The Magéllan-Elcano Circumnavigation is the name of the first boat trip around the Earth,
which took place between 1519 and 1522.
It was commanded by Ferdinand Magéllan and Juan Sebastián Elcano.
The objective was opening a trade route through the West with the Spice Islands or the Moluccas,
in the southeast of Asia.
They planned to continue Christopher Columbus' expedition to America, looking for a route
between the Atlántic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, unknown back then.
The adventure started in August 10th 1519 in Seville, Spain.
From there, 5 ships went down the Guadalquivir River, with 239 men towards the town of Sanlucar
de Barrameda in Cadiz, door to the Atlantic Ocean.
After getting provisions, they went west, as they needed to respect the Treaty of Tordesillas,
an agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of Portugal.
This divided the exploration of the new world between them, and according to it, the Spanish
had to avoid going through Africa.
The captain was an experienced sailor, the portuguese Ferdinand Magéllan, who knew the
Indies very well.
The trip was very complicated; there were no navigation charts of the territory, and
the maps that did exist didnt describe the route Magellan was gonna follow.
With more uncertainty than certainty, the sailors made it to Tenerife, they bordered
Cape Verde and headed to the south.
Several storms threatened with sinking the ships, but luckily they made it, two months
later, to what we know today as Rio de Janeiro.
In January they went south to La Plata River in Argentina, where they expected to find
a route to Mar del Sur.
But since they were wrong, they had to continue through unknown territory.
In Puerto San Julián they suffered the first big setback: the wreck of one of the ships.
Also, Magéllan found out some sailors were planning to rise up against him.
Considering that, he executed one of the leaders and left Juan de Cartagena (the captain of
the ship San Antonio) on land.
Months later, they decided to cross the channel of the Eleven Thousand Companions, later on
called the Strait of Magellan.
There, the ship San Antonio desérted at night, and the other three continued on a very dangerous
route.
After crossing the strait, the crew could do nothing but cry with joy.
But the journey through the Pacific was longer than expected, and they sailed for four months
without sighting land.
They were hungry, and many got sick and died.
Tho the situation was critical, at least the waters were calm and favorable, so they decided
to name it the Pacific.
After fueling up in several islands, they went ashore in the Marianas… tho they soon
ran away as they were welcomed aggressively.
Weeks later, they made it to the Philippines, where Magellan established a good relationship
with its natives and left the mark of christian traditions.
But when they made it to the Mactan Island, one of its kings confronted Magellan after
he refused to pay the fees he was asked for.
The battle got more and more complicated, and the captain died speared by the natives,
leaving the expedition at a critical point.
After escaping, there was only 115 survivors.
As they werent enough to sail the three ships that were left, they decided to burn the most
damaged one and continue their route, with Juan Sebastian Elcano commanding the expedition.
Trying to find the Spice Islands, they were forced to stop to fix the ships.
It too them up to 5 months to finally reach the so dreamed-about lands of clouves, cinnamon,
ginger and nutmeg.
The unexpected break of one one of the ships, Trinidad, forced them to make a difficult
choice: 53 crew members were to stay at the Moluccas till it was fixed, to then go back
following the same route.
Meanwhile, Elcano’s ship was to go back following the eastern route, breaking the
Treaty of Tordesillas.
The relationship between Spain and Portugal was very tense, so the ship had to sail far
from the coast line, in order not to be discovered.
They were totally worn out and sick again, and Elcano decided to take a risk and land
in Cape Verde, even tho it was enemy territory.
In the beginning, the portuguese trusted them when they said they were nothing more than
just sailors, but when their real identity was exposed, they ran away, terrified, leaving
some men behind.
Finally, by September 6th 1522, 18 sick and starving men docked in the Sanlucar Bay, becoming
the first men to ever make a trip around the world.
And… even tho it was not their intention, they also proved that the Earth was round.
Two days later, the emperor Charles 1st, named Juan Sebastian Elcano a nobleman, and he gave
him a shield with spices patterns and with the latin motto the first to circumnavigate
me.
Even tho it was a trip full of dangers, the courage of hundreds of men led to a huge feat
that has gone down in history.
Tho… this happy ending had probably been written already since the begining - funnily
enough, the only ship that made it was called Victory.