What was magellan looking for

They returned to Spain in September Along the way, they had encountered a new ocean, mapped new routes for European trade, and set the stage for modern globalism. Sixty thousand miles later, and after the death of 80 percent of those involved, the expedition had proven that the globe could be circumnavigated and opened the door to European colonization of the New World in the name of commerce. Lapu-Lapu, the Mactan ruler whose forces killed Magellan, is often credited with slaying the explorer.

As a result, notes Ocampo, he has become a national hero in the Philippines. Though Lapu-Lapu likely did not do the deed, he is widely commemorated as a symbol of Filipino resistance and pride. A monument that shows the battle itself—and the group effort that brought down an epic explorer—will take its place. All rights reserved. Culture News. Magellan was first to sail around the world, right? Think again. In September , Magellan set sail from Spain with five ships. Three years later only one ship, the Victoria depicted on a map , made it back to Spain after circumnavigating the world.

Share Tweet Email. Why it's so hard to treat pain in infants. This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city. Animals Wild Cities This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city Caracals have learned to hunt around the urban edges of Cape Town, though the predator faces many threats, such as getting hit by cars. Pacific Ocean. Spice Islands. Day after day, no land. Stagnant water to drink. Rats, sawdust, and leather to eat.

A Portuguese nobleman and navigator, Magellan sought the support of his king, Manuel I, on three separate occasions for an exploratory expedition to seek a new water route to the Spice Islands.

He had squandered most of his personal fortune in service to the crown. For various reasons, mostly personal, King Manuel rebuffed Magellan but allowed the officer to offer his services elsewhere. It was September By the end of October, Magellan was in Seville, becoming a Spanish citizen. The eighteen-year-old monarch was athletic, energetic, and eager for fame and glory, but to become Charles V, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, he would need vast sums of money to pay the electors.

By sailing west, as Magellan intended, Spain also would respect the tenets of the Treaty of Tordesillas , which had given Portugal rights to all the new territory found east of a line drawn leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. For more on this treaty, see the Lines of Demarcation box in the Spice Islands section. Title page of the Maximilian publication. Quickly reaching trading agreements with the sultan of Tidore, who also disliked the Portuguese authorities, the crews stuffed the two ships with cloves.

The Trinidad , needing repair, stayed behind while the Victoria , with Elcano in charge, departed for Spain on December The ship was wrecked there in a storm.

They had sailed completely around the world. Additionally criticized and vilified in the reports of Elcano and others of the Victoria , Magellan did not receive his due credit for the expedition he had initiated. None of the promises King Charles had made to him and his heirs were kept. Both countries, Spain and Portugal, considered him a traitor. All that Magellan had accomplished with his expedition was apparently unnecessary.

For mapmakers, of course, the geographical nut had been cracked—the true size and scope of the planet had been revealed. No speculation or guesswork was needed anymore. There was a passage to the Pacific, and a vast uncharted ocean now awaited the pursuit of European explorers.

Surviving the circumnavigation with his journal intact, this loyal and indefatigable chronicler began making sure of that. Other Books: Pigafetta, Antonio. Translated and edited by R. New Haven, Conn. Translated by Nick Caistor. In spite of a mutinous crew, rough weather, scurvy, a desperate lack of provisions and unknown waters, Magellan managed to cross the Atlantic and navigate through the straits at the southern point of South America which were later named after him. Now with only three ships, Magellan sailed on into the Pacific with rapidly diminishing supplies, which led to many of the crew dying of starvation and scurvy.

After around 14 weeks they reached an island, probably Guam, in the western Pacific. They then sailed on to the Philippines. On 27 April , Magellan was killed there after becoming involved in a battle between two rival local chieftains. One ship from the fleet eventually reached Spain in September , having completed the first ever circumnavigation of the globe.

After his injury, he was falsely accused of trading illegally with the Moors, and despite all of his service to Portugal, and his many pleas to the king, any further offers of employment were withheld him. In , Magellan moved to Seville, Spain, to offer his skills to the Spanish court. His departure from Portugal came at an opportune time.

In the three years following his departure from Portugal, Magellan had religiously studied all of the most recent navigation charts. Like all navigators of the time, he understood from Greek texts that the world was round. He believed that he could find a shorter route to the Spice Islands by sailing west, across the Atlantic Ocean, around South America and across the Pacific.

On September 20, , he set out with a fleet of five fully supplied ships, but hardly adequate to sail the distances he proposed. The fleet sailed first to Brazil and then down the coast of South America to Patagonia. There an attempted mutiny took place and one of the ships was wrecked.

Despite the setback, the crew continued on with the four remaining vessels. By October , Magellan and his men had entered what is now called the Strait of Magellan. It took them over a month to pass through the strait, during which time the master of one of the ships deserted and sailed back home.