Candy Gourlay - Ferdinand Magellan

The facts in Ferdinand Magellan have been carefully checked and are accurate to the best of our knowledge, but if you spot something you think may be incorrect, please let us know. Some of the passages in this book are actual quotes from the journal of Antonio Pigafetta and from other important people. Youll be able to tell which ones they are by the style of type: The masters and the captains of the other ships of his company loved him not.

Library of Congress Control Number 2020935323

ISBN 978-1-4197-4678-9
eISBN 978-1-64700-029-5

Text copyright 2020 Candy Gourlay
Illustrations copyright 2020 Tom Knight
Book design by Charice Silverman

2020 as UK edition. First published in 2020 by David Fickling Books Limited

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An Unknown Ocean, 1520

Somewhere near Antarctica, three bashed-up ships were sailing wearily into a humongous ocean.

Everyone rushed up on deck. The captain of the expedition took several deep breaths of the salty airit smelled a lot cleaner than the men. They hadnt bathed for more than a year!

Four hundred and thirty-five days ago, the ships had set off from Spain. Theyd crossed the Atlantic Ocean (which was known as the Ocean Sea in those days), stopped in Brazil, and sailed south along the coast until they had come to a sea passage, also called a strait.

Theyd entered the strait even though the men were terrified. Nobody had sailed this way before. What had followed was horriblenot just freezing temperatures and wild seas, but conditions that were so challenging that one of their ships turned around and headed back to Spain.

But now, finally, they had come out the other side to find themselves in a new and mysterious ocean.

The captains name was Ferdinand Magellan. He smiled when he saw how his crew were gaping, their mouths open so wide he could see that their back teeth were blackened from lack of cleaning. This ocean wasnt on any map in 1520and some of the crew were convinced that giant sea monsters awaited them.

But Ferdinand thought they should be proud. Even Columbus hadnt sailed as far as this splendid blue ocean, which was as smooth as a newly made bed. So calm. So... PACIFIC!

Thats it! Thats what hed call it. He spread his arms wide. Centuries from now, he, Ferdinand Magellan, would be remembered as the first man to sail the Pacific Ocean!

Fair enough! Perhaps we should say Ferdinand Magellan was the first EUROPEAN to sail the Pacific Ocean?

Today Ferdinand is recognized as one of the greatest explorers ever. He and his fleet discovered new animals, the horrible sea passage theyd just left behind, a whole ocean, and even a couple of galaxies.

But, most of all, Ferdinand is remembered as the first man to sail around the world.

Did he, or didnt he?

Ferdinand was born in 1480, surrounded not by rolling waves, as you might expect, but by rolling green vineyardsin Sabrosa, a hilly town in Portugal. He had an older brother, Diogo, and a younger sister, Isabel.

We dont know much about Ferdinands childhood, but we do know that the medieval world he was born into was a bit of a mess. Christians and Moors were at each others throats.

Countries were constantly at war with each other, and in Portugal the kings own noblemen were plotting against him.

Ferdinand was lucky enough to be born a member of the nobilitythe richest and most powerful people in the landbut only just barely. Being noble was all about who your family were. Ferdinands mom, Alda de Mesquita, had noble relations. His dad, Rodrigo, was related to a famous French knight and was a distant cousin to one of Portugals most powerful clans: the de Sousa family.

To make absolutely sure nobody could forget the familys connections, Ferdinands older brother, Diogo, was given the last name de Sousa, instead of Magellan.

By the time Ferdinand was eight or nine, his family had moved to Porto, right on the Atlantic Ocean. His dad had a job in Aveiro, a quiet fishing town nearby. Because of the familys noble connections, Rodrigo Magellan expected that his sons would someday become pages at the royal court in Lisbon...

Life in Porto was comfortable enough, but the food was incredibly boring. It was the Middle Ages, so no one in Europe had ever tasted avocados, peppers, potatoes, or tomatoes, and