Magellan is generally credited as the first man to sail around the world.
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer and adventurer who had sailed as far to the east as Malaysia. He had fought in many wars in India and Africa, and had always been a loyal subject of the King of Portugal. However, when 16 sheep under his care disappeared in Morocco where he had been made responsible for livestock captured in a war rumors made their way back to the King that he had sold them for his own profit. Magellan soon thought it necessary to travel to Portugal and appear at court to clear his name, but the King would not listen. Magellan became poor for a time, and was rudely treated when he proposed his plan to the King to find a western route to the Spice Islands.
In desperation at his poverty and disgrace at court, Magellan took his plan to the King of Spain. A western route would perhaps give Spain some claim to the riches of the Spice Islands under the Treaty of Tordesillas. The Spanish King gladly agreed to fund his expedition, and Magellan was promised one twentieth share in the profits of the voyage, and married the daughter of a rich merchant family of Seville.
He then equipped five ships, and set sail. Leaving known waters south of Brazil, he discovered what we now call the Straight of Magellan linking the Atlantic to the Pacific. He crossed the Pacific (which was far wider than he had ever dreamed), and eventually made his way back to waters where he could easily guess his location from the customs and language of the indigenous peoples. However, he died soon afterward in a battle with a native tribe.
He is generally credited as the first man to circumnavigate the globe, although he himself did not live to set foot back in Spain. He named the Pacific Ocean, and claimed the Philippines for Spain. He would probably have preferred to sail under the Portuguese flag, but he did not let politics stop him from pursuing the great dream of his life. Even though it led to his death, his voyage proved there was a Western passage to the East, that the world was round, and that it could be circumnavigated.
see also Magellan's Voyage, Magellan's Death, and visit my Transportation History Homepage
