How did Elcano sail round the world after Magellan?
Elcano sails round the world
Elcano da la vuelta al mundo
6 September 1522. Five ships and about 240 men left Sanlúcar de Barrameda in September 1519 under the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, paid for by Charles I, to reach…
Where: Spain, The whole Spanish-speaking world, Seville, Philippines, Basque Country
What happened
Five ships and about 240 men left Sanlúcar de Barrameda in September 1519 under the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, paid for by Charles I, to reach the Spice Islands by sailing west. They found the strait at the tip of South America that now bears Magellan's name and crossed a Pacific far wider than anyone expected. Magellan was killed in the Philippines in 1521. Juan Sebastián Elcano, from Getaria in the Basque Country, brought the last ship, the Victoria, home on 6 September 1522 with eighteen men: the first voyage round the world.
Say it
Solo dieciocho hombres volvieron en la nave Victoria.
Only eighteen men came back on the ship Victoria.
Why it matters
It proved the world could be sailed round and put the Philippines on Spain's map; the Spanish-speaking world would later stretch from Seville to Manila.
Read about it
Connected
- The Treaty of Tordesillas (7 June 1494)
- The Treaty of Tordesillas (7 June 1494)
- Balboa reaches the Pacific (29 September 1513)
- Balboa reaches the Pacific (29 September 1513)
- The Manila galleon (1565–1815)
- The Manila galleon (1565–1815)
- Before: The revolt of the Comuneros
- After: The New Laws of the Indies
Sources
- Ferdinand Magellan — World History Encyclopedia
- Treaty of Tordesillas — World History Encyclopedia