Magellan
First Voyage Around the Globe

The idea behind Magellán's expedition was, like Columbus', to find a shorter way from Europe to the (East-)Indies. The detour around the South-African Storm Cape opened by Vasco da Gama was long and dangerous. Also, after the Treaty of Tordesillas where the pope had divided the world between Portugal and Spain, the Spanish hope was that the Portuguese monopoly on the spice trade could be broken.
Magellán, basing his theories on letters by Francisco Serrão, mistakenly placed the Spice Islands far to the East of their actual position, within the Spanish hemisphere. Then, just like Columbus, he thought that the world was much smaller than it was, which resulted in an estimated voyage of only half the actual length.

The "Strait" through the South-American continent he was looking for may only have existed in somebody's imagination (at least until he found it), but there was at least one Portuguese map depicting it. Historian Bartolomé de las Casas was among the many who were skeptical about its existence.

NASA photo

Time-Line
adjusted to Gregorian calendar

1492		Columbus' first Voyage
1494		Treaty of Tordesillas The newly discovered lands outside Europe are divided between the Spanish and the Portuguese along a meridian 370 leagues west of Cabo Verde islands
1499		Vasco da Gama returns from India to Portugal, rounding Africa First voyage to the Americas of Alonso de Ojeda (with Amerigo Vespucci) Spaniard Vicente Yáñez Pizón first to see coast of Brasil and explore Amazon mouth
1517	20 October	Magellán arrives in Sevilla, Spain from Portugal
1519	10 August 20 September 26 September 3 October - 29 November 13 December 20 December 27 December 31 December	The "Moluccan Armada" (Magellán's Victoria and four more ships) departs from Sevilla sets sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda Arrival at Tenerife, Canary Islands Departure from Monterose, Tenerife Sodomy trial - Mutinous Captain Cartagena replaced by Antonio de Coca Cabo de Santo Agostinho, Brasil Bahia Santa Lúcia, Rio de Janeiro Execution of Antonio Salamón for sodomy Departure from Rio de Janeiro Bahia Paranaguá
1520	8 January 10 January 3 February 5 February 13 February 23 February 24 February - 27 February 31 March 1 April 3 April 3 May 11 August 24 August 26 August 18 October 21 October	shoals encountered Cabo Santa Maria (Rio de la Plata, Montevideo) storms force fleet to turn back Rio de la Plata explored, but is not entrance to Strait Fleet turns southward rounds Cabo Corrientes pass 40 degrees south - heavy storm returns northward Golfo San Matías Bahía Blanca Bahía de los Patos [ducks - really penguins]; later renamed Bay of Toil Porto San Julián - stay there for winter Easter Sunday - Mutiny starts. Concepción captain Quesada, Cartagena and Elcano board and conquer San Antonio. Victoria and Concepción join mutiny; Santiago remains neutral. Magellán breaks mutiny and cruelly tortures and executes the leaders. Forty other men (Elcano among them) are sentenced to death, but get off with hard labor. Serrano in Santiago discovers Santa Cruz river, runs into storm and is shipwrecked. 2 castaways manage to reach San Julian over land. All are rescued. Juan de Cartagena and priest Pero Sanchez de la Rema are marooned in San Julian. The fleet, now four ships, continues the voyage south. Forced by a storm to enter Santa Cruz; stay there for 6 weeks. Fleet departs after restocking with wood, salted fish. Fleet enters the Strait.

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Funny map	Paradise map	Piri Re'is map
Leo Belgicus the Dutch lion	fool's paradise Forester fools Forester	for real still fools lots of people
Vinland map	WWII convoys	Internet map
fake Jesuit fools Hitler	The Murmans convoy run Halifax-Iceland-Murmansk	stupid Yiddish: MicroSov
Magellan	chart room	Contarini
first around the world 1519 - 1522	even more charts and maps	first printed map with America, 1506