Magellan: A Man and his Deed

His voyage was financed 75% by the King of Spain, Charles V, The Holy Roman Emperor, and 25% by Christopher de Haro, a Dutch businessman residing in Spain. The purpose of the trip by Magellan was not Gold, Glory and God, as is commonly believed. Rather, it was for better food, as the basic spices commonly available today, including pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and mace, were not available in Europe and had to be imported through Arab traders, making them outrageously expensive. Although most of the 237 men who embarked on the journey in 1519 died along the way, including Magellan himself who was killed in Cebu in the Philippines, one ship made it back in 1522 with 18 men and a cargo laden with spices, and the expedition earned a financial profit. After the death of Magellan, his remaining men divided into two groups. One group decided to go back to Europe the way that they had come, by crossing the Pacific Ocean. However, they never made it. The other group, led by Juan Sebastian Elcano, made it back to Spain with only one ship, but that ship had a cargo laden with valuable spices including cloves that had been acquired in the Spice Islands, with the result that the entire expedition earned a financial profit, which was the purpose of the expedition in the first place. Of 237 men who had left with Magellan on five ships three years earlier, only 18 were left on the only ship to return. However, not all of the others had died along the way. Some who had been captured by the Portuguese or who had been left behind on the Cape Verde Islands arrived later. A few others had voluntarily stayed behind, preferring the company of the easy women in the Philippines. At least two had been marooned on the coast of Brazil following an unsuccessful attempt at mutiny. There seems to be no record of what happened to those two. Although most of the original 237 were dead, many of them still have never been fully accounted for. "