Historical reference
There is little information about this person. It is known that Elcano was born in 1486 in Castile, in the Basque Country. Youth passed in numerous battles, with which the Middle Ages as an era can claim world leadership.
Returning home, Elcano took up a peaceful craft: he began his career as a captain of a merchant ship. In 1510, he again had to lead a battleship: the Basque took part in the siege of the city of Tripoli. The team was hired, so payday came regularly. Fighting for Spain, Elcano paid for the labor of his crew with Spanish money. But this time there was a financial failure and the sailors, for an unknown reason, were left without money.
The young captain had no other choice but to borrow funds. Lenders soon demanded their loan back, so they had to sell the ship. The very fact of the sale of a warship, and even if peaceful, but citizens of another country, automatically meant an accusation of treason.
There was only one way out for salvation - to get lost on the deck of one of the many ships. Then the captains were interested not in the biography of the team members, but in their professional training. Thus, the disgraced Elcano got on board one of Magellan's ships, which set off on the first round the world.
This legendary expedition began on September 20, 1519. At the beginning of the voyage, Elcano got an inconspicuous position - helmsman on the ship "Concepcione".
Significance for modernity
The squadron consisted of five ships. The captains on them, like many of the combined team, were Spanish. In those days, there were regular clashes between the two countries - Spain and Portugal. This explains the massive refusal of Spanish sailors to perceive Magellan as a captain: Portuguese by birth. Social tension was intensified by a powerful storm, which carried away two ships with the crew.
In the spring of 1521, three ships docked near the Mariana Islands. On this raid, Magellan died, and Elcano became the leader of the expedition. The total number of seafarers was below the minimum allowable for the safe management of ships. This was caused by losses due to disease and clashes with the aborigines and the Portuguese. For a guaranteed return, all the sailors were assembled on the vessel "Victoria" into a national team. Having gone through incredible difficulties, on September 8, 1522, the ship under the control of Elcano reached the Spanish coast.
For the successful completion of the world's first trip around the world on a ship under the Spanish flag, King Carlos I forgave Elcano a war crime - selling the ship - and appointed a life pension of 500 ducats.
Today, not everyone can travel around the world: it will take a lot of money and time. But the awareness of the sphericity of our planet, which is familiar even for a school student, was first proved in practice by Elcano and his team. Discovered in the Magellan expedition, in which Juan Sebastian del Cano was directly involved, the island of Amsterdam and the Mariana Archipelago are today important places for mankind. Amsterdam regularly monitors the state of the atmosphere and climate in the waters around Antarctica. The Mariana Islands are becoming a popular tourist destination all over the world, including Russia. The most famous of the islands of the archipelago is Guam. It contains rock paintings of the first inhabitants (Chamorro people), as well as traces of Spanish colonization. The island has conditions for a comfortable beach and active sea recreation.
Conclusion
Elcano died on August 6, 1526, during another expedition for the wealth of the Spanish crown. In his homeland, in the city of Getaria, a monument is erected. Elcano had an illegitimate son whose fate was lost in the tumultuous years of the Middle Ages.
Juan Sebastian del Cano (later the surname was changed to a more harmonious Elcano; isp. Juan Sebastián del Cano (Elcano) , basque. Juan Sebastian Elkano; /, Getaria, Basque Country, province of Guipuzcoa, Kingdom of Castile, now Spain - August 4, Pacific Ocean) - Spanish navigator, the first person to circumnavigate the globe.
Biography
In April 1520, he participated in the mutiny of Magellan's officers, who were desperate in search of a strait between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean and were about to deploy ships. During the riot, he was given command of the San Antonio galleon. However, he received mercy, like the rest of the rebels, except for the murderer Quesado.
He is known for leading the expedition of Magellan after the death of the latter and ending it on September 8, 1522, bringing the ship "Victoria" from Southeast Asia to Spain. Elcano's return trip was very risky, since, to avoid clashes with the Portuguese, he drove the Victoria through the southern waters of the Indian Ocean and around Africa, without approaching the coast. Although part of the crew began to demand that the captain take a course for Mozambique, which belongs to the Portuguese crown, and surrender into the hands of the Portuguese. However, most of the sailors and Captain Elcano himself decided to try to sail to Spain at any cost. "Victoria" with difficulty rounded the Cape of Good Hope and then two months without stopping went north-west along the African coast.
Links
- (eng.)
- (Spanish)
- Full text of the last will and testament of Juan Sebastian Elcano
Excerpt from Elcano by Juan Sebastian
“I know who took it,” Rostov repeated in a trembling voice and went to the door.- And I told you, don't you dare to do this, - Denisov shouted, rushing to the cadet to restrain him.
But Rostov pulled out his hand and, with such malice, as if Denisov were his greatest enemy, fixed his eyes directly and firmly on him.
- Do you understand what you are saying? - he said in a trembling voice, - except me there was no one in the room. Therefore, if not that, so ...
He could not finish and ran out of the room.
- Oh, chog "t with you and with everyone," were the last words that Rostov heard.
Rostov came to Telyanin's apartment.
“The master is not at home, we have left for the headquarters,” Telyanin's orderly told him. - Or what happened? Added the orderly, surprised at the cadet's upset face.
- There is nothing.
“We missed it a little,” said the orderly.
The headquarters was located three miles from Salzeneck. Rostov, without going home, took the horse and went to the headquarters. In the village occupied by the headquarters, there was a tavern visited by officers. Rostov arrived at the tavern; at the porch he saw Telyanin's horse.
In the second room of the inn the lieutenant was sitting at a platter of sausages and a bottle of wine.
“Oh, and you stopped by, young man,” he said, smiling and raising his eyebrows high.
“Yes,” said Rostov, as if it took a lot of effort to pronounce the word, and sat down at the next table.
Both were silent; in the room were two Germans and one Russian officer. Everyone was silent, and the sounds of knives on plates and the sound of the lieutenant's champing were heard. When Telyanin finished breakfast, he took out of his pocket a double purse, parted the rings with small white fingers curved upward, took out a gold one and, raising his eyebrows, gave the money to the servant.
“Please hurry,” he said.
The gold one was new. Rostov got up and went up to Telyanin.
“Let me see the wallet,” he said in a low, barely audible voice.
With shifting eyes, but still raised eyebrows, Telyanin handed in the purse.
- Yes, a pretty wallet ... Yes ... yes ... - he said and suddenly turned pale. “Look, young man,” he added.
Rostov took the purse in his hands and looked at it, and at the money that was in it, and at Telyanin. The lieutenant looked around, according to his habit, and it seemed that he suddenly became very cheerful.
“If we’re in Vienna, I’ll leave everything there, and now there’s nowhere to go in these crappy little towns,” he said. - Well, come on, young man, I'll go.
Rostov was silent.
- What about you? have breakfast too? Decently fed, - continued Telyanin. - Let's go.
He reached out and took hold of the wallet. Rostov released him. Telyanin took the wallet and began to lower it into the pocket of his leggings, and his eyebrows were carelessly raised, and his mouth opened slightly, as if he were saying: "Yes, yes, I put my wallet in my pocket, and it's very simple, and nobody cares about this." ...
- Well, what, young man? He said, sighing and looking into Rostov's eyes from under raised eyebrows. Some kind of light from the eyes with the speed of an electric spark passed from Telyanin's eyes to Rostov's eyes and back, back and forth, all in an instant.
“Come here,” Rostov said, grabbing Telyanin by the hand. He almost dragged him to the window. “This is Denisov’s money, you took it…” he whispered over his ear.
- What? ... What? ... How dare you? What? ... - said Telyanin.
But these words sounded like a plaintive, desperate cry and a plea for forgiveness. As soon as Rostov heard this sound of a voice, a huge stone of doubt fell from his soul. He felt joy and at the same instant he felt sorry for the unfortunate man standing in front of him; but it was necessary to complete the work begun.
“Here, God knows what they might think,” Telyanin muttered, grabbing his cap and heading into a small empty room, “we need to explain ...
“I know that, and I will prove it,” said Rostov.
- I…
Telyanin's frightened, pale face began to tremble with all its muscles; the eyes still darted, but somewhere below, without rising to Rostov's face, sobs were heard.
- Count! ... do not ruin the young man ... this unfortunate money, take it ... - He threw it on the table. - My father is an old man, my mother! ...
Rostov took the money, avoiding Telyanin's gaze, and, without a word, walked out of the room. But at the door he stopped and came back. “My God,” he said with tears in his eyes, “how could you do that?
“Count,” said Telyanin, approaching the cadet.
“Don't touch me,” said Rostov, pulling back. - If you need it, take this money. He threw his wallet at him and ran out of the inn.
In the evening of the same day, a lively conversation of the officers of the squadron was going on at Denisov's apartment.
“And I tell you, Rostov, that you need to apologize to the regimental commander,” the high headquarters captain, with graying hair, a huge mustache and large wrinkled features, said, addressing the crimson, agitated Rostov.
The headquarters captain Kirsten was twice demoted to the soldier for the cause of honor, and twice he was served.
- I will not allow myself to tell anyone that I am lying! - Rostov cried out. - He told me that I was lying, and I told him that he was lying. So it will remain so. He can appoint me on duty even every day and put me under arrest, but no one will force me to apologize, because if he, as a regimental commander, considers himself unworthy to give me satisfaction, so ...
- Wait a minute, father; you listen to me, - the captain interrupted the headquarters in his bass voice, calmly smoothing his long mustache. - You tell the regimental commander in front of other officers that the officer stole ...
Who was this man, Juan Sebastian Elcano?
Juan Sebastian Elcano was born in 1480 in Getaria, a small fishing village on the shores of the Bay of Biscay, 15 kilometers west of San Sebastian. In 1510, Elcano, being the owner and captain of a ship, participated in the siege of Tripoli. When the Spanish treasury refused Elcano the money to settle with the ship's crew, Elcano sold the ship and settled with the crew. The sale of the ship was then considered a serious crime, and Elcano was forced to flee to Seville. There he met his fellow Basque Ibarolla, who was well acquainted with Fernando Magellan, who was preparing an expedition for a circumnavigation of the world by order of King Charles I of Spain. After completing special navigation courses, Elcano managed to get a job as a helmsman (according to other sources, boatswain - contramaestre) on the sailing ship Concepcion.
On September 20, 1519, five ships, Trinidad, San Antonio, Concepcion, Victoria and Santia, with a crew of a total of 270 people (according to other sources, 265), left under the command of the Portuguese Fernando Magellan from the port of San Lucar de Barrameda, located at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River ( north of present-day Cadiz) and headed towards the shores of Brazil. About how the voyage went before the death of Fernando Magellan on April 21, 1521 in a skirmish with local tribes at the island of Matan (Philippines) and the further adventures of sailors, was described in detail in his diaries by an Italian expedition member Antonio Pigafetta. Day after day, he meticulously recorded all events in a journal in calligraphic handwriting. He miraculously managed to survive and return to Seville among the other 18 sailors, keeping his diaries. Thanks to him, mankind learned through what suffering the participants of this expedition went through. And they went through hunger, cold, disease, riots, violent hurricanes, death of ships and their crews. Nobody imagined that the globe was so huge. For example, Magellan expected to cross the Pacific Ocean in three to four days. In fact, the journey from Tierra del Fuego (Strait of Magellan) to the Mariana Islands took over 100 days. In November 1521, only Trinidad and Victoria remained in the flotilla, as well as 115 people from their crews. Among the sailors, many were exhausted, all suffered from scurvy. Someone died every week. It was decided to leave "Trinidad" in the Moluccas. Juan Sebastian Elcano became the captain of the Victoria. Few of the remaining sailors believed that they would ever see their homeland. They had to eat ship rats and rawhide from the ship's equipment. The rotten drinking water was brown.
But Elcano managed to navigate his worm-eaten ship with sailors distraught with disease and hunger across the Indian Ocean, then along the western coast of Africa to his native port. A third of the crew died during this final voyage from hunger and disease, 13 people were detained by the Portuguese on the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa. Only 18 lucky ones managed to return on September 8, 1522 at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River and then to Seville. In the logs and diary of Antonio Pigafetta, the date was 7 September. At that time the sailors did not yet know that one day would "disappear" when they circled the globe from east to west. The first voyage around the world was completed. Three years of hardship and mortal risk for sailors were not in vain.
The San Telmo Museum in San Sebastian houses a painting by the artist Salaverria, The Return of Victoria. Emaciated bearded men in shabby white clothes descend the ladder to the Seville embankment. Each of them holds a burning candle in their hand. Ahead is their captain, Juan Sebastian Elcano.
King Charles I of Spain appreciated the feat of Elcano and knighted him. The hopes for the existence of a western route to the spice islands in "India" were justified. The eastern route around the coast of Africa has long been under the control of Portuguese ships and was considered dangerous and long. Victoria brought in her holds for the royal court a decent amount of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice. The cost of the cargo significantly exceeded all expenses for the expedition. Spices were valued more than gold in those days.
In order to consolidate the influence of the Spanish crown on the Moluccas, King Charles I ordered to organize a more prepared expedition of seven ships, appointing Juan Sebastian de Elcano (this is how his surname began to sound after he was awarded the knighthood), the deputy commander of the flotilla, Admiral Garcia Jofre de Loais.
On July 24, 1525, seven ships left the port of La Coruña and moved to the shores of Brazil. The flotilla had to repeat the path of Magellan, while avoiding his mistakes. The swimming was very difficult. In mid-January, the ship Sancti Espiritus, commanded by Elcano, sank in a terrible storm at the entrance to the Strait of Magellan. Only a small part of the team, led by the captain, managed to escape. They managed to swim to the shore. When the storm subsided, other ships of the flotilla picked up the distressed ones. And again one violent storm followed another. Only at the end of March 1526 the remaining 4 ships decided to enter the Strait of Magellan (the southern route around Cape Horn was then unknown). The strait met the thinning flotilla with fog, a piercing cold wind. From both sides came rocky mountains of a kilometer height, covered with eternal snow. Forty-eight days and nights the squadron moved towards the exit to the Pacific Ocean. On the night of 1 to 2 June, a terrible storm broke out, scattering the ships of the squadron in different directions. The flagship San Gabriel continued to sail alone. There was not enough food and water. On July 30, Admiral Loais dies, having appointed Elcano in his place before his death, conferring the title of Admiral on him. Juan Sebastian de Elcano was not much outlived by Lois. His strength was running out. 6 August was gone, too. He was 46 years old. They buried him according to the maritime custom. The ship's priest read a prayer over Elcano's body, wrapped in a shroud. Then the body was tied to a board, added weight and lowered into the sea abyss.
In Getaria, the hometown of Elcano, there is a slab at the entrance to the church. It bears the inscription: "... the glorious captain Juan Sebastian de Elcano, a native and resident of the noble and faithful city of Getaria, the first to circumnavigate the globe on the ship Victoria. Pray for the repose of the soul of the one who first traveled around the world."
Sometimes the story isn't fair. She did not leave us the image of Elcano. What was he like? Nor is his grave. Only on the globe in the same Museum of San Telmo is the place where Elcano's body was betrayed to the sea: 157 degrees west longitude and 9 degrees north latitude.
The middle of the vast Pacific Ocean.
No less remarkable is the fate of the sailing ship bearing the name Elcano.
The training ship (brigantine), now part of the Armada Espanola (Spanish Naval Forces) and belonging to the Cadiz Naval Academy, was laid down at the Echevarrieta y Larrinaga shipyard in Cadiz on November 24, 1925, according to the Royal Decree of April 17, 1925. By that time, the Cadiz School, which had a glorious almost century-old history, had 4 training sailing ships one after another: Blanca, Almansa, Asturias, Nautilus. (These names are now borne by the four masts of Elcano, counting from the bow to the stern). The school needed a new modern sailing ship.
The construction of the 4-mast brigantine was carried out according to the project of the shipyard engineers. The famous English shipbuilder Nicholson was invited to develop the sailing equipment. In England, linen working sails were ordered. Spare sails were made in Gijon (province of Asturias). On March 5, 1927, the ship was launched. At the launching ceremony, Carmen Primo de Rivera, daughter of the then Prime Minister, became the godmother of the ship.
In the wheelhouse of the sailboat, the coat of arms of Elcano was installed, crowned with the image of a globe with an inscription in Latin: Primus circumdedisti me (You first walked around me), assigned to him by King Charles I in 1522.
On February 29, 1928, the ship entered the Spanish navy. Its main characteristics were as follows:
Length - 94 meters
Width - 13.1 meters
Draft - 7.25 meters
Sail area - 3.153 sq. meters.
The maximum height (from the keel to the clot of the masts) is 49 meters.
Full displacement - 3.420 tons.
The hull and two main masts are steel. A powerful radio station and a gyrocompass were installed on the ship. The auxiliary diesel engine had 800 hp. The maximum recorded sailing speed is 20 knots. The number of the crew is 143 people. The sailboat could take on board from 70 to 140 midshipmen of the school for maritime practice.
Until 2002, the sailboat made 9 voyages around the world. He was the winner of international sailing regattas many times. Thousands of future officers of the Spanish Navy passed good maritime practice on it.
In 1956 and 1978, the sailboat underwent major repairs and modernization. A new 2000 hp engine was installed. and modern satellite navigation equipment. The interior decoration of the ship, especially the cabins of senior officers, amazes even now with its luxury. Outwardly, the sailboat looks almost the same as on the day of the first launching and still pleases the audience with its grace and perfection.
Very soon, in early July 2007, the largest sailing ships from all over the world will start arriving in Alicante. Arrival of the Russian sailing ships Kruzenshtern, Mir, Sedov is expected. And, of course, the brigantine Juan Sebastian de Elcano will be the decoration of the regatta. On July 7, after the solemn parade of sailing ships on the roadstead of the port of Alicante, the regatta starts on the route Alicante - Barcelona - Toulon - Genoa.
We wish Elcano and his team from the bottom of our hearts: Buen viento y vuena mar!
Always return safe and sound to your home port!
The article was prepared using materials from Spanish sources for the 80th anniversary of the famous sailing ship.
Alicante (Spain), March 2007
The rest 30 photos on www.lib.ru (Abroad - Spain - Vladimir Vetrintsev)
Biography
In April 1520, he participated in the mutiny of Magellan's officers, who were desperate in search of the strait between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean and were going to deploy ships. During the riot, he was given command of the San Antonio galleon. However, he received mercy, like the rest of the rebels, except for the murderer of Quesado, Captain Cartagena and one priest.
After the death of Magellan at the Battle of Mactan, he led the expedition and completed it on September 8, 1522, bringing the ship "Victoria" from Southeast Asia to Spain. Elcano's return trip was risky, since in order to avoid clashes with the Portuguese, he drove the Victoria through the southern waters of the Indian Ocean and around Africa, without approaching the coast. Although part of the crew began to demand that the captain take a course for Mozambique belonging to the Portuguese crown and surrender to the hands of the Portuguese, most of the sailors and Captain Elcano himself decided to try to sail to Spain at any cost. "Victoria" with difficulty rounded the Cape of Good Hope and then two months without stopping went north-west along the African coast.
On March 18, 1522, Elcano discovered the island of Amsterdam, but gave it no name. In addition to him, another 17 people from the "Victoria" team reached Spain (later the sailors from the "Victoria" and 4 people from the crew of the ship Trinidad, who had been detained by the Portuguese on the Cape Verde Islands, returned). Unlike Magellan, who did not expect to continue his journey to the west after the "spice islands", Elcano deliberately chose a round-the-world route.
For this expedition, Emperor Charles V gave Elcano a personal coat of arms, which, among other things, depicted the globe with the motto Primus circumdedisti me (lat. You went around me first), and appointed an annual pension, noted in his journal: "The gallant lord Juan Sebastian del Elcano has died." On the same day, the deceased was buried at sea. The new commander, Torivio Alonso Salazar, saw land (one of the Marshall Islands) two weeks later.
In the homeland of the navigator, in Getaria, the memory of Elcano was immortalized with a stone slab with the inscription: “… the glorious captain Juan Sebastian del Cano, a native and resident of the noble and faithful city of Getaria, the first to circumnavigate the globe on the ship Victoria. In 1661, Don Pedro de Etave-i-Azi, Knight of the Order of Calatrava, erected this slab in memory of the hero. Pray for the peace of mind of the one who was the first to travel around the world. "
Elcano had an illegitimate son, Domingo, born to Maria Hernandez Dernialde.
Province of Guipuzcoa, Kingdom of Castile, now Spain - August 4, Pacific Ocean) - Spanish navigator, one of 18 people (members of the expedition of Fernand Magellan, who returned to Spain on the only one of the five surviving ships), the first to circumnavigate the globe.
| Juan Sebastian Elcano | |
|---|---|
| isp. Juan Sebastián Elcano | |
| Date of Birth | (1486 ) |
| Place of Birth | Getaria, Kingdom of Castile |
| Date of death | 6 August(1526-08-06 ) |
| A place of death | Pacific Ocean |
| Nationality | Spain |
| Occupation | navigator |
| Children | Domingo Elcano |
| Autograph |
|
| Juan Sebastian Elcano at Wikimedia Commons | |
Biography
In April 1520, he participated in the mutiny of Magellan's officers, who were desperate in search of the strait between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean and were going to deploy ships. During the riot, he was given command of the San Antonio galleon. However, he received mercy, like the rest of the rebels, except for the murderer of Quesado, Captain Cartagena and one priest.
After the death of Magellan at the Battle of Mactan, he led the expedition and completed it on September 8, 1522, bringing the ship "Victoria" from Southeast Asia to Spain. Elcano's return trip was risky, since in order to avoid clashes with the Portuguese, he drove the Victoria through the southern waters of the Indian Ocean and around Africa, without approaching the coast. Although part of the crew began to demand that the captain take a course for Mozambique, which belongs to the Portuguese crown, and surrender to the hands of the Portuguese, most of the sailors and Captain Elcano himself decided to try to sail to Spain at any cost. "Victoria" with difficulty rounded the Cape of Good Hope and then two months without stopping went north-west along the African coast.
On March 18, 1522, Elcano discovered the island of Amsterdam, but gave it no name. In addition to him, another 17 people from the "Victoria" team reached Spain (later the sailors from the "Victoria" and 4 people from the crew of the ship Trinidad, detained by the Portuguese on the Cape Verde Islands, returned). Unlike Magellan, who did not expect to continue his journey to the west after the "spice islands", Elcano deliberately chose a round-the-world route.
For this expedition, Emperor Charles V gave Elcano a personal coat of arms, which, among other things, depicted the globe with the motto Primus circumdedisti me (lat. You went around me first), and assigned an annual pension
