Jan Huyghen van Linschoten

Timeline

1. 1563–1583Haarlem · North HollandBorn to a Catholic family in Haarlem, he went to Spain around 1579 and later trained in a Lisbon trading house. Through his brother he met the newly appointed Archbishop of Goa, Vicente da Fonseca, and sailed with him to Portuguese India in April 1583.
2. 1583–1589Goa · GoaHe served in Goa for about six years, gaining access to the sailing directions, sea charts, and trade documents of the archbishop's and governor's offices, and built an intelligence network in Asia. After the archbishop's death he left India, was delayed in the Azores, and did not return to the Netherlands until 1592, bringing back large quantities of Portuguese navigational and product records.
3. 1594–1595Barents Sea · Barents SeaIn 1594 and 1595 he sailed north twice with Willem Barentsz's fleets, attempting to open a Northeast Passage via Novaya Zemlya to Asia, but failed to break through the ice. He did not join the third voyage in 1596, instead concentrating on compiling his eastern observations for publication.
4. 1596–1611Enkhuizen · North HollandIn 1596 he published the Itinerario in Amsterdam, containing the Reys-gheschrift compilation of sailing directions along the Asian coasts, the first public disclosure in northern Europe of the Portuguese-monopolized East Indies routes, ports, and products, and it was soon translated into many languages. He then settled in Enkhuizen, where he died on 8 February 1611.