Ferdinand Magellan Thesis

Ferdinand Magellan

Many people know Ferdinand Magellan as a Portuguese explorer who organised the Spanish expedition to the East Indies from 1519 to 1522, which resulted in the first circumnavigation of the globe, but most don’t know his inside story. Ferdinand was the son of Rodrigo de Magalhães and Alda de Mesquita and was born in 1480, in Sabrosa, Portugal. At the age of ten, after the death of both parents, he became a page for the queen. Ferdinand stated, “I studied at Queen Leonora’s school of pages in lisbon, spending my days learning about cartography, astronomy, and celestial navigation. This helped me later in my lifetime, when on my explorations.”
When Ferdinand was in his mid twenties, he joined a portuguese fleet, bringing his to East Africa, where he ended up fighting Egyptian ships in the battle of diu. Ferdinand then explained how in the battle, he got a limp that his still has to this very day. Also, Around the same time, he was falsely accused of trading illegally with the Moors. “As a result of my denial, I lost my post and future offers of portuguese employment.” said Ferdinand. That was a

horrible time for him and in 1517 he ended up moving to Seville, Spain. That turned into a good thing because he meet his wife, María Caldera Beatriz Barbosa, there. Together, they had two sons, Carlos de Magalhães and Rodrigo de Magalhães.
While in spain, Magellan explained how he started to study the most recent navigation charts. From Greek charts he knew that the world was round and with his research, he was convinced that he could find a shorter route to the spice islands. Magellan then started to explain what he believed at the time. “In order to get the the islands, you would need to travel across the Atlantic Ocean, around South America and across the Pacific.” With his evidence and ideas, Ferdinand addressed the plan to King Charles I of spain, who agreed.
On September 20, 1519, Ferdinand set out with a fleet of five fully supplied ships and two hundred and seventy men.

“Even with that amount, I had underestimated the size of the ocean and we barely had enough supplies for the distance we were about to sail,” explained Ferdinand. Then there was a giant setback. First, the crew started by sailing to Brazil and then down the coast of South America Patagonia. Once the fleet arrived there, an attempted mutiny took place. One of the ships was damaged. The problem was settled and the crew continued on with the four remaining ships. The next difficulty the crew ran into was on October 1520. The group entered a place, which is now called the Strait of Magellan. One of the ship’s master gave in and sailed back home. This meant that the crew now only had three vessels

left.
Eventually, they managed to sail across the Pacific Ocean and in March of 1521, they stopped the ships and anchored in Guam. When the fleet started back up, they made it to Homonhon island with less than one hundred and fifty men. On the island we became close with the king of the island, Rajah Humabon and then became involved in a war with the king against another rival leader.