Elcano and the First Circumnavigation of the World Book 2
Copyright© 2026 by Mark West
Chapter 2
Magellan’s history That weekend at Lebrija I met three of these Basque merchants: Martín de Guieldo, Juan Ochoa de Ireve and Martín de Aranzueta as well as several merchants who were natives of Sevilla.
The food and wine were good, and the company agreeable, so it was natural that after a particularly satisfying lunch on the day after I arrived, when the company settled down with glasses of fine brandy from the town of Jerez de la Frontera, the conversation should turn to the voyage planned by Magellan.
After Balboa had crossed the New World from ocean to ocean at Darien in 1513, it was wellknown that there was another sea which was called the South Sea, but in spite of many attempts to find a way to sail between the Atlantic Ocean and the South Sea, it had proved to be an impossible task, and it had also cost the lives of such brave sailors as Juan Díaz de Solís who had perished along with 60 of his men in 1516 while exploring the southern coast of the New World.
These residents of Sevilla were all aware of how Magellan had persuaded King Carlos to agree to finance his search for a route to the Spice Islands by finding a navigable passage crossing the land of the New World to reach the South Sea. As I was a newcomer to Sevilla who they knew wanted to join the crew of one of the ships, they told me the details of what had made Magellan abandon Portugal and present his proposal to King Carlos.
Magellan had been born in the village of Saborosa in the province of Traz-os-Montes about 80 kilometres inland from Oporto in Portugal in 1480 and named Hernando Magallanes. His family were minor nobility and at an early age he entered the service of Queen Leonor, the widow of King Juan II of Portugal, and at the age of 15 he began to serve King Manuel who succeeded Juan II.
In 1505 he joined the fleet of Francisco de Almeida which consisted of 22 ships containing two thousand men bound for India by sailing around the southern tip of Africa. He remained away from Portugal for eight years, taking part in the battles of Cannanore in 1506, where he was wounded, and Dui in 1509.
He also showed his concern for the sailors of two Portuguese ships that sank after leaving Cochin in India en route for Portugal. The crew and most of the cargo were put ashore on a small island near where the ships sank.