In search of fame, distinction and fortune, a young Portuguese pioneer Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480-1521) set out from Spain in 1519 with an armada of five boats to find a western ocean route to the Spice Islands. In transit, he discovered what came to be known as the Strait of Magellan - and in the process, making him the first European to cross the Pacific Ocean. In spite of the fact that it was loaded down with profitable flavors and goodies from the East, the journey was so lengthy and dangerous that just 18 of the armada's talented crew of 270 came back with the ship three years later... Magellan himself non-inclusive!!.....

Let us take a trip into the life of this great explorer.


The Beginning

Ferdinand Magellan was born in Sabrosa, Portugal in 1840 to a family of distantPortuguese nobility. At 12 Ferdinand Magellan and his brother Diogo traveled to Lisbon to serve as pages at Queen Leonora’s court. Here, he was opportuned to study at Queen Leonora's School of Pages in Lisbon and spent his days poring over texts on cartography, astronomy, and celestial navigation. While at the court Magellan was also exposed to stories of the great Portuguese and Spanish rivalry for sea exploration and dominance over the spice trade in the East Indies, especially the Spice Islands - or what is now called Moluccas, in modern Indonesia. Intrigued by the promise of fame and riches, Magellan developed an unquenchable interest in maritime and sea voyaging. This thirst is what would turn out to shape his life.

In 1505, Magellan and his brother were allocated to a Portuguese vessel setting out for India. Throughout the following seven years, Magellan took part in a few endeavors in India and Africa and was injured in a several battles.

In 1513 he joined the tremendous 15,000-marine army sent by King Manuel to Morocco to challenge the Moroccan king who declined to pay his yearly tribute to the Portugal. The Portuguese effortlessly overpowered the Moroccans and Magellan remained in Morocco. While there, he was subsequently injured in a clash, which left him with a trademark limp for the rest of his life.

Journey to Spain

In the fifteenth century, flavors such as cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and particularly dark pepper, were very significant in the shaping of the economy of major countries. Since flavors couldn't be developed in chilly and bone-dry Europe, almost all top European countries struggled to find the fastest ocean course to the Spice Islands. Portugal and Spain drove the opposition for early control of this search. Europeans had long discovered a route to the Spice Islands by cruising east, yet none of them could find a way of sailing west from Europe to the opposite side of the globe. Magellan was resolved to be the first to do as such.

At this point - an accomplished sailor, Magellan appealed King Manuel of Portugal to obtain his support for a westbound voyage to the Spice Islands. The lord rejected his request of over and again.
In 1517 a disappointed Magellan revoked his Portuguese nationality and migrated to Spain....

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