Biography

Hello, my name is Ferdinand Magellan and I was born in Sabrosa, Portugal to Rui de Magalhaes and Alda de Mesquita in the year of 1480. When I was 10, my parents died and became a page at the Queen’s royal court since my family is well connected with the royal family. Becoming a page gave me an advantage; my advantage was that I could become well-educated and learned about the Portuguese exploration during this time. When I turned 25, I enlisted myself in a fleet of 22 ships that was going to be shipped to Francisco de Almeida as the first viceroy. Because of some accusations that were made, I lost the privilege of being employed by the Portuguese. After Columbus, I decided to do something similar. But, to get to the Spice Islands I have to travel through the New World to reach there. I presented this to the king of Portugal, Manuel I, but he rejected my plan. So after I got rejected, I went to the Spanish king for his help.

I persuaded the Spanish king (Charles I) and I was granted a large sum of money. I was so excited. I used the money to find the perfect route that will lead me to the Spice Islands. I left Spain to find the Spice Islands with five ships and 250 men. Since I am a Portuguese, my shipmates plotted death plans on me but luckily they get sent to prison or get executed. I couldn’t really do anything because I am sailing for Spain not Portugal. After sailing across the Atlantic Ocean for a long time, we finally reached Rio de Janeiro to restock supplies for each ship. Sailing past the south coast of South America, my fleet and I finally reached the Pacific Ocean. But when we were sailing through the south tip of South America, the weather was really horrible so we had to wait until the weather got better so we could continue our journey. Well as the weather got better, I personally sent Santiago to go check the way to get through the Pacific Ocean.

We finally found a way to get through the Pacific Ocean.  Since, we lost another ship because they decided to abandon the journey and took many of the supplies that were needed.  The rest of the ships including my ship passed through the strait that I call the “Strait of All Saints” which leads me and my fleet to the Pacific Ocean.  During the time that we were sailing to reach the Spice Islands, we suffered immensely for food and we were short of supplies. When we reached Guam, I restocked the supplies for the ships and the necessities that we needed. Instead of finding the Spice Islands, we were at the Philippines and for some reason befriended the king there. My crew and I were persuaded by the king to defeat their rival, Lapu-Lapu. My crew and I succeeded in becoming the first ones to sail around the world or in other words circumnavigated the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwzoH2a-E4A