El gráfico muestra la ruta del viaje del viaje de Magallanes.
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HISTORIA

La travesía épica de Fernando de Magallanes

By Jordi Bou

September 20, 2019 - Hace poco más de quinientos años, Fernando de Magallanes zarpó de España para hallar un paso occidental a las Indias. No sobrevivió al viaje pero tres años después su nave Victoria completó la primera circunnavegación del globo.

After a quarrel with the Portuguese king, Ferdinand Magellan enlisted the support of Spain’s king Charles I for an expedition to reach the Moluccas by sailing westwards. The Spanish wanted a share in the valuable spice trade from the Moluccas, but the Portuguese controlled the eastward route around southern Africa.

On September 20, 1519, Magellan set out with a fleet of five vessels. In spite of a mutinous crew, rough weather, scurvy, a desperate lack of provisions and unknown waters, Magellan successfully crossed the Atlantic and eventually navigated through the strait at the southern point of South America which was later named after him.

The three remaining ships crossed the Pacific Ocean in a northwesterly arc for three and a half months without once encountering inhabited islands. Hunger, thirst and illness claimed 19 lives before the crews found fresh provisions in the Mariana Islands.

They finally reached the Philippines in March 1521, the first Europeans ever to set foot there. Within weeks Magellan was killed after becoming involved in a battle between two rival local chieftains.

The Victoria, the only remaining ship from the original fleet, eventually returned to Spain in September 1522 under the command of Juan Sebastian Elcano, having completed the first ever circumnavigation of the globe.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 24/08/2022; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Newscom, Creative Commons
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