Juan Sebastián Elcano
(Elkano in modern
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
; also known as ''del Cano'';
[ 1486/1487] – 4 August 1526) was a Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
navigator, ship-owner and explorer of Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
origin, ship-owner and explorer from Getaria, part of the Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingd ...
when he was born, best known for having completed the first circumnavigation
Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth.
The first circumnaviga ...
of the Earth in the Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
ship '' Victoria'' on the Magellan expedition
The Magellan expedition, sometimes termed the MagellanElcano expedition, was a 16th-century Spanish Empire, Spanish expedition planned and led by Portuguese Empire, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. One of the most important voyages in th ...
to the Spice Islands
In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for ...
. He received recognition for his achievement by Charles I of Spain
Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) fr ...
with a coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
bearing a globe and the Latin motto ''Primus circumdedisti me'' (You were the first to circumnavigate me).
Despite his achievements, information on Elcano is scarce and he is the subject of great historiographical
Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...
controversy, because of the scarcity of original sources which illuminate his private life and personality. Even in Spain, for example, the first biographies about him were written in the second half of the 19th century, after three centuries of neglect by historians.
Following his success, the king entrusted him with another large expedition to the Spice Islands, headed by the nobleman García Jofre de Loaisa, which was not completed. Elcano died of scurvy
Scurvy is a deficiency disease (state of malnutrition) resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, fatigue, and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum d ...
in the Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
during this venture.
Name
Elcano's name has been written in different ways by historians. Although today in the Basque language
Basque ( ; ) is a language spoken by Basques and other residents of the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country, a region that straddles the westernmost Pyrenees in adjacent parts of northern Spain and southwestern France. Basque ...
the form "Elkano" is used, his signature seems to read Delcano, or possibly Del Cano, although it is difficult to be sure: Enrique Santamaría shows that his lack of dexterity when signing his name leads him to leave gaps between the letters, so sometimes he signed "del ca no". In Spanish historiography it most commonly has been interpreted as "Del Cano" (or de Cano), but also as simply "Cano".
However, near Getaria (today between Zarautz
Zarautz (, ) is a coastal town located in central Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, in Spain. It is bordered by Aia to the east and the south and Getaria, Gipuzkoa, Getaria to the west, located about west of San Sebastián, Donostia/San Sebastián. It ha ...
and Aia AIA or A.I.A. or Aia may refer to:
Aia
* Aia, a small town in the province of Gipuzkoa, Spain
* Peñas de Aya, small mountain range in Oiartzun, Gipuzkoa
* Aia, current Kutaisi, ancient capital of Colchis
* Aia, another name for Aea (Malis), an ...
) is the neighborhood of Elkano, where the surname is "Elkano" or "Elcano". For this reason, "Elcano" has been used as a surname in Spanish and "Elkano" in Basque to indicate that it was from the Elkano lineage.
Mitxelena, in his book ''Apellidos vascos'', interprets the surname Elkano from Basque. Between the suffixes ''-ano'' and ''-no'', he provides arguments for the latter, the diminutive suffix. He proposes that the first part of the surname is ''elge''. Mitxelena reconstructs the previous form of this ''elge'', and argues that the surname Elkano developed from the association of these two morphemes and that it is also a toponym. It exists in different areas of the Basque Country as a minor place name, but also as the name of a village
A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
in Navarre
Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...
.
Family
Juan Sebastián Elcano's mother was Catalina del Puerto or Catalina Portu, and his father was Domingo Sebastián Elcano. The Portu or Puerto were a powerful family of clergy and scribes. Elcano's grandmother, Catalina's mother, was Domenja Olazabal. Formerly it was believed that she belonged to a noble family of the Tolosa area. It is known that Catalina, who was alive at the time of Elcano's death, asked the king upon her arrival in Getaria 10 years later for the pension that had been promised to Elcano, legally due her according to his will.
Domingo Sebastián Elcano and Catalina Portu had eight children, their first son being born in 1481, and Juan Sebastián being the fourth born son. Next came Domingo Elcano, who was given the name of his father and became a priest in Getaria. The four other sons in the family were Martín Pérez, Antón Martín, Juan Martín, and Ochoa Martín. Martín Pérez, Antón Martín and Ochoa Martín were also mariners, and sailed with Juan Sebastián Elcano in the second expedition to the Moluccas. The daughters, i.e., Juan Sebastián's sisters, were Sebastiana de Elcano and Inés de Elcano. Apparently Elcano also had a half-sister, María, Domingo's illegitimate daughter.
Elcano had two children: a son, Domingo Elcano, with María Hernández de Hernialde in Getaria, and a daughter, María, with a woman called María Bidaurreta in Valladolid
Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...
. In his will, he bequeathed 100 ducat
The ducat ( ) coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages to the 19th century. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wide inter ...
s to his son's mother, María Hernández de Hernialde. To his daughter he left 40 ducats, conditional on her coming to live in Getaria before she was 4 years old.
Family social position and economic status
A number of historians have said that the Elcanos were a family of maritime transporters who operated in the Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
. Their ownership of a vessel is suggested by the amount of taxes the family paid the Crown in 1500.
Some 19th century sources say that the Elcano family belonged to the nobility, but this is questionable. Elcano asked the king for the right to bear arms, a privilege of the noble
A noble is a member of the nobility.
Noble may also refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Noble Glacier, King George Island
* Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land
* Noble Peak, Wiencke Island
* Noble Rocks, Graham Land
Australia
* Noble Island, Gr ...
s, and for his brothers to accompany him on his next expedition, indicating that the Elcano brothers, on their father's side at least, were neither nobles nor hidalgos, and that the Portus, on their mother's side, were probably not nobles either. However, the Olazabal family on his grandmother's side may have been hidalgos, but since nobility was not inherited in the matrilineal line, the Portus, through Catalina the daughter of Domenja, would not be hidalgos nor would be the Elcanos, the grandchildren of Domenja.
Fernandez de Navarrete states that, in addition to being a fisherman and a mariner, Elcano acted as a smuggler
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...
on board a French ship, but no original sources are given to confirm this. On the other hand, some biographies point out that the Elcano family experienced economic hardship because Elcano's father died young and his mother had to support eight siblings, but this assertion is unfounded.
As attested in documentation, in 1500, when Elcano was about 14 years old, a large tax was levied in Getaria, with his father Domingo Elcano appearing in the thirteenth position on the tax rolls, having paid 23½ maravedí
The ''maravedí'' () or ''maravedi'' (), deriving from the Almoravid dinar (), was the name of various Iberian coins of gold and then silver between the 11th and 14th centuries, and the name of different Iberian accounting units between the 11t ...
s. It seems, therefore, that they were quite solvent, since they are named among the richest families of the town. Additionally, the royal document later granting him a pardon states that when Elcano was young and acting as a merchant in the Mediterranean, he was the owner of a 200-ton vessel. This would also indicate that his family had been financially solvent.
Elcano got rich from the circumnavigation voyage, earning 613,250 maravedis. This was an immense fortune, an amount equivalent to the salary of a sea pilot for 20 years, as compared to the 23½ maravedis paid by his father in municipal taxes. Of that fortune, 104,526 maravedis was his shipmaster's and captain's wage, while the rest was earned by selling the cloves imported from the Moluccas
The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West Melanesi ...
.
Biography
Birth
The date of Elcano's birth is unknown, but it can be inferred with a fair amount of certainty that his year of birth was 1486 or 1487. Spanish historiographers have written that he was 42 years old when he sailed with Magellan in 1518, which would place his birth year in 1476. However, before setting sail Elcano himself had confirmed that he was "approximately" 32 years old, as recorded in a document of August 1519; therefore, it is reasonable to believe that he was born in 1486 or 1487.
There is little doubt about Elcano's place of birth because in his will, drawn by Elcano himself, he mentions that his birthplace is Getaria. It is usually said that he was born in the house located in San Roque Street in the municipality of Getaria, today called the "Birthplace of Juan Sebastián Elcano". There is a plaque commemorating the event next to the house. Even if he was born there, the house did not belong to the Elcano family, but to his maternal grandfather's family, the Portus.
In the chronicles of the time, Elcano is also presented as a "Getarian". In 1601, the chronicler Juan de Mariana
Juan de Mariana (2 April 1536 – 17 February 1624), was a Spanish Jesuit priest, Scholastic, historian, and member of the Monarchomachs.
Life
Juan de Mariana was born in Talavera, Kingdom of Toledo. He studied at the Complutense University ...
, after writing that Elcano was from Getaria, adds: "from Biscay by nationality or Guipuscoan". At that time the Basques
The Basques ( or ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...
were called 'Vizcaínos' or 'Biscayans'. It has been deduced from indirect information that the Basque language was his mother tongue, but it is unequivocable that he also communicated in Spanish, as can be seen in the letters he wrote to the king, and in the interrogations he underwent in Seville and in Valladolid. It appears that he could read Latin as well, because the two books referred to in his will were written in that language.
Early life
Little is known about Elcano's youth. As a young man he owned a large ship and sailed in the Mediterranean. He sold the ship to the Savoy
Savoy (; ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...
ards to resolve legal problems he had incurred because the king had not paid him a salary for 'services rendered' on the kings's orders. It is often repeated, for example, that in 1509 he participated in the conquest of Oran, in the Mediterranean, under the direction of Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros
Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, OFM (1436 – 8 November 1517) was a Spanish cardinal, religious figure, and statesman. Starting from humble beginnings he rose to the heights of power, becoming a religious reformer, twice regent of Spain, ...
, commanding his own his two-hundred-ton ship. However, in the register of ships participating in the conquest of Oran, no captain Elcano, or anything similar, is recorded. According to Spanish historiography, Elcano participated with his ship in the Italian wars
The Italian Wars were a series of conflicts fought between 1494 and 1559, mostly in the Italian Peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and Mediterranean Sea. The primary belligerents were the House of Valois, Valois kings o ...
under the leadership of Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordova, known as The Great Captain (''El Gran Capitán'') (1495–1504). This is also doubtful because there are no primary sources to prove it, and, above all because Elcano was then 8 years old (17 according to the Spanish historiography), and it is impossible that an 8-year-old boy was already a ship owner or fought in the war.
The certificate of pardon that the king issued to Elcano has been preserved. It mentions that he acted in the service of the king "in the Levante and Africa", but these actions are not further specified. It also states that since the king did not pay him the promised salaries, he had been forced to sell his ship to the House of Savoy
The House of Savoy (, ) is a royal house (formally a dynasty) of Franco-Italian origin that was established in 1003 in the historical region of Savoy, which was originally part of the Kingdom of Burgundy and now lies mostly within southeastern F ...
. Presumably when he had asked for money from the merchants of Savoy he had to offer them the ship as a guarantee. Therefore, in the case of his participating in a military campaign in the Mediterranean 'in the service of the king', perhaps the events of the catastrophe of Gelves (1510) was a factor, since that military defeat would explain Elcano's debt. Forced to pay for the ship and the crew's wages, but with no war prizes, this could have been the cause of his getting into debt. At the age of twenty-three, unable to pay off his financial obligation and still on board the ship in Italy, he had to hand it over to the Savoyards to satisfy the debt. Another hypothesis is that Elcano performed the 'royal services' in the autumn of 1516, during the battle to take Algiers, also a military defeat, and that he then had to relinquish his ship.
It is known that in the summer of 1515 Elcano joined the local militia. The Royal Corregidor asked 500 Gipuzkoa
Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...
ns to go to Hondarribia
Hondarribia (; ; ) is a Spanish town situated on the west shore of the Bidasoa river's estuary, in Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community.
The border town is situated on a little promontory facing Hend ...
and San Sebastian to face the threat of the French. Elcano went there, along with 11 compatriots, charging 30 maravedís per day. It would appear that if he had to enroll in the local militia in 1515 and he did not own a ship at the time, his engaging in the battle to take Algiers is unlikely. Being in his twenties during the 1510s, it is unusual that Elcano already owned a ship of 200 tons, and for such a young man to have this responsibility, but it is clear that Elcano was a precocious sailor who rose very quickly as a professional mariner. Nonetheless, he committed a serious infraction by selling his ship to the Savoyards, an illegal action at a time when wars were fought with ships. This infringement would cause him numerous problems in the following years.
After returning from the Mediterranean campaign, as he had legal problems it is likely that he remained in the Mediterranean, in Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
or in the Valencian Country, or perhaps also in Alicante
Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...
. (In his will he left 24 ducats to the Alicante church of Santa Veronica.) However, at the end of June 1517 he appeared again in Getaria, as is known since he signed as a witness to the debt letter of a compatriot. It is possible his son with the young Getarian María Hernández Hernialde was conceived at that time, between 1517 and 1518, although they were not married, probably because Elcano did not have a stable residence. At the end of 1518 Elcano left Getaria and traveled to Seville
Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...
to join Magellan's expedition. However, after returning from the expedition, at the age of 35 or 36, the king would forgive him that legal debt on February 13, 1523, and he was able to stabilize his situation in Valladolid.
Voyage of circumnavigation
The Magellan-Elcano expedition
The Magellan expedition, sometimes termed the MagellanElcano expedition, was a 16th-century Spanish Empire, Spanish expedition planned and led by Portuguese Empire, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. One of the most important voyages in th ...
(1519 - 1522), which completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth, started with 5 ships (''Trinidad'', ''San Antonio'', ''Concepción'', ''Victoria'' and ''Santiago'') along with 234 crewmen (some sources raise the number of sailors to 247.) Although Elcano had departed Spain aboard the ''Concepción'', the return voyage from the Moluccas
The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West Melanesi ...
to Seville was made by the single surviving ship, ''Victoria'', captained by Elcano. Having sailed under extreme conditions, only 21 people arrived in Seville, the 18 Europeans and 3 Moluccans.
To complete the round-the-world voyage, they had to sail After three years of rough passages, most of the sailors had died. A few made it back alive, but 147 men lost their lives, three-fifths of those who had set sail from Seville. This figure is a reflection of the number of unforeseen events, difficulties and vicissitudes they encountered during the voyage. Fifty-five of those who sailed on the return voyage were deserters coming from South America on the first part of the voyage aboard the ''San Antonio''. They had not circumnavigated the world because they decided to retreat to the Strait of Magellan
The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south. Considered the most important natura ...
. Others who returned would spend some time in Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
or Cape Verde
Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...
, although they later managed to get to Europe; thus they also could claim, once they disembarked in Spain, that they had sailed around the world. In other words, in addition to the 17 sailors who arrived in Seville along with Elcano, more sailors would sail around the world, albeit later, and not in the same vessels.
In addition to Elcano, the expedition included 34 other Basques, the largest representation after the Andalusians, along with 28 Portuguese, 19 Genoese and 21 Castilians. Nine of the Basques were with Elcano aboard the ''Concepción'' – Elcano and Juan de Acurio, Antonio Bermejo's boatswain, wanted trustworthy people around them.
Spice Island
Elcano participated in a fierce mutiny against Ferdinand Magellan before the convoy discovered the Strait of Magellan
The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south. Considered the most important natura ...
, the passage between mainland South America and Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan.
The archipelago consists of the main is ...
. His life was spared by Magellan and after five months of hard labour in chains he was made captain of the carrack
A carrack (; ; ) is a three- or four- masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th to 15th centuries in Europe, most notably in Portugal and Spain. Evolving from the single-masted cog, the carrack was first used for Europea ...
. ''Santiago'' was later destroyed in a storm. The fleet sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to the eastern coast of Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
and into what is now Puerto San Julián in Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
. Several months later they discovered a passage now known as the Strait of Magellan
The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south. Considered the most important natura ...
located in the southern tip of South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
and sailed through the strait. The crew of ''San Antonio'' mutinied and returned to Spain. On 28 November 1520, three ships set sail for the Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
and about 19 men died before they reached Guam
Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...
on 6 March 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 their journey to the Philippines and remained there for several weeks. Close relationships developed between the islanders and the Spaniards, who began to evangelize and convert the Cebuano tribes to Christianity; they also became involved in tribal warfare between rival Filipino groups on Mactan Island
Mactan is a densely populated island located a few kilometers (~1 mile) east of Cebu Island in the Philippines. The island is part of Cebu province and it is divided into the city of Lapu-Lapu and the municipality of Cordova.
The island is s ...
.
On 27 April 1521, Magellan was killed and the Spaniards defeated by natives in the Battle of Mactan
The Battle of Mactan (; ) was fought on a beach in Mactan Island (now part of Cebu, Philippines) between Spanish forces led by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan along with local allies, and Lapulapu, the chieftain of the island, on th ...
in the Philippines. The surviving members of the expedition could not decide who should succeed Magellan. The men finally chose a joint command with the leadership divided between Duarte Barbosa and João Serrão. Within four days these two were also dead, killed after being betrayed by the host at a feast given by Rajah Humabon. The mission was now teetering on the edge of disaster, and João Lopes de Carvalho took command of the fleet, leading it on a meandering journey through the Philippine archipelago.
During the six-month listless journey after Magellan died, and before reaching the Moluccas
The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West Melanesi ...
, Elcano's stature grew as the men became disillusioned with the weak leadership of Carvalho. The two ships, ''Victoria'' and ''Trinidad'', finally reached their destination, the Moluccas
The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West Melanesi ...
, on 6 November. The men rested and reprovisioned the ships in this haven, then filled their holds with the precious cargo of clove
Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or Aroma compound, fragrance in fin ...
s and nutmeg
Nutmeg is the seed, or the ground spice derived from the seed, of several tree species of the genus '' Myristica''; fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg ('' M. fragrans'') is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fru ...
. On 18 December, the ships were ready to leave, but ''Trinidad'' sprang a leak, and could not be repaired. Carvalho stayed with the ship along with 52 others hoping to return later.
''Victoria'', commanded by Elcano along with 17 other European survivors of the 240-man expedition and 4 survivors out of 13 of the Timorese men, continued its westward voyage to Spain traversing the Indian and Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
s. They reached Sanlúcar de Barrameda Sanlúcar may refer to:
* Sanlúcar de Barrameda, a city in the Province of Cádiz, Spain
* Sanlúcar de Guadiana, a village in the Province of Huelva, Spain
* Sanlúcar la Mayor, a city in the Province of Seville, Spain
*Sanlúcar de Albaida, forme ...
on 6 September 1522.
Antonio Pigafetta
Antonio Pigafetta (; – c. 1531) was a Venetian scholar and explorer. In 1519, he joined the Spanish expedition to the Spice Islands led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, the world's first Magellan's circumnavigation, circumnavigation, ...
, an Italian scholar, was a crew member of the Magellan and Elcano expedition, and later wrote several documents concerning its events. According to Pigafetta the voyage covered 14,460 leagues – about .
Elcano under Magellan's leadership
Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan ( – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer best known for having planned and led the 1519–22 Spanish expedition to the East Indies. During this expedition, he also discovered the Strait of Magellan, allowing his fl ...
was the expedition leader, its captain-general (''capitán-general''). Being Portuguese, he had traveled in his youth through South Asia
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
with the Portuguese army
The Portuguese Army () is the land component of the Portuguese Armed Forces, Armed Forces of Portugal and is also its largest branch. It is charged with the defence of Portugal, in co-operation with other branches of the Armed Forces. With its ...
, getting to know those islands, finding safe harbors and places to stay and establishing his mastery of the maritime routes for trade. As a result of those experiences, Magellan knew the exact location of the Moluccas islands, then called the "Spice Islands", or at least he made King Charles V believe this. He claimed, wrongly, that they were in the Castilian hemisphere, following the Treaty of Tordesillas
The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in Tordesillas, Spain, on 7 June 1494, and ratified in Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Crown of Castile, along a meridian (geography) ...
. He was appointed captain-general because he had this information, and this is also the reason he was responsible for planning the expedition's route to the East Indies. The relationship between Magellan and Elcano quickly became strained, precisely because Magellan did not want to show anyone the route and did not want to reveal exactly where the Moluccas were. Magellan condemned Elcano in San Julian (Patagonia
Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...
) for his participation in the San Julian revolt.
Elcano confessed his part in the mutinies against Magellan during his interrogation at Valladolid
Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...
after the circumnavigation, adding that he had not written anything while Magellan was alive because he feared him. Magellan had been killed in the Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
on April 27, 1521, by warriors from the island of Mactan
Mactan is a densely populated island located a few kilometers (~1 mile) east of Cebu Island in the Philippines. The island is part of Cebu province and it is divided into the city of Lapu-Lapu and the municipality of Cordova.
The island is ...
.
Although the objective set by the king was to open the route to the Spice Islands, when they reached Asia, Magellan began to pursue his personal objectives as a captain. The king had promised to make him governor of those islands in the Castilian hemisphere and that he should enjoy commercial rights to the trade of the two main islands. This is probably why the expedition did not sail directly to the Moluccas islands to acquire spices, but further north. They also traveled widely in the region, getting involved in the internal conflicts of the resident peoples of the various islands.
Voyage after Magellan's death
After Magellan's death, the Portuguese Duarte Barbosa, a relative of Magellan, was appointed captain-general, but he was also killed in Cebu
Cebu ( ; ), officially the Province of Cebu (; ), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a ...
together with Captain João Serrão of the ''Trinidad'', in an ambush at a dinner organized by the leader of the island, the rajah called Humabon
Rajah Humabon (also ''Hamabao'' or ''Hamabar'' in other editions of the " First Voyage Around the World") later baptized as Don Carlos Valderrama, was one of the recorded chiefs in historic polity of Cebu who encountered Ferdinand Magellan in ...
. In that ambush on May 1 in Mactan, about 35 sailors lost their lives. In this situation, on May 2, 1521, it was decided to burn the ship ''Concepción'' because there were not enough sailors, only 116 or 117, to crew three ships. Thus the expedition was reduced from five to two vessels.
Now the expedition had only two vessels to return to Seville, ''Victoria'' and ''Trinidad''. However, Elcano was not immediately appointed captain. First another Portuguese, Juan Lopez de Carvalho, was appointed in May 1521. Disagreeing with Carvalho's manner of command, the sailors dismissed Carvalho and elected Elcano as captain of the ship on September 17, 1521. Clarifying what happened between May and September is complicated because there are several versions of the events. How and why the unusual decision was made to remove Carvalho and place Elcano in command has not yet been determined, but it is certain that Elcano was chosen as captain by the crew to replace Carvalho.
After arriving in the Moluccas and loading the cargo of clove
Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or Aroma compound, fragrance in fin ...
s, once in South Asia Captain Elcano changed his original plan. He proposed to continue westward returning to Europe around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, without turning back or rounding Cape Horn
Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...
in South America. This change of plans would culminate with the first round-the-world voyage.
From Tidore to Cape Verde
The expedition finally reached Tidore
Tidore (, lit. "City of Tidore Islands") is a city, island, and archipelago in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia, west of the larger island of Halmahera. Part of North Maluku Province, the city includes the island of Tidore (with three sm ...
in the Molucca Islands, in what is now Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
. There they found the precious spice they were looking for, i.e., cloves. They made an agreement with the local rajah, whom they called the ''Almansur'' of Tidore Island, and who brought them tons of cloves. (The ''Victoria'' returned to Seville
Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...
with 27 tons of cloves.) As there were not so many cloves on Tidore Island, the rajah brought some from the neighboring islands as well. In the meantime, the ''Trinidad'' was disabled. Having heard of the approach of the Portuguese, and with the danger of tarrying, they decided to return alone on the ''Victoria'', with Elcano as captain. They had specific orders from the Crown to return by the route they had gone, but they did not comply with them, and took the westward course with the aim of sailing around the world. Elcano proposed to do this because, as he wrote, "They were going to do what could be narrated", indicating that he was aware of the historical import of their voyage, as is clear in the letter he wrote to the newly enthroned king:
Elcano allowed the sailors to choose their ship, since they were to circumnavigate in waters belonging to Portugal. Forty seven sailors chose to return with Elcano aboard the ''Victoria'', and 13 members decided to stay in the Moluccas. At that time there were twelve Basques left in the expedition, of whom eight decided to return with Elcano, the other three remaining aboard the Trinidad. The ship Victoria left Tidore Island on December 21, 1521, bound for Seville. They sailed into a strong storm which damaged the ship. On the nearby island of Mallua (today called Pulau Wetar) they had to remain fifteen days for repairs. From Tidore they sailed to the island of Timor
Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...
, and after spending a few days there, they set sail on February 7, 1522. From that day until July 9, when they reached Cape Verde
Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...
, they would not set foot on land again. The expedition planned to sail from Timor to Seville, a distance of kilometers, without a stopover, to avoid meeting the Portuguese on the way. They did not succeed, because after sailing over , their supplies, health and the condition of ''Victoria'' had become impossible; the sailors decided by vote to stop and recover at Cape Verde.
From Timor, the ''Victoria'' traveled west, on a line around 10° 32' South – probably within of the Australian mainland and passing close to Christmas Island
Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an States and territories of Australia#External territories, Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean comprising the island of the same name. It is about south o ...
and the Cocos Islands
The Cocos (Keeling) Islands (), officially the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands (; ), are an Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean, comprising a small archipelago approximately midway between Australia and Sri Lanka and rel ...
– before heading southwest,[Graeme Henderson, Andrew Viduka & Robert de Hoop (2002), ''Misadventures in Nature's Paradise: Australia’s Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island during the Dutch Era''. Crawley, Western Australia; UWA Press; pp. 25–28.] to avoid Portuguese India
The State of India, also known as the Portuguese State of India or Portuguese India, was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded seven years after the discovery of the sea route to the Indian subcontinent by Vasco da Gama, a subject of the ...
, and crossing the equator into the southern hemisphere. By going so far south, they also managed to avoid the opposing monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...
winds blowing from Africa that time of year. On March 18, the crew sighted an island that Elcano named ''Desesperanza'' ("Despair"; later known as Ile Amsterdam), because he was unable to find a safe place to land, and his crew was desperate for fresh water, 40 days out from Timor.
While they were still in the Indian Ocean, the crew of ''Victoria'' began to run out of food. They had only rice
Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...
cooked in seawater left to eat, and scurvy
Scurvy is a deficiency disease (state of malnutrition) resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, fatigue, and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum d ...
began to make the sailors seriously ill. Under these circumstances, the idea of making landfall in Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
spread on the ship. It was dangerous to land there, however, where the Portuguese might capture them. Elcano consulted the crew, who decided by vote to continue sailing, without stopping in Mozambique.
Rounding the perilous Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...
at the southern tip of Africa was very difficult for them. The Portuguese called it the "Cape of Storms". At first they headed south to take advantage of the wind, but the ship could not continue because of bad weather, usual in those parts. For nine weeks they stayed there, freezing, with their sails lowered. At last Elcano made the sailors a dangerous proposition: to round the cape close to the coast. On the one hand there was the danger that the storms would drive them into the shore, and on the other, if they avoided that fate, that they might encounter the Portuguese on the eastern side of the cape. They pressed on, sailing westward in the Indian Ocean, close to the African coast, and at last managed to round the cape and head northward off the continent's western coast.
Landing in Cape Verde
The expedition could not sail directly to Seville because the situation on board was unsustainable, and they needed to land somewhere. In desperation, and in search of food, they first reconnoitered the African coast off what is now Guinea Bissau and Senegal
Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
, but could not find a suitable place to land. They decided by vote to call at Cape Verde
Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...
where they could obtain food and repair the ship, although the Portuguese were in charge in Cape Verde. This was the final leg of the voyage, and Elcano's men had not made landfall for months, suffering two or three deaths a week. Seawater was entering the vessel's wooden hull, due to naval shipworms tunneling into and damaging it, and as the crew were weak from hunger, they did not have the strength to pump the water out of the bilge
The bilge of a ship or boat is the part of the hull that would rest on the ground if the vessel were unsupported by water. The "turn of the bilge" is the transition from the bottom of a hull to the sides of a hull.
Internally, the bilges (us ...
s, and there were fewer and fewer of them left alive.
To make matters worse, they had no money and no goods except cloves to exchange for provisions. Acknowledging that they had cloves would reveal that the expedition was returning from Asia rather than the Americas, and the Portuguese would come out against them. By unknown means they were able to pay for the first two loads of food, but they used part of their cargo of cloves to pay for the third and thus revealed their identity to the Portuguese. (This assumption has been dismissed by scholars like Enrique Santamaría, who argues that such "errors" were impossible). Consequently, they were pursued by the Portuguese and forced to flee, leaving 13 sailors prisoners of the Portuguese in Cape Verde.
It is not entirely clear whether their third risky purchase at Cape Verde was to obtain provisions or slaves. Most of the original accounts, including Elcano's, speak only of food, but Bustamante, the doctor-barber on board, says that they went down to look for slaves because of the imperative need for labor to pump out the water filling the bilges. This is a possibility, as the African slave trade was common and legal in Portugal.
Arrival
The ship didn't make the passage from Cape Verde to Seville in a straight line because the wind was driving them off course. They turned around by ' Volta do mar largo', taking a wide course to the west, sailing almost as far northward as Galicia and from there southward to return to Seville. They landed at Sanlúcar de Barrameda Sanlúcar may refer to:
* Sanlúcar de Barrameda, a city in the Province of Cádiz, Spain
* Sanlúcar de Guadiana, a village in the Province of Huelva, Spain
* Sanlúcar la Mayor, a city in the Province of Seville, Spain
*Sanlúcar de Albaida, forme ...
on September 6, 1522, and two days later, they entered Seville on September 8, after almost three years of voyaging. Of the 234 (or 247) sailors who set sail, only 18 arrived.
As soon as the ship ''Victoria'' arrived in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Elcano began writing a 700-word letter addressed to Charles V, in which he never mentions himself, emphasising that the expedition had achieved its goal of bringing back the desired spices, had "brought peace" to those islands, and had obtained the friendship of their kings and lords, attested by their signatures on documents. He went on to highlight the extreme hardships undergone during the expedition. Elcano did not forget the members of the crew captured in Cabo Verde by the Portuguese, begging the king to initiate all necessary actions leading to their release. He ends the letter with commentary about their discoveries, the roundness of the world, setting sail to the west and coming back from the east.
After the voyage
Court of Valladolid
Once the voyage was over, upon arriving in Seville, Elcano and a few selected men took the road to Valladolid, which at the time was the residence of Charles V and his court. The king wanted Elcano to personally tell him about the expedition. In his letter of invitation, the king offered him horses to make the trip, although the road from Seville to Valladolid was traveled more often by carriage than on horseback. The invitation was intended only for Elcano and two others, 'Those who have better sense', but Elcano brought more crew members with him. The little group arrived in Valladolid, including the three sailors from the Moluccas who wanted to meet the king.
King Charles V soon received Elcano, at the latest one month after the circumnavigation. Elcano appeared at the court in Valladolid, and spoke in the presence of the king, giving his account of the voyage, possibly in three conversations: first with the king, perhaps in private; then with the court experts, to clarify technical and financial matters and also to describe the events of the voyage, including the mutiny and deaths that occurred; and finally, with a group of humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...
learned men more interested in the various cultures that the expedition encountered. It is not known exactly how these meetings went. He would spend three years in Valladolid, near the Court. There he joined María Bidaurreta (in some sources De Vida Urreta) and had another daughter.
Charles V granted Elcano an augmentation of his coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
featuring a world globe with the words ''Primus circumdedisti me'' (Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
: "You first encircled me"). However, this augmentation has been contested, as Elcano was not previously a member of the nobility. Elcano claimed three gifts from the king as a reward for his achievement, namely an annual pension of 500 ducats which he never received, two armed men to escort him and an official statement pardoning him for the sale of his ship to the Savoyard bankers. Following Elcano's death and after lengthy lawsuits, his mother Catalina del Puerto never managed to obtain any of his pension. By 1567, after she too had died, Elcano's heirs and other relatives continued to demand that the pension be honored. His male heirs were given the hereditary title of Marquis of Buglas, i.e., Negros Island
Negros (, , ) is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . The coastal zone of the southern part of Negros is identified as a site of highest marine biodiversity importance in the Coral T ...
in the Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. In the modern era, the country with the most people surnamed "Elcano" is currently the Philippines.
Relations with Portugal
The king of Portugal, John III, filed a piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...
complaint against Elcano for theft of the cargo of cloves from the Moluccas, as they were part of his domains, and for his escape from Cape Verde with the precious cargo. He petitioned the King of Castile to return the cloves and to arrest and punish Elcano. King Charles V disregarded the request and protected Elcano.
Portugal and Castile both claimed the Moluccas Islands. The need to revise the Treaty of Tordesillas
The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in Tordesillas, Spain, on 7 June 1494, and ratified in Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Crown of Castile, along a meridian (geography) ...
was not easy to resolve. Without knowing the exact size of the world, it was difficult to place those islands in a certain area. The key was to fix the location of the anti-meridian
The 180th meridian or antimeridian is the meridian 180° both east and west of the prime meridian in a geographical coordinate system. The longitude at this line can be given as either east or west.
On Earth, the prime and 180th meridians f ...
relative to the meridian established in the Treaty of Tordesillas, the two meridians forming a great circle
In mathematics, a great circle or orthodrome is the circular intersection of a sphere and a plane passing through the sphere's center point.
Discussion
Any arc of a great circle is a geodesic of the sphere, so that great circles in spher ...
that divides the earth into two hemispheres, to determine on which side of the antimeridian the Moluccas Islands were located. Meetings to resolve the matter were held in 1524 in the towns of Elvas
Elvas (), officially the City of Elvas (), is a Portuguese municipality, former episcopal city and frontier fortress of easternmost central Portugal, located in the district of Portalegre in Alentejo. It is situated about east of Lisbon, and ab ...
and Badajoz
Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...
along the border between Spain and Portugal. Five of the six Basques who circumnavigated the world participated in these assemblies.
To accurately establish this antimeridian, each of the Crowns assembled the best cosmographers of the time. Each delegation appointed three astronomers or cartographers, three sea pilots and three mathematicians. The Spanish delegation also appointed Fernando Colón
Ferdinand Columbus ( or ; ; ; 15 August 1488 – 12 July 1539) was a Spanish bibliographer and cosmographer, the second son of Christopher Columbus. His mother was Beatriz Enriquez de Arana, who his father never married.
Biography
Ferdinand Colum ...
, son of Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
, with the objective of determining the location of the Moluccas. The negotiating team included Sebastian Cabot (Sebastián Caboto), Juan Vespucio, Diogo Ribeiro
Diogo Ribeiro (d. 16 August 1533) was a Portuguese cartographer and explorer who worked most of his life in Spain, where he was known as Diego Ribero. He worked on the official maps of the '' Padrón Real'' (or ''Padrón General'') from 1518 t ...
, Estêvão Gomezs, Simón Alcazaba and Diego López de Sigueiro.
In the Badajoz-Elvas assemblies, the most authoritative voice of the Castilian delegation was Elcano himself, who devoted himself to his work as a cosmographer
The term cosmography has two distinct meanings: traditionally it has been the protoscience of mapping the general features of the cosmos, heaven and Earth; more recently, it has been used to describe the ongoing effort to determine the large-sca ...
. He brought to these meetings a sphere of the world he made himself, on which some accounts say he had marked the trajectory of the round-the-world voyage. These meetings were unsuccessful because the attendant parties were unable to agree on the exact location of the Moluccas Islands, as it could not be deduced from the ships' logs, and in any case the Portuguese did not recognize Elcano's authority. It is not known exactly why, but suddenly Elcano and the pilot Estêvão Gomes were absent from those meetings on March 15, 1524. Shortly thereafter, on May 20, 1524, the king pronounced his support of Elcano, as it was said that there were those who wanted to harm him (the royal charter speaks of "wounded, dead or crippled"), and three days later, on May 23, 1524, the assembly met again in Badajoz, but without Elcano. The conjecture is that he was threatened by the Portuguese in the case of the alleged piracy in the Moluccas. By October 1524 Elcano was in the Basque Country preparing for a second expedition to the Moluccas. Two years later, in 1529, John III of Portugal
John III ( ; 6 June 1502 – 11 June 1557), nicknamed The Pious ( Portuguese: ''o Piedoso''), was the King of Portugal and the Algarve from 1521 until he died in 1557. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the third daughter of ...
and Charles V of Castile signed the Treaty of Zaragoza
The Treaty of Zaragoza or Saragossa, also called the Capitulation of Zaragoza or Saragossa, was a peace treaty between Castile and Portugal, signed on 22 April 1529 by King JohnIII of Portugal and the Habsburg Emperor Charles V in the Arago ...
, Castile recognizing the Moluccas as being on the Portuguese side of the antimeridian of the line of demarcation previously specified in the Treaty of Tordesillas.
Last expedition
In 1525, Elcano was back at sea as a member of the Loaísa expedition to the Moluccas with García Jofre de Loaísa
García or Garcia may refer to:
People
* García (surname)
* Kings of Pamplona/Navarre
** García Íñiguez of Pamplona, king of Pamplona 851/2–882
** García Sánchez I of Pamplona, king of Pamplona 931–970
** García Sánchez II of Pam ...
, who had been appointed by Charles V as captain-general of a fleet composed of seven ships. Loaísa was in command of the carrack
A carrack (; ; ) is a three- or four- masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th to 15th centuries in Europe, most notably in Portugal and Spain. Evolving from the single-masted cog, the carrack was first used for Europea ...
(Spanish: ''nao'') ''Santa María de la Victoria'', the fleet's flagship, while Elcano was named pilot-major of the expedition, in command of ''Sancti Spiritus'', with his brother Martín Pérez serving as its pilot. They were sent by Charles V to claim the Indies in his name, a venture that was irksome to Portugal.
The expedition, financed by German international banking and merchant families, the Fugger
The House of Fugger () is a German family that was historically a prominent group of European bankers, members of the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century mercantile patriciate of Augsburg, international mercantile bankers, and venture capitalists. ...
s and the Welser
Welser was a German banking and merchant family, originally a patrician family based in Augsburg and Nuremberg, that rose to great prominence in international high finance in the 16th century as bankers to the Habsburgs and financiers of Cha ...
s, sailed from A Coruña
A Coruña (; ; also informally called just Coruña; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality in Galicia, Spain. It is Galicia's second largest city, behind Vigo. The city is the provincial capital of the province ...
in July 1525. It consisted of four carracks, two caravel
The caravel (Portuguese language, Portuguese: , ) is a small sailing ship developed by the Portuguese that may be rigged with just lateen sails, or with a combination of lateen and Square rig, square sails. It was known for its agility and s ...
s and a patache, with 450 sailors to crew them. Its purpose was securing a military foothold in the Maluccas, and forming alliances with the native rulers to gain control of the local spice trade with the establishment of a base for the Spanish Crown's mercantile and colonial agents.
Although Elcano had more experience, the king chose García Jofre de Loaísa as commander of the expedition because he was a nobleman
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...
, his status in line with the royal objective of establishing a Castilian authority in the Moluccas. Elcano was accompanied by his brothers Martín Pérez, Ochoa Martín and Antón Martín, his nephew Esteban Mutio, and his brother-in-law Santiago de Guevara, captain of ''Santiago''.
Elcano's influence was evident in the preparations for the expedition. Of the seven ships, four had been built in Basque territory and the number of natives of the Gipuzkoa
Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...
n coast in the crew had increased considerably, including those in positions of responsibility, compared to the first expedition. Many of them were close to Elcano.
The expedition faced numerous misfortunes. Before reaching the strait, two vessels were lost because they couldn't find its entrance. The ''Sancti Spiritus'', piloted by Elcano, ran aground in a storm and was abandoned, with its men being distributed among the other ships, and the ''San Gabriel'' deserted the expedition, returning to Castile after sailing up the Brazilian coast. The remaining ships completed their passage through the Strait of Magellan
The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south. Considered the most important natura ...
on 26 May 1526, and set out for the Pacific crossing. A storm scattered the ships on June 2 and only one, ''Victoria'', remained. Another of the ships ended up in Zihuatanejo
Zihuatanejo (), and/or Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, is the fourth largest city in the Mexican state of Guerrero. It was known by 18th-century English mariners as Chequetan and/or Seguataneo. Politically the city belongs to the municipalities of Mexico, m ...
, Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
.
Death
The ship continued to the Moluccas in poor condition, and the crew suffered the ravages of scurvy
Scurvy is a deficiency disease (state of malnutrition) resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, fatigue, and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum d ...
. The accountant Alonso de Tejada, the pilot Antonio Bermejo and thirty-two other crew members died. Finally, General Loaisa himself died on 30 July. Elcano then took command of the navigation, and was named captain-general, a position he had been promised by the king from the beginning. After a short time he died of scurvy, probably on 6 August 1526. All his relatives who accompanied him also died, except, perhaps, his brother Ochoa Martín, who may have been aboard the ship that landed at Zihuatanejo. In one of the documents that appeared later in Laurgain AIA or A.I.A. or Aia may refer to:
Aia
* Aia, a small town in the province of Gipuzkoa, Spain
* Peñas de Aya, small mountain range in Oiartzun, Gipuzkoa
* Aia, current Kutaisi, ancient capital of Colchis
* Aia, another name for Aea (Malis), an ...
, dated January 29, 1529, the king calls "Johan Ochoa Martínez del Cano" to go on the expedition of Simón de Alcazaba to the Moluccas. If this referred to Elcano's brother, then he was still alive in 1529. Before dying, Juan Sebastián had made a will – one of those signing as a witness was Andrés de Urdaneta
Andres or Andrés may refer to:
* Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US
* Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France
*Andres (name)
Andres or Andrés is a male given name. It can also be a ...
.
On August 7, Elcano's body was wrapped in a shroud and tied to a board with ropes. Afterwards, it was placed on the deck of the ship while the surviving men recited the "Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer, also known by its incipit Our Father (, ), is a central Christian prayer attributed to Jesus. It contains petitions to God focused on God’s holiness, will, and kingdom, as well as human needs, with variations across manusc ...
" and the ''Ave Maria
The Hail Mary or Ave Maria (from its first words in Latin), also known as the Angelic or Angelical Salutation, is a traditional Catholic prayer addressing Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical pa ...
'' (Hail Mary). When they finished, a weight was tied to the shroud, and Alonso de Salazar, the new captain general of the Army, nodded his head. The four sailors tilted the plank over the gunwale until the weight of the corpse caused it to drop into the sea.
Writings by Elcano
Two letters addressed to King Charles V and a will are the only documents in Elcano's own handwriting known to have survived to the present day. In the interrogations at Seville before the expedition and at Valladolid after its completion, the answers given by Elcano were also recorded in writing and have also survived. Elcano's voice can be heard in them.
While Magellan was alive Elcano wrote nothing because he feared his wrath, he addressed this point in the Valladolid interrogations. After Magellan's death, however, following Elcano's appointment as captain, he began to write down (as he himself said in the Valladolid investigation) what had happened and what he had seen. This chronicle of the first world circumnavigation, written by his own hand, has been lost. Along with Elcano's account, the other important written chronicles of the voyage, including Magellan's or Pigaffeta's originals, are also lost. In the case of Magellan and Elcano a hypothesis has been proposed that both their writings could be translated in the Latin chronicle of the royal secretary Maximilianus Transylvanus
Maximilian van Sevenbergen, Latinized in Maximilianus Transylvanus (Transilvanus, Transylvanianus), also Maximilianus of Transylvania and Maximilian (Maximiliaen) von Sevenborgen (between 1485 and 1490 – 1538, Brussels), was a courtier of Emp ...
, and that the main passages of the chronicle written by Elcano have survived in the contemporary chronicles rewritten by Maximilianus Transylvanus and Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo.
First Letter to Charles V
The first letter was written in Sanlúcar de Barrameda to let the king know that he has returned from his circumnavigation. The text is precise and correct, as merchant
A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...
s, unlike diplomat
A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...
s, usually write. He promises the king documents, letters of submission from the monarchs of the remote island and samples of spices to account for the success of the voyage. He also brings with him five parrot
Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...
s, which were appreciated at the Court. He explains in 10 lines what happened up to the death of Magellan and, subsequently, what happened in his charge in the other 40–45. It is at that point that he asks the king to make an effort to free the 13 who have been detained in Cape Verde. He asks for a financial reward from Charles V, but mentions that the feat was accomplished by collective decision.
Second Letter to Charles V
The purpose of the second letter was to ask for bonuses. Approximately 40 days after returning from the voyage around the world, Elcano arrived at the Court of Valladolid where the king received his request to name him captain-general. In it he also asked the king for the commercial rights of trade in the Moluccas or the habit of the Order of Santiago
The Order of Santiago (; ) is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the patron saint of Spain, ''Santiago'' ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgrims on the Way of S ...
, which were entrusted by the king to Magellan. The king's secretary ( Francisco de los Cobos) denied all of these requests. Apparently he was not accorded respect at the Court of Castile, and they did not want to give Elcano the orders that had been promised to Magellan. Santamaría argues that this animadversion was caused by Elcano's lack of noble status. It took him months to obtain the other three bonuses he had been promised – a pension, a pardon and the right to an armed guard – probably as a result of the rapprochement with the Court.
Elcano's will
The will is also a source of information about Elcano's personal life. In addition to citing all his claimed assets in great detail, it speaks of his family. It shows that although he never married, he had sexual relationships with at least two women, both of them Basque or of Basque origin, and each of whom bore his child. His son Domingo was born before the world circumnavigation and his daughter María afterwards.
The will was drawn up on July 26, 1526, and opened by the president of the Council of the Indies upon his arrival in Seville, ten years after it was made. All seven witnesses to the will were Basques, which is surprising, given the situation and the location in the middle of the Pacific, a clear indication of trust and solidarity among them. The witnesses were Martín García Karkizano, Andrés Gorostiaga, Hernando Gebara, Andrés Urdaneta, Juanes Zabala, Martín Uriarte and Andrés Aletxe
Andres or Andrés may refer to:
*Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US
*Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France
*Andres (name)
*Hurricane Andres
* "Andres" (song), a 1994 song by L7
See also ...
.
In his will Elcano left money to churches such as San Salvador de Getaria, Itziar, Sasiola (Deba), Our Lady of Arantzazu, San Pelayo in Zarautz
Zarautz (, ) is a coastal town located in central Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, in Spain. It is bordered by Aia to the east and the south and Getaria, Gipuzkoa, Getaria to the west, located about west of San Sebastián, Donostia/San Sebastián. It ha ...
and Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in Hondarribia
Hondarribia (; ; ) is a Spanish town situated on the west shore of the Bidasoa river's estuary, in Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community.
The border town is situated on a little promontory facing Hend ...
. However, he stipulated that these bequests should be paid out of the money owed him by the king according to the terms of their agreement, funds which he never received. This leaving of money to the church only if he were paid by the King has been used by Santamaría to dismiss the idea of Elcano being a very religious man.
He also left portions of those funds to his heirs, but if they died, as happened, his mother would receive the benefit of his properties. He treated the four of them generously in the distribution of goods: one hundred ducats of gold to Domingo's mother (37,500 maravedís), and another 40 ducats (15,000 maravedís) to the daughter, if she married, as a dowry. On the other hand, he requested that his daughter be taken from Valladolid to Getaria when she turned 4 years old, because Getaria was closer to his heart than the Court of Valladolid.
Thanks to the will, it is known that Elcano owned two books written in Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, indicating that he knew how to read that language. Both books refer to astronomy, one being the ''Almanac'' of Regiomontanus
Johannes Müller von Königsberg (6 June 1436 – 6 July 1476), better known as Regiomontanus (), was a mathematician, astrologer and astronomer of the German Renaissance, active in Vienna, Buda and Nuremberg. His contributions were instrument ...
, which allowed navigators to determine longitude
Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...
at sea with observations of the moon. These two books were left to Andres San Martin, his pilot cosmographer who disappeared on the circumnavigation, if he should be found alive. This suggests that in the second expedition Elcano was still hoping to find a companion lost in the first expedition.
In 1533, seven years after Elcano's death, his mother was still in court with the royal treasury seeking the salaries corresponding to the rank of captain due to her son and the other payments he never received, and his pension of 500 ducats per year. The will also shows that Elcano did not own slaves, otherwise he would have had to cite them.
Transylvanus' text
The humanist Maximilianus Transylvanus
Maximilian van Sevenbergen, Latinized in Maximilianus Transylvanus (Transilvanus, Transylvanianus), also Maximilianus of Transylvania and Maximilian (Maximiliaen) von Sevenborgen (between 1485 and 1490 – 1538, Brussels), was a courtier of Emp ...
was present at the royal court, listening to Elcano. From what he heard he wrote his own chronicle of the voyage, in the form of a letter, which he sent to his patron, Matteo Lang von Wellenburg. The book was printed in Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
in January 1523 and in November of that year another printing was made in Rome by Gian Matteo Giberti, assistant to Pope Clement VII
Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate of ...
. Giovanni Battista Ramusio
Giovanni Battista Ramusio (; July 20, 1485 – July 10, 1557) was an Italian geographer and travel writer.
Born in Treviso, Italy, at that time in the Republic of Venice, Ramusio was the son of Paolo Ramusio, a magistrate of the Venetian ...
years later assembled a collection of travels and introduced the text of Transylvanus. The text was written in Latin, for political purposes and according to the tastes of Chancellor Gattinara. It is possible that this text by Transylvanus is a compilation of collected testimonies: the account of Magellan's part of the voyage is very different from that of Elcano's part, as if they had two different authors. Another chronicler of the time who read these two texts, Fernandez de Oviedo, alluded to the parity between the texts of Elcano and Transylvanus: "It is almost him", he wrote.
If the second part of the Transylvanus text is a direct translation of Elcano's report, he appears as an exponent of the humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...
and utopia
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...
n intellectual movements then current in Europe, and the text, which says that the societies of the Moluccas were peaceful, treated their neighbors well and were hospitable to foreigners can be seen as one of the first explications of the myth of the noble savage
In Western anthropology, Western philosophy, philosophy, and European literature, literature, the Myth of the Noble savage refers to a stock character who is uncorrupted by civilization. As such, the "noble" savage symbolizes the innate goodness a ...
and a critique of the corruption of European civilization:
Basque philosopher Ekai Txapartegi defends the proposition that Transylvanus's text was written by Elcano, asserting that its description of the island of Borneo
Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
as a utopia and its depiction of the customs of the inhabitants reveals the humanist aspect of his political thought, as well as his opposition to the expansionist ambitions of empire and warlike kings, and the imposition of the Christian faith on peaceful pagan societies. Not much is said in the text about the events that transpired when the expedition was in Borneo, only that they talked to the local king, made some exchanges and moved on. What they were doing there is not explained in the passage, although it is known that Borneo was the scene of conflict for the travelers, indicating that the writer is speaking more of his personal utopian vision than of a literal description of Borneo.
Historiography
Elcano's achievement has been eclipsed in traditional historiography by that of Magellan, who planned and led the famous expedition until he died before it reached the Spice Islands. More recently, Portugal's solo candidacy to UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
to get Magellan's expedition and the resulting circumnavigation (without mentioning Elcano) recognised as a Portuguese Intangible World Heritage has provoked a major controversy with Spain, thereafter seemingly settled by the submission by said countries of a new joint application to honour the circumnavigation route. According to the Basque historian Xabier Alberdi Lonbide, Elcano was relegated to a secondary role in French and Spanish historiography of the 19th century and there remains a minor figure. Lonbide writes that the maritime heritage of the Basque Country generally has been consigned to oblivion in British, French, and Spanish historiography, and that Basque historiography has not managed to overcome this situation, although in the Basque Country Elcano is regarded as the most universal representative of Basque culture, and he has greater stature.
Elcano, deleted from History
Throughout the world Elcano has been a marginal character because he was almost forgotten for three centuries. In the first accounts of the voyage, the cold reception that the successful circumnavigation of the world got at the Court of Castile is noticeable; in the long seventeen-page account written by Peter Martyr d'Anghiera
Peter Martyr d'Anghiera ( or ''ab Angleria''; ; ; 2 February 1457 – October 1526), formerly known in English as Peter Martyr of Angleria,D'Anghiera, Peter Martyr. ''De Orbe Novo'' . Trans. Richard Eden a''The decades of the newe wo ...
, for example, Elcano was not mentioned even once. The reason for this neglect is perhaps that those who sailed around the world were not hidalgos, but common sailors, a fact that contravened late medieval social attitudes among the upper classes.
Nor did the book, ''Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo'', by Antonio Pigafetta
Antonio Pigafetta (; – c. 1531) was a Venetian scholar and explorer. In 1519, he joined the Spanish expedition to the Spice Islands led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, the world's first Magellan's circumnavigation, circumnavigation, ...
, the Venetian scholar who sailed with Magellan and who was among the 18 men that survived the expedition and returned to Spain, mention Elcano. In its received form, his chronicle exaggerates his own role, perhaps explaining why in Italian historiography Elcano disappears and ''Capitano Pigafetta'' himself appears as an important character.
In recent years, however, another point of view has spread: Pigafetta quoted Elcano, but as the works of Pigafetta that have survived to modern times were modified in transmission, perhaps mentions of Elcano were suppressed. The original Pigafetta chronicle is lost, and the account in its present form would be a retranslation of a translation made in France, written later, and suppressing or modifying many sections. The hypothesis is that, since France was at war with Castile, the French eliminated all the "Spaniards" that Pigafetta had praised in his telling of the voyage. This 'eliminatory' view was further extended when it was written by Philip II's chronicler, embellishing the roles of the hidalgos Magellan and Pigafetta and minimising that of the plebeians. Spanish historiography transformed Magellan into a leader who favored the unity of Portugal and Spain, although he had betrayed Portugal by becoming Castilian. Thus, he became a hero for the Castilians whose political position was consequently enhanced.
It was in the interest of Castile to elevate Magellan, and to push Elcano aside, but also of the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. The tug of war between the empire of Charles V and the Roman Catholic Church was constant. The Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
presented itself as a Catholic Empire, but at the same time it did not control the center of religion, that is, Rome. The Church did not want Charles V to have too much power. Therefore, the Church wanted to mark a contrast between the bloody evangelisation that Spain carried out in the Americas and the supposedly peaceful evangelisation that Portugal carried out in Asia. Since it was convenient for it to emphasize that Spain's attempt at evangelisation had been drenched with blood, while Portugal's was a builder of civilization, the Church found it advantageous to praise Magellan. Thus, Magellan was praised by Rome and England, who were allied with Portugal against Spain. Magellan was taken as a model of civilization, and Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...
as the executor of his dream.
Although many technical and economic documents have survived, most of the originals have disappeared; their existence is known because these documents are cited by those who received the records of the times. Neither the actual text of the chronicle of Elcano's voyage, records of the proceedings of the trial of Carvalho, the documentation provided by Elcano at the Badajoz-Elvas meetings, nor the ship's logbook
A logbook (or log book) is a record used to record states, events, or conditions applicable to complex machines or the personnel who operate them. Logbooks are commonly associated with the operation of aircraft, nuclear plants, particle accelera ...
have been found. The Trinidad ship's book has also been lost, although it was taken by Portugal. Historian Enrique Santamaría believes these documents have been destroyed, probably in the 19th century; he finds it difficult to credit that they were lost, they being of immense historical value, and observes that documents with many other details of the voyage have survived.
Navarrete's account
In the context of the Napoleonic Wars
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Napoleonic Wars
, partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
, image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg
, caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
, feelings of nationalism
Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...
arose in most European countries. In Spain this sentiment had a conservative component supported by the monarchy, that in its retrospective view, held that the Spanish people needed to construct a new national historiography; this task fell to Martín Fernández de Navarrete
Martín Fernández de Navarrete y Ximénez de Tejada (November 9, 1765 – October 8, 1844), was a Spanish nobleman, naval officer, and historian. Today he is principally remembered for his historical research concerning the expeditions and sci ...
, director of the Royal Academy of History. In 1825 Fernández de Navarrete wrote a modern 'official' account of the first circumnavigation of the earth, ''Colección de los viajes y descubrimientos que hicieron por mar los españoles'', in which Magellan is praised, and the figure of Elcano passed down by tradition was remade.
At a time when Spain was experiencing the decolonization of America, the Spanish government desired to present a national historical narrative that legitimized the power of the ruling elites, a message that inevitably would diminish the position of the lower classes. In Navarrete's telling Magellan became an exemplar of those elevated persons who must struggle against the incapacity of common men to understand the complexities of governance, portraying him as of noble character, an upholder of the Christian faith, and a leader in the advancement of civilization. In contrast to these virtuous qualities he attributed to Magellan, Elcano was a man in the habit of deciding important matters democratically by vote, one who had never conquered another race of people that could be evangelized and civilized, nor had he ever even tried. Thus, in Navarrete's account, crediting Elcano with the completion of the first circumnavigation is understood as an injustice to the memory of Magellan's achievements, and Navarette's history is an attempt to rectify this error. The historical conception of a Spanish nation as presented by Navarrete has subsequently been propagated by historians of other nationalities, and remained a dominant view internationally for many years.
Later constructions
In 1861 the soldier Juan Cotarelo Garastazu, a field marshal (''mariscal de campo'') of the Spanish army, wrote the first biography of Elcano. He writes that Elcano was "humble and obedient" and that he had managed to sail around the world in obedience to his king, submitting as proof that in the rigorous Valladolid inquiry concerning the circumnavigation, Elcano responded in a humble, modest way to the thirteen questions he was asked.
Eustaquio Fernández de Navarrete, grandson of Martín Fernández de Navarrete, wrote a more complete biography of Elcano in 1872. This biography has a more neutral, analytical approach to its subject and has been the main reference for historians. As it was problematic for some people that Elcano lacked a noble pedigree, in order to vindicate his reputation, Eustaquio Fernández de Navarrete suggested, without providing any proof, that Elcano had taken part in the Siege of Oran and in the Italian wars
The Italian Wars were a series of conflicts fought between 1494 and 1559, mostly in the Italian Peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and Mediterranean Sea. The primary belligerents were the House of Valois, Valois kings o ...
.
From Cánovas to the Francoism
Elcano was a posthumous victim of political machinations in the 19th century when Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
Antonio Cánovas del Castillo (8 February 18288 August 1897) was a Spanish people, Spanish politician and historian known principally for serving six terms as Spanish Prime Minister, prime minister and his overarching role as "architect" of the ...
faced the creation of peripheral Basque nationalist movements and ''fuerismo'' concerning the laws (fueros) of the different provinces of the Basque region; this occurred in a chaotic scenario after the overthrow of the First Spanish Republic
The Spanish Republic (), historiographically referred to as the First Spanish Republic (), was the political regime that existed in Spain from 11 February 1873 to 29 December 1874.
The Republic's founding ensued after the abdication of King ...
. The so-called foral
200px, Foral of Castro Verde - Portugal
The ''Carta de Foral'', or simply ''Foral'', was a royal document in Portugal and its former empire, whose purpose was to establish a ''concelho'' (Council) and regulate its administration, borders and priv ...
laws set up a legal framework in which authority was shared between the monarchy, whose agencies governed local affairs of interest to the Crown, and provincial institutions, which managed their own affairs concerning local traditions and customs. Cánovas believed that the foralists used a distorted history to defend their politics and, for this reason he wanted to minimize the role of the Basques and the Navarrese in Iberian history. Thus, he tried to disappear not only Elcano, but also Blas de Lezo
Admiral Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta (3 February 1689 – 7 September 1741) was a Spanish Navy officer best known for his victory at the 1741 Battle of Cartagena de Indias, where forces under his command defeated a large British invasion force u ...
, Churruca, Andrés de Urdaneta, and Legazpi from this history, establishing a damnatio memoriae
() is a modern Latin phrase meaning "condemnation of memory" or "damnation of memory", indicating that a person is to be excluded from official accounts. Depending on the extent, it can be a case of historical negationism. There are and have b ...
. To eradicate Elcano's place as a heroic figure, Cánovas reinforced the use of the Portuguese Magellan as a symbol of the political unity of the Iberian Peninsula, averring that Elcano was no more than the "humble master" (''modesto maestre'') of the ship ''Victoria'' that completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth.
Prime Minister of Spain Primo de Rivera, however, wanted to restore Elcano's reputation and named a training ship of the Spanish Navy, ''Juan Sebastián de Elcano'' (A-71), after him. Franco's regime
Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of History of Spain, Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . ...
tried to make Elcano a national mythical figure, using the narrative written by Eustaquio Fernández de Navarrete (1872).
Amado Melón Ruiz de Gordejuela in his book ''Magallanes o la Primera Vuelta al Mundo'', published in 1940 in the collection ''La España Imperial'', affirmed that Elcano participated in the siege of Oran and was an assistant to "The Great Captain", Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordova, who campaigned in Italy between 1495 and 1504. Melón Ruiz wanted to place Elcano in Oran, and added 10 years to his age (otherwise he would have been only 8 years old), and promulgated the fiction that Elcano was born in 1476 rather than 1487. With the acceptance of this fabricated birth date by historians, the false information that Elcano participated in the Oran campaign has been widely published in history books.
500th anniversary
The 500th anniversary of the first circumnavigation was celebrated in Spain on September 6, 2022. In view of this, several initiatives such as the Elkano Foundation have arisen, both to complete the history and perpetuate its memory and to plan the celebration of the event.
As part of the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the first circumnavigation of the Earth on September 6, 1522, the Basque Maritime Museum, with the support of the Elkano Foundation, has published a new book: ''Elcano y el País Vasco. Cómo se hizo posible la primera vuelta al mundo'' (June 2022).
Elcano in art
There is no description or contemporary artwork depicting Elcano, and all artworks depicting him were made centuries later, often with ahistorical elements in their composition and featuring anachronistic clothing.
Paintings
File:Juan Sebastian Elkano Ignacio Zuloagaren irudimenezko koadroa.jpg, Juan Sebastian Elcano, and his birthplace, Getaria by Ignacio Zuloaga
Ignacio Zuloaga y Zabaleta (July 26, 1870October 31, 1945) was a Spanish painter, born in Eibar, Guipuzcoa, near the monastery of Loyola.
Family
He was the son of metalworker and damascening, damascener Plácido Zuloaga and grandson of the orga ...
. The man depicted is the doctor, Pío Gogorza.
File:A055a160 0688.jpg, José Ferrer de Couto's 1865 engraving
File:Las Glorias Nacionales, 1852 "Juan Sebastian Elcano". (4013953698).jpg, ''Las glorias nacionales'', by the printer Luis Tasso, 1852.
File:A055a160 0706.jpg, José Ferrer de Couto's engraving
File:“Elkanoren eskaintza”, E. Salaberria.jpg, ''Elkano's gift'', by Elías Salaberria, 1924.
Banknotes
500 pesetas - 1931 01.jpg, 500 peseta, 1931, based on Elias Salaberria's painting.
500 pesetas - 1931 02.jpg, 500 peseta, 1931
Banco de españa - 5 pesetas - 1948.jpg, Note of 5 pesetas from 1948, based on Ignacio Zuloaga's painting.
Sculptures
File:Juan Sebastian Elkanori monumentua Getarian.jpg, Elcano's statue in Getaria (1881).
File:Barcelona. Passeig de Gràcia 60 (Olano House). Façade sculpture- Juan Sebastián Elcano (1884). Francesc Font, sculptor (15032047824).jpg, Sculpture at Passeig de Gràcia, Barcelona.
File:Detalle del monumento a Juan Sebastián Elcano.JPG, Monument in Seville.
File:Getaria - Estatua de Juan Sebastián Elcano (Carlos Palao, 1861) 2.JPG, Sculpture by Carlos Palao, in Getaria.
File:Monumento_a_Elcano_en_Getaria_(Gipuzkoa).jpg, Monument dedicated to Elcano in Getaria.
File:San Sebastian - Diputacion Foral de Gipuzkoa 09.jpg, Palace of Gipuzkoa, Donostia.
Cinema
In 2019 an animated
Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...
movie was made in the Basque language by Ángel Alonso with the title ''Elkano, lehen mundu bira''. In 2020 another animation movie by Manuel H. Martin called ''El viaje más largo'' was presented in Sevilla. In 2022 Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...
broadcast the series ''Boundless
Boundless may refer to:
* ''Boundless'' (album), a 2001 album by Rajaton
* Boundless (company), an American textbook company
* ''Boundless'' (video game), a video game
* ''Boundless'' (Canadian TV series), a reality TV series
*''Boundless'', onl ...
'', with Álvaro Morte
Álvaro Antonio García Pérez (born 23 February 1975), known professionally as Álvaro Morte, is a Spanish actor. He gained worldwide recognition for playing the role of ' The Professor' in the television series '' Money Heist''. Morte briefly ...
as Elcano.
In 2022 the movie ''Uncharted
''Uncharted'' is an action-adventure video game series and media franchise published by Sony Interactive Entertainment and developed by Naughty Dog. Created by Amy Hennig, the ''Uncharted'' franchise follows a group of treasure hunters who trav ...
'' mentioned him. The movie is based on his journey with the ''Magellan Expedition
The Magellan expedition, sometimes termed the MagellanElcano expedition, was a 16th-century Spanish Empire, Spanish expedition planned and led by Portuguese Empire, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. One of the most important voyages in th ...
''.
See also
* History of the Philippines
* Spanish training ship ''Juan Sebastián de Elcano''
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
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*
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External links
Elkano Fundation
Elcano y el País Vasco (Elkano and the Basque Country. How the first trip round the world was made possible) – June 2022 (Language: Basque, English, French & Spanish)
Auñamendi Encyclopedia: Elcano, Juan Sebastián de
Last will and testament of Sebastian Elcano
PBS Secrets of the Dead: Magellan's Crossing
The expedition of the first circumnavigation of the world, with Google Maps and Earth
*
''
* ttps://itsasmuseoa.eus/en/ Basque Maritime Museo
''In the Wake of Juan Sebastián Elcano''
an online adaptation of the exhibition organized and produced by the Itsasmuseum in Bilbao
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elcano, Juan Sebastian
1480s births
1526 deaths
Circumnavigators of the globe
Mutineers against Magellan
People from Getaria
People who died at sea
Spanish explorers of the Pacific
Spanish Roman Catholics
16th-century Spanish explorers