Ferdinand Magellan died fighting on a beach in a war among nieghboring tribes.
Once having made landfall on the islands that are now the Philippines, Magellan and his crew took a well deserved rest, and were befriended by the Rajah of Cebu. Magellan agreed to help the Rajah fight his enemies, and with three boats and 60 men joined a native war party of 30 boats. His confidence and bravado would be his undoing as he told the Rajah to leave his men at sea while he went to fight over 1000 natives with just his 60 men, saying "Now see how we [Europeans] fight." Unfortunately for him a reef exposed by the tide being out made it impossible for him to get his boats to the beach leaving his crossbows, muskets, and small cannon out of range for effective use, and eliminating the usual opportunity for escape by boat should things go badly.
His landing party had to wade the almost 100 meters to the shore through thigh deep water in armor and carrying their weapons. Nonetheless the small armored party made quite a battle of it considering the odds, and fought for more than an hour against natives armed with bamboo spears with fire hardened charred points. With about six men by his side, Magellan fought on as the rest of his men retreated. Eventually Magellan's lance was ripped from his hands by the falling body of a native he had killed, and he was unable to raise his arm high enough to draw his sword due to a bamboo spear wound. He fell under a rushing onslaught of native warriors.
Thus died Magellan having discovered the passage which he sought, sailed westward across unknown waters, named the Pacific Ocean, and reached waters he knew would lead him to the Indian Ocean and home having proven (as many already knew) that the world was round, and that men could circumnavigate it. Thus, he usually gets the credit, although his slave, Enrique, who was native to Maylaysia, had already become the first man to circumnavigate the globe. Also, Juan Sebastion del Cano would lead the 18 men who actually survived to set foot back in Spain, and who are truly the first Europeans to circumnavigate the globe.
see also Magellan's Voyage, Ferdinand Magellan, and visit my Transportation History Homepage
