Magellan is killed at Mactan
Magellan died in a shore fight on the island of Mactan in the central Philippines, having intervened on behalf of a local ruler who had accepted baptism against a neighbouring chief who had not. The expedition had by then crossed the Pacific — over three months without fresh provisions, with heavy losses to scurvy — and had established the ocean's true and previously unimagined width. Command of what remained of the fleet passed through several hands before Elcano.
Historical — it happened, and the record is settled.
Subjects
- Ferdinand Magellan (Fernão de Magalhães) · person · Portugal · not located
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent.
Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo
The principal contemporary narrative of the 1519–1522 circumnavigation: the departure, the strait, the Pacific crossing, Magellan's death at Mactan and the Victoria's return. V55 verification basis: NOT consulted in this session. Dates and the survivor count attributed to it in this pack are from the author's knowledge of the standard editions and require checking. Pigafetta is a partisan witness, favourable to Magellan and hostile to Elcano, which a reader should weigh.
manuscript; surviving copies include those at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana and the Beinecke Library · c. 1524–1525 · Partly verified
Antonio Pigafetta, Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo, the eyewitness account of the Magellan–Elcano expedition by a survivor of the voyage
Recorded on Ferdinand Magellan (Fernão de Magalhães)
- The Magellan expedition sails from Sanlúcar
- Magellan is killed at Mactan
- The Victoria completes the first circumnavigation
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- The Victoria completes the first circumnavigation · 1522-09-06
- The Magellan expedition sails from Sanlúcar · 1519-09-20