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This occured following the discovery of the Victoria's master, Antonio Salamon, with a cabin boy.
Under Spanish law, homosexuality was punishable by death. Spanish authorities and the Catholic Church condemned homosexuality in the harshest language possible, despite its prevalence. As Captain General of the fleet, Magellan had little choice but to take disciplinary action, but he found himself in an impossible predicament, caught between the cruelty of Spanish law and the reality of homosexuality at sea. In practice, homosexuality among sailors confined to ships over long periods of time was inevitable. There are few accounts of captains attempting to punish sailors for this behavior; instead, they simply looked the other way. Magellan took a harsher course of action. He held a court martial of Salamon, serving as both judge and jury. The outcome of the proceeding was swift, and Salamon was condemned to death by strangulation. The deed was to be carried out several weeks hence, on December 20. (1519)
<snip>
The tranquility of the fleet's layover in Rio de Janeiro was interrupted by a traumatic event: carrying out Antonio Salamon's death sentence on December 20. On the appointed day, Magellan summoned the officers and crew of Trinidad to watch the execution of the man who had committed a "crime against nature." One of the sailors, never named, his face likely hooded to preserve his anonymity, strangled Salamon in full view of the other men, as a warning. The grisly spectacle, performed with military efficiency, increased resentment among the crew against the Captain General.
Bergreen, Laurence, Over the Edge of the World, pgs 92-93, 103.
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