Ferdinand MagellanWorld explorers by Lara-Anne

Date of birth and death of Magellan

Date of birth: 1480

Date of death: 27 April 1521 ( aged 40 )

Why Magellan was a famous explorer

Magellan was famous as the great explorer who led five Spanish ships and 251 men in the first voyage around the World.

Map where Magellan travelled

Where Magellan sailed to

Early in his career, Magellan sailed to India and the Far East many times.

Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) was a Portuguese explorer who led the first expedition that sailed around the Earth (1519-1521).

Magellan is a Portuguese explorer but then had a fight with the Portuguese king so he sailed for Spain

Information

Magellan and his friend the astronomer Ruy de Falero proposed to King Charles (of Spain) that a westward voyage around the tip of South America would take them to the Moluccas (spice-rich islands) and avoid the Portuguese (with whom they were competing fiercely).

Information

The voyage began September 8, 1519, and lasted until September 6, 1521 (almost 3 years). Magellan sailed from Seville, Spain, with five ships, the Trinidad, San Antonio, Concepcion, Victoria, and Santiago. Three years later, only one ship (the Victoria) made it back to Seville, carrying only 18 of the original 270 crew members.

Magellan was killed towards the end of the voyage, in the Philippines, during a battle with the natives. The Basque navigator Juan Sebastian de Elcano (del Cano) completed the trip.

Why did Magellan explore

Magellan wanted to find a passage through the Pacific to China and the East Indies, as Columbus had originally sought to do.