Ask anyone, and he will tell you that the first person to travel around the world was the Portuguese navigator and explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who died on the island of Mactan (Philippines) during an armed skirmish with the natives (1521). The same is written in history textbooks. In fact, this is a myth. After all, it turns out that one excludes the other.
Magellan managed to go only half the way.
Primus circumdedisti me (you walked around me first) - says the Latin inscription on the coat of arms of Juan Sebastian Elcano, crowned with a globe. Indeed, Elcano was the first person to sail around the world.
The San Telmo Museum in San Sebastian houses a painting by Salaverria "The Return of Victoria". Eighteen emaciated people in white shrouds, with lighted candles in their hands, staggered down the ladder from the ship to the Seville embankment. These are sailors from the only ship that returned to Spain from the entire Magellan flotilla. Ahead is their captain, Juan Sebastian Elcano.
Much in Elcano's biography has not yet been clarified. Oddly enough, the man who circled the globe for the first time did not attract the attention of artists and historians of his time. There is not even a reliable portrait of him, and from the documents he wrote, only letters to the king, petitions and will have survived.
Juan Sebastian Elcano was born in 1486 in Getaria, a small port town in the Basque Country, near San Sebastian. He early connected his own fate with the sea, making a career that was not uncommon for an enterprising person of that time - first changing his job as a fisherman for a smuggler's share, and later enlisting in the navy to avoid punishment for his too loose attitude to laws and trade duties. Elcano managed to take part in the Italian Wars and the Spanish military campaign in Algeria in 1509. Basque has mastered the maritime business well in practice when he was a smuggler, but it is in the navy that Elcano receives the "correct" education in navigation and astronomy.
In 1510 Elcano, owner and captain of the ship, participated in the siege of Tripoli. But the Spanish treasury refused to pay Elcano the amount due for settlements with the crew. After leaving military service, which never seriously seduced the young adventurer with low earnings and the need to observe discipline, Elcano decides to start a new life in Seville. It seems to Bascu that a brilliant future awaits him - in a new city for him no one knows about his not entirely perfect past, the navigator atoned for his guilt before the law in battles with the enemies of Spain, he has official papers that allow him to work as a captain on a merchant ship … But the trading enterprises, of which Elcano becomes a member, turn out to be all unprofitable.
Promotional video:
In 1517, in order to pay off debts, he sold the ship under his command to the Genoese bankers - and this trading operation determined his entire fate. The fact is that the owner of the sold ship was not Elcano himself, but the Spanish crown, and the Basque is expected to have difficulties with the law again, this time threatening him with the death penalty. At that time it was considered a serious crime. Knowing that the court would not take any excuses into account, Elcano fled to Seville, where it was easy to get lost, and then take refuge on any ship: in those days, captains were least interested in the biographies of their people. In addition, there were many Elcano countrymen in Seville, and one of them, Ibarolla, was well acquainted with Magellan. He helped Elcano to enlist in Magellan's flotilla. Having passed the exams and received beans as a sign of a good mark (those who did not pass received peas from the examination committee), Elcano became the helmsman of the third largest ship in the flotilla, the Concepcion.
Ships of Magellan's flotilla.
On September 20, 1519, Magellan's flotilla left the mouth of the Guadalquivir and headed for the shores of Brazil. In April 1520, when the ships settled for the winter in the frosty and deserted San Julian Bay, the captains dissatisfied with Magellan revolted. Elcano found himself drawn into it, not daring to disobey his commanding officer, Captain of the Concepcion Quesada.
Magellan vigorously and brutally suppressed the rebellion: Quesade and another of the leaders of the conspiracy were cut off their heads, the corpses were quartered and the mutilated remains were stumbled on poles. Captain Cartagena and one priest, also the instigator of the rebellion, Magellan ordered to land on the deserted coast of the bay, where they later died. The remaining forty rioters, including Elcano, were spared by Magellan.
1. The first ever voyage around the world
On November 28, 1520, the remaining three ships left the strait and in March 1521, after an unprecedentedly difficult passage across the Pacific Ocean, approached the islands, later called the Mariana Islands. In the same month, Magellan discovered the Philippine Islands, and on April 27, 1521, he died in a skirmish with the locals on Matan Island. Elcano, struck by scurvy, did not participate in this skirmish. After the death of Magellan, Duarte Barbosa and Juan Serrano were elected captains of the flotilla. At the head of a small detachment, they went ashore to the raja of Cebu and were cunningly killed. Fate again - for the umpteenth time - spared Elcano. Karvalio became the head of the flotilla. But only 115 people remained on the three ships; many of them are sick. Therefore, "Concepcion" was burned in the strait between the islands of Cebu and Bohol; and his crew was transferred to the other two vessels - "Victoria" and "Trinidad". Both ships wandered between the islands for a long time, until, finally, on November 8, 1521, they dropped anchor off the island of Tidore, one of the "Spice Islands" - the Moluccas. Then it was generally decided to continue sailing on one ship - "Victoria", whose captain shortly before that had become Elcano, and "Trinidad" to leave on the Moluccas. And Elcano managed to navigate his worm-eaten ship with a starving crew across the Indian Ocean and along the coast of Africa. A third of the team was killed, about a third was detained by the Portuguese, but still "Victoria" on September 8, 1522 entered the mouth of the Guadalquivir.whose captain shortly before this had become Elcano, and "Trinidad" to leave in the Moluccas. And Elcano managed to navigate his worm-eaten ship with a starving crew across the Indian Ocean and along the coast of Africa. A third of the team was killed, about a third was detained by the Portuguese, but still "Victoria" on September 8, 1522 entered the mouth of the Guadalquivir.whose captain shortly before this had become Elcano, and "Trinidad" to leave in the Moluccas. And Elcano managed to navigate his worm-eaten ship with a starving crew across the Indian Ocean and along the coast of Africa. A third of the team was killed, about a third was detained by the Portuguese, but still "Victoria" on September 8, 1522 entered the mouth of the Guadalquivir.
It was an unprecedented crossing, unheard of in the history of navigation. Contemporaries wrote that Elcano surpassed King Solomon, the Argonauts and the cunning Odysseus. The first ever voyage around the world has been completed! The king granted the navigator an annual pension of 500 gold ducats and knighted Elcano. The coat of arms assigned to Elcano (since then del Cano) immortalized his voyage. The coat of arms featured two cinnamon sticks framed with nutmeg and carnation, a golden lock topped with a helmet. Above the helmet is a globe with the Latin inscription: "You were the first to go around me." And finally, by special decree, the king announced Elcano forgiveness for selling the ship to a foreigner. But if it was quite easy to reward and forgive the brave captain, then it turned out to be more difficult to resolve all controversial issues related to the fate of the Moluccas. The Spanish-Portuguese Congress met for a long time, but it could not "divide" between the two powerful powers the islands located on the other side of the "earthly apple". And the Spanish government decided not to delay the dispatch of the second expedition to Molucca.
2. Goodbye La Coruña
La Coruña was considered the safest port in Spain, in which "all the fleets of the world could be accommodated." The importance of the city increased even more when the Chamber of Indian Affairs was temporarily transferred here from Seville. This chamber worked out plans for a new expedition to the Moluccas in order to finally establish Spanish rule on these islands. Elcano arrived in La Coruña full of bright hopes - he already saw himself as an admiral of the armada - and took up the equipment of the flotilla. However, Charles I appointed not Elcano as commander, but a certain Jofre de Loais, a participant in many naval battles, but completely unfamiliar with navigation. Elcano's pride was deeply hurt. In addition, a "supreme refusal" came from the royal chancellery to Elcano's petition for the payment of an annual pension of 500 gold ducats granted to him:the king ordered to pay this amount only after returning from the expedition. This is how Elcano experienced the traditional ingratitude of the Spanish crown towards the famous sailors.
Before sailing, Elcano visited his native Getaria, where he, a renowned sailor, easily managed to recruit many volunteers on his ships: with a man who walked around the "earthly apple", you will not be lost even with the devil in the mouth - reasoned the port brethren. In the early summer of 1525, Elcano brought his four ships to A Coruña and was appointed helmsman and deputy commander of the flotilla. In total, the flotilla consisted of seven ships and 450 crew members. There were no Portuguese on this expedition. The last night before the departure of the flotilla in La Coruña was very lively and solemn. At midnight on Mount Hercules, on the site of the ruins of a Roman lighthouse, a huge fire was lit. The city said goodbye to the sailors. The cries of the townspeople, treating the sailors with wine from leather bottles, the weeping of women and the hymns of the pilgrims mingled with the sounds of the merry dance of La Muneira. The sailors of the flotilla remembered this night for a long time. They went to the other hemisphere, and now they faced a life full of danger and hardship. For the last time, Elcano walked under the narrow arch of Puerto de San Miguel and descended sixteen pink steps to the shore. These steps, already completely worn out, have survived to this day.
Death of Magellan.
3. Misfortunes of the chief helmsman
Lois's mighty, well-armed flotilla set out on 24 July 1525. According to royal instructions, and there were fifty-three of them in total, Loaisa had to follow Magellan's path, but avoid his mistakes. But neither Elcano - the king's chief adviser, nor the king himself foresaw that this would be the last expedition sent through the Strait of Magellan. It was Loaisa's expedition that was destined to prove that this was not the most profitable route. And all subsequent expeditions to Asia were sent from the Pacific ports of New Spain (Mexico).
On 26 July, the ships circled Cape Finisterre. On August 18, the ships were caught in a heavy storm. The mainmast was broken on the admiral's ship, but two carpenters sent by Elcano, risking their lives, nevertheless got there in a small boat. While the mast was being repaired, the flagship collided with the Parral, breaking its mizzen mast. The swimming was very difficult. There was not enough fresh water and provisions. Who knows what the fate of the expedition would have been if on October 20 the lookout had not seen Annobon Island in the Gulf of Guinea on the horizon. The island was deserted - only a few skeletons lay under a tree, on which a strange inscription was carved: "Here lies the unfortunate Juan Ruiz, killed because he deserved it." Superstitious sailors saw this as a formidable omen. The ships hastily filled up with water and stocked up on provisions. On this occasion, the captains and officers of the flotilla were summoned to a festive dinner at the admiral's, which almost ended tragically.
A huge fish of an unknown breed was served on the table. According to Urdaneta, Elcano's page and the chronicler of the expedition, some sailors who "tasted the meat of this fish, which had teeth like a big dog, had such a pain in their stomachs that they thought they would not survive." Soon the entire flotilla left the shores of the inhospitable Annobon. From here Loaisa decided to sail to the shores of Brazil. And from that moment a streak of misfortunes began for the "Sancti Espiritus", the ship of Elcano. Not having time to set sail, "Sancti Espiritus" nearly collided with the admiral's ship, and then generally lagged behind the flotilla for some time. At a latitude of 31º, after a violent storm, the admiral's ship disappeared from view. Elcano took command of the remaining ships. Then the San Gabriel separated from the flotilla. The remaining five ships searched for the admiral's ship for three days. The search was unsuccessful, and Elcano ordered to go further, to the Strait of Magellan.
On January 12, the ships stopped at the mouth of the Santa Cruz River, and since neither the admiral's ship nor the San Gabriel approached, Elcano called a council. Knowing from the experience of the previous voyage that there was an excellent anchorage, he suggested waiting for both ships, as it was provided by the instructions. However, the officers, who were eager to enter the strait as soon as possible, advised to leave only the Santiago Pinassa at the mouth of the river, burying a message in the bank under the cross on the island that the ships were heading for the Strait of Magellan. On the morning of January 14, the flotilla weighed anchor. But what Elcano took for the strait turned out to be the mouth of the Gallegos River, five or six miles from the strait. Urdaneta, who, despite his admiration for Elcano. retained the ability to treat his decisions critically, writes that such a mistake by Elcano struck him very much. On the same day, they came to the present entrance to the strait and anchored at the Cape of Eleven Thousand Holy Virgins.
Exact copy of the ship "Victoria".
At night a terrible storm hit the flotilla. Raging waves flooded the ship to the middle of the masts, and it barely kept on four anchors. Elcano realized that all was lost. His only thought now was to save the team. He ordered the ship to run aground. Panic began on Sancti Espiritus. Several soldiers and sailors threw themselves into the water in terror; all drowned, except for one who managed to reach the shore. Then the rest crossed over to the shore. We managed to save some of the provisions. However, at night the storm broke out with the same force and finally smashed the Sancti Espiritus. For Elcano, the captain, the first seafarer around the world and the main pilot of the expedition, the wreck, especially through his fault, was a big blow. Never before had Elcano been in such a difficult situation. When the storm finally died downthe captains of other ships sent a boat for Elcano, inviting him to lead them through the Strait of Magellan, since he had been here before. Elcano agreed, but took only Urdaneta with him. He left the rest of the sailors on the shore …
But failures did not leave the exhausted fleet. From the very beginning, one of the ships almost ran into the stones, and only the determination of Elcano saved the ship. After a while, Elcano sent Urdaneta with a group of sailors to fetch the sailors left on the shore. Soon, the Urdaneta group ran out of provisions. At night there were severe cold, and people were forced to dig up to their throats in the sand, which also warmed a little. On the fourth day, Urdaneta and his companions approached the sailors who were dying on the coast from hunger and cold, and on the same day Loaisa's ship, San Gabriel and the Santiago pinassa entered the mouth of the strait. On January 20, they joined the rest of the ships of the flotilla.
JUAN SEBASTIAN ELCANO.
On February 5, a violent storm broke out again. The ship Elcano took refuge in the strait, and the San Lesmes was thrown by the storm further south, to 54 ° 50 ′ south latitude, that is, it approached the very tip of Tierra del Fuego. Not a single ship went further south in those days. A little more, and the expedition could open a path around Cape Horn. After the storm, it turned out that the admiral's ship was aground, and Loaisa and his crew left the ship. Elcano immediately dispatched a group of the best sailors to the admiral's aid. On the same day, Anunciada deserted. The captain of the ship, de Vera, decided to independently get to Molucca past the Cape of Good Hope. Anunciada is missing. A few days later, San Gabriel also deserted. The remaining ships returned to the mouth of the Santa Cruz River, where the sailors began to repair the admiral's ship, pretty battered by storms. In other conditions, it would have to be abandoned altogether, but now that the flotilla had lost its three largest ships, this could no longer be afforded. Elcano, who, upon his return to Spain, criticized Magellan for staying at the mouth of this river for seven weeks, now he himself had to spend five weeks here. At the end of March, the somehow patched up ships again headed for the Strait of Magellan. The expedition now included only an admiral's ship, two caravels and a pinassa. At the end of March, the somehow patched up ships again headed for the Strait of Magellan. The expedition now included only an admiral's ship, two caravels and a pinassa. At the end of March, the somehow patched up ships again headed for the Strait of Magellan. The expedition now included only an admiral's ship, two caravels and a pinassa.
On April 5, the ships entered the Strait of Magellan. Between the islands of Santa Maria and Santa Magdalena, the admiral's ship suffered another misfortune. A boiler with boiling resin caught fire, a fire broke out on the ship.
Panic began, many sailors rushed to the boat, not paying attention to Loais, who showered them with curses. The fire was still extinguished. The flotilla went on through the strait, along the banks of which, on high mountain peaks, "so high that they seemed to extend to the very sky," lay eternal bluish snows. At night, the Patagonians' bonfires burned on both sides of the strait. Elcano already knew these lights from the maiden voyage. On April 25, the ships weighed anchor from the San Jorge mooring, where they replenished their supplies of water and firewood, and again set off on a difficult voyage.
And where the waves of both oceans meet with a deafening roar, a storm hit Loaisa's flotilla again. The ships anchored in the bay of San Juan de Portalina. Mountains several thousand feet towered on the coast of the bay. It was terribly cold, and “no clothes could keep us warm,” writes Urdaneta. Elcano was on the flagship all the time: Loaisa, lacking relevant experience, relied entirely on Elcano. The passage through the strait lasted forty-eight days - ten days more than Magellan's. On May 31, a strong northeast wind blew. The whole sky was overcast. On the night of June 1–2, a storm broke out, the most terrible of the former so far, scattering all the ships. Although the weather improved later, they were not destined to meet. Elcano, with most of the Sancti Espiritus crew, was now on the admiral's ship,where there were one hundred and twenty people. Two pumps did not have time to pump out water, they feared that the ship could sink at any moment. In general, the ocean was Great, but by no means Quiet.
4. The helmsman dies as an admiral
The ship was sailing alone, on the immense horizon neither sail nor island could be seen. “Every day,” writes Urdaneta, “we waited for the end. Due to the fact that people from the wrecked ship moved to us, we are forced to reduce our rations. We worked hard and ate little. We had to endure great hardships and some of us died. " Loais passed away on July 30. According to one of the members of the expedition, the cause of his death was a lack of spirit; he was so worried about the loss of the rest of the ships that he "grew weaker and died." Loais did not forget to mention in his will his chief helmsman: “I ask that Elcano return four casks of white wine that I owe him. The crackers and other provisions that lie on my ship "Santa Maria de la Victoria", let them give my nephew Alvaro de Loais, who is to share it with Elcano. " They saythat by this time only rats remained on the ship. On the ship, many suffered from scurvy. Wherever Elcano glanced, everywhere he saw puffy pale faces and heard the groans of sailors.
Since the time they left the strait, thirty people have died from scurvy. “They all died,” writes Urdaneta, “because their gums were swollen and they could not eat anything. I saw a man whose gums were so swollen that he tore off pieces of meat as thick as a finger. The sailors had one hope - Elcano. In spite of everything, they believed in his lucky star, although he was so ill that four days before Loaisa's death he made his will. A cannon salute was given in honor of Elcano's inauguration as admiral, a position he had unsuccessfully sought two years earlier. But Elcano's strength was running out. The day came when the admiral could no longer get out of bed. His relatives and loyal Urdaneta gathered in the cabin. In the flickering candlelight, one could see how emaciated and how much they suffered. Urdaneta kneels down and touches the body of her dying master with one hand. The priest is watching him closely. Finally, he raises his hand, and everyone present slowly kneels. Elcano's wanderings are over …
“Monday, 6 August. The valiant lord Juan Sebastian de Elcano has died. This is how Urdaneta noted the death of the great navigator in his diary.
Four people lift the body of Juan Sebastian, wrapped in a shroud and tied to a board. At a sign from the new admiral, they throw him into the sea. There was a splash, drowning out the priest's prayers.
MONUMENT IN HONOR OF ELKANO IN GETARIA.
Epilogue
Drained by worms, tormented by storms and storms, the lone ship continued on its way. The team, according to Urdaneta, “was terribly exhausted and exhausted. Not a day went by without one of us dying.
So we decided that it was best for us to go to the Moluccas. " Thus, they abandoned the bold plan of Elcano, who was going to fulfill Columbus's dream - to reach the east coast of Asia, following the shortest route from the west. “I am sure that if Elcano had not died, we would not have reached the Ladron (Mariana) Islands so soon, because his always intention was to find Chipansu (Japan),” writes Urdaneta. He clearly considered Elcano's plan too risky. But the person who circled the “earthly apple” for the first time did not know what fear was. But he also did not know that in three years Charles I would give up his "rights" to Portugal for 350 thousand gold ducats. Of the entire Loaisa expedition, only two ships survived: the San Gabriel, which after a two-year voyage reached Spain, and the Santiago pinassa under the command of Guevara,passed along the Pacific coast of South America to Mexico. Although Guevara only saw the coast of South America once, his voyages proved that the coast does not protrude far to the west anywhere and that South America is triangular. This was the most important geographical discovery of the Loisse expedition.
Getaria, in the homeland of Elcano, at the entrance to the church there is a stone slab with a half-erased inscription on which reads: "… the glorious captain Juan Sebastian del Cano, a native and resident of the noble and faithful city of Getaria, the first to circumnavigate the globe on the ship" Victoria ". In 1661, Don Pedro de Etave and Hazi, Commander of the Order of Calatrava, erected this slab in memory of the hero. Pray for the peace of mind of the one who was the first to travel around the world. " And on the globe in the Museum of San Telmo the place where Elcano died is marked - 157º West longitude and 9º North latitude.
In the history textbooks, Juan Sebastian Elcano undeservedly found himself in the shadow of Fernand Magellan's glory, but in his homeland he is remembered and revered. The name Elcano is a training sailing ship in the Spanish Navy. In the wheelhouse of the ship, you can see the coat of arms of Elcano, and the sailing ship itself has already managed to carry out a dozen round-the-world expeditions.