Jacques Cartier

Timeline

1. 1491–1534Saint-Malo · BrittanyCartier was born in the Breton port city of Saint-Malo, long renowned for producing excellent seafarers. Sources indicate he sailed early in French ocean-going fleets, possibly joining early expeditions to Brazil and Newfoundland, gaining rich Atlantic sailing experience. In the 1520s he married into a prominent Saint-Malo family, gaining local social standing. Around 1532, through the recommendation of Bishop Philippe de Chabot, he won the favor of Francis I and was authorized to seek a northwest passage to Asia and gold resources in North America.
2. 1534Gulf of St. Lawrence · QuebecIn April 1534 Cartier set out from Saint-Malo with two ships and about sixty crew. He crossed the Atlantic, surveyed the coast of Newfoundland and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, raised a cross on the Gaspé Peninsula to claim French sovereignty, and made contact with local Iroquoians. He took back to France two sons of the chief Donnacona, Domagaya and Taignoagny, in preparation for the next expedition. This voyage initially confirmed an important waterway entrance to the North American interior.
3. 1535–1536Stadacona (present-day Quebec City) · QuebecIn May 1535 Cartier departed with three ships; the two Iroquoians he had brought back served as guides as he penetrated the North American interior along the St. Lawrence River. He reached the Iroquoian village of Stadacona (present-day Quebec City) and continued upriver to Hochelaga (present-day Montreal), where he first recorded the place name "Kanata (Canada)". The severe winter killed about twenty-five of the expedition from scurvy; the rest survived thanks to white cedar (a source of vitamin C) provided by the Indigenous people. In spring 1536 he returned to France with the Indigenous chief Donnacona and others, reporting to the king news of the rich lands of North America.
4. 1541–1557Saint-Malo · BrittanyIn 1541 Cartier took part as second-in-command in a colonial expedition led by Jean-François de La Rocque de Roberval, arriving first in North America and establishing the settlement of Charlesbourg-Royal near present-day Quebec, where he collected large quantities of ore (mistaken for gold and diamonds, later proven to be pyrite and quartz). In 1542 he returned alone to France without awaiting his superior's orders, and the colonial attempt ultimately failed. Thereafter Cartier returned to live in Saint-Malo, serving as translator and in other posts, and died of plague on September 1, 1557, at about sixty-six years of age.