Over the Edge of the World: Magellen's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe by Laurence Bergreen Read Free Book Online Page A

maravedís, including the five ships, provisions, salaries paid out in advance, and fittings for the ships. Magellan’s pay came to 50,000 maravedís, and an additional 8,000 maravedís each month. By royal order, his monthly salary went directly to his wife, Beatriz.
    Of the overall cost of the expedition, the king’s share came to 6,454,209 maravedís, much of it provided at high interest by Haro. Although royal documents place Haro’s contribution to the great enterprise at a modest 1,616,781 maravedís, that number is deceptive. Because his backers, the House of Fugger, also financed expeditions for Portugal, they probably concealed the full extent of their contribution by loaning additional money to the king.
    In a final piece of official business, King Charles conferred the title of captain on both Magellan and Faleiro. Given the hazards of exploration, it was not unusual for expeditions in the Age of Discovery to have co-captains, but in this case, the arrangement unintentionally sowed the seeds of bitter disputes at sea. The powers granted to the pair were sweeping and unequivocal. “We order the master and boatswains, pilots, seamen, ship boys and pages, and any other persons and officials there may be in the said fleet, whatever persons who are and reside in the said lands and islands to be discovered . . . that they shall regard, accept, and consider you as our Captains of the said fleet. As such, they shall obey you and comply with your orders, under the penalty or penalties which, in our name, you shall impose.” As the language made clear, Magellan and Faleiro had absolute authority at sea. “We authorize you to execute sentence on their persons and goods. . . . If during the voyage of the said fleet there should arise any disputes and conflicts, at sea as well ashore, you shall deliver, determine and render justice with respect to them, summarily and without hesitation nor question of law.”
    Magellan could only have marveled at the speed with which his plan to reach the Spice Islands had come together. King Charles risked Spain’s authority and reputation on the expedition, and the backers risked their capital, but Magellan would risk even more: his very life.
     
     
     
     

C H A P T E R   I I
The Man Without a Country
     
    The Sun came up upon the left,
Out of the sea came he!
And he shone bright, and on the right
Went down into the sea.
     
     
    W hen word of Magellan’s spectacular commission reached Portugal, King Manuel reacted with alarm. The navigator had betrayed them all, and the members of the royal court were at a loss to understand why he had done so. The Portuguese court historian João de Barros, who had a passing acquaintance with Magellan, contended that a demonic force had possessed the navigator: “Since the devil always maneuvers so that the souls of men entertain evil deeds in whose undertaking he shall perish, he prepared this occasion for this Ferdinand Magellan to become estranged from his king and his kingdom, and to go astray.” No one in Portugal dared to admit the actual reason for Magellan’s behavior, that King Manuel had refused to back the navigator, humiliating him over and over again.
    King Manuel did what he could to ruin Magellan’s name while, at the same time, trying to lure Magellan and Faleiro back to Portugal. He involved the Portuguese ambassador to King Charles’s court, Álvaro da Costa, who sought out the two exiles, promising that King Manuel would reconsider their request for an expedition. Da Costa was explicit about the dire consequences that would befall the two if they continued with their plan to sail for Spain; they would offend God, King Manuel, and relinquish all personal honor. Nor would matters end there; their families and heirs would suffer, and they would upset the delicate truce between Spain and Portugal at the very moment that King Manuel was planning to marry King Charles’s sister, Leonor.
    Magellan refused to be swayed by the