THE MAGELLAN’S EXPEDITION

THE FIRST CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE WORLD

CHRONICLED by ANTONIO PIGAFFETA
THE MAGELLAN’S EXPEDITION
• Also known as “Magellan-El Cano 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.
THE MAGELLAN EXPEDITION
• The objective was to discover the alternate path to
Moluccas because of 1494’s 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.
• Born in 1480 in
Sabro, Portugal
• Died in April 27,
1521 (aged 41)
kingdom of
Mactan(now Lapu-
Lapu city)
• Portuguese
• Known for The First
Circumvation of the
earth
 FERDINAND MAGELLAN
• Portuguese explorer who
sailed, under Spain, to reach
Moluccas without crossing
Portuguese territory.
• Proposed an alternate route to Moluccas
by sailing west and an Atlantic passage to
the
Pacific could be found.
• Discovered Philippines
(named it Archipelago of St.
Lazarus)
• Introduced Christianity in
the Philippines.
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 Cartageña;
• Concepcion under Gaspar de Quesada;
• Trinidad (flagship) under Ferdinand Magellan Captain General
• Victoria under Louis de Mendoza;
PREPARATION: THE CREW
• The crew of about 237 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, João Serrão, a
relative of Francisco Serrão, Estêvão Gomes and also Magellan's
indentured servant Enrique of Malacca.
• Juan Sebastián del Cano, a Spanish merchant ship captain settled at
Seville, embarked seeking the king's pardon for previous misdeeds.
PREPARATION: THE CREW
• 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 Cartageña 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 (600 km) long passage which 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
Gómez, 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. 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).
ARRIVAL IN THE PHILIPPINES
• 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 the
Magellan’s Cross.
• April 27 – in a war with Lapu-lapu, chief of Mactan and
Humabon’s 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 Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
• December 13: Entering the bay of Rio de Janeiro.
• December 27: Departure from Rio de Janeiro.
TIMELINE
1520
• January 10: Entering the Río de la Plata.
• February 27: Entering Bahia de los Patos.
• March 31: Beginning of the overwintering stay at Puerto San
Julián.
• 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.
TIMELINE
1520
• End of April: Santiago was sent on a mission to find the
passage. The ship was caught in a storm and wrecked.
Survivors return to Puerto San Julián. Serrano becomes
captain of the Concepcion.
• July: Encounters with the “Patagonian giants” (likely
Tehuelche people).
• August 24: Departure from Puerto San Julián.
TIMELINE
1520
• 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 sailed back to Spain
under Estêvão Gomes who imprisoned the captain de Mesquita.
The ship arrived in Spain on May 21, 1521.
• November 28: The fleet left the strait and entered the Pacific
Ocean.
TIMELINE
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 were voted co-commanders.
• May 1: At a local banquet Barbosa was murdered and Serrano
captured, later killed. The three remaining ships escaped.
TIMELINE
1521
• May 2: There were not enough men to handle three ships, thus
the worm infested.
• Concepcion was burned down. Two ships remained: Victoria and
Trinidad. Gonzalo Gomez de Espinosa became captain of the
Victoria.
• Joao Lopez Carvalho was Captain General. The ships sailed to
Mindanao and Brunei.
TIMELINE
1521
• September 21: Carvalho was replaced by Martin Mendez as
Captain General, Espinosa became captain of the Trinidad and
Juan Sebastián del Cano captain of the Victoria.
• November 8: Arrived at Tidore in the Moluccas.
• December 21: Victoria under the command of Elcano left the
Moluccas to return home sailing west towards the Cape of Good
Hope. Trinidad remained at Tidore for repair.
TIMELINE
1522
• January 25: Victoria reaches Timor and started to cross the
Indian Ocean.
• April 6: Trinidad under the command of Espinosa left the
Moluccas heading home sailing east. After five weeks, Espinosa
decided to return to the Moluccas where he and his ship were
captured by a Portuguese fleet under Antonio de Brito.
TIMELINE
1522
• May 22: Victoria passed the Cape of Good Hope and entered the
Atlantic Ocean.
• July 9: Reaching Santiago, Cape Verde.
• September 6: Victoria returned to Sanlucar, completing the
circumnavigation.
• September 8: Victoria arrived in Seville.
RETURN AND LEGACY
• The circumnavigation was completed by one ship, the Victoria,
under the command of Juan Sebastián el Cano and a crew of 18
men.
• Antonio Pigafetta's journal is the main source for much of what
we know about Magellan and el 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’S 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.
• Magellan’s voyage vastly increased the geographical
knowledge of mankind and proved once and for all that
the earth is round.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MAGELLAN’S EXPEDITION
• Considering the inadequacy of marine instruments at that
time, Magellan´s voyage can be considered as the greatest
single trip ever undertaken. In terms of the hardships the men
endured and the courage they displayed, Magellan’s 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 broken. Spain
became the supreme power in the building of a colonial empire.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MAGELLAN’S EXPEDITION
• 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 Magellan’s
epochal voyage to the Far East.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MAGELLAN’S EXPEDITION
• From the point of view of the Filipinos,
Magellan’s expedition was significant because
it paved the way for contacts between the
Philippines and western civilization.