In the 16th century, while trying to cope with the tough economic competition from Portugal and Spain, France tried to find a sea passage to the New World.

For this purpose, Giovanni de Venecani was sent in 1523, in order to discover a new passage. Unfortunately, his expedition ended gloriously, as he failed to find the passage and lost his life on the island of Guadeloupe. France, could not stop the discovery, and sent Jacques Cartier to a second mission on 20 April in 1534. He sailed with two ships from San Malo. After 20 days, he arrived in the Bay of St. Lavrentius continued his journey to the west. For the first time, he arrived at Hersonissos Casper, where the Canadian city stays today.

The adventure of Jacques Cartier

Cartier arrived there. Claimed the lands he discovered to be owned by the King of France. He truly constructed a 10m wooden cross, and wrote over it the phrase:  Live King of France.

Cartier also came in contact with the local tribes and subjugated them. He even conceived the two sons of the local guard, to bring them to France as the living proof of his discovery. Trying to mitigate the reactions of the local tribe, he promised to return back with the two sons of the Race head and with a lot of products and gifts from Europe.

On September 1934, he returned to France, thinking wrongly that he had arrived in Asia. On 19 May 1535, he began his second voyage. This time, he had 110 men and three ships, as well as the two sons of the local guard. So, after Cartier crossed the Atlantic and followed the same route as his previous trip, he entered the Bay of St. Lavrentius.

The second trip

However, this time, he followed a different route. He began to sail westward on the northern shores of St. Lavrentius Bay, and arrived at the springs of the river. There, he discovered a new native settlement, and at this point, he finished the first part of his journey. Furthermore, he freed the two sons of the local prisoner and continued with a smaller ship, sailing to the river of St. Lavrentius. On October 2, 1535, he discovered the existence of a large settlement in today’s city of Montreal.

Cartier had already realized that on his previous voyage, he had not arrived in Asia. He began to appreciate that the St. Laurentian River constituted the Northwest Passage for Asia. For a few days, Cartier stayed in the area and returned to where he had left his two ships. However, it was winter and he decided to take a break until the pass of the difficult weather conditions. So, the French stayed there waiting for the difficult time to go through exploring the area and coming in contact with local tribes.

Cartier was informed that there was a local kingdom in the near, in which there were large quantities of precious stones and gold. This story was a trick from the local prisoner, in order to gallop out the French from his region. However, Cartier understood the trick, and conceived him with his two sons and seven other members of the Fry. On 16 July 1536, they arrived in France to inform the king about the existence of Gold. However, 9 of the 10 indigenous peoples have died during the seven months, because of the different climatic conditions.

In 1540, King Francis ordered the Cartier to sail with the French fleet to Canada, in order to colonize it, and defined him as the ruler of the new region. On May 23, 1541, Cartier started on another trip with 5 ships at his disposal. The main purpose of his trip, was the discovery of the Secret Kingdom of Xenical, as well as the gold.

Carbon the treasure

Cartier coordinated the creation of a settlement near the area of the city of Quebec, and began its explorations for gold. After few months of exploration, he returned to his base in the settlement he had created. However, he realized that the natives were no longer friendly with him, with the result to involve himself in a multi-month military controversy with them. After a while, he loaded his ships with gold and diamonds, and sailed back to France. Back home, it was understood that the diamonds were quartz crystals, while the gold of low-value metal. This finding has greatly reduced the interest, with the result Canada and French stopped working on this area. Besides, this trip was the last trip of Cartier, who continued to live France. Until 1605, when the first permanent French colony was created in Nova Scotia, leading to the founding of the city of Quebec two years later, Canada remains for France an area of ​​low interest.

In any case, Cartier was a long-standing personality in the field of marine exploration. With his persistence and patience, he managed to discover a truly new land that is a thriving and highly developed country today.

From this point of view, Cartier is one of the sixteenth-century pioneers of the seaside.

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