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MAGELLAN, FERDINAND (in Sp. FERNANDO ...

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 304 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MAGELLAN, See also:FERDINAND (in Sp. FERNANDO See also:MAGALLANES, in See also:Port. FERNAO DE MAGALHAES) (c. 1480-152I) , the first circumnavigator of the globe, was See also:born at Sabrosa in the See also:Villa Real See also:district of the Traz-os-Montes See also:province of See also:Portugal. He was a son of Pedro de Magalhaes, and belonged to the See also:fourth See also:order of Portuguese See also:nobility (fidalgos de cota de armas). He was brought up as one of the pages of See also:Queen Leonor, See also:consort of See also:King See also:John (Joao) II " the Perfect." In 1495 he entered the service of See also:Manuel " the Fortunate," John's successor, and in 1504 enlisted as a volunteer for the See also:Indian voyage of the first Portuguese See also:viceroy in the See also:East, Francisco d'See also:Almeida. He sailed on the 25th of See also:March 1505; was wounded at See also:Cannanore on the 16th of March 1506; was then sent with Nuno Vaz Pereira to See also:Sofala to build a Portuguese fortress at that See also:place; returned to See also:India See also:early in 1508; and was again wounded at the See also:battle of See also:Diu on the 3rd of See also:February 1509. At See also:Cochin (Aug. 19, 1509) he joined Diogo See also:Lopes de See also:Sequeira on his famous voyage intended for the Spice Islands, when the Portuguese almost See also:fell victims to See also:Malay treachery at Malacca. In this crisis he fought bravely and skilfully (though it is not true, as often asserted, that he discovered the Malay See also:plot); and before tine loth of See also:October 15ro he had been rewarded for his many services with the See also:rank of See also:captain. He again distinguished himself at the taking of Malacca by See also:Albuquerque (See also:July-Aug., 1511), and was then sent on by the viceroy with See also:Antonio d'Abreu to explore the Spice Islands (See also:Moluccas). Leaving Malacca at the end of See also:December 1511, this See also:squadron sailed along the See also:north of See also:Java, passed between Java and See also:Madura, See also:left See also:Celebes on their left, coasted by the Gunong Api See also:volcano, touched at Bura, and so reached See also:Amboyna and See also:Banda.

At the last-named they found such abundance of spices that they came straight back to Malacca without visiting See also:

Ternate, as had been intended. Magellan returned to Portugal in 1512. On the 14th of July of that See also:year he was raised to the rank of fidalgo escudeiro; and in 1513 he accompanied a Portuguese expedition against Azamor in See also:Morocco. The See also:city was taken on the 28th-29th of See also:August 1513; but Magellan was subsequently wounded, and lamed for See also:life, in a sortie; he was also accused of trading with the See also:Moors. The See also:accusation was subsequently dropped, but Magellan fell into disfavour with King. Manuel, who let him understand that he would have no further employment in his See also:country's service (after the 15th of May 1514). Magellan formally renounced his See also:nationality, and went to offer his services to the See also:court of See also:Spain. He reached See also:Seville on the loth of October 1517, and thence went to See also:Valladolid to see See also:Charles V. With the help of Juan de See also:Aranda, one of the three See also:chief officials of the India See also:House at Seville, and of other See also:friends, especially Diogo Barbosa, a Portuguese like himself, naturalized as a Spaniard, who had acquired See also:great See also:influence in Seville, and whose daughter he now married, he gained the See also:ear of Charles and of the powerful See also:minister, Juan See also:Rodriguez de See also:Fonseca, See also:bishop of See also:Burgos, the persistent enemy of See also:Columbus, the steady supporter of his great successor. Magellan proposed to reach the Spice Islands of the East Indies by the See also:west; for that purpose he hoped to discover a strait at the extreme See also:south of South See also:America, and is said to have declared himself ready to See also:sail southwards to 750 to realize his project. Ruy Faleiro the astronomer, another Portuguese See also:exile, aided him in the working out of his See also:plan, and he found an invaluable See also:financial ally in See also:Christopher de See also:Haro, a member of a great See also:Antwerp See also:firm, who owed a grudge to the king of Portugal. On the 22nd of March 1518, Magellan and Faleiro, as See also:joint captains-See also:general, signed an agreement with Charles V., by which one-twentieth of the clear profits were to fall to them; further, the See also:government of any lands discovered was vested in them and their heirs, with the See also:title of Adelantados.

On the loth of August 1519, the See also:

fleet of five vessels, under Magellan's command, left Seville and dropped down the See also:Guadalquivir to S. Lucar de Barrameda, at the mouth of the See also:river, where they remained more than five See also:weeks. On the 20th of See also:September the See also:armada put to See also:sea. Of the vessels which composed it, the " See also:Trinidad " was the See also:flagship, and the " See also:Vittoria " the only one which accomplished the circumnavigation. The See also:crew, See also:officers, See also:volunteers, &c., numbered about 270-280, of whom the names of 268 are preserved; 237 of these received pay; at least 37 were Portuguese, 30 or more Italians (mostly Genoese), 19 See also:French, 1 See also:English, 1 See also:German. Only 31 returned in the " Vittoria "; 4 survivors of the crew of the " Trinidad" reappeared later. Antonio Pigafetta of See also:Vicenza, an See also:Italian See also:gentleman who has left the best See also:history of the voyage, went as a volunteer in Magellan's See also:suite. Faleiro stayed behind, having See also:cast his horoscope and found that the venture would be fatal to him. The fleet was well armed, and the See also:total cost of equipment was 8,751,000 maravedis, or L5032 (equal to over 50,000 in See also:present value). Three-quarters were defrayed by the See also:Spanish See also:Crown, one-See also:quarter by Christopher Haro and his friends. Before starting, Magellan made his will and addressed a memorandum to Charles V., assigning See also:geographical positions connected with the controversy he was intending to See also:settle: viz., the proper See also:drawing of a demarcation-See also:line between the See also:spheres of Spain and Portugal in the East Indies, and the inclusion of the Moluccas within the Spanish See also:sphere. Steering south-west and calling at See also:Teneriffe (See also:Sept.

26—Oct.3), Magellan sighted South America at Cape St See also:

Augustine, near See also:Pernambuco on the 29th of See also:November; thence he followed the east See also:coast of the New See also:World down to the La See also:Plata See also:estuary, which he examined in the See also:hope of finding a passage at this point (See also:Jan. 11—Feb. 6, 1520). On the 31st of March following, he arrived at Port St See also:Julian (in 49° 20' S.) where he wintered. Here he crushed a formidable See also:mutiny (See also:April 1-2), and made acquaintance with the natives, whom he called Patagodians (" Big Feet "), whose great See also:size and lofty stature are magnified by Pigafetta to gigantic proportions. Leaving Port St Julian on the 24th of August 1520, he discovered on the 21st of October the cape of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, the eastern entrance of the See also:long-sought passage. Through this strait, 36o m. long, often narrow and very tortuous, fringed by See also:snow-clad mountains, he guided his armada for See also:thirty-eight days, weakened by the See also:desertion of one See also:vessel (the " S. Antonio "). On the 21st of November a See also:council of pilots and captains was held to consider the continuation of the voyage, and on the 28th of November the fleet rounded Cabo Deseado, the " desired " western See also:terminus of the strait, variously called by the first discoverers, " See also:Victoria Strait," " Strait of the Patagonians," " of all See also:Saints," "of the Eleven Thousand Virgins," or " of Magellan," now only known by the last of these names. To the south of the passage See also:lay the forbidding See also:land " See also:stark with eternal See also:cold," which from the many fires here observed Magellan named "Tierra del Fuego." The expedition now entered the "Great South Sea," first sighted by Vasco See also:Nunez de See also:Balboa (q.v.), which, from the steady and See also:gentle winds that drove the fleet across the immeasurable expanse, was by Magellan called "Pacific." For ninety-eight days Magellan crossed this sea, almost beyond the grasp of See also:man's mind for vastness (as See also:Maximilian of Transylvania puts it), from Cabo Deseado to the Ladrones. On the whole transit he discovered only two islands, sterile and uninhabited, which he called "St See also:Paul's" (Jan, 24, 1521) and "See also:Shark See also:Island " (Feb. 3).

The first of these has been identified with Puka Puka in the Tuamotu See also:

Archipelago, the second with See also:Flint Island in the See also:Manihiki See also:group; neither See also:identification seems convincing. For most of these ninety-eight days the explorers had no fresh provisions, little See also:water (and that See also:bad), and putrid See also:biscuit; the ravages of See also:scurvy became terrible. The worst anticipations of Magellan ("he would push on, if they had to eat the See also:leather of the See also:rigging") were realized; ox-hides, sawdust, and rats became coveted See also:food. At last, on the 6th of March 1521, the Ladrones (so named by Magellan from the thievish habits of the natives) came in sight, See also:Guam being probably the first port of See also:call. Here the fleet rested, watered, revictualled and refitted; on the 9th of March they started again westward; and on the 16th of March sighted the See also:southern point of Samar Island in the archipelago, since 1542 called the Philippines, but named by Magellan, its first discoverer, after St See also:Lazarus. On the 7th of April the squadron arrived at See also:Cebu, south-west of Samar, in the See also:heart of the See also:Philip-pines; here Magellan contracted a See also:close friendship and See also:alliance with the treacherous native See also:sovereign, who professed See also:Christianity the better to please and utilize his See also:Catholic friends. Undertaking an expedition to conquer, for the Catholic faith and the king of Cebu, the neighbouring island of Mactan, Magellan was killed there in a fight with the islanders (April 27, 1521). The king of Cebu after this got into his See also:power several of the leading personages of the squadron, including Juan Serrano, one of the two admirals elected to replace Magellan, and murdered them. The survivors, burning one . of the three remaining vessels, left the Philippines, and made their way to the Moluccas (Nov. 6), visiting See also:Borneo on the way (July 9-Sept. 27, 1521). At Tidor a heavy See also:cargo of See also:cloves was taken in; the "Trinidad," becoming leaky, stayed behind with her crew; and the " Vittoria," under Juan See also:Sebastian del See also:Cano, proceeded to See also:Europe alone (Dec.

21, 1521). To See also:

double the Cape of See also:Good Hope the " Vittoria " reached between 40° and 41° S. (April 7-16, 1522) and suffered from contrary winds, heavy seas, scurvy and See also:starvation. In the Cape Verde Islands (July 9-15, 1522) thirteen of the crew were detained prisoners by the Portuguese. Only thirty-one men returned with del Cano to Seville in the first vessel that had ever made the tour of the See also:earth. Though Magellan had not quite reached the Spice Islands when he fell at Mactan, his task had then been accomplished. He had already reached and passed the See also:longitude of the Moluccas, where he had already been; the way See also:home from the Philippines by the Indian Ocean and the Cape of Good Hope was perfectly known to the Portuguese, himself included. Magellan's name has never received its due recognition in general history. It ranks with those of Columbus, Marco See also:Polo, and See also:Henry the Navigator. The circumnavigation of the globe is as great an event as the See also:discovery of America. Magellan achieved what Columbus planned—the linking of west Europe with east See also:Asia by See also:direct transit over the western ocean. Had America not intervened, the project of 1492 must have failed; by 1519 See also:European pioneers had formed a more adequate notion of the task and its magnitude.

Magellan's Straits, the Magellanic clouds (not first observed by him), and Magellan's Land--a name long given to See also:

Patagonia and that hypothetical southern See also:continent of which Tierra del Fuego was considered only a portion, and now again bestowed by See also:Chile on her territory in the extreme south—preserve the memory of the first circumnavigator. The largest of the oceans has also kept the flattering name given to it by the man who first crossed it. No See also:record of his exploits was left by Magellan himself; and contemporary accounts are less detailed and consistent than could be wished. The best is that of Antonio Pigafetta, a volunteer in the fleet. It is printed in See also:Ramusio, and exists in four early MS. copies, one in Italian and three in French. The latter was perhaps the See also:original See also:language of this See also:work, which was addressed by Pigafetta, as a See also:knight of See also:Rhodes, to the Frenchman See also:Villiers de '.'Isle See also:Adam, See also:grand See also:master of the order of the See also:Hospital of St John. But this view is rejected by J. A. See also:Robertson (see below), who believes the Ambrosian MS. to be the ultimate See also:text. See the Primo viaggio intorno at mondo, otherwise the See also:Navigation et descouvrement de la India superieure faicte See also:par moi Anthoyne Pigapheta, Vincentin, chevallier de Rhodes, probably published in 1524 (in August of that year Pigafetta obtained leave to See also:print his See also:book in See also:Venice). Of the three French See also:MSS., two are in the Bibliotheque Nationale, See also:Paris (565o and 24,224 Fr.), the latter is wrongly supposed by Thomassy, followed by See also:Lord See also:Stanley of Alderley, to have been the copy presented by Pigafetta to the See also:regent of See also:France, See also:Marie See also:Louise of See also:Savoy, See also:mother of See also:Francis I. The third French MS., often called the MS. of See also:Nancy, first noticed by Thomassy in 1841, was bought by See also:Sir See also:Thomas Phillipps at Libri's See also:sale, and became MS.

Phillipps 16,405. The Italian MS. is in the Ambrosian library at See also:

Milan. From this Carlo Anoretti, See also:prefect of the Ambrosiana. published his Italian edition of Pigafetta in 1800; a French See also:translation of this, by Amoretti himself, was iss ed by H. J. See also:Jansen, 18oi. An English version of Pigafetta was rp e by See also:Richard See also:Eden in his Decades of the Newe Worlde (See also:London, 1555). The earliest printed edition, apparently a See also:summary of the Italian MS., was issued in French by See also:Simon de Colines of Paris about 1525. The earliest Italian edition is of 1534 (or 1536). Other authorities are: (1) The narrative of an unknown Portuguese in Ramusio's Navigationi et viaggi; (2) the Derrotero or See also:Log-Book in the Seville Archives, supposed to be the work of Francisco Albo, contramaestre of Magellan's flagship, the " Trinidad ": this consists mainly of nautical observations; (3) the narrative of the so-called Genoese See also:pilot, written in excellent Portuguese, and printed in vol. iv. of the Collecao de noticias of the See also:Lisbon See also:Academy; (4) various informaciones and other papers in the Seville Archives, especially bearing on the mutiny; (5) the See also:letter of Maximilian of Transylvania, under-secretary to Charles V., to the See also:cardinal of See also:Salzburg; (6) the references in See also:Correa and See also:Herrera, often based on good See also:information, and adding points of See also:interest to other records. Of these (1)-(3), (5), and an instance of (6) are translated in the See also:Hakluyt Society's See also:volume. Magellan's two See also:wills (i) executed at Belem on the 17th of December 1504, on the See also:eve of his departure with Almeida, (ii) executed at Seville on the 24th of August, 1519, just before starting on his voyage See also:round the world, are both of some value for his life. See also Lord Stanley of Alderley,The First Voyage round the World by Magellan, translated from .

. . Pigafetta, &c., Hakluyt Society (London, 1874) ; Diego de See also:

Barros Arana, See also:Vida e viagems de Fernao de Magalhaes, a trans. of the Spanish life by Fernando de Magalhaes Villas Boas (Lisbon-, 1881); F. H. H. Guillemard, Life of Magellan (London, 189o) ; Magellan . . . the original text of the Ambrosian MS. (of Pigafetta), with English translation, notes, bibliography, &c., by J. A. Robertson (See also:Cleveland, U.S.A., 1906). Before the See also:appearance of this indispensable work, the best edition of Pigafetta had been in vol. iii. See also:part 5 of the Raccolta di documenti e studi pubblicati nella r. commissione colombiana, edited by See also:Andrea da Mosto (See also:Rome, See also:Ministry of Public Instruction, 1894). (C. R.

End of Article: MAGELLAN, FERDINAND (in Sp. FERNANDO MAGALLANES, in Port. FERNAO DE MAGALHAES) (c. 1480-152I)

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