Ferdinand Magellan (1480- 152 1 year). However, the most popular spices in Europe did not appear in this new continent, so the Spanish royal family still maintained great interest in East India. 15 19, when Hernando Cortes landed in Mexico, Spain sponsored the exploration of Portuguese navigator ferdinand magellan. The purpose of this voyage is to find a trade route to the spice islands (also known as east indies) to the west, so that Spain can profit from the spice trade without violating the Treaty of Tolde silas. Magellan tried to seek funding from Portugal, but Portugal, which was restricted by the treaty, did not agree. Magellan actively participated in Portuguese colonization of Indian and Malacca, but he was not as lucky as Da Gama before Manuel I: 15 13, he was sent to Morocco to eliminate pirates, and his leg was disabled in a battle. After returning to Portugal, when he met the king, he begged him to increase his salary for his years of service, but he was rejected. Disappointed, Magellan left his post, stayed in his hometown for several years, came into contact with the navigator and king of neighboring Spain, and made friends with the cartographer and astronomer Rui Farai Jian Luo-Faleiro had a decisive influence on Magellan's future.
The Spice Islands are located in Indonesia, bordering New Guinea and Sulawesi in the east and Australia in the south. This archipelago became the target of European explorers at that time.
Magellan believed a long time ago that there was a strait crossing the "Great South China Sea" westward to reach the Spice Islands. Explorers have searched the strait in the past, but all failed. Exploration again and again is hindered by seemingly endless rocks, so a large number of cartographers assume that the land of the American continent will extend all the way to the south pole of the earth. However, Magellan firmly believed that there must be a passage between the two oceans and hoped to get a fleet to prove his point. Faleiro supported Magellan's action. 15171kloc-0/On October 20th, Magellan went to Seville, a big port in southern Spain, to seek opportunities to serve the Spanish royal family. He submitted his plan to the local commercial bureau, and signed an agreement with King Carlos I of Spain on March 22nd of 15 18, which opened the most dazzling page in the era of great navigation.
Manuel I, the Portuguese king who learned about this, planned to destroy Magellan's voyage from the beginning. Portugal, which has seized control of Malacca, has begun to plan to conquer its ultimate goal-the spice islands. At that time, the kings of both countries paid great attention to occasions, because Manuel I of Portugal was about to marry heleno, the sister of the Spanish king. However, the wrestling between the two peoples is still fierce. Portuguese Ambassador Alvaro Dcosta (? Lvaro de Costa tried to assassinate Magellan, while Carlos I wanted to seize Portugal's dominant position in the spice trade. According to the agreement signed with Carlos I, the fleet must be commanded by Magellan and Farrero, two captains with equal rights. Faleiro, who is also an astronomer, is also responsible for making the necessary navigation equipment for this voyage and solving the thorny longitude problem. Faleiro proposed three schemes: longitude is obtained from the latitude of the moon, the collision between the sun and the moon, or the declination of the magnetic needle. However, Faleiro left the fleet before explaining all the schemes, and cosmologist Andres de San Martin inherited his work and chose the second scheme with satisfactory results as the longitude measurement method.
Due to Faleiro's departure, his fleet command was handed over to Admiral Magellan. However, Juan de Cartagena, the captain of the largest tonnage ship in the fleet, got another supplementary document, which gave him the same rights as Magellan, and appointed him "adjunto" Portuguese (referring to Magellan) to ensure the smooth dispatch and pay attention to and prevent negligence. Such a decision has some political considerations, but it is harmful; Because although Magellan had absolute command over the fleet, Cartagena's participation somewhat limited his authority. This decision later led to a very serious confrontation between the two.
The fleet consists of five Carrick sailboats with a total of 265 crew members: the flagship is Trinidad, and the other four are San Antonio, Concepcion, Victoria and Santiago. The largest ship is 120 ton San Antonio, and the smallest is 75 ton San Diego. Each ship is equipped with enough weapons, and rich materials are prepared for trading and replenishment: cakes, wine, vinegar, dried fish, bacon, broad beans, chickpeas, lentils, flour, garlic, cheese, honey, almonds, anchovies, sardines, raisins, plums, figs, sugar, quince and so on. The fleet even brought six cows to get fresh milk and beef. Magellan's entire fleet spent 875 1, 125 Spanish gold coins. 1565438+On September 20th, 2009, at dawn on Tuesday, Magellan and his men set off from San Rugar de Balasmeda and started the first round-the-world voyage in human history.
On September 26th, the fleet sailing southwest arrived in Tenerife Island, where it was replenished with water, food and wood. They stayed in Canary until1October 3rd, 65438. 654381at midnight on October 3, Magellan ordered the fleet to set sail for Sierra Leone in the south. Cartagena was surprised that the fleet did not follow the established route to Brazil, so he asked Admiral Magellan to give an explanation. But judging from the situation at that time, Magellan seemed to ignore him and still maintained his route. Obviously, this incident did not cause any direct consequences; However, after sailing against the wind 14 days, the more dissatisfied Cartagena began to refuse to say hello to Admiral Magellan. Magellan, whose temper is easily influenced by the surrounding environment, asked Cartagena to say hello from the beginning, but this request was not met. At one of their meetings, Cartagena openly challenged Magellan's authority: Magellan then ordered him to be expelled from the army and arrested him. Luis de Mendoza volunteered to supervise the dismissed Cartagena to prevent the Spanish nobleman from becoming a prisoner in the lower cabin. Antonio de Coca was appointed captain of the San Antonio. This incident later led to more serious consequences.
After crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the fleet arrived in Nuevo, San Agosti, Brazil, near 23 degrees south latitude, where it was supplied with meat, fruits and potatoes, and established friendly relations with local tribes. However, the days of ease soon passed. After reaching 34 degrees south latitude, they thought they had reached the strait, but it was actually just the mouth of the La Plata River. They spent 15 days exploring this huge estuary, without even letting go of a tiny passage. On February 24th, they saw the huge Saint Matthias near 40 degrees south latitude. After the expedition, they set sail again in disappointment. On March 3 1 day, they found a huge bay on the Patagonian coast at 49 degrees south latitude. Because it was St. Julian's Day, the bay was named St. Julian's Bay. Magellan decided to anchor the fleet there until the end of winter. Due to the repeated setbacks in the previous exploration, people began to doubt whether the exploration could really succeed. With the arrival of severe cold in winter, the cold wind becomes more and more frequent. In this sparsely populated area, a sense of discontent quickly spread among the crew. The captains began to complain about Magellan's silence: "neither consulting senior officials nor giving future travel arrangements." In addition, the fleet's food ration has also decreased. Magellan noticed the tense atmosphere and decided to hold a banquet for the crew on April 1 Sunday, 2000, after arriving at the port of St. Julian. However, only some crew members attended the banquet, and the captains of Victoria, Luis de Mendoza, Concepcion, Gaspar Quesada and Antonio de Coca of San Antonio refused to attend the banquet. By this time, the situation has become irreversible. Because he couldn't risk losing the biggest ship "San Antonio", Magellan replaced the captain Koka and asked his relative Alvaro de Mesquita (? Alvaro de Mesquita) took his place.
That night, Quesada, Coco and Cartagena took the initiative: their supporters boarded the San Antonio in a small boat. After boarding the deck, they rushed into Mesquita's room and seized control of the ship. Juan de Elorriaga, the ship's co-pilot, was stabbed to death by Quesada for resisting. Soon, all the Portuguese crew on board were imprisoned. The crew who did not object to the mutiny were rewarded with food and wine. The action was very quick and successful. The rebels returned to their ship and put Juan Sebastian Elcano in charge of the San Antonio. On the flagship Trinidad, Admiral Magellan didn't know what happened until the next day. He lost three ships in the mutiny: Concepcion, Victoria and San Antonio.
Magellan saw through the indecision of the traitors: they didn't take the opportunity to make demands and make plans of action. So Magellan sent a five-member team led by Trinidad police officer Gonzalo Gomez de Espinosa to Victoria in a small boat to deliver letters to Mendoza. Mendoza thought there was no danger, so he let them on board. Espinosa stabbed Mendoza while reading a letter, and 60 men led by Duarte barbosa boarded the ship and regained control of the Victoria. At this point, the rebellion on the Victoria has been suppressed. While berthing in San Julien Port, Magellan also asked Huoqiong Serrano to lead the San Diego south to explore the nearby area. The San Diego sailed all the way to the mouth of the Santa Cruz River, which was formed by the melting of glaciers. Here, the ship sank due to the storm. On August 24th, the remaining four ships set out from the port of San Julien, and after two days' voyage, they reached the estuary discovered by Serrano, and stayed here for nearly two months, waiting for the arrival of summer. However, Magellan didn't know that they were only one step away from that strait.
101October 18, the fleet anchored and continued to sail south. Three days later, at St. ursula's Day and 1 1000 Virgin's Day, the fleet reached a cape (that is, Virgenez). After sailing westward around the Cape of Good Hope, they found a seemingly endless bay lined with cliffs and snow-capped mountains. Traditionally, Magellan sent the San Antonio and Concepcion to explore the interior of the bay, while Trinidad and Victoria were responsible for exploring the open sea. Esteban Gomez, the captain of the San Antonio, privately disobeyed Magellan's orders and sailed back to Spain without anyone knowing. As a result, Magellan's fleet lost another ship. After briefly worrying about the sinking of the San Antonio, Concepcion brought back good news: this waterway is tidal and the water is salty-that is, this waterway is not a river. On Halloween, three ships entered the channel. There are many branches, bends and bays in the strait, which not only slows down the fleet's journey, but also puts the fleet in danger: besides the persistent cold wind, the crew must always pay attention to the nearby reefs and shoals. The fleet found an estuary in the channel and named it Delasalle Di. There, Magellan sent a ship to explore the channel ahead. Three days later, the boat returned smoothly with good news: they found the exit: this exit was named Cabo· Desedo.
Magellan's fleet not only successfully discovered the strait through South America to the Pacific Ocean; But also completed the first round-the-world voyage in human history-after three years of arduous voyage, the Victoria returned to Europe under the leadership of Juan Sebastian Elcano.