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Taken from the accounts of the Voyage of Magellan, what IS the significance/relevance of the voyage and its contribution to unsderstanding Philippine History?
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Magellan's circumnavigation
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In 1519, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan led a Spanish expedition with a fleet known as the Armada de Molucca to reach the Moluccas or Spice Islands (in present day Indonesia). Upon the death of Magellan in the Philippines in 1521, Spanish navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano led the expedition to the Spice Islands and ultimately the return trip to Spain, resulting in the first circumnavigation of the world in 1522. Thus the expedition is called the Magellan–Elcano circumnavigation.
The Magellan–Elcano voyage. Victoria, one of the original five ships, circumnavigated the globe, finishing three years after setting out.
The goal of the expedition was to find a western route to the Moluccas (Spice Islands) and trade for spices. Magellan left Spain on 20 September 1519, sailed across the Atlantic, and discovered the strait that now bears his name, allowing him to pass through the southern tip of South America into the Pacific Ocean (which he named). The fleet performed the first ever crossing of the Pacific, stopping in what is today called the Philippines, and eventually reached the Moluccas, accomplishing its goal. A much-depleted crew finally returned to Spain on 6 September 1522.
The fleet initially consisted of about 270 men and five ships: four carracks and one caravel. The expedition faced numerous hardships including mutinies, starvation, scurvy, storms, and hostile encounters with indigenous people. Magellan died in battle in the Philippine islands and was succeeded as captain-general by a series of officers, with Juan Sebastián Elcano leading the trip onward to Spain. He and seventeen other men in one ship (the Victoria) were the only ones to circumnavigate the globe.
The expedition was funded mostly by King Charles I of Spain, with the hope that it would discover a profitable western route to the Moluccas, as the eastern route was controlled by Portugal under the Treaty of Tordesillas. Though the expedition did find a route, it was much longer and more arduous than expected, and was therefore not commercially useful. Nevertheless, the first circumnavigation has been regarded as a great achievement in seamanship, and had a significant impact on the European understanding of the world.[1]