Quotes from Laurence Bergreen

she would eventually become the most celebrated vessel of the Age of Discovery.

according to Jewish law. Nevertheless, the family considered itself Christian

Juan de Aranda, an ambitious merchant, took the Portuguese navigator aside

guarantee this voyage, he had sacrificed his allegiance to his homeland, his partnership with Ruy Faleiro

The Edge of the World

Even the daring Schöner hesitated to depict the western coast of South America;

Ferdinand Magellan never thought of himself as anything other than a devout Catholic.

and offered to lobby on behalf of the expedition in exchange for 20 percent of the profits.

They asked to keep any "islands" they discovered for themselves, if they discovered more than six

and a considerable amount of his authority as Captain General

that the unfortunate Europeans had not merely been killed but devoured as their shipmates looked on helplessly.

him, it was the fulfillment of a divine prophecy. To his Sovereigns and their ministers, it was intended as a landgrab and a way to plunder gold. Instead, it became, through forces Columbus inadvertently set in motion and only dimly understood, the most important voyage of its kind ever made.

well as permission to pass the newly discovered lands on to "our heirs and successors.

but he had kept his essential mission intact. After twelve months of painstaking preparation

as he termed it, terra ulterior incog.—in other words, "the land that has been hitherto unknown.

Magellan's insistence on a ten-year exclusive on voyages to the Spice Islands appeared preposterous

The only choice left to them was a slavish adherence to Magellan's authority, even if it led over the edge of the world. There were two important exceptions to the general clemency:

Ferdinand Magellan and his brother Diogo moved to Lisbon, where they became pages at the royal court;

but he was concerned that Spain would send duplicate expeditions as soon as his was out of sight of land

the House of Fugger, for which he worked, had enough money to finance ten expeditions, or more;

the Armada de Molucca was at last ready to conquer the ocean.

the Indians simply outran them. "They made such enormous strides that with all our running and jumping we could not overtake them," Pigafetta noted.

Gaspar de Quesada, the leader and murderer of San Antonio's

Everything to the west was also unknown.