Magellan the now world famous leader of the voyage that circumnavigated the globe has died, yet there are eighteen men left continuing on a trip for home. Antonio Pigafetta is recording the voyage’s experiences post Magellan’s leadership and must salvage the remaining crew and ship in the most serviceable way to the King of Spain. It is 1521 and the Victoria is the only remaining ship of the expedition sailing in what is now the Philippines searching for islands to commence trade with, the primary reason they are on a voyage to circumnavigate the globe in search of a faster trade route than the commonly used route under Africa. Pigafetta primarily writes about the availability of food, the willingness to trade by the natives, and some of …show more content…
This voyage was not focused on trading large quantities of goods, but wanted to acquire enough to take home. Pigafetta notes the treatment of the explorers by the king such as:
“When we arrived at the city, we remained about two hours in the ship un til two elephants covered in silk came, and twelve men, each with a porcelain jai covered with silk, to carry our gifts. Then we mounted the elephants, and the twelve men marched ahead with the jars and gifts. And so we went to the governor’s house, where we were given a supper of divers viands, and at night we slept on cotton mattresses.” Later when speaking with the King of the island they say that they:
“And we told him that we were servants of the King of Spain, who desired peace with him and required no more than to trade. The king caused us to be told that, since the King of Spain was his friend, he was very willing to be his, and he ordered that we should be allowed to take water and wood and merchandise at our will.
Pigafetta has now shown that the voyage that although costly so far has found a viable trade route with food supply along with willing and friendly people. Not all of the people the voyage has come across have been friendly, as Magellan was killed in a skirmish. Pigafetta is showing that there are some viable options to successfully create a new trade route to Asia if more careful interaction with locals is taken on. Based on the fact that five ships were
Magellan’s main goal was to reach the Spice Islands by crossing the Pacific Ocean. While in the Philippines, “Magellan had his right leg pierced by a poisonous arrow, on which he gave orders to retreat by degrees” ( Doc E). This document was written by a crew member named Antonio Pigafetta who was a passenger in this expedition. Antonio was an eyewitness to the incidents that had occurred during that time. Pigafetta had a great admiration for Magellan for his determination and courage. Pigafetta was one of the six or eight crew members who fought along with
The crew’s starvation is the sign of Magellan’s lack of any empathy and bad captainship, which inevitably led to the crew’s attempt of
Lastly the third reason why Magellan led himself to his deathbed. Magellan’s navigational skills were poor. According to Over the Edge of the World, By Harper Collins “he regularly sent small scouting parties in the long boats”, “they would go and come back with news of the findings.. And the rest would follow” Gines de Mafra recalled. This evidence shows that Magellan had planned the way easily, but doing it was difficult. Magellan purely relied on his search parties to go throughout the way. You might argue that he still got through and reached the spice islands, but he reached there with just a handful of men in his Armada.
Exploration of the oceans was very popular during the time of Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan and English explorer Sir Francis Drake. Ferdinand Magellan was a young Portuguese man who enlisted under the Spanish king before he began his expedition to go on a trip around the world on the 10th of August in 1519 (“Ferdinand” 1). Ferdinand Magellan was in search of both fortune and fame, and he left Spain with 5 ships in hopes of finding a western course for the Spice Islands (“Ferdinand Magellan”). Sir Francis Drake led the English voyage for maritime exploration, sailing off in 1577 with 5 ships to embark on a journey around South America via the Straits of Magellan (“Francis”). Both voyages and explorers were met with several challenges in which they had to quickly resolve.
Although he was able to use his cartography and navigational skills to discover the Magellan Strait, he did not fulfill his word to the fullest. As mentioned before, he did not return all of his men, not even a quarter of them. That is no circumstance that a king wants to support. As a leader, Magellan could not even keep his men alive, let alone content. When he later decided he had a higher calling, he failed again. He could not convert the people of Cebu in a peaceful way, which led to more negativity tainting his name. Most importantly, after three hard years, Magellan never made it to the Spice Islands, although he was close (Document A). The surviving eighteen men on the Victoria, who lasted under Magellan's leadership, are credited with returning to Spain rich in spices (Document A). Although he led the first voyage through the Magellan Strait, and the Victoria circumnavigated the globe, many after him would demonstrate it was achievable. Sir Francis Drake follow the same path as Magellan, showing that the world could have survived without the harsh
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella saw themselves in Columbus. Columbus wanted to be rich and have lots of fame. Ferdinand and Isabella wanted riches and wealth for themselves so the funded his voyage in return everyone would get what they wanted. With King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella have more fame and fortune would make their monarchy look more powerful to others.
First of all, Ferdinand Magellan’s early life holds many prized moments in his life. One example is that he got interested in exploring when he was a young boy. Some people told Ferdinand Magellan about the riches in Asia. In addition, he was also told stories about the rivalry between Portugal and Spanish. Ferdinand Magellan participated in several expeditions in India and Africa for 7 years. He joined a 500-ship with about 15,000 other soldiers who were sent to Morocco by the king. While he was in Morocco,
Spain, being recently unified, wanted spices and gold. The gold to them could purchase anything. So they offered Christopher Columbus ten percent of the profit, if he would bring back gold and spices. Christopher Columbus was sent to Asia with three ships: the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.
Ferdinand Magellan started from Spain in 1519 with five small ships. Only one ship came home in 1522, completing the first circumnavigation of the globe.
From the Spanish port of Palos, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sets sail in command of three ships—the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Nina—on a journey to find a western sea route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia.
“The meeting of two eternities, the past and future….is precisely the present moment.” Infante D. Henrique of Portugal, better know as Prince Henry the Navigator, was born in Portugal in 1394. During his time alive, Henry was a big supporter of multiple sea voyages, mapping the west African coast along the way. Henry not only encouraged sailors in his homeland, but was also able to spread encouragement to other sea explorers for years to come. Without Henry the Navigator, Europe would lose one of its key players in the Age of Exploration, stopping Europe’s further development for some time.
Before the 15th century, Europe’s burdensome oversea conquest of foreign lands was futile and much of Europe’s “movement” was jagged. Voyages attempted were unsuccessful by the Norse and the Crusaders in the late 13th century. European expeditions that have happened before the first fruitful journey across the Atlantic was unstable and disastrous. Christopher Tyreman said in his novel, God’s War, “a European identity is expressed in expansion and conquest.” With this in mind, the European explorers would mostly not give in to the constant war with the sea and their curiosity about the mythical China; gave them the courage to take on the seas again and again. The Portuguese sailors innovated the technique that finally dealt a blow against the
Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean he was born in Italy thereafter, became a sailor in Portugal who had a passion for sailing. As he got older, he became a captain who desired to travel around the world with a map he come across with only continents parts of Africa, Europe, and Asia. There were plenty of European traders that wanted to sail west from the other side of the Ocean they thought they would find treasure valuable items spices, jewels and gold to trade. His plan was to sail west to China calculating his journey from Spain will take him approximately 21 days he underestimates his distance.
To begin with, something that both Portuguese and Spanish explorers had in common was their desire for a better and wealthier future. With the Portuguese Prince Henry, "the Navigator" was mainly the head of his country's explorations. The reading mentions that the Portuguese quickly established trading stations in the region and soon were exporting gold and slaves to other parts. With the expansion of trade and Portuguese
Christopher Columbus is one of the most famous explorers in history. An Italian explorer, born in 1451, Columbus would become famous for his exploration of the Atlantic that lead to the colonization of the Americas. However, Columbus had other explorations, many before his voyage to the Americas. Almost losing his life in his first voyage in the Atlantic, Columbus continued to explore, and sail to Africa. Eventually, in 1492, Columbus set sail west, towards what he hoped to be a route to India. Columbus’s first stop was an Island in the Bahamas, which he claimed for Spain. Columbus then returned to Spain, but quickly left for his second voyage, discovering more Islands and discovering the mainland of modern day Venezuela. Returning to Spain,