Though Magellan’s enterprise was the greatest ever undertaken by any navigator, yet he has been deprived of his due fame by the jealousy which has always existed between the two nations inhabiting the Peninsula: the Spaniards would not brook being commanded by a Portuguese, and the Portuguese have not yet forgiven Magellan for having abandoned them to serve Castile. But Magellan really had no choice; for if the western passage which he expected to discover was to be sought for, it could only be under the auspices of Spain, within whose demarcation those waters lay.

It would seem that D. Manuel had only himself to blame for the loss of Magellan’s services; and, as M. Amoretti well observes, D. Manuel ought to have been well aware of the value of those services, since Charles V knew it, and showed his appreciation of them. It is difficult to believe that the injury of which Magellan complained, and which led him to seek other service, was merely, as Osorio says, the refusal of promotion in palace rank, and which he had well deserved, especially since the motive ascribed by Osorio to the king’s refusal, namely the necessity of avoiding a bad precedent, was not alone a sufficient affront to account for Magellan’s sacrificing all his hopes and property in his own country, had he not also felt that the king was condemning him to inaction, obscurity, and uselessness. Barros, indeed, says that:

“The favours of princes given for services are a retributive justice, which must be observed equally with all, with regard to the quality of each man: and that if a man’s portion be denied him, though he endures it ill, yet he will have patience; but if he see the advancement of those who have profited more by artifice and friends than by their own merits, he loses all patience; indignation, hatred, and despair arise, and he will commit faults injurious to himself and others. And what outraged Magellan more than the refusal of the half ducat a month, was that some men who were with him at Azamor, said that his lameness was feigned to support his petition.”

The king, moreover, refused to receive Magellan, and showed his ill-will against him. It is therefore highly probable that before Magellan took the step of leaving Portugal, D. Manuel, prompted by his niggardly disposition, had refused to entertain Magellan’s desire for employment at sea, or his projects of discovery, from which no immediate profit was to be expected. This is apparent from the statement of Barros, Decad. iii, lib. v, cap. viii, that letters of Magellan to Francisco Serrano were found after the death of the latter in Maluco, in which Magellan said that he should soon see him; and, if it were not by way of Portugal, it would be by way of Castile, and that Serrano should therefore wait for him there. Further on, Barros says that recourse to Castile appears from these letters to have been in Magellan’s mind some time before the occurrence of the king’s dismissal of his business: and that this was shown by his always associating with pilots, and occupying himself with sea-charts.

The Portuguese exaggerated very much the injury they expected to result, and, later, which they thought had resulted from Magellan’s voyage, which could not change the position of the Moluccas, nor consequently the Portuguese title to them; but the apprehensions which they felt, arose from their fear of others sharing in the spice trade, and from the limited geographical knowledge of the period, which left both parties very much in doubt as to the true position of those islands, or as to the extent of the circumference of the globe. The question of the exact position of the Moluccas was not definitely ascertained till much later, though a compromise was arrived at in 1529 by the treaty between Spain and Portugal, by which Charles V gave up whatever rights to the Moluccas he imagined he possessed, to Portugal, for a sum of three hundred and fifty thousand ducats.⁠ As late as 1535, Gaspar Correa mentions, tom. iii, p. 661, a Dominican friar in Portuguese India, who was learned in cosmography, and who asserted that the Moluccas fell within the demarcation of Castile.

The grounds of complaint of the Portuguese against Magellan are, perhaps, best expressed, and in the strongest terms, by Bishop Osorio, so it may be well to quote from him the following passage. Lib. xi, § 23.

“About this time a slight offence on the part of the king (D. Manuel) so grievously exasperated the mind of a certain Portuguese, that, forgetful of all faith, piety, and religion, he hastened to betray the king who had educated him, and the country which had brought him forth; and he risked his life amongst the greatest perils. Ferdinand Magellan, of whom we have before spoken, was a man of noble birth, and endued with a high spirit. He had given proofs in India, in warlike affairs, of courage and perseverance in no small degree. Likewise in Africa he had performed his duties with great ardour. Formerly it was the custom among the Portuguese that the king’s servants should be fed in the palace at the king’s expense; but when the number of these servants had become so great (because the sons of the king’s officers retained the same station, and besides, many were admitted for their services into the king’s household), it was seen to be very difficult to prepare the food of such a multitude. On this account it was determined by the Kings of Portugal that the food which each man was to receive in the palace should be provided by himself out of the king’s money. Thus it was settled that a certain sum of money was assigned per month to each man. That money, indeed, when provisions were so cheap, provided abundantly for the men; but now that the number of men, and the prices of commodities had increased, it happened that the sum, which formerly was more than sufficient for their daily expenses, was now much too small. Moreover, as all the dignity of the Portuguese depends upon the king, this small sum of money is as eagerly sought after as though it were much more ample. And as the Portuguese think that the thing most to be desired is to be enrolled amongst the king’s household, so also, they consider the greatest honour to consist in an increase of this stipend. For, as there are various ranks of king’s servants, so the sum of money is assigned to each servant according to the dignity of his rank. The highest class is that of nobleman; but, as there are distinctions of nobility, so an equal salary is not given to all. Thus it happens that the nobility of each is estimated according to the importance of this stipend, and each one is held to be more noble in proportion to the more ample stipend which he receives. This judgment, indeed, as human affairs go, is often most false; for many obtain through ambition and pertinacity what ought to be assigned to deserts and innate nobleness. The Portuguese, however, since they are over anxious in seeking this nobility, and imagine that their nobility is increased by a small accession of salary, very often think that they must strive for this little sum of money, as though all their well-being and dignity depended upon it. Now, Magellan contended that for his services, his stipend should be increased monthly by half a ducat. The king refused it him, lest an entrance should be opened to ambitious persons. Magellan, excited by the injury of the refusal of this advantage to him at that time, abandoned the king, broke his faith, and brought the State into extreme danger. And whilst we ought to tolerate the injuries inflicted by the State, and to endure also the outrages of kings, who are the fathers of the republick, and whilst we ought to lay down our lives for the well-being of our country, which lives we owe to our country; this most audacious man conceived such despite on account of half a ducat, amounting to five denarii, which was refused to him, that he opposed the State; he offended the king, who had brought him up; and brought his country, for which he should have died, into peril. For the affair reached such a pitch that the danger of a perilous war impended over the commonwealth. I do not know, indeed, whence so barbarous a custom has crept into the State: for, whilst the name of a traitor is not only hateful and hated, but also burns in the stain of everlasting dishonour upon a whole posterity; yet men who determine upon breaking their faith, and opposing their kings or states, may reject the favours they have received by formal letters, may abjure their fealty, and despoil themselves of the rights and duties of the State; they bid the king keep for himself that which belongs to him, and they attest that thenceforward they will have nothing in common with their country: then, at length, they contend that it is allowable for them to commence war against their country. Be it so: reject favours if it please you; contemn the liberality of your country; grumble as much as you please, that a reward equal to your dignity has not been granted. But by what means can you betray the faith which you have plighted? My country has inflicted on me a severe outrage; it has inflicted, indeed, the worst. But an outrage is not to be avenged, either upon parents or upon one’s country. I have abandoned, he says, all that I had received from my country. Have you then rejected life, disposition, and education? By no means. But all these things; you received them, in the first place, from God, and then from the laws, customs, and institutions of your country. It will never be allowable to combat nature, to injure your country, or to break faith, even should you be laden with every injury. Nay, your life should be given up, and the most extreme punishments should be undergone, sooner than break your faith, or betray your duty. Abjure fealty as much as you please, attest your perfidy by public letters, leave to posterity a notable memory of unspeakable wickedness; yet you will not be able by any such document to avoid offending the Deity, nor the stain of an everlasting opprobrium.”