Ferdinand Magellan
The navigator who led the fleet that completed the first circumnavigation of the globe (though he himself died on the way).
Life
Portuguese sailor
Magellan was a Portuguese petty noble who as a young man sailed with Portuguese fleets to India and Malacca. Later, finding himself passed over in Portugal, he entered the service of King Charles I of Spain and proposed a plan to reach the Spice Islands by sailing west.
Strait of Magellan
In 1519 he set out from Spain with five ships, passed around the southern tip of South America through the strait later named after him, and entered a calm ocean that he named the "Pacific"; in 1521 he reached the Philippines.
Mactan
In April 1521 he was killed in battle on the island of Mactan, fighting the local chief Lapulapu. The rest of the fleet sailed on westward under Elcano, and in 1522 just one ship with eighteen men returned to Spain, completing the first circumnavigation of the globe.
Legacy
The circumnavigation by Magellan's fleet proved in practice for the first time that the Earth is round, and also made people realize that the oceans were far larger than imagined.
Did you know? The name "Pacific Ocean" was given by Magellan, because after passing through the strait they met no storms for months on end.
Key dates
- 1505Sails east with the Portuguese fleet
- 1519Leads a fleet out of Spain
- 1520Passes through the Strait of Magellan into the Pacific Ocean
- 1521Reaches the Philippines; killed in the Battle of Mactan
- 1522Remnants of the fleet return to Spain