Cartier Jacques Map Voyage

Posted onDecember 10, 2011 - 8:50 pm by Admin | 0 Comments

Following his second expedition to New France (1535-36), the navigator/explorer Jacques Cartier reported his observations regarding the territory to the French king, Francis I. He spoke glowingly of the land's rich arable soil, its potential mineral wealth, the great river flowing from the west that might lead to the Orient, and the rumoured Kingdom of the Saguenay (a country abounding with copper and precious stones). Cartier also provided a detailed plan of the resources that would be needed to undertake a follow-up expedition of two years duration.

Francis was intrigued. Wars with Spain had severely depleted the royal treasury, and the riches described by Cartier offered a way to replenish it. The king promptly commissioned Cartier to resume his explorations.

Sowing the Seeds of Debacle

Then, before the navigator could complete his preparations and sail, Francis dramatically changed the plan: France would undertake a significant colonization effort in these new lands. He also decided that Cartier, a bourgeois mariner, lacked the aristocratic lineage required to lead an enterprise of such national import. Instead, the king selected Jean-Francois de La Roque, Sieur de Roberval, a nobleman of prominent family, a distinguished soldier and an effective courtier. He was also haughty, brusque, an arrogant procrastinator and an inept administrator.


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