»Over the Edge of the World

Voyagers in the Age of Discovery trained in formal schools, where they learned the science of navigation, theories of cartography, and the immense trove of history essential to understanding of exploration. In Castilian Spain,the Casa de Contratraci�n's "School of Navigation [provided] formal training [to] pilot[s], probably from the boastful and controversial Amerigo Vespucci .... Students received credit in the form of beans won from their instructor; if they successfully completed a course, they were awarded a dry bean; if unsuccessful, they received a shriveled pea." Casa de Contratraci�n was the "House of Commerce", and provided the financial backing for the highly-speculative and incredibly dangerous voyages to the Spice Islands.

Contrast this to the school in William Langweische's Outlaw Sea, which involved real-world simualations in the South of France, complete with scale-model ships of all varieties.

Laurence Bergreen's story of Magellan focuses on his monumental 'round-the-world voyage. Leaving much of Magellan's early story behind, he paints a portrait of a barely competent navigator whose luck and hardheadedness combined to take him most of the way around the globe. Although Ferdinand Magellan's expedition and its findings (yes! the world is round!) are tremendous, they now seem to me more the result of chance than of calculation. Magellan did not have an aptitude for scholarship, and was no master of instruments; his cosmologist collaborator went insane before the ships sailed. He faced many political obstacles, both in the Portuguese empire and in the Spanish court of Charles I, and showed little aptitude for handling the intrigue. . The book itself starts slowly, but once the voyage is underway the excitement begins: cannibals! giants! williwaws! mutiny! exotic islands! spices!

update I plumb forgot one of the other exciting passages of this book: Bergreen recounts the punishments that the hapless Magellan metes out in revenge for the first mutiny, and describes a form of torture especially beloved by the Spanish Inquisition. Torquemada was as fond of waterboarding as are the United States Attorneys General. Even as he engaged in the clear acts of torture, Magellan knew that he would receive dishonor upon his return to Spain. Five hundred years later: Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.