Published December 20, 2025 | Version v1

Scurvy during Magellan's voyage around the world (1519-1522)

  • 1. ROR icon University of Helsinki

Description

Scurvy broke out during Magellan’s circumnavigation, which is one of the earliest documented episodes of scurvy during long sea voyages.
The symptoms of scurvy were recorded by Pigafetti in his account of the voyage. Four versions of the manuscript survive, but none is the original.
In addition, several English translations exist, each based on different selections of the manuscripts.
This report examines the sections of six English translations that describe the occurrence of scurvy during Magellan’s voyage.

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