The search for the western sea ​​route to India and Magellan

In the years when they made geographical discoveries along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, the Spaniards undertook voyages in other directions. The Portuguese, who penetrated the Malay Archipelago, heard with amazement about the appearance of the Spaniards in the Moluccas. The brave navigator who brought the Spanish ships to these seas by the western route was the Portuguese Fernand Magellaens (circa 1480-1521). His surname received from the Spaniards the form of Magellan. He served in the squadron Albuquerque during the conquest of Malacca, then he participated in the campaigns of the Portuguese against the Berbers, was wounded by a spear in the knee and from this wound he remained lame for life. Offended by the fact that King Emmanuel refused him an increase in salary, he moved from the Portuguese service to the Spanish. Magellan believed that it was necessary to look for a sea route to India, sailing from southern shores South America. It is said that the idea of ​​such a voyage was excited in Magellan by a map Behaima, which he saw in the archives of the royal treasury and on which the strait was drawn, which, according to Behaim, existed in the southern part of the New World. It is also said that his conversations with Francisco Serrano, a Portuguese who visited the Moluccas, contributed to the consolidation of this idea in Magellan. But Columbus had long argued that there must be a strait between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, similar to that which connects the Mediterranean Sea with Atlantic Ocean. Columbus was looking for this strait in the Caribbean, Cabot on the northern edge of America; Cortes in the Gulf of Mexico.

Ferdinand Magellan. Portrait by an unknown artist of the 17th century

In 1515, the Spanish sailor Dias Solis sailed along east coast South America to 34 degrees south latitude, entered the wide mouth of La Plata, sailed up the river, believing that this was the strait he was looking for. Having gone ashore with several companions, he was killed by savages in the sight of caravels. The sailors swam back in horror. Magellan continued the work begun by Solis. It was all the more tempting because there was an erroneous assumption regarding the Pacific Ocean: at that time they thought that the southern end of America was not very far from the Malay Archipelago and that between Asia and South America there were islands on which there was a lot of gold, expensive stones and pearls.

Ferdinand Magellan. Traveling across the world

On March 22, 1518, Magellan concluded an agreement with the Spanish government that provided him and his companion Falero (also a Portuguese) with the positions of rulers and part of the income of those lands that they would open. Magellan and Falero went to Seville to work so that Fonseca would soon equip a squadron for sailing. The Spanish authorities placed her at their disposal for two years. The squadron was to consist of 5 ships with 234 sailors. The Portuguese king was annoyed at the Spanish government, which concluded such a treaty with people whom he considered traitors; he sent them promises and threats, trying to divert them from the expedition. Fonseca and other Spaniards in Seville were unhappy that foreigners were given such important rights. Portuguese sailors who wanted to participate in the expedition were refused. The troubles bored Falero so much that he retreated from his intention, and the troubles remained in the hands of Magellan alone. At the first time of the voyage, Magellan had to experience great trouble from his subordinates. Juan Cartagena, appointed head of one of the ships, began to intrigue against Magellan, persuaded two other captains to do the same; they demanded that Magellan give up command of the squadron. But he took strict measures and crushed the rebellion raised by these intriguers.

Monument to Ferdinand Magellan in Punta Arenas, Chile

Opening of the Strait of Magellan

Following along the eastern coast of South America, Magellan passed the mouth of La Plata and continued his voyage to the south. At the mouth of the Santa Cruz River, at 50 degrees south latitude, one of the ships ran aground (May 22, 1520). In this area, Magellan and his companions saw natives of very tall stature; they lived in leather huts that looked like tents. The Spaniards went ashore covered with snow; but these savages (Patagonians) showed such hostility towards foreigners that the Spaniards hastily returned to the ships and sailed on. The sailors began to demand that the squadron sail east to Madagascar and India. But Magellan landed the two main rebels ashore and announced that he would look for a strait leading to Pacific Ocean, at least I had to continue sailing to 75 degrees south latitude. Having sailed another three or four degrees, the squadron entered on October 21 (1520) into the bay, which, when following it to the west, was expanding. Magellan's squadron sailed to the cape, now called Cape Troward, and the sailors saw a wide area of ​​water in front of them. The long winding path they sailed on turned out not to be a bay, but the strait they were looking for.

In this strait, which received the name of Magellan, westerly winds blow. With its length and the many turns it makes, sailing in its direction from east to west is a difficult task even now. One must marvel at the courage and skill of Magellan, who traversed this then unknown path.

Voyage of Magellan in the Pacific Ocean

One of the ships of the squadron, sent by Magellan to inspect the coast, turned back and disappeared from sight. Magellan waited for him for several days, but, realizing that he had sailed to Spain, he ordered to sail further. The sailors were afraid to sail to unknown places, but did not dare to resist their energetic boss; to the remark that food supplies might not be available until the time when the squadron sails to some place where you can get new ones, Magellan replied: “Even if I have to eat rigging belts, I will fulfill the promise given to the emperor.” The squadron sailed on November 27 to the western end of the strait; the sailors enthusiastically greeted the sea that opened before them. Magellan continued sailing north along the coast to 48 degrees south latitude; from there he took the direction to the northwest.

The squadron traveled for a long time across the latitudes between the equator and the Tropic of Capricorn, but it so happened that she did not see any of the numerous archipelagos of the Pacific Ocean, and it seemed like an endless watery desert. Having crossed the equator, reaching 13 degrees north latitude, Magellan and his companions finally saw the islands; it was March 6, 1521. Naked, olive-colored natives boldly climbed on ships and stole everything that came across; they were chased away, but they returned. The Spaniards therefore named their archipelago the Isles of Thieves, Ladrones. During the four months of the voyage, Magellan and his sailors did not see anything but the sky and water, they had no food, except crackers, eaten by worms, crumbling into powder; they rejoiced when they found coconuts, yams, and sugarcane on these islands.

At the end of March 1521, the squadron sailed to the Philippine Islands. Magellan stopped here to rest the weary sailors. The princes and the people received the Spaniards in a friendly manner, treated them. One of the princes of the island of Cebu was baptized and recognized the Spanish king as his sovereign. Together with the prince, several hundred people of his subjects were baptized.

Magellan demanded that the other princes obey the one who was baptized; some of them did not agree to this. Magellan began to burn the villages of the resisting princelings; they sailed with their warriors to the small island of Mactan. He put 50 sailors on three boats and sailed to Mactan, hoping to easily defeat the numerous natives. But in the battle with them, Magellan received a spear in the head and fell dead (April 27, 1521). Together with him, the captain of one of the ships, Crestoval Ravelo, and six sailors were killed.

Death of Magellan. 19th century drawing

The rest of Magellan's companions managed to get into the boats and returned to Cebu. The baptized prince grew bolder. Continuing to pretend to be a friend of the Spaniards, on May 1 he invited the chestnuts and other chiefs to dinner. They came to him, there were 24 of them. The warriors of the prince suddenly attacked the associates of Magellan and killed everyone with a painful death. With the groans of dying comrades and the joyful cry of the natives, the rest of Magellan's companions, of which there were already only 100 people, sailed away on two ships, setting fire to the third. They went ashore several times on the islands of Mandanao and Palawan, then sailed to the harbor of Bruni on Borneo island. The rajah of that area, a Muslim, wanted to exterminate them, but they managed to sail away and in November they came to the Moluccas, anchored at Tidori.

Swimming Elcano

One of Magellan's assistants, Juan Sebastian Elcano, captain of the "Victoria", which of the two ships, which was less damaged than the other, took a load of cloves and at the end of the year continued sailing towards the island of Timor, from there in May (1522) came to the Cape Good Hope. Along the way, 15 Spaniards and 6 Timorese they took with them died of starvation, so that only 30 people remained on the ship. Rounding the Cape of Good Hope, Elcano came to the Cape Verde Islands. The Portuguese arrested there 12 of the surviving sailors of Magellan and Elcano, considering it a violation of the rights of Portugal that the Spaniards penetrated the Malay Archipelago. Elcano barely escaped persecution. Finally, on September 6, 1522, he, with 13 Europeans and 3 Asians, entered the San Lucar harbor and went with the surviving Christians to Seville to give thanks to God in the cathedral church for the happy completion of the first circumnavigation. The death of Magellan at first gave Elcano the glory of the first person to circumnavigate the world. The image of the globe was included in his coat of arms.

Monument to Juan Sebastian Elcano in his homeland (Basque Country)

Four years later (in 1526), ​​a new squadron under the command of Garcia Loayza and Elcano passed through the Strait of Magellan; one of her caravels rounded the southern end of the New World, Cape Horn. The Spaniards arrived in the Moluccas. Both squadron leaders died during this voyage. The Portuguese, who built a fort on the most important of the Moluccas, Ternate, and subjugated the Muslim princelings of the archipelago, argued that, according to the demarcation line, it was located in that half of the ocean that belonged exclusively to them and that the Spaniards did not have the right to swim there. The dispute went on for several years. In 1529, Emperor Charles V recognized the Moluccas as belonging to the King of Portugal, receiving from him 350,000 ducats for this concession.

The Moluccas remained the last conquest of the Portuguese in the southeast. The Philippines, discovered by the Spanish squadron, were conquered by the Spaniards.

The voyage of Magellan resolved the issue of the western sea route to southeast Asia. Circumnavigations soon became commonplace; many islands were discovered in the Pacific Ocean; but their position was for a long time indicated on the maps incorrectly, due to the inaccuracy of the means of that time, to determine the geographical longitude.

The Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan went down in history as the first person who managed to circumnavigate the world. He became the first European who managed to swim from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and thus prove the existence of a single and indivisible ocean.

short biography

The future navigator was born in 1480 in the small Portuguese town of Ponti da Barca. Being a descendant of a noble, but impoverished noble family, in his adolescence, Fernand served as a page at the royal court.

In 1505, Fernand entered the service of the navy, and over the next five years faithfully served his king in East Africa. His plans to return to his homeland could not be immediately realized due to the outbreak of military battles in India, in which Magellan took part. For his courage, he received the rank of officer, and after being seriously wounded, he was recalled to Portugal.

Rice. 1. Ferdinand Magellan.

Due to severe lameness caused by being wounded in India, Magellan was forced to resign. He dreamed of organizing an expedition to the homeland of spices - the Moluccas, but the Portuguese king refused him. Insulted by undeserved injustice and lack of recognition, Magellan moved to Spain.

Preparing for the expedition

In Seville, Magellan managed to win the favor of the young king Charles I and convince him to equip ships to the Moluccas, promising big profits. The king appointed an experienced navigator as the commander-in-chief of the flotilla, the main goal of which was to find a sea route to the cherished islands from the west.

The expedition, which became the life work of Magellan, included 265 people and 5 ships. It is worth noting that all ships were characterized by poor maneuverability, modest size and poor equipment. Magellan did not have geographical maps and reliable navigational instruments, with the exception of a compass and an hourglass.

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Ferdinand Magellan's first circumnavigation of the world

The expedition set sail on September 20, 1519, heading for Canary Islands. Further, the route ran through Brazil to the south along the coast of South America. The navigator faced a difficult task - to find a passage to the South Sea. At the same time, the flotilla moved only during the day, so as not to miss this passage at night in the dark.

During the forced wintering, which dragged on for 4 months, a mutiny broke out on three ships. Magellan managed to put down the rebellion by ordering the assassination of the rebel captains. During the same period, the flotilla lost one ship, which crashed against the underwater rocks during reconnaissance.

Only in October 1520, Magellan managed to achieve his goal and find a barely noticeable entrance to the strait, which was later called Magellan. Having passed a dangerous narrow strait, the sailors found themselves in the waters of an unknown sea. It was the Pacific Ocean, which was so named by Magellan due to the surprisingly calm weather that prevailed during the entire journey.

Rice. 2. Pacific Ocean.

After a hundred days of sailing in the Pacific Ocean, the flotilla reached the island of Guam, and soon the Philippine archipelago was discovered by Magellan.

Having intimidated the local population, the navigator forced them to submit to the Spanish king and accept Christianity. In 1521, Ferdinand Magellan tragically died in one of the skirmishes with the natives. Only one ship was able to return to Spain, on board of which only 17 sailors survived. His captain received all the honors and glory, while the commander-in-chief of the flotilla was undeservedly forgotten.

However, the importance of Magellan's journey could not be overestimated. He not only found the western road to the Moluccas, but also made an important discovery that changed the worldview of millions of people and proved that the Earth is round.

Rice. 3. Magellan's round-the-world trip.

What have we learned?

When studying the report on the topic "Fernand Magellan" in the 5th grade geography program, we got acquainted with the years of life of the famous navigator and discoverer. We learned what Ferdinand Magellan discovered and what an important role his discoveries played in the further exploration of the planet.

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The first circumnavigation of the world under the leadership of Ferdinand Magellan began on September 20, 1519 and ended on September 6, 1522. The idea of ​​the expedition was in many ways a repetition of the idea of ​​Columbus: to reach Asia, following to the west. The colonization of America had not yet brought significant profits, unlike the colonies of the Portuguese in India, and the Spaniards themselves wanted to sail to the Spice Islands and reap the benefits. By then it had become clear that America was not Asia, but Asia was supposed to lie relatively close to the New World.

In March 1518, Ferdinand Magellan and Rui Faleiro, a Portuguese astronomer, appeared in Seville at the Council of the Indies and declared that the Moluccas, the most important source of Portuguese wealth, should belong to Spain, since they are located in the western, Spanish hemisphere (according to the treaty of 1494), but to get to these "Spice Islands" it is necessary by the western way, so as not to arouse the suspicions of the Portuguese, through the South Sea, open and annexed by Balboa to the Spanish possessions. And Magellan convincingly argued that between the Atlantic Ocean and South Sea there must be a strait south of Brazil.

After a long bargain with the royal advisers, who negotiated for themselves a substantial share of the expected income and concessions from the Portuguese, an agreement was concluded: Charles 1 undertook to equip five ships and supply the expedition with supplies for two years. Before sailing, Faleiro abandoned the enterprise, and Magellan became the sole head of the expedition.

Magellan personally supervised the loading and packing of food, goods and equipment. Rusks, wine, olive oil, vinegar, salted fish, dried pork, beans and beans, flour, cheese, honey, almonds, anchovies, raisins, prunes, sugar, quince jam, capers, mustard, beef were taken on board as provisions. and fig. In case of clashes, there were about 70 guns, 50 arquebuses, 60 crossbows, 100 sets of armor and other weapons. For trade, they took matter, metal products, women's jewelry, mirrors, bells and mercury (it was used as a medicine).

Magellan raised the admiral's flag on the Trinidad. The Spaniards were appointed captains of the remaining ships: Juan Cartagena - "San Antonio"; Gaspar Quesada - "Concepcion"; Luis Mendoza - Victoria and Juan Serrano - Santiago. The staff of this flotilla was estimated at 293 people, there were 26 more freelance crew members on board, among them the young Italian Antonio Pigafetga, the historian of the expedition. An international team went on the first circumnavigation of the world: in addition to the Portuguese and Spaniards, it included representatives of more than 10 nationalities from different countries Western Europe.

On September 20, 1519, a flotilla led by Magellan left the port of Sanlucar de Barrameda (the mouth of the Guadalquivir River).

Contrary to popular belief, Ferdinand Magellan personally did not circumnavigate the globe, although he tried very hard. And even more so, he did not set himself the goal of making a round-the-world trip. Fernand purposefully went for spices - gold of the 16th century, and everything else was not interesting to him. He wanted to get to them by the shortest route, and, in his opinion, the direction to America was just that.

At first, Fernand tried to interest the Portuguese. The main argument was the Moluccas, where there were a lot of cheap spices. Magellan was there twice and knew firsthand about the commercial benefits of this flight, and he offered to get to them from the side of the newly discovered America. But the Portuguese king chose not to go into adventures and continue to use the classic, albeit dangerous route across the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Fernand went to Spain in search of a more accommodating king.

The Spaniard turned out to be receptive to the arguments of the sea wolf and gave the green light to the equipment of the expedition. September 20, 1519 - the historical date of the start of the round-the-world regatta led by Fernand Magellan - a flotilla of five ships and 256 people left the port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda.

Reconstruction of the caravel “Victoria”

At Dawson Island, the strait divides into two channels, and Magellan again separates the flotilla. The San Antonio and the Concepción are heading southeast, the other two ships are left to rest, and a boat is heading southwest. Three days later the boat returns and the sailors report that they have seen the open sea. Soon the Conspecion returns, but there is no news from the San Antonio. November 28, 1520 Magellan's ships set sail. The journey through the strait took 38 days. For many years, Magellan will remain the only captain who passed the strait and did not lose a single ship.

Leaving the strait, Magellan walked north for 15 days, reaching 38 ° S, where he turned to the northwest, and on December 21, 1520, having reached 30 ° S, turned to the north-west. The flotilla passed through the Pacific Ocean for at least 17 thousand km. The expedition, not ready for such a transition, experienced enormous hardships.

During the voyage, the expedition reached 10 °C. and turned out to be noticeably north of the Moluccas, which she aspired to. Perhaps Magellan wanted to make sure that the open South Sea of ​​​​Balboa was part of this ocean, or perhaps he was afraid of meeting with the Portuguese, which for his battered expedition would have ended in failure. On January 24, 1521, the sailors saw an uninhabited island (from the Tuamotu archipelago). There was no way to land on it. After 10 days, another island was discovered (in the Line archipelago). They also failed to land, but the expedition caught sharks for food.

On March 6, 1521, the flotilla saw the island of Guam from the group Mariana Islands. It was inhabited. Boats surrounded the flotilla, trading began. It soon became clear that the locals steal from the ships everything that comes to hand. When they stole the boat, the Europeans could not stand it. They landed on the island and burned the village of the islanders, killing 7 people in the process. After that, they took the boat and took fresh food. The islands were named Thieves (Landrones). As the flotilla left, the locals chased the ships in boats, throwing stones at them, but without much success.

A few days later, the Spaniards were the first of the Europeans to reach the Philippine Islands, which Magellan called the archipelago of St. Lazarus. Fearing new clashes, he is looking for an uninhabited island. On March 17, the Spaniards landed on Homonhom Island. The Pacific crossing is over. An infirmary was set up on the island of Homonhom, where all the sick were transferred. Fresh food quickly cured the sailors, and the flotilla set off on a further journey among the islands. On one of them, Magellan's slave Enrique, who was born in Sumatra, met people who spoke his language. The circle is closed. For the first time, a man circumnavigated the earth.

On April 7, 1521, the expedition entered the port of Cebu on the island of the same name. The places were civilized, and they even tried to take trade duties from the Europeans. The Spaniards refused to pay, and a Muslim merchant who happened to be in the city advised the Rajah not to fight the Europeans, and the demand was withdrawn.

A brisk trade began. For iron products, the islanders easily gave gold and products. Impressed by the strength of the Spaniards and their weapons, the ruler of the island, Raja Humabon, agrees to surrender under the protection of the Spanish king and is soon baptized under the name Carlos. Following him, his family is baptized, many representatives of the nobility and ordinary islanders. Patronizing the new Carlos Humabon, Magellan tried to bring as many local rulers under his authority.

Death of Ferdinand Magellan. Drawing from 1860

One of the leaders of the island of Mactan Lapu-Lapu (Silapulapu) opposed the new order and was not going to surrender to the power of Humabon. Magellan organized a military expedition against him. He wanted to visually demonstrate the power of Spain to the locals. The battle turned out to be unprepared. Due to the shoal, ships and boats could not come close enough to effectively support the landing party with fire. During the stay of Europeans in Cebu, local residents had the opportunity to study European weapons and their weak sides. They moved quickly, preventing the Europeans from aiming, and attacked the sailors in their unarmored legs. When the Spaniards began to retreat, Magellan was killed.

Monument to Ferdinand Magellan, Macatan Island

Nine Europeans died in the defeat, but the damage to reputation was enormous. In addition, the loss of an experienced leader immediately made itself felt. Juan Serran and Duarte Barbosa, who led the expedition, entered into negotiations with Lapu-Lapu offering him a ransom for Magellan's body, but he replied that the body would not be given out under any circumstances. The failure of the negotiations finally undermined the prestige of the Spaniards, and soon their ally Humabon lured them to dinner and massacred several dozen people, including almost the entire command staff. The ships had to leave quickly. Being almost at the target, the flotilla spent several months to reach the Moluccas.

Spices were purchased there, and the expedition was to set off on the return route. On the islands, the Spaniards learned that the Portuguese king had declared Magellan a deserter, so his ships were subject to capture. The courts were dilapidated. "Concepción" was previously abandoned by the crew and burned. Only two ships remained. "Trinidad" was repaired and went east to the Spanish possessions in Panama, and "Victoria" - west, bypassing Africa. "Trinidad" fell into a strip of headwinds, was forced to return to the Moluccas and was captured by the Portuguese. Most of his crew died in hard labor in India.

"Victoria" under the command of Juan Sebastian Elcano continued the route. The crew was replenished with a number of Malay islanders (almost all of them died on the road). The ship soon began to lack provisions (Pigafetta noted in his notes: “Except for rice and water, we had no food left; due to lack of salt, all meat products spoiled”), and part of the crew began to demand that the captain head for the Portuguese crown of Mozambique and surrender into the hands of the Portuguese. However, most of the sailors and Captain Elcano himself decided to try to sail to Spain at all costs. The Victoria hardly rounded the Cape of Good Hope and then went northwest along the African coast for two months without stopping.

On July 9, 1522, a worn-out ship with an exhausted crew approached the islands. Cape Verde, Portuguese possession. It was impossible not to make a stop here due to the extreme lack of drinking water and provisions. But after the arrest of 13 people who went for food, "Victoria" hastily moved on.

On September 6, 1522, the Victoria reached Spain, thus becoming the only ship of Magellan's flotilla to return victoriously to Seville. There were eighteen survivors on the ship. Later, in 1525, four more of the 55 crew members of the Trinidad were taken to Spain. Also, those members of the Victoria team who were captured by the Portuguese during a forced stop on the Cape Verde Islands were redeemed from Portuguese captivity.

The sale of the cargo brought by the Victoria not only covered all the expenses of the expedition, but, despite the loss of 4 ships out of 5, made a significant profit. As for the belonging of the Moluccas, the Portuguese king believed in their belonging to Spain and bought them back for a huge sum of 350 thousand gold ducats. In 1523, the report of the imperial secretary Maximilian Transylvanus on the journey was published, and then detailed memoirs of one of the expedition members, the Venetian Antonio Pigafetta, were also published.

Thus the Spaniards opened the western route to Asia and the Spice Islands. This first ever circumnavigation of the world proved the correctness of the hypothesis about the sphericity of the Earth and the inseparability of the oceans washing the land.