If there is something that still hurts Spanish nationalists in the 21st century, it is that the 2 most famous explorers who traveled for their Crown were foreigners: Columbus (Genoa), Magellan (Portugal).
On this trip, as Magellan died before completing his return, the perfect opportunity arises to try to foist a Spanish hero. The whole series is based on trying to stuff Elcano down our throats.
In real life, Elcano was a product of randomness. Without any importance before taking command of one of the ships(he ascends to captain after Magellan's death and the subsequent deaths of many in higher positions in the right time to seize the opportunity), he was part of the mutiny that wanted to end the voyage and cowardly return to Spain even before the discovery of the Strait to the Pacific. By the way, the attempt to exonerate him during the mutiny in this series is ridiculous.
As in any undertaking of importance to Humanity, the deserved highlight always goes (or should go) to its designer. This is undoubtedly the stubborn and almost supernaturally brave Magellan, the just hero of this remarkable feat.
There is a narrative in Spain that tries to paste the idea of a trip around the world to Elcano, reproduced here...as if he were a guy with 20th century mindset wanting to enter the Guiness World Records. Obviously, the man who mutinied so early, only and only wanted to return home alive and that's why he chose to continue on that path: the one which guaranteed him greater chances of survival.
The greatest feat was already performed at the precise moment they arrived in the Philippines and the translator, Enrique, understood the language: the route to the West is complete, which definitively proves the sphericity of the Earth. The circumnavigation routes were open and charted. The other route, the one heading East, had already been discovered by the Portuguese.
Elcano's merit was that he did not let this feat fall into oblivion, when he returned via the Portuguese route. Yes, he may have sailed in some waters where ships had not yet passed, but even that is debatable, because the Portuguese explored the Indian Ocean for 20 years before him and the myth of cabotage navigation is just that...a myth you only hear in Spain to accentuate the Spanish exceptionality in the sea that never existed. They were almost limited to mimic and receiving rejections from Portugal(Columbus and Magellan),the country that truly dominated the seas and allowed with advances in technical and scientific knowledge to open the World in the 15th and 16th centuries.
But one can never compare the feat that is almost blind sailing in the Unknown like Magellan did, with navigation knowing the exact location of the Cape of Good Hope and the direction to follow, already performed hundreds of times before(even with the deviation in the Indian Ocean,that's basically what Elcano did.)
There is also the detail that Magellan most probably completed the 2-step circumnavigation before, having sailed in the service of the Portuguese Crown, beyond the longitude of the Philippines, in the expedition of Antonio Abreu. Or, if not him, maybe Enrique, his slave did it. But this, as we have already seen, is a simple curiosity, derived from our current mentality, than the real importance of what was achieved.
The series has a mountain of historical inaccuracies, being made for quick consumption by the masses and a deeply Spanish bias. It would be nice to see the journey that can be only compared to the Moon landing, receive the attention it deserves from the great filmakers. But at a time when the slightest association with european colonialism is a stigma, it seems difficult.
Vikings are highly overrated and cannot be compared in terms of impact with the heroes of Age of Discovery, but not on the Hollywood Index Prohibitorum because they massacred others of similar ethnicity...
On this trip, as Magellan died before completing his return, the perfect opportunity arises to try to foist a Spanish hero. The whole series is based on trying to stuff Elcano down our throats.
In real life, Elcano was a product of randomness. Without any importance before taking command of one of the ships(he ascends to captain after Magellan's death and the subsequent deaths of many in higher positions in the right time to seize the opportunity), he was part of the mutiny that wanted to end the voyage and cowardly return to Spain even before the discovery of the Strait to the Pacific. By the way, the attempt to exonerate him during the mutiny in this series is ridiculous.
As in any undertaking of importance to Humanity, the deserved highlight always goes (or should go) to its designer. This is undoubtedly the stubborn and almost supernaturally brave Magellan, the just hero of this remarkable feat.
There is a narrative in Spain that tries to paste the idea of a trip around the world to Elcano, reproduced here...as if he were a guy with 20th century mindset wanting to enter the Guiness World Records. Obviously, the man who mutinied so early, only and only wanted to return home alive and that's why he chose to continue on that path: the one which guaranteed him greater chances of survival.
The greatest feat was already performed at the precise moment they arrived in the Philippines and the translator, Enrique, understood the language: the route to the West is complete, which definitively proves the sphericity of the Earth. The circumnavigation routes were open and charted. The other route, the one heading East, had already been discovered by the Portuguese.
Elcano's merit was that he did not let this feat fall into oblivion, when he returned via the Portuguese route. Yes, he may have sailed in some waters where ships had not yet passed, but even that is debatable, because the Portuguese explored the Indian Ocean for 20 years before him and the myth of cabotage navigation is just that...a myth you only hear in Spain to accentuate the Spanish exceptionality in the sea that never existed. They were almost limited to mimic and receiving rejections from Portugal(Columbus and Magellan),the country that truly dominated the seas and allowed with advances in technical and scientific knowledge to open the World in the 15th and 16th centuries.
But one can never compare the feat that is almost blind sailing in the Unknown like Magellan did, with navigation knowing the exact location of the Cape of Good Hope and the direction to follow, already performed hundreds of times before(even with the deviation in the Indian Ocean,that's basically what Elcano did.)
There is also the detail that Magellan most probably completed the 2-step circumnavigation before, having sailed in the service of the Portuguese Crown, beyond the longitude of the Philippines, in the expedition of Antonio Abreu. Or, if not him, maybe Enrique, his slave did it. But this, as we have already seen, is a simple curiosity, derived from our current mentality, than the real importance of what was achieved.
The series has a mountain of historical inaccuracies, being made for quick consumption by the masses and a deeply Spanish bias. It would be nice to see the journey that can be only compared to the Moon landing, receive the attention it deserves from the great filmakers. But at a time when the slightest association with european colonialism is a stigma, it seems difficult.
Vikings are highly overrated and cannot be compared in terms of impact with the heroes of Age of Discovery, but not on the Hollywood Index Prohibitorum because they massacred others of similar ethnicity...