Jacques Cartier was born on 31 December 1491 in Rothéneuf. A French navigator from Saint-Malo, Cartier was commissioned by King Francis I to find a western route to Asia and, in 1534, reached the Gulf of St Lawrence, where he planted a cross at Gaspé and claimed the land for France. On his second voyage in 1535 he sailed up the St Lawrence River to the Iroquoian settlements of Stadacona, near today's Quebec City, and Hochelaga, on the site of Montreal. The name Canada comes from the Iroquoian word kanata, meaning village, which he heard from his guides. His attempts to found a colony failed, but his voyages established the French claim in North America.
Before and after
- 1490Birth of Titian
- 1490Birth of Mimar Sinan
- 28 June 1491Birth of Henry VIII of England
- 1 November 1491Birth of Ignatius of Loyola
- 31 December 1491Birth of Jacques Cartier
- 1492European colonization of the Americas
- from 1492 to 1681Spanish Golden Age
- 2 January 1492The fall of Granada ends Muslim rule in Spain
- 31 March 1492Alhambra Decree
More in Exploration & discovery
- from 629 CE to 645 CEXuanzang travels from China to India
- 1021Vikings are at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland
- from 1271 to 1295Marco Polo sets out for China
- c. 1280sPolynesian navigators settle New Zealand
- 14 June 1325Ibn Battuta sets out from Tangier
- 24 June 1497John Cabot reaches North America
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 15th century.