Ferdinand Magellan’s major accomplishment was organizing and leading the first expedition to sail around the entire Earth, proving once and for all that the globe could be circumnavigated by sea. He departed Spain in the summer of 1519 with 240 men and five ships. Though Magellan himself died before the voyage was complete, the expedition he planned and commanded for most of its duration changed the world’s understanding of geography, ocean travel, and global trade.
The First Circumnavigation of the Globe
Magellan’s fleet left Seville in the summer of 1519, funded by the Spanish crown with the goal of reaching the Spice Islands by sailing west instead of east. The five ships were the San Antonio, the Concepción, the Victoria, the Santiago, and the flagship Trinidad. They sailed via the Canary Islands and then south along the coast of South America, searching for a passage to the ocean on the other side.
By late spring of 1520, surviving on seal and penguin meat, the fleet entered a narrow, treacherous waterway at the southern tip of South America. This passage, now called the Strait of Magellan, separates the mainland from the island chain of Tierra del Fuego. It was the first known European crossing from the Atlantic to the vast ocean beyond. When the remaining ships emerged on the other side, they found calm, placid waters. Magellan named it the Pacific Ocean, from the word meaning “peaceful.”
The Pacific turned out to be far wider than anyone had guessed. The crossing was grueling, lasting months with dwindling supplies. But the fleet pressed on, eventually reaching the islands of Southeast Asia.
Magellan’s Death in the Philippines
Magellan never completed the trip himself. On April 27, 1521, he was killed on the island of Mactan in the Philippines during a violent clash with local warriors. Antonio Pigafetta, an Italian crew member who kept a detailed journal throughout the voyage, recorded that Magellan was struck by a poisoned arrow in his right leg during the fighting. His death left the expedition without its driving force, and leadership passed through a series of commanders over the following months, none lasting long.
Who Finished the Voyage
Eventually, a Basque navigator named Juan Sebastián Elcano took command of one of the two surviving ships, the Victoria. He guided it westward across the Indian Ocean, around the southern tip of Africa, and back to Spain. The Victoria arrived in September 1522, more than three years after the fleet had originally set out. Of the 240 men who began the journey, only 18 Europeans survived to see Spain again. They had completed the first journey around the globe, despite scurvy, starvation, and repeated harassment by Portuguese ships along the way.
Why the Voyage Mattered
The expedition accomplished several things at once. It provided the first practical proof that the Earth is round, confirming what the ancient Greek scholar Eratosthenes had argued centuries earlier. It also allowed Spain to calculate the total circumference of the globe for the first time, revealing just how enormous the Pacific Ocean really was.
That geographic knowledge had immediate political consequences. Under the Treaty of Tordesillas, Spain and Portugal had divided the non-European world between them along a line of longitude. Knowing the true size of the Pacific meant Spain could claim ownership of several Pacific island groups, including the Philippines, which became a Spanish colony for over 300 years. The voyage also opened a new westward trade route to the Spice Islands, giving Spain direct access to cloves, nutmeg, and other enormously valuable goods without relying on routes controlled by Portugal.
The Record That Survived
Much of what we know about the expedition comes from Pigafetta’s journal, considered the only important primary source for the first circumnavigation. Pigafetta was a young gentleman from Vicenza, Italy, who sailed with Magellan and had the curiosity and discipline to write down everything he saw and heard. He also had the luck to survive. Four manuscript copies of his account still exist today, held in libraries in Paris, Milan, and at Yale University. The Italian version, housed at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, is generally considered the oldest and most complete.
Pigafetta’s record preserved not just the route and events of the voyage but detailed observations of the peoples, languages, plants, and animals encountered along the way. Without it, the story of the first circumnavigation would be little more than a list of dates and port names. Instead, it remains one of the most vivid accounts of exploration ever written.