Age of Discovery

==Northern European involvement (1595–17th century)==
[[File:OrteliusWorldMap1570.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|In 1570 (May 20) Gilles Coppens de Diest at [[Antwerp]] published 53 maps created by [[Abraham Ortelius]] under the title ''[[Theatrum Orbis Terrarum]]'', considered the "first modern atlas". Three Latin editions of this (besides a Dutch, a French and a German edition) appeared before the end of 1572; the atlas continued to be in demand till about 1612. This is the world map from this atlas.]]

European nations outside Iberia did not recognize the Treaty of Tordesillas between Portugal and Castile, nor did they recognize Pope Alexander VI's donation of the Spanish finds in the New World. [[Kingdom of France|France]], [[Dutch Republic|the Netherlands]] and [[Kingdom of England|England]] each had a long [[Maritime history of Europe|maritime tradition]] and had been engaging in [[privateer]]ing. Despite Iberian protections, the new technologies and maps soon made their way north.

After the marriage of [[Henry VIII of England]] and [[Catherine of Aragon]] failed to produce a male heir and Henry failed to obtain a papal dispensation to annul his marriage, he broke with the Roman Catholic Church and established himself as head of the [[Church of England]]. This added religious conflict to political conflict. When much of The Netherlands became Protestant, it sought political and religious independence from Catholic Spain. In 1568, the Dutch rebelled against the rule of [[Philip II of Spain]] leading to the [[Eighty Years' War]]. War between England and Spain also broke out. In 1580, Philip II became King of Portugal, as heir to its Crown. Although he ruled Portugal and its empire as separate from the [[Spanish Empire]], the union of the crowns produced a Catholic superpower, which England and the Netherlands challenged.

In the eighty-year Dutch war of independence, Philip's troops conquered the important trading cities of [[Bruges]] and [[Ghent]]. [[Antwerp]], then the most important port in the world, fell in 1585.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} The Protestant population was given two years to settle affairs before leaving the city.<ref>[[#Boxer 1977|Boxer 1977]], p. 18.</ref> Many settled in [[Amsterdam]]. Those were mainly skilled craftsmen, rich merchants of the port cities and refugees that fled religious persecution, particularly [[Sephardi Jews]] from Portugal and Spain and, later, the [[Huguenot]]s from France. The [[Pilgrim Fathers]] also spent time there before going to the New World. This mass immigration was an important driving force: a small port in 1585, Amsterdam quickly transformed into one of the most important commercial centres in the world. After the defeat of the [[Spanish Armada]] in 1588, there was a huge expansion of maritime trade even though the defeat of the [[English Armada]] would confirm the naval supremacy of the Spanish navy over the emergent competitors.

The emergence of Dutch maritime power was swift and remarkable: for years Dutch sailors had participated in Portuguese voyages to the east, as able seafarers and keen mapmakers. In 1592, [[Cornelis de Houtman]] was sent by Dutch merchants to Lisbon, to gather as much information as he could about the [[Maluku Islands|Spice Islands]]. In 1595, merchant and explorer [[Jan Huyghen van Linschoten]], having travelled widely in the Indian Ocean at the service of the Portuguese, published a travel report in Amsterdam, the ''"Reys-gheschrift vande navigatien der Portugaloysers in Orienten"'' (''"Report of a journey through the navigations of the Portuguese in the East"'').<ref>[[#Linschoten 1598|Linschoten 1598]], original book</ref> This included vast directions on how to navigate between Portugal and the East Indies and to Japan. That same year Houtman followed this directions in the Dutch first exploratory travel that discovered a new sea route, sailing directly from Madagascar to [[Sunda Strait]] in Indonesia and signing a treaty with the [[Banten]] Sultan. Another example of the Netherlands rise in maritime power is their seizure of [[Malacca#Colonial era|Malacca]] from Portugal in 1641, which was led to by a long series of battles between the Dutch and the Portuguese; starting in 1602.

Dutch and British interest, fed on new information, led to a movement of commercial expansion, and the foundation of English (1600), and Dutch (1602) [[chartered companies]]. Dutch, French, and English sent ships which flouted the Portuguese monopoly, concentrated mostly on the coastal areas, which proved unable to defend against such a vast and dispersed venture.<ref>[[#Boxer 1969|Boxer 1969]], p 109.</ref>

===Exploring North America===
[[File:Henry Hudson Map 26.png|thumb|upright=1.35|right|Map of [[Henry Hudson]]'s 1609–1611 voyages to North America for the [[Dutch East India Company]] (VOC)]]

The 1497 English expedition authorized by [[Henry VII of England]] was led by Italian Venetian [[John Cabot]] (Giovanni Caboto); it was the first of a series of French and English missions exploring North America. Mariners from the Italian peninsula played an important role in early explorations, most especially Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus. With its major conquests of central Mexico and Peru and discoveries of silver, Spain put limited efforts into exploring the northern part of the Americas; its resources were concentrated in Central and South America where more wealth had been found.<ref name="ReferenceB">[[#Paine 2000|Paine 2000]], p. xvi.</ref> These other European expeditions were initially motivated by the same idea as Columbus, namely a westerly shortcut to the Asian mainland. After the existence of "another ocean" (the Pacific) was confirmed by Balboa in 1513, there still remained the motivation of potentially finding an oceanic [[Northwest Passage]] to Asian trade.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> This was not discovered until the early twentieth century, but other possibilities were found, although nothing on the scale of the spectacular ones of the Spanish. In the early 17th century colonists from a number of Northern European states began to settle on the east coast of North America. Between 1520 and 1521, the Portuguese [[João Álvares Fagundes]], accompanied by couples of mainland Portugal and the Azores, explored [[Newfoundland]] and [[Nova Scotia]] (possibly reaching the [[Bay of Fundy]] on the [[Minas Basin]]<ref>Mount Allison University, ''[http://www.mta.ca/marshland/topic3_europeans/european.htm Marshlands: Records of Life on the Tantramar: European Contact and Mapping] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419042914/https://www.mta.ca/marshland/topic3_europeans/european.htm |date=2021-04-19 }}'', 2004</ref>), and established a fishing colony on the [[Cape Breton Island]] that would last until at least the 1570s or near the end of the century.<ref>''Tratado das ilhas novas e descombrimento dellas e outras couzas, 1570'' Francisco de Souza, p. 6 [https://books.google.com/books?id=3WMDAAAAQAAJ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125134500/https://books.google.com/books/about/Tratado_das_ilhas_novas_e_descombrimento.html%3Fid%3D3WMDAAAAQAAJ%26redir_esc%3Dy|date=2020-01-25}}</ref>

In 1524, Italian [[Giovanni da Verrazzano]] sailed under the authority of [[Francis I of France]], who was motivated by indignation over the division of the world between Portuguese and Spanish. Verrazzano explored the Atlantic Coast of North America, from [[South Carolina]] to [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], and was the first recorded European to visit what would later become the [[Virginia Colony]] and the United States. In the same year [[Esteban Gómez|Estevão Gomes]], a Portuguese [[cartography|cartographer]] who had sailed in Ferdinand Magellan's fleet, explored [[Nova Scotia]], sailing South through [[Maine]], where he entered what is now [[New York Harbor]], the [[Hudson River]] and eventually reached [[Florida]] in August 1525. As a result of his expedition, the 1529 [[Diogo Ribeiro (cartographer)|Diogo Ribeiro]] world map outlines the East coast of North America almost perfectly. From 1534 to 1536, French explorer [[Jacques Cartier]], believed to have accompanied Verrazzano to Nova Scotia and Brazil, was the first European to travel inland in North America, describing the [[Gulf of Saint Lawrence]], which he named "[[Name of Canada|The Country of Canadas]]", after [[Iroquoian languages|Iroquois names]], claiming what is now Canada for Francis I of France.<ref>[[#Cartier E.B. 2009|Cartier E.B. 2009]], web.</ref><ref>[[#histori.ca 2009|Histori.ca 2009]], web.</ref>

[[File:Half Moon in Hudson.jpg|thumb|left|Henry Hudson's ship ''[[Halve Maen]]'' in the [[Hudson River]]]]

Europeans explored the Pacific Coast beginning in the mid-16th century. Spaniards [[Francisco de Ulloa]] explored the Pacific coast of present-day Mexico including the [[Gulf of California]], proving that [[Baja California]] was a peninsula.<ref>[[#Gutierrez 1998|Gutierrez 1998]]. pp. 81–82.</ref> Despite his report based on first hand information, the myth persisted in Europe that California was an [[Island of California|island]]. His account provided the first recorded use of the name "California". [[Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo|João Rodrigues Cabrilho]], a Portuguese navigator sailing for the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish Crown]], was the first European to set foot in California, landing on September 28, 1542, on the shores of [[San Diego Bay]] and claiming California for Spain.<ref>[[#San Diego HS|San Diego HS]], web.</ref> He also landed on [[San Miguel Island|San Miguel]], one of the [[Channel Islands of California|Channel Islands]], and continued as far north as [[Point Reyes]] on the mainland. After his death the crew continued exploring as far north as [[Oregon]].

The English [[privateer]] [[Francis Drake]] sailed along the coast in 1579 north of Cabrillo's landing site while circumnavigating the world. Drake had a long and largely successful career attacking Spanish settlements in the Caribbean islands and the mainland, so that for the English, he was a great hero and fervent Protestant, but for the Spanish he was "a frightening monster." Drake played a major role in the defeat of the [[Spanish Armada]] in 1588, but led an armada himself to the Spanish Caribbean that was unsuccessful in dislodging the Spanish.<ref>Pattridge, Blake D. "Francis Drake" in ''Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture'', vol. 2, 402</ref> On 5 June 1579, the ship briefly made first landfall at South Cove, Cape Arago, just south of [[Coos Bay]], [[Oregon]], and then sailed south while searching for a suitable harbor to repair his damaged ship.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Drake's First Landfall |journal= Pacific Discovery, California Academy of Sciences|author-link1=Edward Von der Porten |first=Edward |last=Von der Porten |volume=28 |issue=1 |date= January 1975 |pages=28–30}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Morison| first = Samuel Eliot | year = 1978 | title = The Great Explorere: The European Discovery of America| publisher = Oxford University Press, Inc. | location = New York| isbn = 978-0-19-504222-1| page = 700}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| last = Cassels | first = Sir Simon | title = Where Did Drake Careen The Golden Hind in June/July 1579? A Mariner's Assessment| journal = The Mariner's Mirror| volume = 89| issue = 1 | date = August 2003| page = 263| doi = 10.1080/00253359.2003.10659292 | s2cid = 161710358 }}</ref><ref name="gough1980">{{cite book | last = Gough | first = Barry | year = 1980 | title = Distant Dominion: Britain and the Northwest Coast of North America, 1579-1809 | url = https://archive.org/details/distantdominionb0000goug | url-access = registration | publisher =U Univ. of British Columbia Press | location = Vancouver | isbn = 0-7748-0113-1 | page = [https://archive.org/details/distantdominionb0000goug/page/15 15]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Turner | first = Michael | year = 2006 | title = In Drake's Wake Volume 2 The World Voyage | publisher = Paul Mould Publishing | location = United Kingdom | isbn = 978-1-904959-28-1 | page = 163 }}</ref> On 17 June, Drake and his crew found a protected cove when they landed on the Pacific coast of what is now Northern California near [[Point Reyes]].<ref>{{cite journal| last = Cassels | first = Sir Simon | title = Where Did Drake Careen The Golden Hind in June/July 1579? A Mariner's Assessment| journal = The Mariner's Mirror| volume = 89| issue = 1 | date = August 2003| page = 263,264| doi = 10.1080/00253359.2003.10659292 | s2cid = 161710358 }}</ref><ref name="gough1980" /> While ashore, he claimed the area for Queen [[Elizabeth I of England]] as Nova Albion or [[New Albion]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Sugden | first = John | year = 2006 | title = Sir Francis Drake | publisher = Pimlico | location = London | isbn = 978-1-844-13762-6| page=136,137}}</ref> To document and assert his claim, Drake posted an engraved plate of brass to claim sovereignty for Queen Elizabeth and her successors on the throne.<ref>{{cite book | last = Turner | first = Michael | year = 2006 | title = In Drake's Wake Volume 2 The World Voyage | publisher = Paul Mould Publishing | location = United Kingdom | isbn = 978-1-904959-28-1 | page = 173 }}</ref> Drake's landfalls on the west coast of North America are one small part of his 1577-1580 circumnavigation of the globe, the first captain of his own ship to do so. Drake died in 1596 off the coast of Panama, following injuries from a raid.<ref>Pattridge, "Francis Drake", 406</ref>

From 1609 to 1611, after several voyages on behalf of English merchants to explore a prospective [[Northern Sea Route|Northeast Passage]] to India, English mariner [[Henry Hudson]], under the auspices of the [[Dutch East India Company]] (VOC), explored the region around present-day New York City, while looking for a western route to Asia. He explored the [[Hudson River]] and laid the foundation for [[New Netherland|Dutch colonization]] of the region. Hudson's final expedition ranged farther north in search of the [[Northwest Passage]], leading to his discovery of the [[Hudson Strait]] and [[Hudson Bay]]. After wintering in [[James Bay]], Hudson tried to press on with his voyage in the spring of 1611, but his crew mutinied and they [[marooning|cast him adrift]].

===Search for a northern route===
[[File:Zentralbibliothek Zürich - Merckliche Beschreibung sampt eygenlicher Abbildung eynes frembden unbekanten Volcks - 000003625.jpg|thumb|Report in German of one of [[Martin Frobisher]]'s Arctic expeditions]]
France, the Netherlands, and England were left without a sea route to Asia, either via Africa or South America. When it became apparent that there was no route through the heart of the Americas, attention turned to the possibility of a passage through northern waters. The desire to establish such a route motivated much of the European exploration of the Arctic coasts of both North America and Russia. In Russia the idea of a possible seaway connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific was first put forward by the diplomat [[Dmitry Gerasimov|Gerasimov]] in 1525, although Russian settlers on the coast of the [[White Sea]], the [[Pomor]]s, had been exploring parts of the route as early as the 11th century.

In 1553, English explorer [[Hugh Willoughby]] with chief pilot [[Richard Chancellor]] were sent out with three vessels in search of a passage by London's [[Company of Merchant Adventurers to New Lands]]. During the voyage across the [[Barents Sea]], Willoughby thought he saw islands to the north, and islands called [[Willoughby's Land]] were shown on maps published by [[Petrus Plancius|Plancius]] and [[Gerardus Mercator|Mercator]] into the 1640s.<ref>[[#Hacquebord 1995|Hacquebord 1995]],</ref> The vessels were separated by "terrible whirlwinds" in the [[Norwegian Sea]] and Willoughby sailed into a bay near the present border between Finland and Russia. His ships with the frozen crews, including Captain Willoughby and his journal, were found by Russian fishermen a year later. [[Richard Chancellor]] was able to drop anchor in the [[White Sea]] and make his way overland to Moscow and [[Ivan the Terrible]]'s Court, opening trade with Russia and the Company of Merchant Adventurers became the [[Muscovy Company]].

In June 1576, English mariner [[Martin Frobisher]] led an expedition consisting of three ships and 35 men to search for a north-west passage around North America. The voyage was supported by the Muscovy Company, the same merchants that hired Hugh Willoughby to find a north-east passage above Russia. Violent storms sank one ship and forced another to turn back but Frobisher and the remaining ship reached the coast of Labrador in July. A few days later they came upon the mouth of what is now [[Frobisher Bay]]. Frobisher believed it to be the entrance to a north-west passage and named it Frobisher's Strait and claimed [[Baffin Island]] for Queen Elizabeth. After some preliminary exploration, Frobisher returned to England. He commanded two subsequent voyages in 1577 and 1578, but failed to find the hoped-for passage.<ref>{{Cite ODNB |last=McDermott |first=James |title=Frobisher, Sir Martin  |date=28 May 2015 |id=10191}}</ref> Frobisher brought to England his ships laden with ore, but it was found to be worthless and damaged his reputation as an explorer. He remains an important early historical figure in Canada.<ref>[https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sir-martin-frobisher] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522060345/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sir-martin-frobisher|date=2022-05-22}} "Martin Frobisher", The Canadian Encyclopedia accessed 16 July 2021</ref>

====Barentsz' Arctic exploration====
[[File:1598 map of the Polar Regions by Willem Barentsz.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|1598 map of Arctic exploration by [[Willem Barentsz]] in his third voyage]]

On 5 June 1594, Dutch [[cartographer]] [[Willem Barentsz]] departed from [[Texel]] in a fleet of three ships to enter the [[Kara Sea]], with the hopes of finding the [[Northeast Passage]] above [[Siberia]].<ref>[[#Synge 1912|Synge 1912]], p. 258</ref> At Williams Island the crew encountered a [[polar bear]] for the first time. They managed to bring it on board, but the bear rampaged and was killed. Barentsz reached the west coast of [[Novaya Zemlya]] and followed it northward, before being forced to turn back in the face of large icebergs.

The following year, Prince [[Maurice, Prince of Orange|Maurice of Orange]] named him chief pilot of a new expedition of six ships, loaded with merchant wares that the Dutch hoped to trade with China.<ref>[[#ULT 2009|ULT 2009]], web</ref> The party came across [[Samoyedic peoples|Samoyed]] "wild men" but eventually turned back upon discovering the [[Kara Sea]] frozen. In 1596, the States-General offered a high reward for anybody who ''successfully'' navigated the [[Northeast Passage]]. The Town Council of Amsterdam purchased and outfitted two small ships, captained by [[Jan Rijp]] and [[Jacob van Heemskerk]], to search for the elusive channel, under the command of Barents. They set off on May, and on June discovered [[Bear Island (Norway)|Bear Island]] and [[Spitsbergen]], sighting its northwest coast. They saw a large bay, later called [[Raudfjorden]] and entered [[Magdalenefjorden]], which they named ''Tusk Bay'', sailing into the northern entrance of [[Forlandsundet]], which they called ''Keerwyck'', but were forced to turn back because of a shoal. On 28 June they rounded the northern point of [[Prins Karls Forland]], which they named ''Vogelhoek'', on account of the large number of birds, and sailed south, passing [[Isfjorden (Svalbard)|Isfjorden]] and [[Bellsund]], which were labelled on Barentsz's chart as ''Grooten Inwyck'' and ''Inwyck''.

[[File:Polar bear, Gerrit de Veer (1596).jpg|thumb|left|Crew of Willem Barentsz fighting a [[polar bear]]]]

The ships once again reached Bear Island on 1 July, which led to a disagreement. They parted ways, with Barentsz continuing northeast, while Rijp headed north. Barentsz reached [[Novaya Zemlya]] and, to avoid becoming entrapped in ice, headed for the [[Vaigatch Strait]] but became stuck within the icebergs and floes. Stranded, the 16-man crew was forced to spend the winter on the ice. The crew used lumber from their ship to build a lodge they called ''Het Behouden Huys'' (The Kept House). Dealing with extreme cold, they used the merchant fabrics to make additional blankets and clothing and caught Arctic foxes in primitive traps, as well as polar bears. When June arrived, and the ice had still not loosened its grip on the ship, [[scurvy]]-ridden survivors took two small boats out into the sea. Barentsz died at sea on 20 June 1597, while studying charts. It took seven more weeks for the boats to reach [[Kola (town)|Kola]] where they were rescued by a Russian merchant vessel. Only 12 crewmen remained, reaching Amsterdam in November. Two of Barentsz' crewmembers later published their journals, [[Jan Huyghen van Linschoten]], who had accompanied him on the first two voyages, and [[Gerrit de Veer]] who had acted as the ship's carpenter on the last.

In 1608, [[Henry Hudson]] made a second attempt, trying to go across the top of Russia. He made it to [[Novaya Zemlya]] but was forced to turn back. Between 1609 and 1611, Hudson, after several voyages on behalf of English merchants to explore a prospective Northern Sea Route to India, explored the region around modern New York City while looking for a western route to Asia under the auspices of the [[Dutch East India Company]] (VOC).

===Dutch Australia and New Zealand===
[[File:Tasmanroutes.PNG|thumb|upright=1.35|The route of [[Abel Tasman]]'s 1642 and 1644 voyages in [[New Holland (Australia)]] in the service of the VOC ([[Dutch East India Company]])]]

''[[Terra Australis|Terra Australis Ignota]]'' (Latin, "the unknown land of the south") was a hypothetical continent appearing on European maps from the 15th to the 18th centuries, with roots in a notion introduced by [[Aristotle]]. It was depicted on the mid-16th-century [[Dieppe maps]], where its coastline appeared just south of the islands of the East Indies; it was often elaborately charted, with a wealth of fictitious detail. The discoveries reduced the area where the continent could be found. Many cartographers held to Aristotle's opinion, like [[Gerardus Mercator]] (1569) and [[Alexander Dalrymple]] even so late as 1767<ref>[[#Wilford 1982|Wilford 1982]], p. 139.</ref> argued for its existence, with such arguments as that there should be a large landmass in the Southern Hemisphere as a counterweight to the known landmasses in the Northern Hemisphere. As new lands were discovered, they were often assumed to be parts of this hypothetical continent.

[[Juan Fernández (explorer)|Juan Fernández]], sailing from Chile in 1576, claimed he had discovered the Southern Continent.<ref>[[#Medina 1918|Medina 1918]], pp. 136–246.</ref> [[Luís Vaz de Torres|Luis Váez de Torres]], a [[Galicia (Spain)|Galician]] navigator working for the Spanish Crown, proved the existence of a passage south of New Guinea, now known as [[Torres Strait]]. [[Pedro Fernandes de Queirós]], a Portuguese navigator sailing for the Spanish Crown, saw a large island south of New Guinea in 1606, which he named La Australia del [[Espiritu Santo]]. He represented this to the King of Spain as the Terra Australis incognita. In fact, it was not Australia but an island in present-day [[Vanuatu]].
[[File:Duyfken replica, Swan River.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Duyfken]]'' replica, Swan River, Australia]]
[[Dutch Republic|Dutch]] navigator and colonial governor, [[Willem Janszoon]] sailed from the Netherlands for the East Indies for the third time on December 18, 1603, as captain of the ''[[Duyfken]]'' (or ''Duijfken'', meaning "Little Dove"), one of twelve ships of the great fleet of [[Steven van der Hagen]].<ref>[[#Mutch 1942|Mutch 1942]], p. 17.</ref> Once in the Indies, Janszoon was sent to search for other outlets of trade, particularly in "the great land of Nova Guinea and other East and Southlands." On November 18, 1605, the ''Duyfken'' sailed from [[Bantam (city)|Bantam]] to the coast of western [[New Guinea]]. Janszoon then crossed the eastern end of the [[Arafura Sea]], without seeing the [[Torres Strait]], into the [[Gulf of Carpentaria]]. On February 26, 1606, he made landfall at the [[Pennefather River]] on the western shore of [[Cape York Peninsula|Cape York]] in Queensland, near the modern town of [[Weipa, Queensland|Weipa]]. This is the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent. Janszoon proceeded to chart some {{convert|320|km|0|abbr=off}} of the coastline, which he thought was a southerly extension of New Guinea. In 1615, [[Jacob Le Maire|Jacob le Maire]] and [[Willem Schouten]]'s rounding of Cape Horn proved that [[Tierra del Fuego]] was a relatively small island.

From 1642 to 1644, [[Abel Tasman]], also a Dutch explorer and merchant in the service of the VOC, circumnavigated [[New Holland (Australia)|New Holland]] proving that Australia was not part of the mythical southern continent. He was the first known European expedition to reach the islands of [[Van Diemen's Land]] (now [[Tasmania]]) and [[New Zealand]] and to sight the [[Fiji]] islands, which he did in 1643. Tasman, his navigator Visscher, and his merchant Gilsemans also mapped substantial portions of Australia, New Zealand, and the [[Pacific Islands]].