science

Hernando de Bustamante

Hernando de Bustamante is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hernando de Bustamante rather than just read about it. In short: Hernando de Bustamante was a Spanish sailor and barber surgeon who is best known as one of the few survivors of the first circumnavigation of the globe. He sailed on the Magellan-Elcano expedition from 1519 to 1522.

Key takeaways

Hernando de Bustamante belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
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Connect Hernando de Bustamante to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hernando de Bustamante from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Hernando de Bustamante was a Spanish sailor and barber surgeon who is best known as one of the few survivors of the first circumnavigation of the globe. He sailed on the Magellan-Elcano expedition from 1519 to 1522.

Early life Not much is known of Bustamante's life before his experiences on the Magellan expedition. The registry for the Magellan-Elcano expedition in 1519 document that Bustamante was a barber surgeon, a native of Mérida, was the son Juan de Bustamante and Leonor de Cáceres, lived in Alcántara, and was the husband of María Rodríguez. However, the registry for the Loaísa expedition in 1524, Bustamante is listed as a native of Alcántara. Baptismal records from the parish of Santa María Almócova indicate Bustamante was born in Alcántara in 1494.

The Magellan-Elcano expedition Bustamante served as the barber-surgeon aboard the Victoria, one of the five ships in the original fleet of the Magellan-Elcano expedition. As one of the three barber-surgeons on the crew, Bustamante's duties may have included medical tasks such as tooth extraction, setting bones, and amputations. Bustamante was one of only 18 crew members who returned to Spain with Juan Sebastián Elcano on the Victoria. Elcano chose Bustamante as his companion to meet with Emperor Charles V and report on the details of the expedition. As one of the 18 survivor of the original 270 crew, Bustamante's personal account of the expedition's journey is a valuable primary source for historians studying the first circumnavigation, especially his deposition on 18 October 1522.

The Loaísa Expedition A few years after his return to Spain, Bustamante joined the Loaísa expedition, which aimed to establish a Spanish presence in the Spice Islands. After the deaths of both Loaísa and Elcano, Bustamante was appointed treasurer of the flagship, the Santa María de la Victoria, the only ship to of the original seven to reach the Spice Islands in September 1526. By this point in the expedition, Bustamante was one of only 24 men from the original crew of 450 survived to land in the Spice Islands. The Loaísa expedition was plagued by misfortune and conflict with the Portuguese India Armadas, who also sought to control the spice trade. After a period of fighting, the Loaísa expedition struck a deal with the Portuguese India Armadas for their return home.

Death Bustamante did not complete his return journey to Europe, dying at sea near the Maldives on a Portuguese ship around 1533. He came close to completing a second circumnavigation but perished on the return leg of his second voyage.

See also Magellan expedition Expedition medicine Crew of the Victoria Loaísa expedition

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hernando de Bustamante

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hernando de Bustamante claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hernando de Bustamante before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hernando de Bustamante ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hernando de Bustamante

In research: Hernando de Bustamante appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hernando de Bustamante in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hernando de Bustamante is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1490s births, 1533 deaths, 15th-century Spanish explorers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hernando de Bustamante outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hernando de Bustamante in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hernando de Bustamante means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hernando de Bustamante out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hernando de Bustamante in simple terms?

Why does Hernando de Bustamante matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hernando de Bustamante?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hernando de Bustamante.