Ferdinand Magellan

733 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: History of magellan essay

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” André Gide shows the struggle of exploration in this quote. He shows that in order to find and do new things you must be willing to let go off things that can hold you back. Ferdinand Magellan, a famous explorer, had lots of things in his life that could have been viable excuses for him to not accomplish things. Although he faced many obstacles, he was able to overcome these things and become one of the greatest explorers of the Renaissance.
Ferdinand Magellan was born in 1480 and lived until 1521. He was born in Sabrosa, Portugal to a family that had minor Portuguese nobility. When he was twelve years old, he and his brother moved to Lisbon where he served in Queen Leonora’s court. While serving there, he heard many stories of sea exploration and also learned a great amount of sea navigation skills. He heard stories about the Spanish and Portuguese rivalry for control over the spice trade in the East Indies. All of these stories sparked great interest for Magellan in the area of sea exploration since it promised great riches and fame.
Ferdinand along with his brother were assigned to a Portuguese ship fleet headed towards India in 1505. After this expedition Ferdinand traveled on many expeditions to India and Africa. Although he gained great knowledge in these expeditions, he was injured in several battles. One of these expeditions was a huge soldier and ship force sent by King Manuel to Morocco to influence the Moroccan governor to pay his taxes to the Portuguese Empire. The Portuguese Empire easily defeated the Moroccan troops but Ferdinand stayed behind in Morocco and was later injured in a skirmish that seriously injured him and left h...

... middle of paper ...

...and never made it around the world in one trip but if one of his earlier trips to the Spice Islands were included, he would be considered the first person to travel across the entire world. Through Magellan’s voyage European knowledge of the world’s geography increased immensely. His trip again proved that the world was definitely round, but also showed that the world was a lot larger than what was thought at that time. Ferdinand Magellan’s circumnavigation of the Earth set a standard for navigation and exploration of this mysterious and new world.

Works Cited

History.com Staff. "Ferdinand Magellan." History.com. A&E Television Networks,
2009. Web. 01 Mar. 2014.
Thatcher, Oliver J. "Internet History Sourcebooks." Internet History Sourcebooks. Internet Modern History Source, June 1998. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. .

Show More
Related

  • Ferdinand Magellan A Hero Dbq

    366 Words  | 1 Pages

    What is a key attribute of a strong leader? Would he be strong, bold, courageous, fearless? Magellan, a portuguese captain during the fifteen hundreds crossed the world through the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. Ferdinand Magellan did not deserve defense. He would treat his crewmen unfairly, put himself first, and was distracted from his goal. (Document A, B, C, D, E)

    Read More

  • The Emerging American Character During the 1700’s

    581 Words  | 2 Pages

    Another great navigator from Portugal was Henry the navigator, he was the prince of Portugal who began to establish an observatory and also a school of navigation, and he also directed many long voyages that ignited the growth of Portugal’s colonial empire.

    Read More

  • Why Was Magellan Not Worth Defending Essay

    641 Words  | 2 Pages

    und three hundred men. His journey took him around three years and while making this journey he was thinking about no one but himself. Magellan took all the credit for everything and without his crew members he would be nothing and could not have achieved half as much. He also ended up using violence to make people change they way they believe. Magellan was not worth defending and shouldn't get all the credit he does.

    Read More

  • Pro And Cons Of Christopher Columbus

    797 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lastly, another reason King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella funded Christopher Columbus’ voyage was because they were trying to get to India before Portugal did. Spain and

    Read More

  • The Impact of Expectations Upon Marco Polo and Hernan Cortes

    2074 Words  | 5 Pages

    Human history is filled with the names of bold explorers who ventured into the great unknown, only to come out basked in glory as some of the great heroes of their day. Among the grandest are Marco Polo, who provided little known information about the Far East to Europeans, and Hernan Cortes, the great Spanish conquistador who is given credit for the defeat of the Mexican Empire. These two famous explorers are also ideal case studies to analyze the influence of expectations, interests, and of reality on the accounts of the places and people that these men encountered during their voyages. Exploration is an activity that is held in high esteem because of the mental challenge that comes with willingly surrendering the safety of certainty to venture into unknown land. This act is seen as reflecting the utmost courage.

    Read More

  • Columbian Exchange

    2028 Words  | 5 Pages

    Christopher Columbus was a famous navigator and explorer who was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy. Columbus wanted to claim land for Spain so he could be rich and spread religion. He originally set out to find the East Indies for many reasons. One was that he hoped to establish trade routes and colonies in order to gain wealth. Another was that there were now bigger guns that could be strapped on ships so he felt that his voyage had more of a chance of being successful. The main reasons for his exploration was that he wanted to find a western route to Asia to find the riches that Marco Polo talked about in his book. So basically he was not courageous, he was just greedy. He intended on arriving in Japan on his first voyage, but instead, he arrived at the Bahamas archipelago. He ended up making numerous voyages and claiming the lands he visited for the Spanish Empire. Columbus continued voyages creating the first lasting European conta...

    Read More

  • Christopher Columbus: The Hero

    913 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is thought by many that Christopher Columbus was a skilled sailor on a mission of greed. Many think that he in fact did it all for the money, honor and the status that comes with an explorer, but this is not the case entirely. Columbus was an adventurer and was enthused by the thrill of the quest of the unknown. “Columbus had a firm religious faith and a scientific curiosity, a zest for life, the felling for beauty and the striving for novelty that we associate with the advancement of learning”. He had heard of the legendary Atlantic voyages and sailors reports of land to the west of Madeira and the Azores. He believed that Japan was about 4,800 km to the west of Portugal. In 1484, Columbus wanted support for an exploratory voyage from King John II of Portugal, but he was refused. In 1485, Columbus took his son Diego and went to Spain to get some help.

    Read More

  • Another Side of Christopher Columbus

    759 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thus began the story of the European invasion and conquest of the Indian settlements in the Americas. A story of conquest, slavery, and adventure. The search for wealth, fame and power is not modern; it is rather traditional. The story begins when Christopher Columbus asked for financial backing for an expedition to the Atlantic. Already, rivalry existed between Portugal and Spain concerning who had more power in Europe. Playing on this rivalry, Columbus met with the king of Portugal seeking sponsorship but was refused and therefore had to convince the rulers of Spain in order to carry out this expedition he much wanted. Luckily for him, King Ferdi...

    Read More

  • Three Explorers From The Age Of Exploration Essay

    851 Words  | 2 Pages

    Different explorers sought out to discover new things, but many didn’t achieve their ultimate goal. Some explorers even discovered things by chance. Henry Hudson was an English explorer who went on many voyages to get new information about North America and to find a passage way to Asia, which he never achieved. Jacques Cartier was a French explorer who is known for exploring the St. Lawrence River and Canada. Francisco Pizarro was a Spanish explorer and soldier discovered the Pacific Ocean and conquered Peru. Each explorer discussed, discovered new things which have an impact in modern

    Read More

  • Christopher Columbus: Conquistadors In The European Age Of Exploration

    1904 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue, which started a huge push by European nations to gain power and wealth, mainly in the way of building Empires in the New World. This was called the Age of Exploration and lasted from the late 15th to the early 17th century. Spain, under King Ferdinand II of Aragon, was the first nation to do this. Juan Ponce de León was a conquistador and one of the earlier voyagers to the New World in the European Age of Exploration, he accomplished several notable things in his life, but overall and looking in hindsight he is seen as a failure when compared to other conquistadors.

    Read More

  • Christopher Columbus: Discoverer or Invader?

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    Christopher Columbus was a renaissance explorer in 1492. he was sent by queen Isabelle and king Ferdinand of Spain to look for a trade route to east Asia

    Read More

  • The Truth about Christopher Columbus

    971 Words  | 2 Pages

    Christopher Columbus had two main motives for trying to find a sea route around the world to Asia. Columbus’ first reason was that he wanted the fame. He believed that the earth was round and according to his theory, the earth was only 18,000 miles in circumference (Symcox, 9). He believed that it would be faster to sail around the world to Asia than sailing around Africa. He wanted to be the first person credited for sailing around the earth to Asia. Columbus also wanted to make a name for his family. The second reason Columbus wanted to sail around the world was simple. He wanted to make money. Columbus’ want for fame and fortune drove him to create a sea route to Asia.

    Read More

  • Christopher Columbus: The Architect of New World Discovery

    1050 Words  | 3 Pages

    Columbus on his fourth and last voyage ran into many problems in his voyage to find more land. They ran into a massive hurricane and ran into many storms causing massive damages to all ships. In 1503 the ships were so badly damaged they began to fail causing them to be stuck for a year on the island of Jamaica. When saved Columbus made his way back learning that Queen Isabel was dying and causing Columbus to realize that he can no longer afford to return to the New World. Columbus went on to die in 1506.

    Read More

  • Cause And Impact Of Christopher Columbus

    811 Words  | 2 Pages

    Christopher Columbus was one of the most legendary sailors and explorers of all time. Christopher Columbus , an italian explorer, was born in the year of 1451 in the Republic of Genoa. Christopher Columbus was a teenager when he first set sail the ocean in 1465. He became a sailor in 1476 and started to travel many places before going on his largest voyage in 1480. In 1492, Christopher Columbus exploration to the New World linked Europe and the Americas. His discoveries enlightened the globe and started a new age of exploration. His standards and morals changed the history of the whole globe. He was known for traveling for all types of reasons for many foreign monarchs. But why would a monarch from one country be interested in employing an explorer from a foreign country to complete such an important task?

    Read More

  • Christopher Columbus: The Father Of Globalization

    489 Words  | 1 Pages

    Christopher Columbus was, “the first European Explorer to find the Americas”(Venner 1). Columbus was sent by the leaders of Spain to discover a road to Asia so that they could become richer. When Columbus started his journey he was headed to Asia, but instead he ended up discovering a new land. In this new land the Europeans were met with natives of the island which they thought were Indians. After his first trip and sharing his discoveries people's view of the world was completely changed. Before Christopher Columbus made his trip people thought that the world was flat, but after people knew about the land that was discovered they believed it was in fact round. This shows Columbus is the father of Globalization because he introduced a new world to the Europeans.

    Read More

More about Ferdinand Magellan

Open Document