Ferdinand Magellan (
Portuguese Fernão de Magalhães,
IPA&_160;
[fɨɾˈnɐ̃ũ dɨ mɐgɐˈʎɐ̃ĩʃ] Spanish Fernando de Magallanes) (Spring 1480 – April 27, 1521,
Mactan Island,
Cebu,
Philippines) was a
Portuguese maritime explorer who, while in the service of the
Spanish Crown, tried to find a westward route to the
Spice Islands of
Indonesia. This was the first successful attempt to
circumnavigate the
Earth in history. Although he did not complete the entire voyage (he was killed during the
Battle of Mactan in the Philippines) fellow Basque navigator
Juan Sebastian Elcano completed the final westward voyage. As Magellan traveled farther west than the
Spice Islands, which he had visited on earlier voyages from the west, he became one of the first individuals to cross all the
meridians of the globe. He was the first person to lead an expedition sailing westward from
Europe to
Asia and to cross the
Pacific Ocean.
Magellan was the first European to enter the Pacific from the eponymous Strait of Magellan, which he discovered. He was also the first European to reach the archipelago of what is now known as the Philippines, which was unknown to the western world before his landing. Arab traders had established commerce within the archipelago centuries earlier.
Of the 237 men who set out on five ships to circumnavigate the earth, only 18 completed the circumnavigation of the globe and managed to return to Spain in 1522.[1][2] They were led by a Basque Juan Sebastián Elcano, who took over command of the expedition after Magellan's death. Seventeen other men arrived later in Spain, twelve men captured by the Portuguese in Cape Verde some weeks later, and in 1525/1526 five survivors of the Trinidad.
Magellan, because of his family's heritage, became a page to Queen Leonor at the royal court after the death of his parents during his tenth year. Very little is known about Magellan's background. He was the son of Rui de Magalhães (son of Pedro Afonso de Magalhães and wife Quinta de Sousa) and wife Alda de Mesquita, and brother of Duarte de Sousa, Diogo de Sousa and Isabel de Magalhães, but exactly how he is connected to the respective families it is unknown. He was married to Beatriz Barbosa and had two children Rodrigo de Magalhães[3] and Carlos de Magalhães, both of whom died at a young age.
