Juan Sebastián Elcano
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Juan Sebastián Elcano | |
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| Born | Juan Sebastián Elcano 1486 Getaria,Guipúzcoa,Basque Country, Spain |
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| Died | August 4, 1526 Pacific Ocean |
| Cause of death | malnutrition |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Ethnicity | Basque |
| Occupation | explorer, navigator, and mariner |
| Known for | first circumnavigation of the world. |
| Religious beliefs | Roman Catholic |
| Partner | María Hernández Dernialde |
| Children | Domingo Elcano III |
| Parents | Domingo Sebastián Elcano I, and Catalina del Puerto |
| Relatives | Domingo Elcano II, Martín Pérez Elcano, and Antón Martín Elcano |
Juan Sebastián Elcano[1] (1486, Getaria, in the Basque province of Guipúzcoa, Spain, — August 4, 1526, Pacific Ocean) was a Spanish Basque explorer who completed the first circumnavigation of the world.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early life
Elcano was born to Domingo Sebastián Elcano I, and Catalina del Puerto, he had three brothers, Domingo Elcano II, a Christian priest, Martín Pérez Elcano, and Antón Martín Elcano. He fought in the war under orders of Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba in Italy, and in 1509, he joined the Spanish expedition organized by Francisco Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros against Algiers. He later settled in Seville, and became a merchant ship captain. After violating Spanish laws by surrendering a ship to Genoan bankers in repayment of a debt, he sought a pardon from the Spanish king Charles I, by signing on as a subordinate officer for the Magellan expedition to the East Indies. He was sparred by Ferdinand Magellan after taking part in a failed mutiny in Patagonia, and after five months of hard labour in chains, he was made captain of the galleon Concepción.
[edit] Magellan expedition
Elcano served as a naval commander of Charles I of Spain, and took part of the expedition to the Philippines. They set sail with five ships, the Concepción, San Antonio, Santiago, Trinidad, and Victoria with a fleet of 241 men from Spain in 1519. Dissatisfaction, and severe weather plagued the voyage from the beginning, and hostility among the Spaniards, and Portuguese grew rapidly which led to the munity of some of his crew members. The Santiago was later destroyed by a storm. The fleet sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to the eastern coast of Brazil, and into Puerto San Julián in Argentina. Several days later they discovered a passage known as the Magellans Strait located in the southern tip of South America, and sailed through the strait. The crew of the San Antonio mutinied, and return to Spain. On November 28, 1520, three ships set sail for the Pacific Ocean, and about 19 men died before they reached Guam on March 6, 1521. Conflicts with the nearby island of Rota prevented Magellan, and Elcano from resupplying their ships with food, and water. They eventually gathered enough supplies, and continued on with their journey to the Philippines, and remained there for several weeks. Close relationship developed between the Spaniards, and the islanders. They took part on converting the Cebuano tribes into Christianity, and unfortunatley the Spaniards became involved in tribal warfare between rival Filipino groups in Mactan Island.
In April 27, 1521, with Magellan killed, and the Spaniards defeated in the Battle of Mactan. Elcano took leadership of the galleons Concepción, Trinidad, Victoria, and sailed southwest towards Borneo. After being involved in conflicts, they sailed back eastward, and then southeast towards Indonesia. After arriving in the Moluccas Islands on November 8, 1521, and loading their ships with food supplies, he divided the fleet. The Trinidad piloted by Gonzalo Gómez de Espinoza tried to sail eastward across the Pacific Ocean to the Isthmus of Panama. Bad weather, and disease disrupted the voyage, and more than half of the crew in the Trinidad died. The surviving members were forced to return to the Spice Islands where the Portuguese imprisoned them.
The Victoria, commanded by Elcano along with 17 other European survivors of the 240 man expedition, and 4 (survivors out of 13) Timorese Asians continued its westward voyage to Spain crossing the Indian, and Atlantic Ocean. They eventually reached Sanlúcar de Barrameda on September 6, 1522. One of the crew members of the Magellan, and Elcano expedition was Italian scholar Antonio Pigafetta who had written several documents about the events of the expedition. According to Pigafetta the voyage covered 14,460 leagues about 81,449 kilometers. Elcano was awarded a coat of arms by Charles I of Spain, featuring a globe with the motto: Primus circumdedisti me (in Latin, "You went around me first")., and an annual pension. He never married but he had a natural son by María Hernández Dernialde named Domingo Elcano, whom he legitimized in his last will and testament. In 1572 to mark the 50th anniversary of the voyage King Philip II of Spain awarded the male heirs of Del Cano the hereditary title of Marques de Buglas.
[edit] Loaísa expedition
In 1525, Elcano goes back to sea, and becomes a member of the Loaísa Expedition. He was appointed leader along with García Jofre de Loaísa as captains, who commanded seven ships, and sent to claim the East Indies for king Charles I of Spain. Both Elcano, and Loaísa, and many other sailors died of malnutrition in the Pacific Ocean, but the survivors reached their destination, and a few of them managed to return to Spain, completing the second world circumnavigation in history.
