vessels – San Antonio, Santiago, Concepcion, and Victoria, carrying 270 men of different nationalities.
The fleet reached Rio de Janeiro and continued sailing southward along the east coast of South America, where upon reaching Puerto San Julian, a serious mutiny broke out between the Spanish captains and Magellan.
He quelled the uprising, executing one captain and leaving the other marooned on the deserted land. After waiting for few weeks for the weather to calm down, due to Santiago’s wrecking in the storm, the voyage was resumed.
The fleet rounded the Cape Virgenes, Argentina, and entered into the passage on November 1, 1520, naming it the Estrecho de Todos los Santos or All Saints’ Channel.
San Antonio sailed back to Spain, as its captain deserted, leaving just three ships to sail further into the South Pacific.
After three months of slow sailing across the vast Pacific Ocean, the ships reached the island of Guam in March 1521. They continued towards the Philippines, reaching the island of Cebu in April 1521.
Upon the King’s request, who he had befriended, he agreed to fight the king’s enemy on the island of Mactan. Magellan attacked the island of Mactan with a small force but the ilanders outnumbered them with big numbers and eventually he was killed on April 27, 1521.
After his death at the hands of the Mactanese, only two ships, Trinidad and Victoria (Concepcion was abandoned and burnt), managed to sail westward and reach the Spice Islands or Moluccas in November 1521.
The ships were loaded with spices and started off westwards, but Trinidad broke off and was no longer seaworthy, leaving only Victoria to continue and return to Seville, with 18 survivors under Juan Sebastian Elcano in September 1522.
Ferdinand Magellan was a distinguished explorer who organised the Spanish expedition to the East Indies from 1519 to 1522, resulting in the first circumnavigation of the Earth.
Three craters - Magelhaens and Magelhaens A on the moon and Magelhaens on Mars, have been named after him by the International Astronomical Union.
The Magellanic penguin is named after him since he was the first European to discover this South American breed in 1520, which is found in Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands.
Quotations:
"The Church says that the Earth is flat, but I know that it is round. For I have seen the shadow of the earth on the moon and I have more faith in the Shadow than in the Church."
"It is a blessed thing that in every age some one has had the individuality enough and courage enough to stand by his own convictions."
"Go forth to meet the shadowy future without fear and with a manly heart."
Physical Characteristics: Magellan had a well-built body that was strong enough to fight.
In 1518, Ferdinand Magellan married Beatriz Barbosa, in Seville. The couple had two sons - Rodrigo de Magalhães and Carlos de Magalhães, both dying in childhood.
