Magellan's first circumnavigation of the world. Who made the first circumnavigation of the world
First trip around the world, or rather, swimming, was made by the expedition of the Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan in the period from 1519 to 1522. During the expedition, he died and one of the captains of Magellan's squadron named Juan Sebastian de Elcano completed the voyage.
During the first trip around the world, the spherical shape of the Earth was proved in practice. Magellan discovered the east coast South America, a strait connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as the island of Guam and the Philippine archipelago.
Second circumnavigation(and the first English voyage around the world) was made in 1577-1580 by Admiral Francis Drake. He discovered the strait between South America and Antarctica and explored West Coast South America.
The third and fourth voyages around the world were made in 1586-1588 and 1598-1601 by Thomas Cavendish and Olivier de Noort, respectively. Serious geographical discoveries they didn't.
The first round-the-world trip made by the French took place in 1766-1769. An expedition led by Louis Antoine de Bougainville discovered islands in the Tuamotu and Louisiade archipelagos.
Three round-the-world voyages of James Cook, made by him in 1768-1771, 1772-1775 and 1776-1779, opened for Europeans the island status of New Zealand, the existence of the Great barrier reef, mainland Australia, Hawaiian Islands and Alaska.
The first Russian round-the-world trip was made by an expedition under the command of Ivan Krusenstern in 1803-1806.
The second Russian circumnavigation of the world was made in 1815-1818 by an expedition under the command of Otto Evstafievich Kotzebue. The expedition discovered a number unknown islands Pacific Ocean and explored the North Coast of Alaska.
During the Russian round-the-world trip of 1819-1821, the expedition under the command of Thaddeus Bellingshausen discovered Antarctica and several islands in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
Another Russian circumnavigation under the leadership of Otto Kotzebue was made in 1823-1826. This time, islands were discovered in South Polynesia, Micronesia and other areas of the Pacific Ocean.
The round-the-world expedition of the Englishman Robert Fitzroy, made in 1831-1836, is famous for the fact that Charles Darwin took part in it and collected data for the future theory of the evolution of the organic world.
The first solo trip around the world dates back to 1895-1898. For 3 years 2 months and 2 days circumnavigation on sailing yacht by Joshua Slocum.
The first round-the-world trip by air, on an airship, was made in 1929 by the German aeronaut Hugo Eckener.
The first non-stop flight around the world was made in 1957 by three US Air Force B-52 aircraft.
1961 - Yuri Gagarin's flight around the Earth in a spaceship.
The first round-the-world trip under water in an autonomous mode without ascents for the entire time of the voyage was made in 1966 by a detachment of nuclear submarines of the USSR Navy under the command of Rear Admiral A. Sorokin.
The first autonomous circumnavigation of the world on a sailing yacht without calling at ports and any outside support was made in 1968-69 in 313 days by Robert Knox-Johnston.
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 had time to bring 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).
Geographical knowledge about the Earth has been rapidly developing. There were suggestions that, having rounded South America, it was possible to go to the South Sea (as they used to call it) and use it to reach the shores of Asia and. The first to undertake this was Ferdinand Magellan (1470-1531). He proposed to the king of Spain a hitherto unheard of plan - to reach the shores of Asia, bypassing America from the south.
On September 20, 1519, a flotilla of five ships set out on a campaign. She crossed the Atlantic Ocean and moved along the coast of South America in search of a passage to the South Sea. After a long wandering, the daredevils finally got lucky. The Strait, later named Magellanic, was found, and the flotilla entered the South Sea. According to one of the expedition members, Magellan called the vast expanses of water the Pacific Ocean, "because we have never experienced the slightest storm." This name is a paradox, since calm in the Pacific Ocean is a rarity.
More three months this transition continued across the boundless ocean. The crew suffered from thirst and illness. In the spring of 1521, Magellan reached the islands at east coast Asia, later called Philippine. An entry made by his hand in the ship's log says that, having circumnavigated the Earth, the ship returned to the Old World. This was the last written message made by the hand of Magellan himself.
In April 1521, the fearless navigator died in one of the battles in the midst of an intertribal war. Of all the ships back to, having circled Africa, only one returned - the Victoria (Victory). He entered his native harbor on September 6, 1522. The first trip around the world lasted three years. It finally proved the fact that the Earth is spherical.
Globe by Martin Behaim
With the development of geographical knowledge about the Earth, cartography also improved. In 1492, the German geographer and eminent navigational specialist Martin Beheim (1459-1507) and the artist Georg Glockendon (year of birth unknown - died in 1553) made the first globe depicting the globe. Its diameter is 54 cm. The authors called their creation "Earth Apple". On it, Beheim placed a map of the world of the ancient Greek scientist Ptolemy. this small likeness of our planet began to be called later. Of course, the images on it were far from the truth: the creators of the "Earth Apple" did not know about the existence of the New World (Columbus just set sail in 1492). However, later, when people appreciated their benefits, globes became very popular. They could be seen in the chambers of monarchs, in the offices of ministers and scientists. Pocket globes in special cases were intended for travel. Medium-sized globes made for cabinets were often equipped with a mechanism that set them in motion, rotating around an axis. There were even globes as high as human height, and they contained not only colorful images of the Earth's surface, but also information about different countries. However, maps have always had their advantages and therefore still remain indispensable attributes of any traveler, explorer and scientist.
In 1569, Gerard Mercator (1512-1594) created the first map of the world based on the latest cartographic and geographical knowledge of Europeans about the Earth and outstanding discoveries of that time. The continents were plotted on it, with the exception of Australia (they were discovered and explored later), as well as the oceans washing them. Many geographic features named after the navigators and explorers who discovered them. The name Amerigo Vespucci remained for posterity in the names of two continents: North and South America, in honor of Ferdinand Magellan, the strait separating the mainland South America and the island was named Tierra del Fuego. Thanks to the expeditions of the era of the great geographical discoveries, New World(America), the Pacific Ocean, the island of Tierra del Fuego, the Strait of Magellan, major islands in the Caribbean: Bahamas, Haiti, Cuba. Entire generations of geographers and cartographers, researchers and travelers had to refine and supplement maps for several more centuries, draw accurate contours of all continents and oceans, islands and peninsulas, bays and straits, and other geographical objects.
: reach Asia by going west. The colonization of America had not yet had time to bring 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 that time, it was clear that America was not Asia, but it was assumed that Asia lay relatively close to the New World. In 1513, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, passing the Isthmus of Panama, saw the Pacific Ocean, which he called the South Sea. Since then, several expeditions have searched for the strait into the new sea. Around those years, the Portuguese captains João Lishboa and Ishteban Froish reached about 35°S. and opened the mouth of the La Plata River. They could not seriously explore it and took the huge flooded estuary of La Plata for the strait.
Magellan seems to have details about the search by the Portuguese of the strait and, in particular, about La Plata, which he considered the strait to the South Sea. This confidence played an important role in his planning of the expedition, but he was ready to look for other routes to India if this one turned out to be false.
Even in Portugal, an important role in the preparation of the expedition was played by Magellan's companion astronomer Rui Falera. He created a method for calculating longitude and made calculations from which it followed that the Moluccas were easier to reach by going west, and that these islands lay in the hemisphere "belonging" to Spain under the Treaty of Tordesillas. All his calculations, as well as the method of calculating longitude, subsequently turned out to be incorrect. For some time, Falera was listed in the documents on the organization of the voyage before Magellan, but in the future he was increasingly pushed into the background, and Magellan was appointed commander of the expedition. Faler made a horoscope, from which it followed that he should not go on an expedition, and remained on the shore.
Training
European merchants played an important role in outfitting the expedition, as they were unable to participate in the lucrative trade with the East Indies due to the Portuguese monopoly. Juan de Aranda, who, under the treaty with Magellan, was entitled to an eighth of the profits, is pushed back from the feeder, declaring that this agreement "is not in the interests of the nation."
According to an agreement with the king dated March 22, 1518, Magellan and Falera received one-fifth of the net income from navigation, the rights of governorship on open lands, a twentieth of the profits received from new lands, and the right to two islands if more than six islands are discovered.
The Portuguese tried to oppose the organization of the expedition, but did not dare to directly kill. They tried to denigrate Magellan in the eyes of the Spaniards and force them to abandon the voyage. At the same time, the fact that the expedition would be commanded by a Portuguese caused discontent among many Spaniards. In October 1518, there was a clash between the members of the expedition and a crowd of Sevillians. When Magellan raised his standard on the ships, the Spaniards mistook it for Portuguese and demanded that it be removed. Fortunately for Magellan, the conflict was extinguished without much sacrifice. To muffle the contradictions, Magellan was ordered to limit the number of Portuguese on the expedition to five participants, but due to the lack of sailors, it turned out to be about 40 Portuguese.
The composition and equipment of the expedition
Five ships were prepared for the expedition with a supply of food for two years. 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 cannons, 50 arquebuses, 60 crossbows, 100 sets of armor and other weapons. For trade, they took matter, metal products, women's jewelry, mirrors, bells and (it was used as a medicine). The expedition cost over 8 million maravedis.
| Ship | Tonnage | Captain |
| Trinidad | 110 (266) | Fernand de Magellan |
| San Antonio | 120 (290) | Juan de Cartagena |
| concepción | 90 (218) | Gaspar de Cassada |
| Victoria | 85 (206) | Luis de Mendoza |
| Santiago | 75 (182) | Juan Serran |
According to the staffing table, more than 230 sailors were supposed to be on the ships, but besides them, there were many supernumerary participants in the expedition, among whom was the Rhodes knight Antonio Pigafetta, who composed detailed description trips. As well as servants and slaves up to Negroes and Asians, among which it is worth mentioning the slave Magellan Enrique, who was born in Sumatra and taken by Magellan as a translator. It is he who will become the first person to return to his homeland, circumnavigating the globe. Despite the ban, several female slaves (probably Indians) turned out to be illegal on the expedition. The recruitment of sailors also continued in the Canary Islands. All this makes it difficult to calculate the exact number of participants. Various authors estimate the number of participants from 265 to at least 280.
Magellan personally commanded Trinidad. Santiago was commanded by Juan Serran, brother of Francisco Serran, who was rescued by Magellan in Malacca. Three other ships were commanded by representatives of the Spanish nobility, with whom Magellan immediately began conflicts. The Spaniards did not like that the expedition was commanded by the Portuguese. In addition, Magellan hid the proposed route of navigation, and this caused discontent among the captains. The opposition was quite serious. Captain Mendoza was even given a special demand from the king to stop bickering and submit to Magellan. But already in the Canary Islands, Magellan received information that the Spanish captains agreed among themselves to remove him from his post if they consider that he interferes with them.
Atlantic Ocean
The captain of San Antonio Cartagena, who was the representative of the crown in navigation, during one of the reports defiantly violated the chain of command and began to call Magellan not “captain-general” (admiral), but simply “captain”. Cartagena was the second person in the expedition, almost equal in status to the commander. For several days he continued to do so despite Magellan's remarks. Tom had to endure this until the captains of all the ships were summoned to Trinidad to decide the fate of the criminal sailor. Forgetting, Cartagena again violated discipline, but this time he was not on his ship. Magellan personally grabbed him by the collar and declared him under arrest. Cartagena was allowed not to be on the flagship, but on the ships of captains who sympathized with him. Magellan's relative Alvar Mishkita became the commander of San Antonio.
On November 29, the flotilla reached the coast of Brazil, and on December 26, 1519, La Plata, where the prospective strait was searched. Santiago was sent west, but soon returned with the message that this was not a strait, but the mouth of a giant river. The squadron began to slowly move south, exploring the coast. On this route, Europeans saw penguins for the first time.
The advance to the south was slow, the ships were hampered by storms, winter was approaching, but there was still no strait. March 31, 1520, reaching 49 ° S. latitude. the flotilla winters in a bay named San Julián.
rebellion
Family of Magellanic penguins in Patagonia
Getting up for the winter, the captain ordered to cut the food rations, which caused a murmur among the sailors, already exhausted by the long difficult voyage. A group of officers dissatisfied with Magellan tried to take advantage of this.
Magellan learns about the rebellion only in the morning. At his disposal are two ships Trinidad and Santiago, which had almost no combat value. In the hands of the conspirators are three large ships San Antonio, Concepción and Victoria. But the rebels did not want further bloodshed, fearing that they would have to answer for this upon arrival in Spain. A boat was sent to Magellan with a letter stating that their goal was just to get Magellan to correctly carry out the orders of the king. They agree to consider Magellan as a captain, but he must consult with them on all his decisions and not act without their consent. For further negotiations, they invite Magellan to come to them for negotiations. Magellan responds by inviting them to his ship. Those refuse.
Having lulled the vigilance of the enemy, Magellan seizes the boat carrying the letters and puts the rowers in the hold. The rebels were most afraid of an attack on San Antonio, but Magellan decided to attack Victoria, where there were many Portuguese. The boat, which contains the alguacil Gonzalo Gomez de Espinosa and five reliable people, is sent to Victoria. Having boarded the ship, Espinoza hands over to Captain Mendoza a new invitation from Magellan to come to the negotiations. The captain begins to read it with a smirk, but does not have time to finish reading it. Espinoza stabs him in the neck with a knife, one of the arriving sailors finishes off the rebel. While the Victoria team was in complete confusion, another, this time heavily armed, group of Magellan's supporters, led by Duerte Barbosa, jumped on board, quietly approaching on another boat. Victoria's crew surrenders without resistance. Three ships of Magellan: Trinidad, Victoria and Santiago - stand at the exit from the bay, blocking the way for the rebels to escape.
After the ship was taken from them, the rebels did not dare to enter into an open clash and, after waiting for the night, tried to slip past Magellan's ships into the open ocean. It failed. San Antonio was shelled and boarded. There was no resistance, no casualties. Following him, Concepción also surrendered.
A tribunal was set up to try the rebels. 40 participants in the rebellion were sentenced to death, but immediately pardoned, since the expedition could not lose such a number of sailors. Only the one who committed the murder of Quesado was executed. The representative of the king of Cartagena and one of the priests who actively participated in the rebellion, Magellan did not dare to execute, and they were left on the shore after the flotilla left. Nothing more is known about them.
In a few decades, Francis Drake will enter the same bay, who will also have to circumnavigate the world. A conspiracy will be revealed on his flotilla and a trial will be held in the bay. He will offer the rebel a choice: execution, or he will be left on the shore, like Magellan Cartagena. The defendant will choose execution.
strait
In May, Magellan sent Santiago, led by João Serran, south to reconnoiter the area. Santa Cruz Bay was found 60 miles to the south. A few days later, in a storm, the ship lost control and crashed. The sailors, except for one person, escaped and ended up on the shore without food and supplies. They tried to return to the wintering grounds, but due to fatigue and exhaustion, they joined the main detachment only after a few weeks. The loss of a ship specially designed for reconnaissance, as well as the supplies on board, caused great damage to the expedition.
Magellan made João Serran captain of Concepción. As a result, all four ships ended up in the hands of Magellan's supporters. San Antonio was commanded by Mishkit, Victoria Barbosa.
Strait of Magellan
During wintering, sailors came into contact with local residents. They were tall. To protect themselves from the cold, they wrapped their feet in a lot of hay, so they were called Patagonians (large-footed, born with paws). The country itself was named after them Patagonia. By order of the king, it was necessary to bring to Spain representatives of the peoples who met the expedition. Since the sailors were afraid of a fight with tall and strong Indians, they resorted to a trick: they gave them many gifts in their hands, and when they could no longer hold anything in their hands, they offered them leg shackles as a gift, the purpose of which the Indians did not understand. Since their hands were busy, the Patagonians agreed to have shackles attached to their feet, using this the sailors fettered them. So managed to capture two Indians, but this led to a clash with the locals with casualties on both sides. None of the captives survived to return to Europe.
On August 24, 1520, the flotilla left the bay of San Julian. During the winter she lost 30 people. Two days later, the expedition was forced to stop in Santa Cruz Bay due to bad weather and damage. The flotilla set out on the road only on October 18. Before leaving, Magellan announced that he would search for the strait up to 75 ° S, if the strait was not found, then the flotilla would go to the Moluccas around the Cape of Good Hope.
October 21 at 52°S the ships ended up at a narrow strait leading deep into the mainland. San Antonio and Concepción are sent for reconnaissance. Soon a storm hits, lasting two days. The sailors feared that the ships sent for reconnaissance were lost. And they really almost died, but when they were carried to the shore, a narrow passage opened in front of them, into which they entered. They found themselves in a wide bay, followed by more straits and bays. The water remained salty all the time, and the lot very often did not reach the bottom. Both ships returned with good news about a possible strait.
The flotilla entered the strait and for many days walked through a real labyrinth of rocks and narrow passages. The strait was subsequently named Magellanic. The southern land, on which lights were often seen at night, was called Tierra del Fuego. At the "Sardine River" a council was convened. San Antonio pilot Esteban Gomes spoke out in favor of returning home due to the small amount of provisions and the complete uncertainty ahead. Other officers did not support him. Magellan remembered well the fate of Bartolomeo Dias, who discovered the cape Good Hope, but lost to the team and returned home. Dias was removed from the leadership of future expeditions and never got to India. Magellan announced that the ships would go ahead.
At Dawson Island, the strait divides into two channels, and Magellan again separates the flotilla. San Antonio and Concepción sail southeast, the other two ships stay to rest, and a boat departs southwest. Three days later the boat returns and the sailors report that they have seen the open sea. Conspecion soon returns, but there is no news from San Antonio. The missing ship is being searched for several days, but to no avail. Later it turned out that the helmsman of San Antonio, Esteban Gomes, mutinied, chained Captain Mishchita and went home to Spain. In March, he returned to Seville, where he accused Magellan of treason. An investigation began, the whole team was sent to prison. Supervision was established over Magellan's wife. Subsequently, the rebels were released, and Mishkita remained in prison until the return of the expedition.
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.
Pacific Ocean
Leaving the strait, Magellan walked north for 15 days, reaching 38 ° S, where he turned to the northwest, and on December 21, 1520, reaching 30 ° S, turned to the northwest.
Strait of Magellan. Sketch of the Pigafetta map. North is down.
The flotilla passed through the Pacific Ocean for at least 17 thousand km. Such a huge size of the new ocean was unexpected for sailors. When planning the expedition, they proceeded from the assumption that Asia is relatively close to America. In addition, at that time it was believed that the main part of the Earth was occupied by land, and only a relatively small part by the sea. During the crossing of the Pacific Ocean, it became clear that this was not the case. The ocean seemed endless. The South Pacific contains many inhabited islands, where fresh supplies could have been obtained, but the flotilla's route passed away from them. Unprepared for such a transition, the expedition experienced great hardships.
“For three months and twenty days, - the chronicler of the expedition Antonio Pigafetta noted in his travel notes, - we were completely deprived of fresh food. We ate rusks, but they were no longer rusks, but rusk dust mixed with worms that ate the best rusks. She smelled strongly of rat urine. We drank yellow water that had rotted for days. We also ate the cowhide that covered the grey, so that the shrouds would not fray; from the action of the sun, rain and wind, it became incredibly hard. We soaked it in sea water for four or five days, after which we put it on hot coals for several minutes and ate it. We often ate sawdust. Rats were sold for half a ducat apiece, but even at that price it was impossible to get them.
In addition, scurvy was rampant on the ships. Died, according to various sources, from eleven to twenty-nine people. Fortunately for the sailors, there was not a single storm during the entire voyage and they named the new ocean the Pacific.
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 Balboa South Sea was part of this ocean, and 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 desert 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 sighted the island of Guam from the Marianas group. 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 Europeans to reach the Philippine Islands, which Magellan named the archipelago of Saint 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.
Death of Magellan
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.
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 rule.
Death of Magellan
Monument to Lapu-Lapu on the island of Cebu
Here is what the historiographer of the expedition, Antonio Pigafetta, wrote about the death of the admiral:
... The islanders followed us on our heels, fishing spears that had already been used once out of the water, and thus threw the same spear five or six times. Recognizing our admiral, they began to aim mainly at him; twice they had already succeeded in knocking the helmet off his head; he remained with a handful of men at his post, as befits a brave knight, not trying to continue the retreat, and so we fought for more than an hour, until one of the natives managed to wound the admiral in the face with a cane spear. Enraged, he immediately pierced the attacker's chest with his spear, but it got stuck in the body of the slain; then the admiral tried to draw his sword, but he could no longer do it, since the enemies badly wounded him in his right hand with a dart, and it stopped working. Noticing this, the natives rushed at him in a crowd, and one of them wounded him in the left leg with a saber, so that he fell on his back. At the same moment, all the islanders pounced on him and began to stab him with spears and other weapons that they had. So they killed our mirror, our light, our consolation and our faithful leader.
Completion of the expedition
Nine Europeans died in the defeat, but the damage to reputation was enormous. In addition, the loss immediately made itself felt experienced leader. 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. Near the target, the flotilla spent several months reaching 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 team and burned. Only two ships remained. "Trinidad" was repaired and went east to the Spanish possessions in Panama, and "Victoria "- to the west around 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 supplemented by a certain number of Malay islanders (almost all of them died on the road). The ship soon became short of provisions (Pigafetta noted in his notes: “Apart from rice and water, we have 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 Mozambique, which belongs to the Portuguese crown, 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. Here Pigafetta writes:
“On Wednesday, July 9, we reached the St. James Islands and immediately sent a boat ashore for provisions, inventing a story for the Portuguese that we had lost our foremast under the equator (in fact, we lost it off the Cape of Good Hope) , and during this time that we were restoring it, our captain-general left with two other ships for Spain. Having positioned them in this way towards us, and also giving them our goods, we managed to get from them two boats loaded with rice ... When our boat again approached the shore for rice, thirteen crew members were detained along with the boat. Fearing that some caravels would not detain us as well, we hurriedly moved on.
It is interesting that Magellan himself did not at all intend to make a round-the-world expedition - he only wanted to find a western route to the Moluccas and return back, in general, for any commercial flight (and Magellan's flight was such), a round-the-world trip is pointless. And only the threat of an attack by the Portuguese forced one of the ships to continue to follow west, and if "Trinidad" completed his route safely, and "Victoria" would have been captivated, there would have been no round-the-world trip.
Thus, the Spaniards opened the western route to Asia and 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.
lost day
In addition, as it turned out, the expedition members "lost a day" . In those days, there was still no concept of the difference between local and universal time, since the most distant trading expeditions took place in both directions along almost the same route, crossing the meridians first in one direction, then in the opposite direction. In the same case, recorded for the first time in history, the expedition returned to its starting point, so to speak, "without returning", but moving only forward, to the west.
On ships with a Christian crew, as expected, to maintain the order of the watch, counting the movement, keeping records, but, first of all, to observe church Catholic holidays, time was calculated. There were no chronometers in those days, sailors used hourglasses (from this, in the Navy, there was a counting of time using bottles). The beginning of the account of daily time was at noon. Naturally, every clear day, sailors determined the moment of noon when the Sun was at its highest point, that is, it crossed the local meridian (using a compass or along the length of the shadow). From this, the days of the calendar were also counted, including Sundays, Easter and all other church holidays. But every time the sailors determined the time local noon corresponding to the meridian on which the ship was at that moment. The ships sailed to the west, following the movement of the Sun across the sky, catching up with it. Therefore, if they had a modern chronometer or a simple clock, tuned to the local noon of the port of Sanlucar de Barrameda, sailors would notice that their day is slightly longer than the usual 24 hours and their local noon is more and more behind their native Spanish, gradually moving to Spanish evening, night, morning and day again. But, since they did not have a chronometer, their swimming was extremely unhurried and more important and terrible incidents happened to them, then no one simply thought about this “little thing” over time. These brave Spanish sailors celebrated church holidays with all care, like zealous Catholics, but, as it turned out, according to to his own calendar . As a result, when the sailors returned to their native Europe, it turned out that their ship's calendar lagged behind the calendar of their homeland and the Church by a whole day. This happened on the Cape Zelenogo Islands. Here is how Antonio Pigafetta described it:
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That is, they incorrectly celebrated Sundays, Holy Pascha and other holidays.
Thus, it was discovered that when traveling along the parallels, that is, in the plane of the Earth's daily rotation around its axis, time, as it were, changes its duration. If you move to the west, behind the Sun, catching up with it, the day (day) seems to lengthen. If we move to the east, towards the Sun, lagging behind it, the day, on the contrary, is shortened. To overcome this paradox, the system of time zones and the concept of the international date line were later developed. The effect of jet lag is now experienced by anyone who undertakes long-distance, but fast, travel in a latitudinal direction by plane or high-speed train.
Notes
- , with. 125
- , with. 125-126
- Like the sun ... The life of Ferdinand Magellan and the first circumnavigation (Lange P.V.)
- , with. 186
- SURRENDER
- , with. 188
- , with. 192
- Like the sun ... The life of Ferdinand Magellan and the first circumnavigation (Lange P.V.)
- , with. 126-127
- , with. 190
- , with. 192-193
- Like the sun ... The life of Ferdinand Magellan and the first circumnavigation (Lange P.V.)
- , with. 196-197
- , with. 199-200
- , with. 128
- , with. 201-202
The first traveler to travel around the globe, believed to be Ferdinand Magellan. However, he had no intention of becoming the first world traveler. His task was completely different - more mundane. And then all the glory from global discoveries did not go to him at all.
Idea author
The idea of the expedition that led to the discoveries was proposed by Fernand Magellan, who was born in 1470 and died in 1521. A nobleman by birth, he was born in Portugal, was a royal page. It is known that Magellan was well educated, engaged in cosmography, navigation and astronomy. His first voyage took place when Fernand was twenty years old: he participated in military battles. Magellan managed to suppress the uprising of the natives in Malacca, and then remained in the service in Africa. The false accusation stopped the career of a sea captain. The idea to go by ship to the west, proposed to the Portuguese king, was rejected.
In 1517, Magellan, with the approval of the King of Portugal, left for Spain, becoming her subject. He managed to convince King Charles V of the existence of a transition between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. If it were possible to find this strait, Spain would receive all the lands that are west of canary islands(at the behest of Pope Alexander VI).
A friend, the astronomer Ruy Falière, and also the aristocrat De Aranda, who offered to give him 20% of the profit that the expedition would bring, in exchange for supporting the project, helped to get the royal “good”. So the project of finding a way to the Spice Islands was accepted by the king. However, Faler managed to reduce De Aranda's stake to 8%.
When Magellan proposed the idea of his journey, the world already knew about Central and parts of South America, as well as about the ocean that stretches beyond them. The Isthmus of Panama has already been crossed. But then no one suspected that East and West could be connected by another path.
Magellan decided to find evidence that the location of the Spice Islands was in the New World, and not in Asia. This would mean that spicy wealth is the area of influence of Spain, and not Portugal, as was then believed.
Magellan did not think about a round-the-world trip. He was looking for a strait that could be in South America. He wanted to get to the Spice Islands, buy goods, bring them to Spain and make a profit.
Preparing for the expedition
Five ships set sail. There was enough money for their equipment. Many of the merchants of Europe decided to participate in the enterprise. They wanted to access the profitable spices directly, without the mediation of Portugal.
Despite attempts by the Portuguese authorities to thwart the expedition, as there was fear that it would actually succeed, the voyage took place.
The Portuguese ambassador to Spain, Alvaro da Costa, did everything possible to prevent Magellan from going on an expedition. He spread rumors about the impracticability of his idea. The fact that the Spaniards do not trust the captain, and only trouble can be expected from royal officials who will also participate in the voyage. Magellan was also told that the Portuguese king was waiting for him at home, where a favorable place was prepared for him.
Everything was in vain. Then the ambassador organized an attempt on Magellan, which failed. Alvaro da Costa continued his work: he arranged for the ships to be supplied with equipment and products of poor quality, and put up various obstacles. All this was not successful.
True, in Spain there were many dissatisfied that the expedition would be led by the Portuguese, who, in addition, would also receive a good jackpot: a fifth of the profits, a twentieth from the new discovered lands, and the right to own a third of the new islands.
This led to a riot on the flagship, when Magellan's personal standard flew over it: it strongly resembled the flag of Portugal. The rebellion was crushed, but concessions had to be made. There could be no more than five people from Portugal on the ship, and the standard was replaced.
The expedition went to sea on September 20, 1519. Throughout the journey, Magellan was pursued by conflicts with the Spaniards, who sailed with him.
The first happened to Captain Juan de Cartagena. He was outraged that Magellan decided to change the approved route in order to avoid meeting with the Portuguese. The admiral decided to go to Africa, and not to America, as planned.
Magellan and Cartagena even got into a fight. The Spaniard was stripped of his captain's position and transferred to passengers on another ship. This increased the authority of Magellan, but he had an angry enemy.
Atlantic Ocean
Path along Atlantic Ocean went pretty smoothly. It was here that Magellan first applied his author's signaling system, with the help of which the ships were able to communicate with each other. This helped ships not to get lost in the ocean.
From the equator, the ships went to the Land of the Holy Cross, as Brazil was then called, and on December 13 they stopped in the bay of Santa Lucia. Now here is Rio de Janeiro. Having reached the coast of Brazil, the sailors found out that La Plata is the mouth of the river, and not the strait, as previously assumed.
rebellion
By the end of March 1520, Magellan decides to stop for the winter in the harbor of San Julian. The strait, which they had been looking for for so long, was very close, but the sailors were not yet aware of this.
I had to reduce my food intake. This was the reason for the organization of a new rebellion. The rebellion was led by officers from Spain. They succeeded in capturing three ships. One of the officers was killed for refusing to join the rebellion.
Magellan had to act decisively. Captured by cunning big ship and blocked the other two. The rebels had no choice but to surrender. The court sentenced the two main instigators (de Catagena and one priest) to leave in Argentina, on the rocks where the penguins lived. The fate of these people is unknown.
During the winter, one ship, a reconnaissance ship, was badly damaged and out of action. About thirty people died from scurvy and other diseases.
The captains on the ships were people whom Magellan trusted - immigrants from Portugal. At this time, five natives were taken prisoner by cunning, but they all died on the way to Europe.
Strait of Magellan
The ships left San Julian on the twenty-fourth of August. Having reached the Santa Cruz River, they stopped and spent almost two months here. Food supplies could be replenished.
The strait was found at the 52nd south parallel. Two ships sent out to reconnoiter found out that this was not a river. This meant that new way found to the East.
It took thirty 38 days to cross the strait. It was difficult and required courage from the leader of the expedition and all its participants. All four remaining ships passed this way safely. But just before the very end of the strait, a riot began again on one of them. The ship was commanded by a Portuguese, and a native of Portugal, Gomes, also became the leader of the rebels. He said that this is the end of the world - and we must go back, otherwise everyone will die. The team arrested the captain and traveled back to Spain, where they were arrested. Magellan decided that the ship was lost in the strait: he was not aware of the rebellion.
Pacific Ocean
For about 15 thousand kilometers, the ships sailed through the vast expanses, not meeting a single island where people lived.
Food was running out. People even ate rats, which became a delicacy, and leather upholstery, which was removed from the masts and sides. Three months were very difficult.
However, in some ways the sailors were lucky: there were no storms along the way. This was the reason to call the new ocean the Pacific. He turned out to be much larger than Magellan thought before.
It was possible to stock up on food and water on the island of Guam. Here I had to fight a little with the locals, who were angry that they could not steal anything on the ships.
In April 1521, the expedition reached the Philippines. And here the slave of Magellan, who was born in Sumatra, managed to see people who spoke the same language as he did. This was another proof that the Earth is spherical.
Death of Magellan
In the Philippines, Magellan was unexpectedly supported by Arab merchants who persuaded the local population not to engage in battle with the sailors. Magellan convinced one ruler, Humabon, to become a Christian and a vassal of the king of Spain. Humabon soon complained that the neighboring rajah was showing disobedience.
The sailors got involved in a battle that turned out to be difficult. The arrows of the natives hit exactly at the feet of the Spaniards, and the bullets of the sailors could hardly penetrate their wooden shields. Magellan died in this battle. He was 41 years old.
After that, the sailors had to urgently leave the Philippines. Since there were few people left, they could not manage three ships. It was decided to burn the Conciepsin, setting off on two ships - the Victoria and the Trinidad.
Completion of the expedition
It was not easy for the squadron to get back. I had to dodge the Portuguese ships. The expedition reached the Moluccas of the Spice Islands, where they bought goods.
There were many battles, transitions, ships fell into storms. It was decided to disperse. "Victoria" went along the African continent, and "Trinidad" - along the Isthmus of Panama.
The first ship returned to Spain, and the second, unable to overcome the headwinds, went to the Moluccas. Off the African coast, the team had to fight the Portuguese, who had been waiting here since the expedition led by Magellan had just set off. The sailors were captured and sent to penal servitude in India.
"Victoria" was led by the Spaniard Juan Sebastian del Cano (Elcano). Once he took part in a rebellion against Magellan, but the admiral forgave him. Kano managed to navigate the ship for several months on rough seas, overcoming a lot of dangers. Upon returning to his homeland, he got all the glory and a good profit.
It turned out that the calendar of sailors from the Victoria was a day behind the Spanish one. Later, such a discrepancy was described in the novel by Jules Verne.
Expedition results
The result of this campaign was the opening of the western route to Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Philippine Islands, the coast of South America and the island of Guam, and the first trip around the world.
Spanish ambitions were satisfied. The country stated that the Mariana and Philippine Islands were discovered by its subjects. The rights to the islands of the Moluccas were also presented.
It also became known for sure that the Earth is round, and most of it is covered with water. Before that, people believed that the main area of the planet is land.
Of the three hundred people who set sail with Magellan, only 18 returned home, then another 18 were released by the Portuguese from hard labor in India.
The money for the spices and the gold went to cover the expenses, but still the savers made a good profit. The royal Spanish court also received income.
Where Magellan was buried is unknown: his body remained with the natives. At that time, no one spoke of him as a discoverer and the first to travel around the Earth. On the contrary, he was accused of disobeying the royal will. Now the name of this person is the strait he discovered and two constellations - the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.
