What Was The Impact Of Ferdinand Magellan And Martin Luther?

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Ferdinand Magellan and Martin Luther were both extraordinary men of their time. Martin Luther sparked the Protestant Reformation and Ferdinand Magellan circumnavigated the globe. Though Magellan debunked the claims that the Earth was flat, Luther had more of an impact. When Martin Luther published, “95 Theses”, he unintentionally began the Protestant Reformation. Luther also translated the Bible to German, which enabled the common folk to be able to read and interpret the Bible in their own way. This then paved the way for the Protestant Religion to form and eventually more demonization’s of the Christian faith. Despite all the things that Martin Luther did to Christianity and the world at whole, some may argue that Magellan had more of an …show more content…

Though all this is evident some may still try to claim that Ferdinand Magellan had been more impactful on history. After all Ferdinand Magellan is credited as the first man to circumnavigate the globe. This however, is not true. The first person to ever complete the journey across the world was Magellan’s slave, Enrique. Enrique was born in the Visayans and was sold into slavery in Sumatra. When he was sent to Malacca, Magellan “acquired” him. Magellan took Enrique with him on his westward journey to the Spice Islands. Eighteen months into this voyage they landed on Limasawa, where Enrique heard people talking in his native language. When he approached them, they welcomed him. He also proved that the world truly is round and debunked all tales of it being flat (though many people didn’t even think the world was flat and acknowledged that is was round). This discovery led to, lets say, a disbelief in religion. “Since the Earth was revolving daily, heaven and hell could not be located where they had been thought to be, and in rational minds there was a growing skepticism that neither of them existed” according to William Manchester. It is very strange that Magellan is credited for circumnavigating the globe even though he died mid-way through the expedition. He did nevertheless, find a strait at the tip of South America and discovered the Pacific Ocean. He and his crew also were the first to see

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