Quotes from Laurence Bergreen

Manuel abruptly changed his mind, decided to remain on the throne, and arranged to marry his son's fiancée

have no laws or faith, and live according to nature. They do not recognize the immortality of the soul

the most abject and miserable creatures I have any where beheld.

Leonor, the twenty-year-old sister of King Charles of Spain.

Surviving shipwrecks and pirates, Serrão and several companions arrived at Ternate

A week after leaving Seville, the fleet reached the snug coastal town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda

they have among them no private property, because everything is common; they have no boundaries of kingdoms and provinces

We send Cristóbal Colón with three caravels through the Ocean Sea to the Indies on some business that concerns the service of God and the expansion of the Catholic faith and our benefit and utility.

All the while, it was rumored, she continued to have relations with the boy, Prince João

Vespucci thrilled readers with gruesome accounts of the Indians' customs.

After the tranquil respite, Santiago set sail and proceeded south in search of the strait. On May 22, the wind picked

He was delighted to hear that they had sufficient provisions to last three months

These men are accustomed to bore holes in their lips and cheeks, and in these holes they place bones and stones;

the seas began to churn, tossing the ship as if she were nothing more than an oversized piece of flotsam.

more than enough, he calculated, to carry them through the strait and to the Moluccas.

He renounced slaving and vowed to seek revenge (and his fortune) against those who trafficked

Three times, the king, who had disliked and mistrusted Magellan for more than twenty years, refused

Serrão carefully cultivated Ternate's small ruling class, especially its king, and tried to promote trade between Ternate and Portugal

more remarkable, each of these ghostly personages was accorded a share of the fleet's profits in return for divine protection; the

Serrano had no time to reef the sails. Fierce seas pounded the ship

Encouraged, the captains and pilots indicated they were strongly in favor of pushing on—all but one, that is.

The previous circumnavigation came to a tragic conclusion fifty-five years earlier

in September of 1517, Magellan asked if he could offer his services elsewhere

Their marriages are not with one woman but with as many as they like, and without much ceremony