The Conclusion of Magellan’s

Expedition On September 6, 1522, nearly 36 months after the beginning of Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition, only one of the five ships, the loaded-with-spices carrack “Victoria” with 18 crew members, returned to Spain. Magellan himself perished on the previously uncharted for Europeans Philippines, and the first circumnavigation of the globe was completed by the boatswain Juan Sebastián Elcano.

Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition, which set sail from the port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda on September 20, 1519, in search of a western route to the Spice Islands in Southeast Asia, reached South America on December 13. When a mutiny arose during the wintering near the coast of Patagonia in April 1520, Magellan managed to suppress it quite swiftly, using the two weakest but loyal ships. During the initial moments of negotiations with the mutineers, Captain Luis de Mendoza of the “Victoria” was killed, and subsequently, without resistance, the crew of his ship surrendered. On April 2, those who were blocked in the narrow strait “Concepción” and “San Antonio” also surrendered. Forty of the most active mutineers were sentenced to death but were pardoned by Magellan, except for Captain Gaspar de Quesada, who was beheaded and quartered on April 7. The only instigator of the mutiny who survived was Juan de Cartagena, captain of the “Concepción,” whose life was spared due to his father’s high position as the head of the Trade Chamber, overseeing all overseas territories of Castile. However, on August 24, when the expedition continued its voyage, he, along with the priest Pedro Sánchez de la Reina, was left on a deserted shore with a small supply of food and water.
During the wintering period, the caravel “Santiago” sank on May 22, hitting rocks at the mouth of the Santa Cruz River, over a hundred miles from the main anchorage where its crew was fishing and stocking up on firewood and water. Almost the entire crew survived, but it took two months to rescue and salvage the remaining parts of the “Santiago” from the sea. Only on October 21 did the expedition approach the place now known as Cape Virgenes. The “San Antonio,” sent for reconnaissance, discovered a narrow passage ahead, of unknown length (as it turned out, 570 kilometers), with erratic winds and strong currents, which was probably the strait sought by Magellan, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. However, the “San Antonio” crew refused to sail further: after removing Captain Álvaro de Mesquita, under the leadership of pilot Estêvão Gomes, on May 6, 1521, they reached Seville, where they were brought to trial.

The loss of the largest ship with significant provisions was keenly felt when the expedition, after crossing the strait on November 28, named after All Saints (now known as the Strait of Magellan), embarked on an almost four-month journey across the desolate expanses of the Pacific Ocean. Weakened by scurvy and hunger, which forced them to eat ship rats, they only reached Guam Island, significantly north of the Moluccas Islands, the original destination of Magellan, on March 6, 1521.
Upon reaching Bohol Island the next day, the Spaniards discovered that only 108 men from the entire expedition had survived. This was insufficient for three ships, so after burning the most damaged ship, the “Concepción,” its crew, rigging, cargo, and arms were divided between the “Trinidad,” led by pilot Juan López de Carvalho, and the “Victoria,” commanded by the expedition’s sheriff (chief military officer), Gonzalo Gómez de Espinosa. As one of the closest confidants of Magellan, who had actually quelled the mutiny in Patagonia, Espinosa achieved the removal of Carvalho from the position of general captain (expedition leader) in September. He appointed himself as the replacement and named 35-year-old boatswain Juan Sebastián Elcano, one of the most active participants in the mutiny, as the captain of the “Victoria.” Elcano had spent 5 months in shackles as punishment for his involvement in the mutiny.
On November 7, 1521, the expedition reached the Moluccas, where it loaded up with cloves and was preparing to sail when a hole was discovered in the Trinidad on December 18. It remained on the island of Tidore for repairs, and the Victoria, having replenished its crew with natives, set sail for home three days later. She crossed the Indian Ocean, avoiding Portuguese ports, sailed along the coast of Africa, passed the Cape of Good Hope on May 22, and after two months of continuous sailing, reached the Cape Verde Islands on July 9, where 13 members of her crew were captured by the Portuguese while replenishing supplies of food and water.
To escape capture, the Victoria immediately weighed anchor, and on Saturday, September 6, 1522, 35 months and 16 days after the start of the expedition, with 18 crew members on board, she returned to the port of Sanlucar de Barrameda. After climbing the Guadalquivir River, she arrived in Seville on September 8, completing the world’s first circumnavigation. In the port, she was met by representatives of the city authorities, the Chamber of Commerce and a large crowd of curious people. The crew didn’t come ashore until the next morning, when washed and dressed sailors in white shirts and candles took part in a procession to the church of Santa Maria de la Victoria and the chapel of the Virgin Mary of St. Mary’s Cathedral. Their 13 colleagues (including one Malaysian, the only survivor of the 10-month voyage), who were captured on the Cape Verde Islands, were able to return to Spain only five months later.
Meanwhile, Gonzalo Espinoza, who had only sailed from Tidore on April 16, 1522, decided to return home via the eastern route. Moving across the Pacific Ocean towards Panama, the Trinidad was caught in a zone of headwinds and, having suffered damage during the storm, lost part of its crew and was captured by the Portuguese Antonio de Brito. Five sailors, including Espinosa, arrived in Portugal only in 1525, and four of them (German artilleryman Hans Varga died in a Lisbon prison) were released two years later.
Juan Sebastião Elcano, rewarded by Charles I of Habsburg with a coat of arms depicting a globe and the slogan “Primus circumdedisti me” (“The first to go around”), was knighted by the Order of Santiago and received a permanent annual allowance of five hundred ducats. In 1525, as a pilot and deputy leader, he joined the expedition of García Joffre de Loais, equipped by the king to conquer the Moluccas, during which he died of scurvy on August 4, 1526, aboard the Santa Maria de la Victoria, which was approaching the island of Guam in the Pacific Ocean via the northwest route discovered by Magellan.