Christian IV's Expeditions To Greenland
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Christian IV's expeditions were sent by King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway to
Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
and
Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...
waterways during the years 1605–1607. The expeditions were commissioned in order to locate the lost Eastern Norse Settlement and reassert sovereignty over
Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
.


History

The expeditions were mostly unsuccessful, partly due to its leaders lacking experience with the difficult arctic ice and weather conditions and partly due to its leaders eventually being given instructions to search for the Eastern Settlement on the east coast of
Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
, which was almost inaccessible at the time due to southward-drifting ice. The pilot on all three trips was James Hall, who like many others until 1861 trusted " Frobisher's Strait" to be in southern Greenland, whereas it is in fact a bay projecting into southern
Baffin Island Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada, the second-largest island in the Americas (behind Greenland), and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is (slightly smal ...
. The expeditions were respectively commanded by John Cunningham (or "Hans Køning"; 1605), Godske Lindenov (1606), and Carsten Richardson (1607). The Danes had a falling-out with the English over the route being taken, far to the south of that recorded in the Bergen and Trondheim archives. They also sometimes searched for the imaginary Island of Buss.Gosch, C.C.A.
Danish Arctic Expeditions, 1605 to 1620. Book I.—The Danish Expeditions to Greenland in 1605, 1606, and 1607; to which is added Captain James Hall's Voyage to Greenland in 1612
' Hakluyt Society (London), 1897
In the same vein, King Christian commissioned an expedition to North America in 1619. The expedition was captained by Dano-Norwegian navigator and explorer, Jens Munk. The ships were searching for the
Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...
. The expedition arrived in
Hudson Bay Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...
landing at the mouth of Churchill River, settling at what is now Churchill, Manitoba. However, it was a disastrous voyage, with cold, famine, and scurvy killing most of the crew.


Ships

* ' (German: "Consolation", also called the ''Trust'', ' ("The Dog"), and ' ("The Lapdog"); 60 tons) * ' ("The Red Lion", other spellings ''Røde Løffue'', ''Løven'', or ''Løffuen'' ("The Lion"); 70 tons) * ' ("The Cat", also called the ''Grønlandske Kat''; ex-Scottish; 20 tons) * ' ("The Eagle", also rendered in English as ''Örnen'') * '' Gilliflower'' (ex-Scottish, also called the ''Gilliflowre'', ''Gilleflowre'', ''Gillibrandt'', and ''Angeli Brandt'')


See also

*
Cartographic expeditions to Greenland This is a list of recognised pioneering expeditions to Greenland that contributed to the cartography of the territory. See also * Geography of Greenland Greenland is located between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, northea ...
* Danish colonization of Greenland * List of Arctic expeditions


References


Related reading

*Mills, William J. (2003) ''Exploring Polar Frontiers: A Historical Encyclopedia'' (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio) {{Authority control History of Greenland Expeditions from Denmark 1600s in Greenland Arctic expeditions 1605 in Denmark 1605 in North America 1606 in Denmark 1606 in North America 1607 in Denmark 1607 in North America