Monday, January 23, 2023

Voyages

Hundreds of years after the Vikings, European explorers again took to the ocean, heading west, in search of the Far East. 


Fishing would end up becoming another reason to come; John Cabot, an Italian sailing for the English, was the first European to make landfall on the continent since the Vikings, a handful of years after Columbus reached the Caribbean. Fish in plenty along the Grand Banks was one story they brought back.


Artifacts of the fishing trade at the time are here.


European explorers and Indigenous peoples are quoted here, in terms of their first sightings of each other.


England and France had a long standing rivalry in Europe and would take it to the New World. Neither country paid much attention to the Spanish and Portuguese treaty on dividing up the Americas.


This is a model of the San Juan, a vessel of the time that sunk at Red Bay, Newfoundland.

 
More artifacts of the time.


Martin Frobisher sailed for the English, exploring reaches of the eastern coast, bringing back samples of what he thought to be gold. They weren't.


The French established a strong presence in North America- what would eventually become New France. They established alliances with indigenous peoples, but their presence also brought along diseases those people had never been exposed to.


Samuel de Champlain was one of the pivotal explorers of the era, mapping and charting places along the coast and deep inland, learning about the land as he went.


This astrolabe, a navigation instrument, dates from the period. It's probably not Champlain's, but it was found in an area he had been exploring in.

36 comments:

  1. Those explorers were very brave people.

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  2. Presumably the sailor who lost the astrolabe didn't find his way home!

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  3. I guess it had to happen, but it is sad in a way.

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  4. I would love to read up all these details about fishing. Quite interesting.

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  5. It was said that when the first ships arrived off the Grand Banks the density of cod was so great it actually slowed their progress. And we fished it to near extinction. Go figure.

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  6. Había una gran rivalidad entre esos países en esas antiguas fechas.

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  7. ...looking for places and things has been a part of history forever.

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  8. No idea if you are a fan, but there is a The Simpsons-episode on how over-fishing can end...

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    1. I admittedly have not followed the show for some years.

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  9. Hello,
    I am thankful for the brave explorers. The ship model is beautiful. Take care, have a wonderful week!

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  10. These were daring ventures, because not everyone was already convinced that beyond the horizon you wouldn't fall from the earth.

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    1. If the world was flat, cats would have knocked everything over the side.

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  11. I would like to go to Red Bay one day!

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  12. I have studied a bit of the Vikings in school.

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  13. Good historic exhibit ~ too bad the times weren't much different than now ~ power 'over' seeking ~

    Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  14. The age of exploration. I would enjoy this exhibit.

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  15. I like seeing the artifacts from the fishing expeditions. It's so interesting!

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