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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] Ferdinand Magellan Biography MAGALHÃES, Fernão de (very commonly known by the Spanish form of his name, Fernando de Magallanes, anglicized to Magellan) (c.1480–1521). The discoverer of the Strait of Magellan, the first European navigator to sail across the Pacific Ocean, and the first person to circumnavigate the globe. According to certain documents his birthplace was Figueiro in Portuguese Estremadura, but there seems to be still greater evidence of his having been born at Villa de Sabroza, District of Villa Real, Traz os Montes, in Portugal. In any case, his fāther was Pedro de Magalhães, of a noble or hidalgo family, of the rank known as nobles de cota y armas (Portugal's fourth order of nobility ). The date is not known. Having served as a page to Leonor, Queen Consort of João II (the Perfect), he entered service under their son, Manoel (the Fortunate), in 1495 and in 1504, as a volunteer, went to India with the first Viceroy, Dom Francisco d'Almeida, whence, after being twice wounded and rendering notable service, he was sent on various expeditions to Sofala, Malacca, Java, and the Spice Islands, in the years 1508–12, returning in this latter year to Portugal, with the grade of captain, that had been conferred upon him in 1510. In the treacherous uprising of the Malays in 1510 he fought bravely and ably, but it was not he who discovered the plot. Shortly after his return to Portugal he was raised to the rank of fidalgo-escudeiro (July 14, 1512) ; and the next year was stationed at Azamor in Morocco, capturing the city in August, being subsequently wounded and lamed for life, and conducting the operations against the Arabs, until he became involved in a dispute over the distribution of booty, which led him to go back to Portugal without the permission of his superiors. This is supposed to have influenced the King in refusing to grant him an increase in his royal allowance, for which he had petitioned, and this refusal in turn led him to forswear his native country and offer his services to the King of Spain in 1517. Magalhães had learned, probably from the captain of some stray trading vessel who had tried his fortunes in the southwestern Atlantic, that there was a water passage opening towards the west. Through influential friends at the Spanish court, chiefly Juan de Aranda and Diego Barbosa (who now became his father-in-law), he gained a hearing from Charles V, and his minister, Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca (the Bishop of Burgos), in which he presented his plans for finding a way westward to the Spice Islands. After many vexatious delays caused by the agents of the Portuguese government and by the Spanish officials who were jealous of the Portuguese mariner, Magalhães and Ruy Faleiro the astronomer signed an agreement with the King, March 22, 1518, by which they were appointed joint captains general and were to receive one twenty-fifth of the clear profits, and the government of any lands they might discover was vested in them and their heirs, with the title of Adelantados. Faleiro decided finally not to go, but Magalhães set sail from Seville with a fleet of five vessels, Aug. 10, 1519. In December he was at Rio de Janeiro, and in February, 1520, he reached the entrance to the Rio de la Plata. The next six months were occupied by difficulties with his crews and the loss of one vessel, so that it was Oct. 21, 1520, before he arrived at the entrance to the strait known by his name, but named by him Todos los Santos. A month later, November 28, he completed the passage and entered the Pacific Ocean. One of his vessels had meanwhile deserted him, and after many adventures made its way back to Seville, where it reported the destruction of the fleet. After a smooth and pleasant voyage (whence the name of Pacific given to this ocean), but during which they had suffered unspeakably from scurvy, due to scanty and bad provisions, Magalhães reached the Tiburones Islands in February, 1521, and on March 6 he was at the Ladrones. Ten days later he fetched Samar, and during the next six weeks visited the other islands of the Philippine group. Friendly relations were established with the ruler of the island of Cebú, with whom Magalhães joined his forces in an attack on the natives of the island of Mactán. While conducting a rear-guard defense after his partisans had been routed, Magalhães was killed, April 27, 1521. After this disaster one of the vessels was burnt, and the remaining two proceeded to Tidore, in the Moluccas, where the Vittoria, of which Sebastian del Cano had become commander, was refitted for the voyage back to Spain. She sailed. Dec. 21, 1521, doubled the Cape of Good Hope on May 19, 1522, and on Monday, Sept. 9, 1522, dropped anchor in Seville Roads, having completed the first voyage around the world. Although Magalhães did not live to complete this particular voyage, he did circumnavigate the globe; for we must bear in mind that on his longest voyage eastward he had reached Banda Island at long. 130° E. of Greenwich, and that when he fell at Mactán Island he had sailed westward to long. 124° E. of Greenwich, thus by six degrees more than completing the circumnavigation. This feat has never been recognized at its full value, which would place it among the four leading achievements in discovery and exploration. The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XIV (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 638. |