What Was Ferdinand Magellan’s Impact?

By Staff WriterLast Updated March 31, 2020

Ferdinand Magellan led the first European circumnavigation of the globe, confirming the Earth was round and much bigger than scholars of the day anticipated. Magellan was killed during the voyage, but it was completed by his crew.

Magellan was born as minor nobility, exposing him to stories of exploration at the Portuguese court. After the Portuguese king denied support for his voyage to the Spice Islands, he eventually gained support from Spanish King Charles I. After a shipwreck, a mutiny and months of storms, the voyage finally traveled through the Strait of Magellan to its destination. Only one of the five ships that set sail returned to Spain, but the country received extremely valuable spices from the voyage.