Cortez, HERNANDO, military officer; born in Medellin, Estremadura, Spain, in 1485, of a good family; studied law two years at Salamanca, and in 1504 sailed from San Lucar for Santo Domingo in a merchant vessel. The governor received him kindly, and he was soon employed, under Diego Velasquez, in quelling a revolt. In 1511 DIEGO…

Menendez de Aviles, PEDRO, naval officer; born in Aviles, Spain, in 1519; entered the Spanish naval service in his youth. After successfully battling with French corsairs, Philip II. of Spain appointed him captain-general of the India fleet. Menendez carried that monarch to England to marry Queen Mary, and took him back on his return. In…

Champlain, SAMUEL DE, French navigator; born in Brouage, France, in 1567. His family had many fishermen and mariners, and he was carefully educated for a navigator. In early life he was in the cavalry of Brittany, and was with his uncle, pilot-general of the fleets of Spain, when that officer conducted back to that country…

Hudson, HENRY, navigator; born about the middle of the sixteenth century; was first employed by English merchants, in 1607, to search for a northeastern passage to India. He sailed from Gravesend on May 1, 1607, in a small vessel manned by only ten men and a boy-the latter his son. In lat. 80° N., on the…

Cartier, JACQUES, French navigator; born at St. Malo, France, Dec. 31, 1494; was commissioned by Francis I., King of France, to command an expedition to explore the Western Continent. On April 20, 1534, after appropriate ceremonies in the cathedral at St. Malo, he sailed from that port with two ships, having each a crew of…

De Soto, FERNANDO, discoverer; born in Xeres, Estremadura, Spain, about 1496, of a noble but impoverished family. Davila, governor of Darien, was his kind patron, through whose generosity he received a good education, and who took him to Central America, where he engaged in exploring the coast of the Pacific Ocean hundreds of miles in…

Cabot, the name of a family of explorers intimately connected with the history of America. JOHN is supposed to have been born in Genoa, although some historians have claimed Venice as his birthplace. There is evidence that for fifteen years prior to 1476 he resided in Venice, and in that year formally became a citizen.…

Columbus, CHRISTOPHER (Cristoforo Colombo), discoverer of America; born in or near Genoa about 1435. At the age of ten years he was placed in the University of Pavia, where he was instructed in the sciences which pertain to navigation. In 1450 he entered the marine service of Genoa, and remained in it twenty years. His brother BARTHOLOMEW was…