11 apr 1519 anni - Beginning of Ferdinand Magellan's Exploration

Descrizione:

Magellan was a portuguese explorer born in 1480. At age 12, he heard about the extravagant stories of Spanish and Portuguese sea exploration and spice trade and that is when his interest in that area began. During the 15th century, spices were very valuable and in great demand. Spices created flavor in foods and preserved foods too. Examples would be cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and most importantly, black pepper. The Spice Islands had been reached by sailing east before, but sailing west had not been done yet. This is exactly what Magellan did. He seeked financial support from King Manuel of Portugal, but the request was repeatedly denied, so Magellan abandoned his Portuguese nationality and travelled to Spain to see if he could gain support there. Finally, the grandson of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella showed interest in Magellan’s idea and he decided to fund him, as long as he brought back many valuable riches to Spain. The voyage was a long, dangerous, miserable, yet rewarding, 3 years. 1520, a year after the start of the voyage, Magellan finally discovered the strait he had been looking for (Strait of Magellan). The strait provided horrible conditions for the crew. After the strait, only 3 out of 5 ships remained. Then, in November 1520, the ship’s crew and Magellan became the first to see the great ocean known as the Pacific Ocean. After that, they encountered Guam, and then the Philippines, this is where Magellan died in battle. But, the ast 2 ships finally reached Moluccas, one of the Spice Islands, and then only one ship, Victoria, completed the voyage around the world, when they arrived back to Spain in 1522. They arrived carrying heavy cargo of spices. The mission was complete. Without Magellan, the Pacific Ocean would not have been discovered so soon and Europe would not have been able to acquire the spices. Plus, Magellan was an ambitious voyager, and his ideas led to the first sail around the whole world.

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