Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon

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Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon

Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon (Villegaignon, Seine et Marne, France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, 1510 – Beauvais

Beauvais

Beauvais is a town and commune in France and capital of the Oise Departments of France in northern France. Population : city: 57,355; city and suburbs: 59,003; metropolitan area: 100,733....
, January 9, 1571) was a French naval officer (vice-admiral

Admiral

Admiral is the military rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above Vice Admiral and below Admiral of the Fleet/Fleet Admiral....
of Brittany

Brittany

Brittany is a former independent Celtic nations monarchy and duchy, now incorporated into France. It is also, more generally, the name of the cultural area whose limits correspond to the historic province and independent duchy....
) who attempted to help the Huguenots in France escape persecution.

A notable public figure in his time, Villegaignon was a mixture of soldier, scientist, explorer, adventurer and entrepreneur.

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Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon (Villegaignon, Seine et Marne, France

France

Beauvais

Admiral

Brittany

Mary I of Scotland

Mary I was Queen of Scots from 14 December 1542 to 24 July 1567.She was the only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scotland. She was only six days old when her father died and left her Queen of Scots....
, then five years old, to France, since she was promised to marry the Dauphin of France.

In his book, "Brazil, A Land of the Future", Austrian writer Stefan Zweig

Stefan Zweig

Stefan Zweig was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist and biographer....
describes well the colorful character of Villegaignon:

Villegaignon became an important historical figure in his failed dream to build a "France Antarctique

France Antarctique

France Antarctique was the name of the failed France colony south of the Equator, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which existed between 1555 and 1567, and had control over the coast from Rio de Janeiro to Cabo Frio....
", by invading present-day Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , is the second largest city of Brazil and South America, behind S?o Paulo, and the third largest metropolitan area in South America, behind S?o Paulo and Buenos Aires....
, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
in 1555 with a fleet of two ships and 600 soldiers and colonists, mainly French Huguenots and Swiss Calvinists

Calvinism

Calvinism is a theology system and an approach to the Christian life that emphasizes the rule of God over all things. It was developed by several theologians, but it bears the name of the French Protestant Reformation John Calvin because of his prominent influence on it and because of his role in the confessional and ecclesiastical debates t...
who sought to escape Catholic persecution in Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
. He wanted also to secure a permanent base in Brazil in order to explore brazil wood, then a very valuable source of red dye

Dye

A dye can generally be described as a colored substance that has an Chemical affinity to the Wiktionary:substrate to which it is being applied....
and hard wood for construction (which gave the name to what was to become Brazil), and to explore precious metals and stones, which the Europeans believed to exist in abundance in the land.

After a number of battles against the Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
, the French colonists were defeated by Estácio de Sá

Estácio de Sá

Est?cio de S? was a Portuguese soldier and officer who came to Brazil on orders of the Portugal crown to wage war on the France invaders commanded by Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon , who had established themselves in 1555 at the Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro, in the episode which became known as France Antarctique....
, a nephew of the third Portuguese Governor-General of Brazil, Mem de Sá

Mem de Sá

Mem de S? was a Governor-General of Brazil from 1557-1572.He was born in Coimbra, Portugal, around 1500, the year of discovery of Brazil by a naval fleet commanded by Pedro ?lvares Cabral....
, in January 20, 1567. Villegaignon had already returned to France, in 1557, disgusted with the infighting between Catholics and Protestants in the small colony. He embraced the Catholic faith in France and died on January 9, 1571 in Beauvais

Beauvais

Beauvais is a town and commune in France and capital of the Oise Departments of France in northern France. Population : city: 57,355; city and suburbs: 59,003; metropolitan area: 100,733....
.