Magellan expedition in the context of "Ferdinand Magellan"

Juan Sebastián Elcano (Elkano in modern Basque; also known as del Cano; 1486/1487 – 4 August 1526) was a Spanish navigator, ship-owner and explorer of Basque origin, best known for having completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth in the Spanish ship Victoria on the Magellan expedition to the Spice Islands. He received recognition for his achievement by Charles I of Spain with a coat of arms 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 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.

The Magellan expedition (10 August or 20 September 1519 – 6 September 1522) was the first voyage around the world in human history. It was a Spanish expedition that sailed from Seville in 1519 under the initial command of Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese sailor, and completed in 1522 by Spanish Basque navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano.

The initial goal of the voyage was to secure time to explore the possibility of a southwestern passage around South America to China and the Spice Islands (now part of Indonesia). After crossing the Atlantic, wintering in Patagonia, and suppressing a mutiny, the expedition found and transited the Straits of Magellan in 1520. After crossing the Pacific Ocean to the Philippines, Magellan was killed during a raid on the Mactan chief Lapulapu in 1521. The ship Victoria under Juan Sebastian Elcano—who began the expedition as a boatswain— took command of the expedition and sailed into the open Indian Ocean, avoided landing in South Africa despite the resulting starvation, and bluffed his way into resupply at the Cape Verde Islands before completing the first circumnavigation on 6 September 1522. Of the initial 270 crew members, only 18 sailors completed the entire journey.

Explorers are listed below with their common names, countries of origin (modern and former), centuries of activity and main areas of exploration.

Transpacific crossings are voyages of passengers and cargo across the Pacific Ocean between Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. Transpacific voyages frequently cross the International Date Line. The first recorded crossing of the Pacific was achieved by Spain's historic Magellan expedition in March 1521. Commercial transpacific flights have been available since 1935.

The Battle of Mactan (Filipino: Labanan sa Mactan; Spanish: Batalla de Mactán) 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 the early morning of April 27, 1521. Magellan, a Portuguese-born commander serving the Spanish Empire who led an expedition that ultimately circumnavigated the world for the first time, commanded a small Spanish contingent in an effort to subdue Mactan under the Spanish crown. The sheer number of Lapulapu's forces, compounded with issues associated with the location and the armor, ultimately resulted in a disastrous defeat for the Europeans and the death of Magellan. Surviving members of Magellan's crew continued the expedition under the command of Juan Sebastian de Elcano, who completed the journey in September 1522.

The battle's exact details are lost to history, with Antonio Pigafetta's account being the only source for much of the known information today. It is remembered in the Philippines as the first battle won by a native Filipino against Spanish forces, with Lapulapu being hailed as the country's first national hero. The Spanish Empire would continue to send expeditions to the archipelago with little to no success until Miguel Lopez de Legazpi's expedition to Cebu and Manila in 1565, starting a 333-year Spanish rule on the archipelago.

The history of the Philippines from 1565 to 1898 is known as the Spanish colonial period, during which the Philippine Islands were ruled as the Captaincy General of the Philippines within the Spanish East Indies, initially under the Viceroyalty of New Spain, based in Mexico City, until the independence of the Mexican Empire from Spain in 1821. This resulted in direct Spanish control during a period of governmental instability there.

The first documented European contact with the Philippines was made in 1521 by Ferdinand Magellan in his circumnavigation expedition, during which he was killed in the Battle of Mactan. 44 years later, a Spanish expedition led by Miguel López de Legazpi left modern Mexico and began the Spanish conquest of the Philippines in the late 16th century. Legazpi's expedition arrived in the Philippines in 1565, a year after an earnest intent to colonize the country, which was during the reign of Philip II of Spain, whose name has remained attached to the country.