The first TWO voyages around the world

[00:00:00]Two voyages One was an absolute disaster and the other was an absolute disaster.

[00:00:04]Welcome to Map Men.

[00:00:05]We're the men.

[00:00:05]And here's the map.

[00:00:06]♫ Map Men, Map Men ♫ Map Map Map Men Men Five hundred years ago, everyone knew the world was round.

[00:00:15]But nobody knew if there was a way to sail around its roundness.

[00:00:18]And that's because the best maps looked like this.

[00:00:21]The striking vagueness of the Americas including whether there was even a way past them meant no European had ever sailed west beyond them.

[00:00:28]But a line on a map meant that all that was about to change.

[00:00:31]The 16th century seas were ruled by two neighbours and naval nemeses Spain and Portugal.

[00:00:37]Keen not to get in each other's way the two sides came together in 1494 to sign the Treaty of Tordesillas which divided the entire world in half between them.

[00:00:46]Spain claimed everything to the west of this line and Portugal claimed everything to the east.

[00:00:51]While the treaty had divided the world equally by area it had not done so by value.

[00:00:55]In those days, nothing got people quite as excited as a handful of cloves.

[00:00:59]They were lucrative and they were delicious.

[00:01:01]And the spicy half of the world belonged to Portugal.

[00:01:05]There was no way around the Portuguese monopoly until, that is someone unexpected turned up with a proposal.

[00:01:11]Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese naval explorer who knew the Spice Islands like the back of his glove.

[00:01:16]His life's ambition was to find out if he could get there by squeezing around America and coming out the other side of the map reaching the Spice Islands from the back.

[00:01:24]Of course, the Portuguese already had a perfectly sane route to the spices so the king of Portugal had no interest in funding such a risky trip.

[00:01:31]But Magellan was so determined to make his dream come true that he switched allegiances and went to the King of Spain instead.

[00:01:38]Magellan told King Charles that the spice-rich Moloccus Islands currently owned by Portugal might actually be in Spain's western half of the world and Magellan could go and check for him.

[00:01:47]The king was delighted.

[00:01:49]And so, in 1519 Magellan began the first trip westwards around the Americas.

[00:01:54]The most famous, most significant and most disastrous voyage ever undertaken.

[00:01:58]Oh, no, it wasn't.

[00:01:59]The most famous, disastrous voyage around the Americas ever undertaken was undertaken by an Englishman.

[00:02:04]Oh, here we go.

[00:02:06]In the 1570s, the globe was still dominated by Spain and Portugal and ambitious Queen Elizabeth of England wanted a piece of the paella.

[00:02:13]So she called up a sailor named Francis Drake and asked him to sail West to steal as much Spanish gold as he could get his hands on and bring it home to England making Drake nothing more than a common pirate.

[00:02:24]Now that's not fair.

[00:02:25]If the Queen asked him to do the stealing that makes him a privateer a state sanctioned pirate.

[00:02:31]Either way, Magellan’s voyage was easily the most honourably disastrous.

[00:02:34]That's not what I learned in my history lessons at my English school.

[00:02:37]Drake suffered more by far making him the bigger hero.

[00:02:40]Alright then, let's compare the two voyages.

[00:02:42]Whoever had a worse time wins this pota-trophy.

[00:02:45]You're on.

[00:02:46]It's time to play Magellan versus Drake Who had it worse?

[00:02:51]Magellan and Drake both started with five ships.

[00:02:54]A full crew plenty of rations. An enslaved translator (Hey!) (Oi!)

[00:02:57]and good morale.

[00:02:58]And once their captains stepped aboard… (Hola hombres) (Hello everyone) they were off!

[00:03:03](Vamos) (God is with us and the wind is behind us) And almost immediately Drake ran into trouble.

[00:03:08](Skies look gloomy) His fleet hit a massive storm just off England and they had to head straight back to Plymouth (Hi Mum!)

[00:03:14]spending a month carrying out repairs.

[00:03:16]A nightmare start for Drake.

[00:03:18]But 58 years earlier Magellan was facing a nightmare of his own.

[00:03:21]As soon as he got to the Canary Islands for their first refuel he received a letter from his father-in-law informing him that some of his Spanish crew were planning a mutiny against him because they didn't like him because he was Portuguese.

[00:03:31](Nossa Senhora!)

[00:03:32]Meanwhile, on Drake's voyage A nobleman on board the Pelican called Thomas Doughty was causing a nuisance Although he knew nothing about sailing he was technically Drake's social superior leading to a constant power struggle between the two.

[00:03:44]Pull that rope. Don't pull that rope.

[00:03:46]Turn left. Don't turn left.

[00:03:47]Just go straight. - Just go straight.

[00:03:49]Drake moved the difficult Doughty to a different ship hoping the problem would just go away.

[00:03:53]So, Magellan’s panicking that a mutiny is about to happen and Drake's panicking that a mutiny is about to happen.

[00:03:58]I wonder what's going to happen next!

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[00:04:13]So, guys, first impressions?

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[00:04:28]Now, I did have to slightly broaden the search area to find this place.

[00:04:32]So, I should tell you it's actually just over the border in Wales.

[00:04:38]Wales?

[00:04:39]So, we'd be abroad.

[00:04:41]We don't speak any Welsh, Chrissy.

[00:04:43]We'd have to open a Welsh bank account, Chris And we wouldn't be able to get the same internet as at home.

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[00:05:32]As long as I can watch Bargain Hunt I’ll live anywhere Ah ha ha ha! Congratulations. You're moving to Wales.

[00:05:38]We're moving to Wales!

[00:05:41]Go on. Move to Wales, you dick.

[00:05:44]What were we on about?

[00:05:45]Magellan versus Drake Oh yeah!

[00:05:47]Magellan’s team had now crossed the Atlantic and reached Brazil just in time for Christmas.

[00:05:51](Feliz Navidad) Now began the critical part of the journey trying to find out if there was a way to get around this continent and out the other side.

[00:05:58]First time they thought they'd found a way, it turned out to be a river.

[00:06:01]And so did the next one.

[00:06:02]And so did the next one.

[00:06:04]And the next one.

[00:06:05]And the one after that too.

[00:06:07]Magellan ordered his crew to park up at Port St. Julian to wait until winter passed. Furious, cold and bored the crew now finally decided to do that mutiny they'd been thinking about for ages.

[00:06:17]Three ships rebelled against Magellan (Sorry Captain) and sent him a letter demanding he stand down as captain.

[00:06:23]So Magellan sent a letter back saying "Dear captain of the rebellious ship, thank you for raising your concern.

[00:06:28]My messenger is now going to stab you."

[00:06:32]The terrified crew suddenly became re-loyal again.

[00:06:35]He rounded up the ring leaders and had one of them beheaded leaving his remains dangling in a gibbet to warn anyone else being naughty.

[00:06:41](That's what you get!)

[00:06:43]58 years later, Drake had also crossed the Atlantic and like Magellan, also headed south towards the bottom of South America and things were going badly again.

[00:06:51]One of the ships had to be scuttled because it was rotting (Just get rid of it) and the annoying Thomas Doughty was getting even more annoying.

[00:06:57]Let's go back.

[00:06:58]We're not going back.

[00:06:58]I want more wine.

[00:06:59]You've had enough wine.

[00:07:00]I'm in charge.

[00:07:01]You're not in charge.

[00:07:02]So, when Drake stopped off in, of all places, Port St. Julian and saw Magellan’s old gibbet still standing strong he was inspired to take action. I'm in char… ow!

[00:07:15]ow ow ow ow ow ow ow. But doing this was a risky move.

[00:07:18]Doughty was the personal secretary of the trip's chief sponsor MP Christopher Hatton.

[00:07:23]So hoping flattery might guard against vengeance Drake changed the name of his ship from the Pelican to the Golden Hind in honour of the deer on Hatton's coat of arms.

[00:07:33]When their winters thawed, both teams continued south and South America seemed to go on forever.

[00:07:37]Magellan lost a ship by mistake when it was wrecked on a rock.

[00:07:40]And Drake lost a ship on purpose when he had to take it apart to scavenge its parts for the rest of the fleet.

[00:07:45]Until finally they reached the dozens of islands scattered around the southern tip of Chile where the solid continent gives way to a broken up archipelago a maze of islands.

[00:07:55]To increase his chances of finding a way through Magellan split up his fleet.

[00:07:58]They spent weeks sailing around various dead ends and getting so lost that one of them took the chance to turn around and go home without Magellan even noticing.

[00:08:05](ah, it's boring.)

[00:08:06]Finally, on the 28th of November 1520 they found their way through a channel that took them through the islands which to this day is called the Straits of Magellan.

[00:08:14]Magellan had done something no European had ever done before - sailed around the Americas and into a new ocean and the waters were so calm he called it the “Mar Pacifico” the peaceful sea.

[00:08:26]That's why it's called the Pacific? That's why it's called the Pacific.

[00:08:29]Drake, meanwhile, did not split up his fleet and passed through the straits in two weeks.

[00:08:34]Well, it's pretty easy if it's decades later.

[00:08:35]and you've captured a Portuguese navigator who had access to Magellan’s maps.

[00:08:39]But the ocean that greeted him was anything but peaceful.

[00:08:42]Drake hit another storm that was even bigger than the first one, blowing him further and further south until he became the first European to unintentionally discover the torrid Southern Ocean and another route past the Americas, which was later named Drake's Passage. (I should jolly well think so!)

[00:08:56]The Marigold sank and the Elizabeth was forced to return to land to carry out repairs after which it limped back home to England.

[00:09:02](Failure is honourable) Drake and the crew of the Golden Hind were now on their own.

[00:09:06]And there's no doubt that Drake's trip was going worse than Magellan’s.

[00:09:09]So far… but the captains’ fortunes were about to swap.

[00:09:12]Magellan mistakenly believed the world to be 27% smaller than it really was which is why he only named it the “Mar Pacifico” and not the “Oceano Pacifico” He thought it was peaceful and small?

[00:09:23]Yep.

[00:09:23]Magallan was an idiot.

[00:09:25]And so, assuming they wouldn't be there for long Magellan liberally dished out rations (Muchos gracias) which was a huge mistake.

[00:09:31]The three ships had in fact inadvertently undertaken the longest uninterrupted boat trip ever during which time they ran out of food and water and 19 sailors died.

[00:09:40]But 3 months later they reached Guam.

[00:09:41](Ah, finally!)

[00:09:42]From there it was just a short four week hop to the Philippines.

[00:09:46]They had now finally achieved what they set out to do.

[00:09:48]Reached Asia by going left.

[00:09:51]Magellan’s weary crew the ones who were still alive were now just desperate to go home.

[00:09:56]The original plan was to turn around and go home the way they came.

[00:09:59]But having crossed what they now knew was the absolutely massive Pacific Ocean they did not fancy it a second time.

[00:10:05]And so Magellan’s voyage would have to make history once again by becoming the very first to complete the world's first circumnavigation going back the same way they came.

[00:10:13]They're not going back the same way they came.

[00:10:14]They’re going on… they’re going round… No, as in, they’re going back, like, they’re facing the same way… Yeah, what? Facing?

[00:10:19]As in, the same way that they left, they’re going back… So you’re just saying they keep going forwards… As in they keep going, yes, but they’re facing the same way… Yeah, but you wouldn’t say “Going back the same way they came” would you?

[00:10:28]What I mean is they… but they… so they’re coming back… It’s a completely unhelpful way of phrasing it.

[00:10:31]Fine, fine.

[00:10:32]If Magellan’s scurvy ridden men were to ever stand a chance of making it home to tell the tale they badly needed help from whoever lived on the island.

[00:10:38]It was now time for the enslaved translator Enrique to come in handy.

[00:10:44](speaking Cebuano) Welcome traveler. I am the king of Cebu Your weapons impress me You help me in a battle and we'll give you some food in return Unluckily, the battle didn't go to plan.

[00:10:57]And after surviving months of constant peril at sea Magellan was killed on land by a poisoned arrow.

[00:11:02]Captain Magellan, you are about to die.

[00:11:05]Yes.

[00:11:06]What is your dying wish?

[00:11:11]I wish to free you, Enrique.

[00:11:13]Okay!

[00:11:14]Enrique enjoyed about 12 minutes of freedom before the new captain revoked it again and sent him to do some more important translating.

[00:11:20]The furious Enrique did some sneaky mistranslating.

[00:11:29]The new new captain shuffled away with just 104 injured men which was only enough to crew two of the three remaining ships How's that for disastrous?

[00:11:38]Quite.

[00:11:38]And how's Drake doing?

[00:11:40]Better.

[00:11:41]For the first time on their journeys Drake took a different route to Magellan heading north up the coast of South America where he ran into dozens of Spanish transport ships carrying gold back to Spain.

[00:11:51]He went into full state sanctioned pirate mode easily overcoming ship after ship with the help of his fine English cannon.

[00:11:57]Cannons.

[00:11:58]Overruled. Both are correct.

[00:12:00]Mission firmly accomplished, it was time for Drake to sail home.

[00:12:03]The only question was… how?

[00:12:05]All his options were terrible.

[00:12:07]1. Return the same way he'd come and face the Spanish warships who were now looking for him.

[00:12:10]2. Head across the Pacific following Magellan again Or 3. Find a new completely untested route over the top of America.

[00:12:16]Drake went for 3, and sailed North becoming the first Brit to visit California.

[00:12:20](Well that was expensive) But as he reached the chilly coast of Canada he literally got cold feet and went for option 2 instead Like Magellan, Drake was now also consigned to a trip all the way round the world whether he wanted it or not He made the Pacific crossing in a gruelling 68 days before his emaciated crew also arrived in the Philippines.

[00:12:37]What does emaciated mean?

[00:12:38]They looked like you After which, he found his way to the spice-rich islands of the Moloccas which was exactly where Magellan ended up after their own far more eventful stay in the Philippines.

[00:12:48]Magellan’s dead.

[00:12:49]It's still his voyage.

[00:12:50]Fair enough.

[00:12:50]Both crews stocked up on Europe's favourite dried unopened flower buds: Cloves.

[00:12:56](We are rich!)

[00:12:56]But the thing about cloves that perhaps you don't think about because you never normally see more than about eight in one go is that lots of cloves are really heavy. Both ships struggled under all the weight.

[00:13:06]One of the two remaining ships immediately broke (Oh dear) and Drake's one remaining ship was so heavy it ran aground on a rock.

[00:13:12]The Golden Hind wouldn't budge.

[00:13:14]So to lighten the load the crew threw cannons, munitions and clothes overboard.

[00:13:19]Cloves or clothes? Both.

[00:13:20]And then a gust of wind came along and helpfully set the Golden Hind on its way.

[00:13:25]Both exhausted crews having been reduced to a single battered ship each were now ready for the final leg back home to Europe.

[00:13:31]And they're off!

[00:13:32]Both fleets head across the Indian Ocean.

[00:13:33]It takes Drake two months to get from Java to Africa.

[00:13:36]But the weather's worse for Magellan who takes five months as more crew die of starvation.

[00:13:40]The Golden Hind rounds the Cape of Good Hope in desperate need of repairs.

[00:13:43]Magellan’s starving crew are forced to make a very risky stop in the Portuguese owned Cape Verde Islands.

[00:13:47]Drake has to refuel on the dangerously unknown coast of Sierra Leone.

[00:13:51]13 of Magellan’s men are imprisoned by the Portuguese.

[00:13:53]They only have 18 crew left.

[00:13:54]All Drake sailors have got head lice.

[00:13:56]Magellan’s crew all stink.

[00:13:57]Drake's sleep apnea is flaring up.

[00:13:59]But on the 6th of September 1522 On the 26th of September 1580 They make it home.

[00:14:05]So, it's time to tally up the results and see whose trip went worse.

[00:14:10]Yeah.

[00:14:12]Ah right.

[00:14:13]Okay.

[00:14:14]The clear winner of most heroically disastrous voyage and the deserving recipient of the pota-trophy is Ferdinand Magellan.

[00:14:24]Perhaps it's not important whose journey went worse.

[00:14:26]What's way more interesting is who managed it first?

[00:14:29]Who was the first human being to do a journey all the way around the planet?

[00:14:33]Magellan.

[00:14:33]His voyage was 58 years before Drake's.

[00:14:36]Magellan died halfway around the voyage.

[00:14:38]Oh yeah, I forgot.

[00:14:39]Well, his ship made it back.

[00:14:40]So, this trophy goes to whoever jumped off the ship first.

[00:14:43]Unless you know exactly who that was, you cannot award this trophy to anyone on that voyage.

[00:14:48]Oh yes I can!

[00:14:49]Remember Enrique?

[00:14:50]Magellan’s translator?

[00:14:52]He stayed behind in the Spice Islands.

[00:14:54]Exactly.

[00:14:55]Historians believe that Enrique originally came from either Indonesia or the Philippines.

[00:14:59]He would have first arrived in Spain from the East.

[00:15:01]So assuming he was back in his homeland when he left the ship or if he was very nearby, depending on your definition of a circumnavigation there's a very good chance this unknown slave was in fact the first human being to complete a full journey around the planet.

[00:15:16]So tell that to your old history teacher.

[00:15:18]Alright.

[00:15:23]Hello. Can I speak to Mr. Swan, please?

[00:15:27]Yeah.

[00:15:29]Okay.

[00:15:30]Sure, yeah.

[00:15:32]Okay, thanks.

[00:15:34]Well?

[00:15:35]He died in 2006.

[00:15:47]♫♫♫