His Voyage Was Financed By Charles I

In order to present Charles I, the 18-year-old Spanish monarch, with the idea of finding a westward sailing path to the Spice Islands, Ferdinand requested an appointment with him upon his arrival in Spain. In March 1518, King Charles I granted the request, citing a pressing need for a new commercial route to the Spice Islands. Portugal was given sovereignty of the eastern routes to Asia that circumnavigated Africa, notably the Cape of Good Hope, under the terms of the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas. Instead, Magellan suggested taking a western path, which had never been done before, to the Spice Islands. Charles approved the trip and provided the majority of the finance in the hopes that it would result in a trade route that was advantageous to Spain commercially.

Five ships made comprised Magellan's fleet, which contained enough provisions for a two-year journey. The crew was made up of roughly 270 men of various nationalities, while researchers' estimates may be lower due to conflicting information in the numerous documents that are still in existence. Around 60% of the team was made up of Spaniards who came from all throughout Castile. Portuguese and Italian came in second and third, with 28 and 27 sailors, respectively. The crew was then made up of 15 sailors from France, 8 from Greece, 5 from Flanders, 3 from Germany, 2 from Ireland, 1 from England, and 1 from Malaysia. On September 20, 1519, the fleet departed from Spain.