In September 1519, Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese explorer, sailed from Spain to find a western passage to the Indies. The Portuguese king did not support him and so he took the support from King Charles I of Spain. He planned his expedition to reach the Moluccas by sailing westwards. Magellan set out with a fleet of five vessels. Spain supported the Magellan’s expedition because Spain wanted a share in the valuable spice trade from the Moluccas. However the Portuguese had the control of the eastward route around southern Africa. He successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Then he navigated through the strait at the southern point of South America. This strait was named after him as ‘Strait of Magellan’. Due to bad weather, his ships were forced to wait for a long time in Argentina. Magellan’s crew became restless and started to disobey him. One ship wrecked; another ditched the expedition altogether and headed back to Spain. As the crew moved across the Pacific Ocean, food spoiled and scurvy and starvation struck them. After a month the crew reached Philippines. Magellan swiftly claimed the Philippines on Spain’s behalf. Soon Magellan was killed by a poison arrow after getting involved in a Battle of Mactan between two rival local chieftains. After Magellan’s death, his crew continued in the single ship that was captained by Spain’s Juan Sebastian Elcano. They returned to Spain in September 1522.
The three year expedition is quite significant in that it proved that the globe could be circumnavigated and it also opened the door to European colonization of the New World in the name of commerce.
A diplomatic spat, involving Portugal and Spain, arose over the historical voyage when in 2017. Portugal asked UNESCO to grant world heritage status to what they claim to be the ‘Magellan route’. But Spain claimed that the circumnavigation was completed by it sailor Juan Sabastian Elcano. In 2019, both the countries submitted a new joint application to UNESCO to honour the circumnavigation route. It is considered that Eanco achieved a record however Magellan changed the knowledge of geography and that is why the later got more recognition.