Who was the first to circumnavigate the globe. Who made the first circumnavigation of the world

Ask anyone and he will tell you that the first person to commit trip around the world, was the Portuguese navigator and explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who died on the island of Mactan (Philippines) during an armed skirmish with the natives (1521). The same is written in history books. Actually, this is a myth. After all, it turns out that one excludes the other. Magellan managed to go only half way.

Primus circumdedisti me (you were the first to bypass me)- reads the Latin inscription on the emblem of Juan Sebastian Elcano crowned with a globe. Indeed, Elcano was the first person to commit circumnavigation.

Let's find out more about how it happened...

The San Telmo Museum in San Sebastian houses Salaverria's painting "The Return of the Victoria". Eighteen emaciated people in white shrouds, with lighted candles in their hands, staggering down the ladder from the ship to the embankment of Seville. These are sailors from the only ship that returned to Spain from the entire flotilla of Magellan. In front is their captain, Juan Sebastian Elcano.

Much in the biography of Elcano has not yet been clarified. Oddly enough, the man who circumnavigated the globe for the first time did not attract the attention of artists and historians of his time. There is not even a reliable portrait of him, and of the documents written by him, only letters to the king, petitions and a will have survived.

Juan Sebastian Elcano was born in 1486 in Getaria, a small port town in the Basque Country, not far from San Sebastian. He early connected his own fate with the sea, making a "career" not uncommon for an enterprising person of that time - first changing his job as a fisherman to a smuggler, and later enrolling in the navy to avoid punishment for his too free attitude to laws and trade duties. Elcano took part in the Italian Wars and the Spanish military campaign in Algeria in 1509. Bask had mastered maritime business quite well in practice when he was a smuggler, but it was in the navy that Elcano received the “correct” education in the field of navigation and astronomy.

In 1510, Elcano, the owner and captain of a ship, took part in the siege of Tripoli. But the Spanish Treasury refused to pay Elcano the amount due for settlements with the crew. After leaving the military service, which never seriously attracted the young adventurer with low wages and the need to maintain discipline, Elcano decides to start a new life in Seville. It seems to Basque that a bright future awaits him - in a new city for him, no one knows about his not entirely impeccable past, the navigator atoned for his guilt before the law in battles with the enemies of Spain, he has official papers that allow him to work as a captain on a merchant ship … But the trade enterprises, in which Elcano becomes a participant, turn out to be unprofitable as one.

In 1517, in payment of debts, he sold the ship under his command to the Genoese bankers - and this trading operation determined his whole fate. The fact is that the owner of the sold ship was not Elcano himself, but the Spanish crown, and the Basque is expected to again have difficulties with the law, this time threatening him with the death penalty. At that time it was considered a serious crime. Knowing that the court would not take into account any excuses, Elcano fled to Seville, where it was easy to get lost, and then take refuge on any ship: in those days, the captains were least interested in the biographies of their people. In addition, there were many Elcano fellow countrymen in Seville, and one of them, Ibarolla, was well acquainted with Magellan. He helped Elcano to enlist in Magellan's flotilla. Having passed the exams and received beans as a sign of a good grade (those who did not pass received peas from the examination board), Elcano became helmsman on the third largest ship in the flotilla, the Concepcione.

Ships of Magellan's flotilla

On September 20, 1519, Magellan's flotilla left the mouth of the Guadalquivir and headed for the coast of Brazil. In April 1520, when the ships settled down for the winter in the frosty and deserted bay of San Julian, the captains, dissatisfied with Magellan, mutinied. Elcano was drawn into it, not daring to disobey his commander, the captain of the Concepción Quesada.

Magellan vigorously and brutally suppressed the rebellion: Quesada and another of the leaders of the conspiracy were cut off their heads, the corpses were quartered and the mutilated remains were stumbled on poles. Captain Cartagena and one priest, also the instigator of the rebellion, Magellan ordered to be landed on the deserted shore of the bay, where they subsequently died. The remaining forty rebels, including Elcano, Magellan spared.

1. First ever circumnavigation

On November 28, 1520, the remaining three ships left the strait and in March 1521, after an unprecedentedly difficult passage through Pacific Ocean approached the islands, later called the Marianas. In the same month, Magellan discovered the Philippine Islands, and on April 27, 1521, he died in a skirmish with local residents on the island of Matan. Elcano, stricken with scurvy, did not participate in this skirmish. After the death of Magellan, Duarte Barbosa and Juan Serrano were elected captains of the flotilla. At the head of a small detachment, they went ashore to the Raja of Cebu and were treacherously killed. Fate again - for the umpteenth time - spared Elcano. Karvalyo became the head of the flotilla. But there were only 115 men left on the three ships; many of them are sick. Therefore, the Concepcion was burned in the strait between the islands of Cebu and Bohol; and his team moved to the other two ships - "Victoria" and "Trinidad". Both ships wandered between the islands for a long time, until, finally, on November 8, 1521, they anchored off the island of Tidore, one of the "Spice Islands" - the Moluccas. Then, in general, it was decided to continue sailing on one ship - the Victoria, of which Elcano had become the captain shortly before, and leave the Trinidad on the Moluccas. And Elcano managed to navigate his worm-eaten ship with a hungry crew through Indian Ocean and along the African coast. A third of the team died, about a third was detained by the Portuguese, but still, on September 8, 1522, the Victoria entered the mouth of the Guadalquivir.

It was an unprecedented, unheard-of passage in the history of navigation. Contemporaries wrote that Elcano surpassed King Solomon, the Argonauts and the cunning Odysseus. The first ever circumnavigation of the world has been completed! The king granted the navigator an annual pension of 500 gold ducats and knighted Elcano. The coat of arms assigned to Elcano (since then del Cano) commemorated his voyage. The coat of arms depicted two cinnamon sticks framed with nutmeg and cloves, a golden padlock surmounted by a helmet. Above the helmet is a globe with a Latin inscription: "You were the first to circle me." And finally, by special decree, the king announced forgiveness to Elcano for selling the ship to a foreigner. But if it was quite simple to reward and forgive the brave captain, then it turned out to be more difficult to resolve all the controversial issues related to the fate of the Moluccas. The Spanish-Portuguese congress sat for a long time, but was never able to “divide” the islands located on the other side of the “earthly apple” between the two powerful powers. And the Spanish government decided not to delay sending a second expedition to the Moluccas.

2. Goodbye A Coruña

A Coruna was considered the safest port in Spain, which "could accommodate all the fleets of the world." The importance of the city increased even more when the Chamber of Indies was temporarily transferred here from Seville. This chamber developed plans for a new expedition to the Moluccas in order to finally establish Spanish domination on these islands. Elcano arrived in A Coruña full of bright hopes - he already saw himself as an admiral of the armada - and set about equipping the flotilla. However, Charles I did not appoint Elcano as commander, but a certain Jofre de Loais, a participant in many naval battles, but completely unfamiliar with navigation. Elcano's pride was deeply wounded. In addition, the “highest refusal” came from the royal office to Elcano’s petition for the payment of an annual pension granted to him of 500 gold ducats: the king ordered that this amount be paid only after returning from the expedition. So Elcano experienced the traditional ingratitude of the Spanish crown to the famous navigators.

Before sailing, Elcano visited his native Getaria, where he, an illustrious sailor, easily managed to recruit many volunteers to his ships: with a man who has bypassed the “apple of the earth”, you will not be lost even in the jaws of the devil, the port brethren reasoned. At the beginning of the summer of 1525, Elcano brought his four ships to A Coruña and was appointed helmsman and deputy commander of the flotilla. In total, the flotilla consisted of seven ships and 450 crew members. There were no Portuguese on this expedition. The last night before the sailing of the flotilla in A Coruña was very lively and solemn. At midnight on Mount Hercules, on the site of the ruins of a Roman lighthouse, a huge fire was lit. The city said goodbye to the sailors. The cries of the townspeople, who treated the sailors with wine from leather bottles, the sobs of women and the hymns of the pilgrims mixed with the sounds of the cheerful dance “La Muneira”. The sailors of the flotilla remembered this night for a long time. They went to another hemisphere, and now they faced a life full of dangers and hardships. For the last time, Elcano walked under the narrow archway of Puerto de San Miguel and descended the sixteen pink steps to the beach. These steps, already completely worn out, have survived to this day.

Death of Magellan

3. Misfortunes of the chief helmsman

The powerful, well-armed flotilla of Loaysa put to sea on July 24, 1525. According to the royal instructions, and Loaisa had fifty-three in total, the flotilla was to follow the path of Magellan, but avoid his mistakes. But neither Elcano, the king's chief adviser, nor the king himself foresaw that this would be the last expedition sent through the Strait of Magellan. It was the Loaisa expedition that was destined to prove that this was not the most profitable way. And all subsequent expeditions to Asia departed from the Pacific ports of New Spain (Mexico).

July 26 vessels rounded Cape Finisterre. On August 18, the ships were caught in a severe storm. On the admiral's ship, the mainmast was broken, but two carpenters sent by Elcano, risking their lives, nevertheless got there in a small boat. While the mast was being repaired, the flagship collided with the Parral, breaking its mizzen mast. Swimming was very difficult. There was a lack of fresh water and provisions. Who knows what the fate of the expedition would have been if on October 20 the lookout had not seen the island of Annobón in the Gulf of Guinea on the horizon. The island was deserted - only a few skeletons lay under a tree on which a strange inscription was carved: "Here lies the unfortunate Juan Ruiz, killed because he deserved it." Superstitious sailors saw this as a formidable omen. The ships hastily filled with water, stocked up with provisions. On this occasion, the captains and officers of the flotilla were summoned to a festive dinner with the admiral, which almost ended tragically.

A huge fish of an unknown breed was served on the table. According to Urdaneta, Elcano's page and chronicler of the expedition, some sailors, "who tasted the meat of this fish, which had teeth like a big dog, had such stomach pains that they thought they would not survive." Soon the whole flotilla left the shores of the inhospitable Annobon. From here, Loaysa decided to sail to the coast of Brazil. And from that moment on, the Sancti Espiritus, Elcano's ship, began a streak of misfortune. Without having time to set the sails, the Sancti Espiritus almost collided with the admiral's ship, and then generally lagged behind the flotilla for some time. At latitude 31º, after a strong storm, the admiral's ship disappeared from sight. Elcano assumed command of the remaining vessels. Then the San Gabriel separated from the flotilla. The remaining five ships searched for the admiral's ship for three days. The search was unsuccessful, and Elcano ordered to move on to the Strait of Magellan.

On January 12, the ships stopped at the mouth of the Santa Cruz River, and since neither the admiral's ship nor the San Gabriel came here, Elcano convened a council. Knowing from the experience of the previous voyage that this was an excellent anchorage, he suggested waiting for both ships, as was the instructions. However, the officers, who were eager to enter the strait as soon as possible, advised leaving only the Santiago pinnace at the mouth of the river, burying in a jar under a cross on an island a message that the ships were heading for the Strait of Magellan. On the morning of January 14, the flotilla weighed anchor. But what Elcano took for a strait turned out to be the mouth of the Gallegos River, five or six miles from the strait. Urdaneta, who despite his admiration for Elcano. retained the ability to be critical of his decisions, writes that such a mistake by Elcano struck him very much. On the same day they approached the real entrance to the strait and anchored at the Cape of the Eleven Thousand Holy Virgins.

An exact copy of the ship "Victoria"

At night, a terrible storm hit the flotilla. Raging waves flooded the ship to the middle of the masts, and it barely kept on four anchors. Elcano realized that all was lost. His only thought now was to save the team. He ordered the ship to be grounded. Panic broke out on the Sancti Espiritus. Several soldiers and sailors rushed into the water in horror; all drowned except one who managed to make it to shore. Then the rest crossed to the shore. Managed to save some of the provisions. However, at night the storm broke out with the same force and finally smashed the Sancti Espiritus. For Elcano - the captain, the first circumnavigator and the main helmsman of the expedition - the crash, especially through his fault, was a big blow. Never before has Elcano been in such a difficult position. When the storm finally subsided, the captains of other ships sent a boat for Elcano, offering him to lead them through the Strait of Magellan, since he had been here before. Elcano agreed, but took only Urdaneta with him. He left the rest of the sailors on the shore ...

But failures did not leave the exhausted flotilla. From the very beginning, one of the ships almost ran into the rocks, and only the determination of Elcano saved the ship. After some time, Elcano sent Urdaneta with a group of sailors for the sailors left on the shore. Soon, Urdaneta's group ran out of provisions. It was very cold at night, and people were forced to burrow up to their necks in the sand, which also did not warm much. On the fourth day, Urdaneta and his companions approached the sailors dying on the shore from hunger and cold, and on the same day, the Loaysa ship, the San Gabriel, and the pinnace Santiago entered the mouth of the strait. On January 20, they joined the rest of the ships of the flotilla.

JUAN SEBASTIAN ELCANO

On February 5, a severe storm broke out again. The Elcano ship took refuge in the strait, and the San Lesmes was driven further south by the storm, to 54 ° 50 ′ south latitude, that is, it approached the very tip of Tierra del Fuego. Not a single ship went south in those days. A little more, and the expedition would be able to open the way around Cape Horn. After the storm, it turned out that the admiral's ship was aground, and Loaysa and the crew left the ship. Elcano immediately sent a group of the best sailors to help the admiral. On the same day, the Anunsiada deserted. The captain of the ship de Vera decided to independently get to the Moluccas past the cape Good Hope. The Anunciad has gone missing. A few days later, the San Gabriel also deserted. The remaining ships returned to the mouth of the Santa Cruz River, where the sailors began to repair the admiral's ship, which was badly battered by storms. Under other conditions, it would have had to be left altogether, but now that the flotilla has lost three largest ship this could no longer be afforded. Elcano, who, on his return to Spain, criticized Magellan for having lingered at the mouth of this river for seven weeks, now he himself was forced to spend five weeks here. At the end of March, somehow patched up ships again headed for the Strait of Magellan. The expedition now included only the admiral's ship, two caravels and a pinnace.

On April 5, the ships entered the Strait of Magellan. Between the islands of Santa Maria and Santa Magdalena, another misfortune befell the admiral's ship. A cauldron of boiling tar caught fire, a fire broke out on the ship.

Panic broke out, many sailors rushed to the boat, ignoring Loaysa, who showered them with curses. The fire was still put out. The flotilla went further through the strait, along the banks of which at high mountain peaks, "so tall that they seemed to stretch to the very sky," lay eternal bluish snow. At night, the fires of the Patagonians burned on both sides of the strait. Elcano already knew these lights from the first voyage. On April 25, the ships weighed anchor from the San Jorge anchorage, where they replenished their water and firewood supplies, and again set off on a difficult voyage.

And where the waves of both oceans meet with a deafening roar, the storm again hit Loaisa's flotilla. The ships anchored in the bay of San Juan de Portalina. Mountains several thousand feet high rose on the shore of the bay. It was terribly cold, and “no clothes could warm us,” writes Urdaneta. Elcano was on the flagship all the time: Loaysa, having no relevant experience, completely relied on Elcano. The passage through the strait lasted forty-eight days - ten days more than Magellan's. On May 31, a strong northeast wind blew. The whole sky was covered with clouds. On the night of June 1-2, a storm broke out, the most terrible of the former so far, scattering all ships. Although the weather later improved, they were never to meet again. Elcano, with most of the crew of the Sancti Espiritus, was now on the admiral's ship, which had one hundred and twenty men. Two pumps did not have time to pump out water, they feared that the ship could sink at any moment. In general, the ocean was Great, but by no means Pacific.

4 Pilot Dies Admiral

The ship was sailing alone, neither sail nor island could be seen on the vast horizon. “Every day,” writes Urdaneta, “we waited for the end. Due to the fact that people moved to us from wrecked vessel, we are forced to cut rations. We worked hard and ate little. We had to endure great hardships and some of us died.” On July 30, Loaysa died. According to one of the expedition members, the cause of his death was a breakdown in spirit; he was so upset by the loss of the rest of the ships that he "became weaker and died." Loays did not forget to mention in the will of his chief helmsman: “I ask that Elcano be returned four barrels of white wine, which I owe him. The biscuits and other provisions that lie on my ship, the Santa Maria de la Victoria, shall be given to my nephew Alvaro de Loays, who must share them with Elcano. They say that by this time only rats remained on the ship. On the ship, many were ill with scurvy. Everywhere Elcano looked, everywhere he saw swollen pale faces and heard the groans of sailors.

Thirty people have died from scurvy since they left the channel. “They all died,” writes Urdaneta, “due to the fact that their gums were swollen and they could not eat anything. I saw a man whose gums were so swollen that he tore off pieces of meat as thick as a finger. The sailors had one hope - Elcano. They, in spite of everything, believed in his lucky star, although he was so ill that four days before the death of Loaysa he himself made a will. In honor of Elcano's assumption of the position of admiral - a position which he unsuccessfully sought two years ago - a cannon salute was given. But Elcano's strength was drying up. The day came when the admiral could no longer get up from his bunk. His relatives and faithful Urdaneta gathered in the cabin. By the flickering light of the candle, one could see how thin they were and how much they had suffered. Urdaneta kneels and touches the body of her dying master with one hand. The priest watches him closely. Finally, he raises his hand, and everyone present slowly falls to their knees. Elcano's wanderings are over...

Therefore, we decided that the best thing for us is to go to the Moluccas.” Thus, they abandoned the bold plan of Elcano, who was going to fulfill the dream of Columbus - to reach east coast Asia, following the shortest route from the west. “I am sure that if Elcano had not died, we would not have reached the Ladrone (Marian) Islands so soon, because his constant intention was to search for Chipansu (Japan),” writes Urdaneta. He clearly considered Elcano's plan too risky. But the man who for the first time circumnavigated the "earthly apple" did not know what fear was. But he also did not know that in three years Charles I would cede his “rights” to the Moluccas to Portugal for 350 thousand gold ducats. Of the entire Loaysa expedition, only two ships survived: the San Gabriel, which reached Spain after a two-year voyage, and the Santiago pinasse under the command of Guevara, which passed along the Pacific coast of South America to Mexico. Although Guevara saw only once the coast of South America, his voyage proved that the coast does not protrude far to the west anywhere and South America has the shape of a triangle. This was the most important geographical discovery expeditions of Loaysa.

Getaria, in the homeland of Elcano, stands at the entrance to the church stone plate, a half-erased inscription on which reads: “... the glorious captain Juan Sebastian del Cano, a native and resident of the noble and faithful city of Getaria, the first to circumnavigate the globe on the ship Victoria. In memory of the hero, this slab was erected in 1661 by Don Pedro de Etave y Asi, Knight of the Order of Calatrava. Pray for the repose of the soul of the one who first traveled around the world. And on the globe in the San Telmo Museum, the place where Elcano died is indicated - 157 degrees west and 9 degrees north latitude.

In the history books, Juan Sebastian Elcano undeservedly found himself in the shadow of the glory of Ferdinand Magellan, but he is remembered and revered in his homeland. The name Elcano is a training sailboat in the Spanish Navy. In the wheelhouse of the ship, you can see the coat of arms of Elcano, and the sailboat itself has already managed to carry out a dozen round-the-world expeditions.

From the school geography course, we know that the first voyage around the world was made by the navigator Ferdinand Magellan. His circumnavigation of the world lasted almost 3 years (from 1519 to 1522). And out of 5 ships that set off on this journey, only one ship returned.

Ferdinand Magellan- this is the man who did first trip around the world.

The navigator began his journey on September 20, 1519, and the end of the circumnavigation fell on September 6, 1522.

Although Magellan did not live to see the end of his round-the-world trip. He was killed in a battle with the local population of one of the Philippine islands.

The voyage involved 5 ships.

As far as I know, the first round-the-world trip (crossing all the earth's meridians and around the earth's axis) were the Portuguese under the command of Ferdinand Magellan. The voyage lasted three years from 1519 to 1522.

Magellan was the first to circumnavigate the world. He traveled the entire globe in 3 years, starting in 1519 and ending in 1522. Initially, 256 people took part in the journey, but only eighteen managed to complete this difficult journey.

First trip around the world was completely on a ship called Victoria". The first journey around the earth lasted from 1519 to 1522 and took place under the command Magellan. 256 sailors took part in it, but only 18 returned back.

photo of Magellan

First circumnavigation of the world by air was in 1929 and took 20 days to complete on the airship LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin. This journey was commanded by Hugo Eckener

Pictured: Hugo Eckener

First trip around the earth in space was completely in 1961 our Yuri Gagarin. On the ship Vostok 1, he circled the earth in 108 minutes.

photo of Yuri Gagarin

First hiking trip around the earth was perfect in 1897. bypassed the earth George Matthew Schilling from USA. He began his journey in 1897 and ended in 1904.

The world's first circumnavigation was made by the Spanish navy flotilla in 1519-1522. The expedition was led by Ferdinand Magellan.

The first circumnavigation of the world ended on September 6, 1522. Only one ship returned to Spain - Victoria with 18 crew members on board. Magellan did not return home either - he died on April 27, 1521 in the Philippines).

The first such journey was by sea. It was made by the Spanish flotilla, which consisted of 5 ships. This expedition was led by Ferdinand Magellan. The journey began in 1519, and it took almost three years to complete it. Only 18 people returned home on one ship. Later, 18 more arrived separately. In total, about 250-280 people were sent.

First time on a ship Victoria in 1519 a round-the-world trip was started, the expedition lasted until 1522. A team of 256 sailors went to sea, Ferdinand Magellan was the captain, but only 18 people survived.

hiking trip The earth was first walked around by George Matthew Schilling from the USA. Time spent on the campaign: from 1897 to 1904 But considered official recorded round-the-world trip, which took place from June 1970 until mid-autumn 1974, by traveler David Kunst from the USA.

First on the airship Count Zeppelin - LZ 127quot ;, in 1929 flew through the air around the Earth Hugo Eckener, Germany. Hugo Eckener and his team circled the Earth in 20 days.

For the first time space round the world trip, was in 1961 very short. In just 108 minutes, Russian pilot Yuri Gagarin, on the ship Vostok-1 circled our earth.

For some reason, immediately when answering this question, I remembered a book by the famous French writer Jules Verne, called Around the World in Eighty Daysquot ;. In fact, the planet Earth is not that big and you can really travel around the world. And the first who did this was Ferdinand Magellan. Famous Spanish and Portuguese navigator and explorer of new lands.

The first circumnavigation of the world was made by the Spanish navigator Ferdinand Magellan. It began on September 20, 1519 and ended on September 6, 1522. Of the 5 ships that went on the expedition, only 1 returned to Spain - Victoriaquot ;. Magellan himself was killed in battle with the natives on one of the Philippine Islands. Despite such a sad outcome, this expedition brought a lot of profit to the organizers.

Acquaintance with the heroes that were the first to dare to challenge the elements, I owe to my grandfather. He spent more than thirty years at sea, but preferred to talk not about his work, but about the brave discoverers who plowed the vast expanses long before his birth.

The roots of the great geographical discoveries

Why was it necessary to look for this route to India? Why was it necessary to swim in an incomprehensible place? To understand where this need arose, it is necessary to go back in time and consider communication routes of ancient civilizations of Eurasia.

First of all, I'm talking about those extremities:

European civilization ();
Han;

The communication of the first two, as far as I know, began by means of Silk Road in the second century BC. The second significant trade route - spice road,connecting India and Europe.

The reader who did not skip history lessons at school may already have guessed where I am leading. In the seventh to eighth century AD Arab conquests cut off European civilization from the routes described above, which brings Europe into the so-called dark ages. A few centuries later, the Arabs are turning from aggressive conquerors into settled traders, and it seems that life is getting better. Or not getting better, in the 15th century begins its capture of post-Mongolian state entities Timurid Empire, around the same time, the Ottoman Turks capture Constantinople, Europe starts to choke again.

However, this time the European civilization is well informed about the outside world, and also has access to Arabic astronomy and a compass. Appears idea to find a workaround first to black africa, and if you're lucky, then and to the much-desired India.

Magellan's motivation and the first circumnavigation of the world

Of all the figures of this era, I was most struck by the feat of one person, we are talking about Fernand Magellane, whose expedition circumnavigated the globe, having made the first circumnavigation of the world in human history.

Magellan was on Portuguese service, but fell into disgrace and decided to offer their services Catholic kings(name of the government of the union of Aragon and Castile). Fernand offers sail to India from the west and thereby impale the system (a loophole in what is really located to the west of the demarcation line). The Spanish leadership approves the expedition and even agrees to appoint an ambitious navigator as governor of the largest of the discovered islands.

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As a child, I had an interesting book - "Encyclopedia of Geographical Discoveries". That's where I read all the details first circumnavigation and I'll add a few facts.

First trip around the world

Almost 500 years ago to the port Spain ship arrived with only 18 people. These people changed the course of history by doing the unthinkable at the time - trip around the world. During the voyage, it was crossed 3 oceans, new trade routes appeared, and most importantly, information was received on the actual size of our planet. Despite the awareness of the expedition, there are still unknown facts.

Commercial purposes

In August 1519 guided only by your intuition, Magellan led an expedition of 5 ships. The goal is not the desire to circumnavigate the globe. As with most expeditions of the time, the main goal is the thirst for profit. Like the journey of Columbus, the expedition involved reaching the cherished shores Asia. The previously discovered continent was little studied and did not bring significant profit, which cannot be said about the Portuguese colonies in India. It was clear that - not Asia, but the cherished country of spices lies a little further. It was for these purposes that 5 ships were equipped:

Victoria;
Concepción;

Santiago.

Made up name

Actually Magellan- a fictitious name. Real name - Fernand de Magalhaes, and was changed upon entering the royal service.

The hardships of circumnavigating the world

In addition to the meager diet and psychological stress, the team members experienced a sense of fear. Even the sky above their heads looked different, and the devout sailors wondered Southern Cross and a cluster of several bright stars surrounded by strange clouds. Nowadays, these clusters are known as the nearest galaxies, and nebulae - magellanic clouds.

Disappointment

Shortly before his death, Magellan was disappointed: such coveted shores of spices ended up in Portuguese hemisphere. It's all about the deal between Spain and Portugal according to which the world was divided into two hemispheres. Everything that extended west of the 49th meridian fell into the dominion of Spain, East End retreated to the eternal enemy - Portugal.

Fernand knew perfectly well what this ultimately meant. After all, all the values were on Spanish side, which means that the whole undertaking was undertaken in vain, and in fact he deceived the king. Much larger than he expected, the size of the globe, could not stop him, but played a cruel joke.

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The first trip around the world was made by Ferdinand Magellan. The journey started on September 20, 1519 and ended on September 6, 1522. It involved five ships with a crew of about 280 people. But as a result of civil strife, conflicts and skirmishes, only 18 people returned to Spain on board one ship - the Victoria.

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Everyone must have watched or read Jules Verne and his immortal “ Around the world in 80 days? Who cares, but I wanted to catch up and overtake this record until the burning sensation in my heels! With a modern transport system, this task can be completed in a couple of days. What was it like for the first travelers? How the first circumnavigation of the world? The textbook about this was boring and small, so I had to rely on my own strength.

Who pioneered the world tour

The pioneer in this endeavor was Spaniard Ferdinand Magellan with his fleet. Of the five ships released on September 20, 1519 from Sanlúcar de Barrameda only Victoria is back to Spain on September 6, 1522. Magellan himself also did not return, killed in a skirmish near the island of Cebu. Completed the route Tocaptain of the Victoria Juan Sebastian Elcano, therefore, the laurels of the first circumnavigation can be safely divided into two.

The composition of the flotilla:

Trinidad;
Santiago;
San Antonio;
Concepción;
Victoria.

Why was it necessary

Like Columbus, many wanted find a western route to Asia. In addition, through Isthmus of Panama it was clear that America was not the end of the world and there were plenty of prospects for searching. Yes and economic incentive do without intermediaries in the trade in spices - not last reason. So To The Ukrainians of Europe took an active part in the preparation of the expedition. by the king Magellan and Phaler(companion astronomer) were promised and shares in income from the expedition, and governorship in new lands, and even ownership of part of the new islands.

Route

The flotilla passed along west coast of africa, having wintered in b Uhte San Julian (Argentina), having survived several riots due to mistrust, fatigue and lack of food, having lost the Santiago, found Prole in the southern part of the South American continent named after Magellan. Already as part of 3 ships (the rebellious San Antonio went back to Spain), the expedition crossed the strait in 38 days.

Nearly 4 months took their way to the Marianas. This size of the ocean turned out to be unexpectedly large even for experienced sailors.

On one of the Visayas, Mactan, in conflict with local forces, Magellan was killed.

A few months later, dilapidated ships, already without "Concepcion" abandoned and burned by the crew, reached Molluk Islands, where "Trinidad" was arrested on orders Portuguese kingI am.

Team only "Victoria", rounding Africa managed to finish what he started.

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I remember that in my school years I was a fairly well-read child, I was interested in history and geography (and where did I turn the wrong way?). I never pretended to be a know-it-all, but I periodically had disputes with a geographer about different points of view, and somehow she categorically refused to take seriously the hypotheses of eminent scientists from the lips of a seventh grader ...

Seeing a question about first trip around the world, I wiped a stingy nostalgic tear and climbed to refresh my knowledge in Google. Well, now I can tell you who this brave navigator really was.

First round the world expedition

It is considered that first circumnavigation of the world (1519-1522) committed Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese navigator who was going to reach Asia by sailing west and at the same time find new way To spice islands for the Spaniards.

The journey itself can be divided into several stages:

And exactly Elcano the Spanish king recognized the person who completed the first circumnavigation of the world, a notMagellan. Why? Because he is just did not live to see the end of the expedition. It was a harsh 16th century: Magellan was followed west by almost 300 people on five ships, but only returned 18 .

"Slave Traveler"

Enrique de Malaca born on the island Sumatra, but soon was taken prisoner Portuguese and then ransomed by Ferdinand Magellan. During the trip, he was on the ship something like an interpreter, and after the death of the owner, when the ships stopped at one of Philippine Islands, escaped and soon returned to Sumatra. Perhaps he was the one. the first person in history to circumnavigate the globe.

Travels of Zheng He

I also want to mention one curious assumption of the writer and former submariner Gavin Menzies. He also claims that in the 15th century the first circumnavigation of the world made by the Chinese admiral Zheng He, and takes as an argument vintage cards found in China, which, among other things, bear

Geographical knowledge about the Earth has been rapidly developing. There were suggestions that, having rounded South America, you can go to the South Sea (as they used to call it) and use it to reach the shores of Asia and. The first to undertake this was Ferdinand Magellan (1470-1531). He proposed to the king of Spain a hitherto unheard of plan - to reach the shores of Asia, bypassing America from the south.

On September 20, 1519, a flotilla of five ships set out on a campaign. She crossed Atlantic Ocean and moved along the coast of South America in search of a passage to the South Sea. After a long wandering, the daredevils finally got lucky. The Strait, later named Magellanic, was found, and the flotilla entered the South Sea. According to one of the expedition members, Magellan called the vast expanses of water the Pacific Ocean, "because we have never experienced the slightest storm." This name is a paradox, since calm in the Pacific Ocean is a rarity.

For more than three months, this transition across the boundless ocean continued. The crew suffered from thirst and illness. In the spring of 1521, Magellan reached the islands off the east coast of Asia, later called the Philippine. An entry made by his hand in the ship's log says that, having circumnavigated the Earth, the ship returned to old world. This was the last written message made by the hand of Magellan himself.

In April 1521, the fearless navigator died in one of the battles in the midst of an intertribal war. Of all the ships back to, having circled Africa, only one returned - the Victoria (Victory). He entered his native harbor on September 6, 1522. The first trip around the world lasted three years. It finally proved the fact that the Earth is spherical.

Globe by Martin Behaim

With the development of geographical knowledge about the Earth, cartography also improved. In 1492, the German geographer and eminent navigation specialist Martin Beheim (1459-1507) and the painter Georg Glockendon (year of birth unknown - died in 1553) made the first globe depicting the globe. Its diameter is 54 cm. The authors called their creation "Earth Apple". On it, Beheim placed a map of the world of the ancient Greek scientist Ptolemy. this small likeness of our planet began to be called later. Of course, the images on it were far from the truth: the creators of the "Earth Apple" did not know about the existence of the New World (Columbus just set sail in 1492). However, later, when people appreciated their benefits, globes became very popular. They could be seen in the chambers of monarchs, in the offices of ministers and scientists. Pocket globes in special cases were intended for travel. Medium-sized globes made for cabinets were often equipped with a mechanism that set them in motion, rotating around an axis. There were even globes as high as human height, and they contained not only colorful images of the Earth's surface, but also information about different countries. However, maps have always had their advantages and therefore still remain indispensable attributes of any traveler, explorer and scientist.

In 1569, Gerard Mercator (1512-1594) created the first map of the world based on the latest cartographic and geographical knowledge of Europeans about the Earth and outstanding discoveries of that time. The continents were plotted on it, with the exception of Australia (they were discovered and explored later), as well as the oceans washing them. Many geographic features named after the navigators and explorers who discovered them. The name Amerigo Vespucci remained for posterity in the names of two continents: North and South America, in honor of Ferdinand Magellan, the strait separating the mainland South America and the island was named Tierra del Fuego. Thanks to the expeditions of the era of the great geographical discoveries, New World(America), the Pacific Ocean, the island of Tierra del Fuego, the Strait of Magellan, major islands in the Caribbean: Bahamas, Haiti, Cuba. Entire generations of geographers and cartographers, researchers and travelers had to refine and supplement maps for several more centuries, draw accurate contours of all continents and oceans, islands and peninsulas, bays and straits, and other geographical objects.

Ask anyone, and he will tell you that the first person to circumnavigate the world was the Portuguese navigator and explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who died on Mactan Island (Philippines) during an armed clash with the natives (1521). The same is written in history books. Actually, this is a myth. After all, it turns out that one excludes the other.
Magellan managed to go only half way.

Primus circumdedisti me (you circumvented me first) - reads the Latin inscription on Juan Sebastian Elcano's coat of arms topped with a globe. Indeed, Elcano was the first person to circumnavigate the world.

Juan Sebastian Elcano was born in 1486 in Getaria, a small port town in the Basque Country, not far from San Sebastian. He early linked his own fate with the sea, making a “career” that was not uncommon for an enterprising person of that time - first changing his job as a fisherman to a smuggler, and later enrolling in the navy to avoid punishment for his too free attitude to laws and trade duties. Elcano took part in the Italian Wars and the Spanish military campaign in Algeria in 1509. Bask had mastered maritime business quite well in practice when he was a smuggler, but it was in the navy that Elcano received the “correct” education in the field of navigation and astronomy.

In 1517, in payment of debts, he sold the ship under his command to the Genoese bankers - and this trading operation determined his entire fate. The fact is that the owner of the sold ship was not Elcano himself, but the Spanish crown, and the Basque is expected to again have difficulties with the law, this time threatening him with the death penalty. At that time it was considered a serious crime. Knowing that the court would not take into account any excuses, Elcano fled to Seville, where it was easy to get lost, and then take refuge on any ship: in those days, the captains were least interested in the biographies of their people. In addition, there were many Elcano fellow countrymen in Seville, and one of them, Ibarolla, was well acquainted with Magellan. He helped Elcano to enlist in Magellan's flotilla. Having passed the exams and received beans as a sign of a good grade (those who did not pass received peas from the examination board), Elcano became the helmsman on the third largest ship in the flotilla, the Concepcione.

1. The first ever circumnavigation of the world

On November 28, 1520, the remaining three ships left the strait and in March 1521, after an unprecedentedly difficult passage through the Pacific Ocean, they approached the islands, which later became known as the Marianas. In the same month, Magellan discovered the Philippine Islands, and on April 27, 1521, he died in a skirmish with local residents on the island of Matan. Elcano, stricken with scurvy, did not participate in this skirmish. After the death of Magellan, Duarte Barbosa and Juan Serrano were elected captains of the flotilla. At the head of a small detachment, they went ashore to the Raja of Cebu and were treacherously killed. Fate again - for the umpteenth time - spared Elcano. Karvalyo became the head of the flotilla. But there were only 115 men left on the three ships; many of them are sick. Therefore, the Concepcion was burned in the strait between the islands of Cebu and Bohol; and his team moved to the other two ships - Victoria and Trinidad. Both ships wandered between the islands for a long time, until, finally, on November 8, 1521, they anchored off the island of Tidore, one of the "Spice Islands" - the Moluccas. Then, in general, it was decided to continue sailing on one ship - the Victoria, whose captain shortly before that was Elcano, and leave the Trinidad on the Moluccas. And Elcano managed to navigate his worm-eaten ship with a starving crew across the Indian Ocean and along the coast of Africa. A third of the team died, about a third was detained by the Portuguese, but still, on September 8, 1522, the Victoria entered the mouth of the Guadalquivir.

2. Goodbye A Coruña

Before sailing, Elcano visited his native Getaria, where he, a renowned sailor, easily managed to recruit many volunteers to his ships: with a man who has bypassed the “earthly apple”, you will not be lost even in the devil’s mouth, the port brethren argued. At the beginning of the summer of 1525, Elcano brought his four ships to A Coruña and was appointed helmsman and deputy commander of the flotilla. In total, the flotilla consisted of seven ships and 450 crew members. There were no Portuguese on this expedition. The last night before the sailing of the flotilla in A Coruña was very lively and solemn. At midnight on Mount Hercules, on the site of the ruins of a Roman lighthouse, a huge fire was lit. The city said goodbye to the sailors. The cries of the townspeople, who treated the sailors with wine from leather bottles, the sobs of women and the hymns of the pilgrims mixed with the sounds of the cheerful dance “La Muneira”. The sailors of the flotilla remembered this night for a long time. They went to another hemisphere, and now they faced a life full of dangers and hardships. For the last time, Elcano walked under the narrow archway of Puerto de San Miguel and descended the sixteen pink steps to the beach. These steps, already completely worn out, have survived to this day.

3. Misfortunes of the chief helmsman

July 26 vessels rounded Cape Finisterre. On August 18, the ships were caught in a severe storm. On the admiral's ship, the mainmast was broken, but two carpenters sent by Elcano, risking their lives, nevertheless got there in a small boat. While the mast was being repaired, the flagship collided with the Parral, breaking its mizzen mast. Swimming was very difficult. There was a lack of fresh water and provisions. Who knows what the fate of the expedition would have been if on October 20 the lookout had not seen the island of Annobón in the Gulf of Guinea on the horizon. The island was deserted - only a few skeletons lay under a tree on which a strange inscription was carved: "Here lies the unfortunate Juan Ruiz, killed because he deserved it." Superstitious sailors saw this as a formidable omen. The ships hastily filled with water, stocked up with provisions. On this occasion, the captains and officers of the flotilla were summoned to a festive dinner with the admiral, which almost ended tragically.

A huge fish of an unknown breed was served on the table. According to Urdaneta, Elcano's page and chronicler of the expedition, some sailors, "who tasted the meat of this fish, which had teeth like a big dog, got so sick in their stomachs that they thought they would not survive." Soon the whole flotilla left the shores of the inhospitable Annobon. From here, Loaysa decided to sail to the coast of Brazil. And from that moment on, the Sancti Espiritus, Elcano's ship, began a streak of misfortune. Without having time to set the sails, the Sancti Espiritus almost collided with the admiral's ship, and then generally lagged behind the flotilla for some time. At latitude 31º, after a strong storm, the admiral's ship disappeared from sight. Elcano assumed command of the remaining vessels. Then the San Gabriel separated from the flotilla. The remaining five ships searched for the admiral's ship for three days. The search was unsuccessful, and Elcano ordered to move on to the Strait of Magellan.

On January 12, the ships stopped at the mouth of the Santa Cruz River, and since neither the admiral's ship nor the San Gabriel came here, Elcano convened a council. Knowing from the experience of the previous voyage that this was an excellent anchorage, he suggested waiting for both ships, as was the instructions. However, the officers, who were eager to enter the strait as soon as possible, advised leaving only the Santiago pinnace at the mouth of the river, burying in a jar under a cross on an island a message that the ships were heading for the Strait of Magellan. On the morning of January 14, the flotilla weighed anchor. But what Elcano took for a strait turned out to be the mouth of the Gallegos River, five or six miles from the strait. Urdaneta, who despite his admiration for Elcano. retained the ability to be critical of his decisions, writes that such a mistake by Elcano struck him very much. On the same day they approached the real entrance to the strait and anchored at the Cape of the Eleven Thousand Holy Virgins.

An exact copy of the ship "Victoria"
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At night, a terrible storm hit the flotilla. Raging waves flooded the ship to the middle of the masts, and it barely kept on four anchors. Elcano realized that all was lost. His only thought now was to save the team. He ordered the ship to be grounded. Panic broke out on the Sancti Espiritus. Several soldiers and sailors rushed into the water in horror; all drowned except one who managed to make it to shore. Then the rest crossed to the shore. Managed to save some of the provisions. However, at night the storm broke out with the same force and finally smashed the Sancti Espiritus. For Elcano - the captain, the first circumnavigator and chief helmsman of the expedition - the crash, especially through his fault, was a big blow. Never before has Elcano been in such a difficult position. When the storm finally subsided, the captains of other ships sent a boat for Elcano, offering him to lead them through the Strait of Magellan, since he had been here before. Elcano agreed, but took only Urdaneta with him. He left the rest of the sailors on the shore ...

JUAN SEBASTIAN ELCANO
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On April 5, the ships entered the Strait of Magellan. Between the islands of Santa Maria and Santa Magdalena, another misfortune befell the admiral's ship. A cauldron of boiling tar caught fire, a fire broke out on the ship.

Panic broke out, many sailors rushed to the boat, ignoring Loaysa, who showered them with curses. The fire was still put out. The flotilla moved on through the strait, along the banks of which high mountain peaks, "so high that they seemed to stretch to the very sky," lay eternal bluish snow. At night, the fires of the Patagonians burned on both sides of the strait. Elcano already knew these lights from the first voyage. On April 25, the ships weighed anchor from the San Jorge anchorage, where they replenished their water and firewood supplies, and again set off on a difficult voyage.

And where the waves of both oceans meet with a deafening roar, the storm again hit Loaisa's flotilla. The ships anchored in the bay of San Juan de Portalina. Mountains several thousand feet high rose on the shore of the bay. It was terribly cold, and "no clothes could warm us," writes Urdaneta. Elcano was on the flagship all the time: Loaysa, having no relevant experience, completely relied on Elcano. The passage through the strait lasted forty-eight days - ten days more than Magellan's. On May 31, a strong northeast wind blew. The whole sky was covered with clouds. On the night of June 1-2, a storm broke out, the most terrible of the former so far, scattering all ships. Although the weather later improved, they were never to meet again. Elcano, with most of the crew of the Sancti Espiritus, was now on the admiral's ship, which had one hundred and twenty men. Two pumps did not have time to pump out water, they feared that the ship could sink at any moment. In general, the ocean was Great, but by no means Pacific.

4 Pilot Dies Admiral

The ship was sailing alone, neither sail nor island could be seen on the vast horizon. “Every day,” writes Urdaneta, “we waited for the end. Due to the fact that people from the wrecked ship moved to us, we are forced to reduce rations. We worked hard and ate little. We had to endure great hardships and some of us died.” On July 30, Loaysa died. According to one of the expedition members, the cause of his death was a breakdown in spirit; he was so upset by the loss of the rest of the ships that he "became weaker and died." Loays did not forget to mention in the will of his chief helmsman: “I ask that Elcano be returned four barrels of white wine, which I owe him. The biscuits and other provisions that lie on my ship, the Santa Maria de la Victoria, shall be given to my nephew Alvaro de Loays, who must share them with Elcano. They say that by this time only rats remained on the ship. On the ship, many were ill with scurvy. Everywhere Elcano looked, everywhere he saw swollen pale faces and heard the groans of sailors.

Thirty people have died from scurvy since they left the channel. “They all died,” writes Urdaneta, “due to the fact that their gums were swollen and they could not eat anything. I saw a man whose gums were so swollen that he tore off pieces of meat as thick as a finger. The sailors had one hope - Elcano. They, in spite of everything, believed in his lucky star, although he was so ill that four days before the death of Loaysa he himself made a will. In honor of Elcano's assumption of the position of admiral, a position he had unsuccessfully sought two years earlier, a cannon salute was given. But Elcano's strength was drying up. The day came when the admiral could no longer get up from his bunk. His relatives and faithful Urdaneta gathered in the cabin. By the flickering light of the candle, one could see how thin they were and how much they had suffered. Urdaneta kneels and touches the body of her dying master with one hand. The priest watches him closely. Finally, he raises his hand, and everyone present slowly falls to their knees. Elcano's wanderings are over...

“Monday, 6 August. The valiant lord Juan Sebastian de Elcano has died." So Urdaneta noted in his diary the death of the great navigator.

Four people lift the body of Juan Sebastian, wrapped in a shroud and tied to a plank. At a sign from the new admiral, they throw him into the sea. There was a splash, drowning out the priest's prayers.

MONUMENT IN HONOR OF ELCANO IN GETARIA
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Eaten by worms, tormented by storms and storms, the lone ship continued on its way. The team, according to Urdaneta, “was terribly exhausted and exhausted. Not a day went by that one of us didn't die.

Therefore, we decided that the best thing for us is to go to the Moluccas.” Thus, they abandoned the bold plan of Elcano, who was going to fulfill the dream of Columbus - to reach the east coast of Asia, following the shortest route from the west. “I am sure that if Elcano had not died, we would not have reached the Ladrone (Marian) Islands so soon, because his constant intention was to search for Chipansu (Japan),” writes Urdaneta. He clearly considered Elcano's plan too risky. But the man who for the first time circumnavigated the "earthly apple" did not know what fear was. But he also did not know that in three years Charles I would cede his “rights” to the Moluccas to Portugal for 350 thousand gold ducats. Of the entire Loaysa expedition, only two ships survived: the San Gabriel, which reached Spain after a two-year voyage, and the Santiago pinasse under the command of Guevara, which passed along the Pacific coast of South America to Mexico. Although Guevara saw only once the coast of South America, his voyage proved that the coast does not protrude far to the west anywhere and that South America has the shape of a triangle. This was the most important geographical discovery of Loaisa's expedition.

Getaria, in the homeland of Elcano, at the entrance to the church there is a stone slab, a half-erased inscription on which reads: “... the glorious captain Juan Sebastian del Cano, a native and resident of the noble and faithful city of Getaria, the first to circumnavigate the globe on the ship Victoria. In memory of the hero, this slab was erected in 1661 by Don Pedro de Etave y Asi, Knight of the Order of Calatrava. Pray for the repose of the soul of the one who first traveled around the world. And on the globe in the San Telmo Museum, the place where Elcano died is indicated - 157 degrees west and 9 degrees north latitude.