Jacques cartier timeline
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Jacques Cartier’s First North American Voyage
Born December 31, 1491, in Saint-Malo, France, Cartier began sailing as a young man. He was believed to have traveled to Brazil and Newfoundland—possibly accompanying explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano—before 1534.
That year, the government of King Francis I of France commissioned Cartier to lead an expedition to the “northern lands,” as the east coast of North America was then known. The purpose of the voyage was to find a northwest passage to Asia, as well as to collect riches such as gold and spices along the way.
Did you know? In addition to his exploration of the St. Lawrence region, Jacques Cartier is credited with giving Canada its name. He reportedly misused the Iroquois word kanata (meaning village or settlement) to refer to the entire region around what is now Quebec City; it was later extended to the entire country.
Cartier set sail in April 1534 with two ships and 61 men, and arrived 20 days later. During that first expedition, he explored the western coast of Newfoundland and the Gulf of St. Lawrence as far as today’
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Jacques Cartier
Explorer
Age of Discovery
Quick Facts:
French navigator and explorer credited with naming Canada, exploring the St. Lawrence River, and Canadian areas that would become French territory
Portrait of Jacques Cartier
Portrait of Jacques Cartier, French explorer who named Canada. The Mariners' Museum E133.C3 A4.
Introduction
Jacques Cartier is best remembered for his exploration of parts of Canada. We even credit him with giving the country its name. Although Cartier named the land he traveled to “Canada,” the word actually comes from the Iroquois-Huron language. These natives referred to their village of Stacona as a kanata – which simply means “village” or “settlement”.1 Cartier used this word to refer to all of the areas he explored, and soon would be used globally as more of the French came to explore the land.
Biography
Early Life
Jacques Cartier was born on December 31, 1491 in Saint-Malo, a port town of Brittany, France. His father was Jamet Cartier, and his mother was Geseline Jansart.2 Almost nothing is known of his early l
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Jacques Cartier (December 31, 1491 – September 1, 1557) was a French navigator who first explored and described the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named Canada, while attempting to sail from Europe to Asia via a new route under the commission of French King Francis I. He would make three voyages to North America in all and have numerous encounters with the native peoples, who he learned he must befriend in order to open up settlements to the French in the region and make further inland penetration of the continent possible. On his final voyage to Canada, Cartier traveled as the underling of Huguenot Jean-François de la Rocque de Roberval, who attempted to create a French settlement named Charlesbourg-Royal. After many setbacks, including the loss of cooperation and friendship from local indigenous peoples, Cartier surreptitiously left the colony for his native land, soon to be followed by the remaining settlers.
At the time of
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