Jacques Cartier
Jacques Cartier | |
|---|---|
Portrait by Théophile Hamel, c. 1844. No contemporary portraits of Cartier are known. | |
| Born | 31 December 1491 |
| Died | 1 September 1557 (aged 65) Saint-Malo, France |
| Occupations | Navigator and explorer |
| Known for | First European to travel inland in North America. Claimed what is now known as Canada for the Kingdom of France. |
| Spouse |
Mary Catherine des Granches
(m. 1520) |
| Signature | |
Jacques Cartier (Breton: Jakez Karter; 31 December 1491 – 1 September 1557) was a French maritime explorer from Brittany. Jacques Cartier was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named "The Country of Canadas" after the Iroquoian names for the two big settlements he saw at Stadacona (Quebec City) and at Hochelaga (Montreal Island).
Jacques Cartier, author of now-lost maps and accounts of his voyages, was the first European to describe and name this region and its inhabitants—at a time when the Spanish had already settled in the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America, and were beginning their conquest of Peru.