Written by: Jovette Estrellado

Trying to prove for Spain that many of the islands of the Far East, including the Maoluccas layed in Spains territory.   Magellan set sail from Sanclucar be Barrameda in September 20, 1519, with a crew of about 250-270 men on five different ships, called the Trinidad, the San Antonio, the Concepcion, the Victoria, and the Santiago.  He sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to the Canary Islands, where they decided to set sail for Brazil.  A mutiny occurred on the ship which was led by Cartegena, which later was relived from his command of the San Antonio and held prisoner at the Victoria.  On December 6 they saw Brazil, and on December 13, they reached the Bay of Rio de Janeiro where they stopped for a rest.

On October 21, 1520, they reached a straight that had troubled waters, which was to be later named after him.  For 38 days, they struggled trying to get through.  In the process, the captain of the San Antonio deserted and returned to Spain with the ship.  Finally they broke through and arrived to a calm open water ocean which Magellan named the Pacific.  With three ships left, the Trinidad, the Victoria, and the Concepcion, they were ready to go and visit Moluccas or the Spice Islands. 

Magellan knew nothing of this ocean, for he said diagonally across to look for nearby land.  He thought it would take him only about three days to get to the Spice Islands.  But boy, was he wrong.  They sailed for three months and 20 days without fresh food until they finally reached Guam in March 6, 1521.  Though they obtained food and provisions, many of the men suffered scurvy without the benefit of vitamin C, and were still starving. But Magellan decided to sail to the Philippines.  When her arrived there, he made an alliance with the ruler of Cebu (one of Philippines many islands) and persuaded him to accept Christianity.  But Magellan and his crew got involved in a war with the neighboring island of Cebu, Mactan.  This involvement in this conflict led to a victory for Cebu, but a death for Magellan who was killed by the Mactan ruler, Lapu Lapu on April 27, 1521.