1480-1521. Portuguese navigator. In 1519 he
set sail in the Victoria from Seville with
the intention of reaching the East Indies by
a westerly route. He sailed through the
Magellan Strait at the tip of South America,
crossed an ocean he named the Pacific, and in
1521 reached the Philippines, where he was
killed in a battle with the islanders. His
companions returned to Seville in 1522,
completing the voyage under del Cano.
Magellan was brought up at court and entered
the royal service, but later transferred his
services to Spain. He and his Malay slave,
Enrique de Malacca, are considered the first
circumnavigators of the globe, since they had
once sailed from the Philippines to Europe.