The Portuguese navigator in the service of Spain, leading his intrepid expedition, realized that he had traveled around the world when his Malay slave and interpreter Henry recognized the dialect spoken by the savages of the Philippine archipelago, which he had arrived at after a year and a half of crossing. Three decades after the discovery of America, he was fulfilling Columbus’s dream of reaching the Far East following the route to the west.
Fate had reserved such glory for the tenacious Portuguese, that he had had to overcome countless obstacles to ratify the theory of cosmography of the fifteenth century on the sphericity of the Earth and, even more, to fix for the first time its true dimensions (which were underestimated).
Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) was born in Portugal at a time when the peninsular kingdom was focused on exploring the coasts of Africa in an effort to reach the Indian Ocean at its end, in order to sail to India and the islands of the Spices, known as Moluccas, current Indonesian archipelago.
The consumption of spices, such as pepper, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg, was in fashion to season the food on the European table, infusing the culinary art of the time with a spirituality that forgot the monotonous flavors of yesteryear. Other products, such as opium, resins, camphor and cinchona, were essential for the pharmacopoeia, while incense was essential for the mass services. These distant goods were so precious that they were weighed on the scales of goldsmiths or apothecaries to take care of the value of each gram. But the political-religious conflict between Christianity and Islam had escalated and, with trade being affected, they had become excessively expensive.
In order to open a permanent and safe shipping route, the Portuguese Bartolomé Díaz reached the Cape of Good Hope at the South African tip in 1484, while the arrival of Vasco da Gama in Calcutta (India) would take place in 1498. The strategy was discover, then trade, and subsequently establish enclaves of military rule. Magellan participated as an officer in the first army that in 1505 was assigned for this purpose and that four years later would occupy Malaca (Singapore), which was the Strait of Gibraltar to the East and the Mecca of spice trade.
After seven years, he would return to Lisbon with no other patrimony than his slave Enrique and the pride of having served his king, to which his humanity of tanned, bearded and stocky skin testified, with three wounds, one of which had left lame for life. And, along with it, his secret ambition to sail west to the Moluccas, finding a passage through the confines of South America.
search for support
He appeared before his sovereign, Manuel the Fortunate, to try to explain his project, but he did not have a good predisposition for the gentleman with a rough and stubborn character since he had demanded an increase in his military pension. Angered by such indifference, he asked permission to serve a foreign crown, but he did not bother to answer.
Feeling free to act, he settled in Seville in 1517, converting a compatriot, Diego Barbosa, who would later become his father-in-law, into his patron, who facilitated the connections of capitalists with the capacity to invest in the company, as well as with the Bishop Fonseca de Burgos (paradoxically, a staunch enemy of Columbus), who facilitated access to the Spanish court to obtain the approval of the young Carlos I, barely 18 years old.
The preparations for a trip to the unknown involve the provision of spare parts for the fleet in case of breakage of masts, ribs, keel, rigging and sails, as well as items that serve to barter with the natives, including mirrors, sequins , bells, knives and axes. The fleet, made up of five ships and with a crew of 265 men, has 58 cannons, 3 long falconets and 3 heavy mortars as firepower. In their warehouses they carry provisions for two years.
the tour
He left Seville on August 10, 1519 heading to the Canary Islands and then to Brazil, where he arrived at the exuberant and marvelous bay of Rio de Janeiro, and then headed south, seeing the hillock they called Montevidi or ‘mount seen’. , later Montevideo, when he reached the Río de la Plata estuary on January 10, 1520. According to the map he had, it was presumably the passage to the South Sea, but after exploring it for three weeks he concluded that the effort was useless and ordered to continue in the direction of the mythical Antarctica.
He disembarked to winter in the port of San Julián on March 31, where a mutiny took place among the Spanish captains, who wanted to return, fed up with the hardships and uncertainty that continuing the hazardous journey entailed. He with difficulty manages to neutralize it by executing one of the rebels. During the endless wait, with cloudy skies and icy weather, a giant Indian appears on a hill, who was part of a tribe, whom they manage to shackle with tricks; they would baptize him as “big feet” (patagao), stating in its cartography the name of Patagonia as belonging to the region. Meanwhile, in an exploration outpost, the Santiago, one of his ships, is shipwrecked.
Finally, on October 21 they discover the entrance to the Strait of Magellan, beginning to carefully cross its intricate channels and fjords, which extend for 565 kilometers. There are no inhabitants in sight, but during the nights they observe bonfires, which tell of a primitive people who do not know how to light the fire, so they have to make an effort to preserve it; They call it, logically, Tierra del Fuego. While they explore this labyrinth of bays and coves, the San Antonio disappears, who rightly presume has deserted the squad.
The goal accomplished
Finding the mouth that opens to the South Sea, there is no room for their overflowing joy. They are short of water and food; but, overwhelmed by their discovery, they decide they’ve come too far to turn back. On November 28, they will begin an endless journey through the largest ocean in the world, which they will rename the Pacific because of the tranquility of its waves.
While the endless voyage drags on, at least one corpse is thrown overboard every day, one of the weak and sick who can’t stand food rationing. After 119 days, they finally arrive at the Mariana Islands, where they can rest and recover from fatigue, and then continue on to the Philippines, where the historic circumnavigation of the globe was completed.
Knowing that Magellan did not have the troops to conquer the archipelago, he decided to make an alliance with the king of the largest island of Cebu to subdue so many others. And in a fight to subjugate the neighbor of Mactan, he ended up speared and killed. His body could never be recovered.
After insufferable hardships, his successor in command, the Basque Sebastián Elcano, managed to bring back to Seville a single ship, the Victoria, which arrived at the port after three years, on September 8, 1521, with just 19 sailors spectral that they managed, like the legendary Ulysses, to complete their odyssey. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
