André Thevet (; ; 1516 – 23 November 1590) was a French

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

, cosmographer and writer who travelled to the

Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. His most significant book was '' The New Found World, or Antarctike'', which compiled a number of different sources and his own experience into what purported to be a firsthand account of his experiences in France Antarctique, a French settlement near modern

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Life

Andre Thevet Cosmographie du Levant 1556 Lyon

Thevet was born in

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; ) is a small city in the southwestern French Departments of France, department of Charente, of which it is the Prefectures of France, prefecture. Located on a plateau overlooking a meander of ...

, in southwestern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. At ten years of age, he entered the

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

of Franciscans of Angoulême. He visited Italy at the same time as Guillaume Rondelet. In 1549, thanks to the support of John, Cardinal of Lorraine, he embarked on an extended exploration trip to Asia, Greece, Rhodes,

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. He accompanied the French ambassador Gabriel de Luetz to

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. Almost immediately after the expedition, he set sail again as the

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

of the fleet of Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon, which intended to establish a French colony near what is now

. Thevet arrived there on 10 November 1555 but only stayed in the colony for about 10 weeks before returning to France. He was made an almoner to

Catherine de Médici Catherine de' Medici (, ; , ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Italian Florentine noblewoman of the Medici family and Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King Henry II. She was the mother of French kings Fran ...

and later was employed by the king. Thevet claimed in his ''Histoire de deux voyages'' inaccurately to have accompanied Guillaume Le Testu to America in 1550. Thevet died in Paris on 23 November 1590.

Works

Soon after Thevet's return to France from the Near East in 1554, he published an account of his voyage under the title ''Cosmographie du Levant''. On his return from the Americas, Thevet published a book titled '' Les singularitez de la France Antarctique'' in 1557. Although purportedly based on his own firsthand experiences, Thevet also used previous published sources, as well as verbal accounts from other explorers and sailors and from indigenous Canadians who had been brought back to France. Thevet later settled a court case with another scholar, who claimed to have been responsible for the actual writing. An edition was printed in Antwerp by Plantin in 1558, and an English edition, ''The New Found World, or Antarctike'', was printed in 1568. Thevet's use of such a variety of sources not otherwise printed, despite the considerable errors and contradictions, means that his work remains valuable for the ethnography of

Eastern Canada Eastern Canada (, also the Eastern provinces, Canadian East or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of Hudson Bay/ Hudson Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newf ...

and

. ''Les singularitez de la France Antarctique'' contains the first descriptions in European texts of plants such as the

manioc ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...

and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

, as well as of the animals

macaw Macaws are a group of Neotropical parrot, New World parrots that are long-tailed and often colorful, in the Tribe (biology), tribe Arini (tribe), Arini. They are popular in aviculture or as companion parrots, although there are conservation con ...

sloth Sloths are a Neotropical realm, Neotropical group of xenarthran mammals constituting the suborder Folivora, including the extant Arboreal locomotion, arboreal tree sloths and extinct terrestrial ground sloths. Noted for their slowness of move ...

and

tapir Tapirs ( ) are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. They are similar in shape to a Suidae, pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk (proboscis). Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, South and Centr ...

.' The text also includes an account of

cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well document ...

that was one of the influences on

Montaigne Michel Eyquem, Seigneur de Montaigne ( ; ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), commonly known as Michel de Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularising the essay as ...

's essay on cannibalism. Once Thevet was established as cosmographer to the French court, he compiled his ''Cosmographie Universelle'', intended to describe every part of the known world. A dispute arose with a collaborator, François de Belleforest, who left Thevet's employ to publish his own ''Cosmographie'' in 1572 before Thevet's work finally appeared in 1575. In 1584, Thevet published a collection of biographies, ''Vrais pourtraits et vies des homes illustres'', which was critical of Protestants. He left two unpublished manuscripts. One, ''Grand Insulaire'', was an almanac of islands, and the other, ''Histoire de deux voyages'', was an account of his travels.

Bibliography

* 1554 ''Cosmographie de Levant.'' Lyon : Ian de Tournes et Guil. Gazeau, * 1557/8 ''Les singularitez de la France Antarctique'' (in English in 1568 as ''The New found vvorlde, or Antarctike'') * 1575 ''La Cosmographie Universelle d'Andre Thevet Cosmographe dv Roy. Illvstree de diverses figvres des choses plvs remarqvables veves par l'auteur, & incogneues de noz anciens & modernes'', Paris, Pierre l'Huilier. (Google Books
volume 1volume 2
* 1584 ''Vrais pourtraits et vies des hommes illustres'' * MS: ''Grand Insulaire,'' * MS ''Histoire de deux voyages''

References

Sources

*Cantacuzene, J. M
Frère André Thevet (1516–1590)
''Miscellanea'' (PDF file).

External links

Les singularitez de la France Antarctique (Paris: 1558).
Digitized by the John Carter Brown Library and available on

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

The new found worlde, or Antarctike (London: 1568).
Digitized and available on

.
Map of America in ''La Cosmographie Universelle'' (Paris: 1575)
Digitized by the National Library of Australia. {{DEFAULTSORT:Thevet, Andre 1516 births 1590 deaths People from Angoulême French explorers French military chaplains French Navy chaplains