The thunder of cannons, church bells and countless onlookers in the port of Lisbon: 22 ships set sail at the same time in March 1505. The destination of the fleet is India, where the Portuguese want to break the dominance of the Muslims in the spice trade. Also on board is the 25-year-old Fernao Magalhaes, who dreamed of distant worlds as a child.
Christine Schulz Reiss wrote down for children how hard it was on board, what fears the young man had to endure and how he saved his admiral.
[Christine Schulz-Reiss: Fernando Magellan – einmal um die ganze Welt, Kindermann Verlag Berlin, 2020, 36 Seiten, 18 Euro, für Kinder ab acht Jahre].
The detailed illustrations by Klaus Ensikat reflect life on board. The gray sails of the caravel billow themselves thickly, two emaciated figures scrub the deck barefoot, helpers with shaggy hair pull the rope.
Fernao will stay in India for Portugal for seven years. He doesn’t get a thank you from the king for this. He waits, quarrels – and then joins Spain. He calls himself Fernando Magellan now. He will succeed in the first circumnavigation of the world. The stresses and strains he and his men are exposed to, the author tells with many anecdotes. The constant quarrel among the captains is an issue, because the “real” Spaniards do not want to recognize Magellan’s authority – “just a Portuguese”. But it also discusses how the natives are betrayed by Magellan’s people and the suffering they have to endure. Christine Schulz-Reiss succeeds in sticking to the facts and telling everything in a child-friendly way.
Fernando Magellan is no longer returning to Spain. He died on April 27, 1521 on the Philippine island of Mactan in battle with natives. A thirst for adventure, courage and meticulousness made him an idol for posterity. But Magellan is no longer the undisputed hero who found the South American sea passage between the Atlantic and Pacific to honor him Is called Magellan Strait. In the present book, the electoral Spaniard is not glorified, but presented in the context of the time.
The very attractively designed and bound book was published in the series “Children discover famous people”. Johannes Gutenberg and Leonardo da Vinci were previously portrayed. The next personality in line will be Marie Curie.
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