Five hundred years of the 1519 Circumnavigation trip - 2019

By: Sonia Venegas Paz, Ecuador

In order to open a trade route with the spice islands to the west, also looking for a passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, since August 10, 1519, this trip had been announced in Seville, but it was not until the 20th September of the same year that an expedition set sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda - Spain, consisting of 5 ships and led by Fernando de Magallanes, it was the most important maritime expedition of the XNUMXth century, financed by the Spanish crown, which ended under the command of Sebastián El Cano, who completed the first circumnavigation voyage in history.

5 ships left Sanlucar de Barrameda

The 5 ships that left Sanlúcar de Barrameda were:

• Trinidad, with 62 crew where it came from Fernando de Magallanes or Hernando de Magallanes, who concludes his trip in the Moluccan Islands with surviving marine 17, unable to fulfill his desire to return to Spain.
• San Antonio, with 57 crew captained by Juan Cartagena, This crew revolted on November 1 from 1520 in the Strait of Magellan on May 6 from 1521.
• Conception,  with 44 crew commanded by Gaspar de Quezada, This ship was abandoned and burned in front of Bohol Island in Filipanas, due to lack of sufficient crew to be able to make it sail.
• Victoria, with 45 crew commanded by Luis de Mendoza, She was the only one to complete the expedition. He returned to Seville on September 8 of 1522 with 17 survivors.
• Santiago, with 31 crew led by Juan Serrano, the 22 of May of 1520 was wrecked, in the estuary of the Santa Cruz River (Patagonia Argentina)

Issue Departure

The squad departed from Seville on August 10, 1519, departing from the Mulas dock, on the Guadalquivir River, near the west side of the current San Telmo bridge. The fleet descended the Guadalquivir until it reached its mouth, in Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Cádiz), a port on the Atlantic Ocean. During the weeks that followed, Fernando de Magallanes and the captains came and went to Seville to attend to various unforeseen events and to alleviate some difficulties while collecting supplies for the trip. Magellan himself made a will in Seville on August 24.

They continued through some villages to Sanlucar. A few days later, the commander-in-chief and the captains of the other ships came in the chalupas from Seville to San Lúcar, and the squad was finished vituallar. Every morning he went ashore to hear the mass in the church of NS de Barrameda; and before leaving, the chief determined that the entire crew confessed, forbidding at all the embarkation of women in that squad. The 20 of September the expedition sailed from Sanlucar de Barrameda.

Thus, the 10 of August of 1519, left for the greatest maritime adventure of all time. So this August 10 of 2019 will turn 500 years of that great feat.

500 years

The 2.ᵃ World March for Peace and Nonviolence, coincides with this date because the 2 of October of 2019 will start, it will travel the world in a trip similar to that of Magallanes and El Cano but this concentrates most of humanist wills, social groups, environmental movements, defenders of Human Rights and a countless people who are adhering every day and that as the MM passes through each country they will be able to join with different activities of each town and idiosyncrasy.

This March will also depart from Spain, from Madrid, the October 2. The tour will include the Mediterranean, Africa, America from the USA. to Chile, Oceania, Asia, Europe, returning to Madrid the 8 of March of 2020, International Women's Day, where the 2 will end.ᵃ World March for Peace and Nonviolence after circumventing the Earth 500 years later.