Basque fishermen arrived in America 100 years before Christopher Columbus

Despite the fact that the transoceanic relations of Basque fishermen since the sixteenth century in Newfoundland and Labrador, in what is now Canada, are widely documented, their presence on the continent of America has just been discovered at least “one hundred years before the navigations of Christopher Columbus”. The discovery of this temporality was given thanks to the acquisition of a book by the Navarrese publisher Mintzoa in France, which is the work of the jurist Étienne Cleirac, known for being the author of the first naval dictionary in history. It is of previous knowledge that the Basque whalers had had a presence in Newfoundland and Labrador in the sixteenth century, they are even accredited for the dissemination of certain naval techniques, however the work in question, seen from the perspective of the fishermen explains their presence in America prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus.Read more: They point out the decline of the José Limón Dance FestivalThe work is called Us et Coutumes de la Mer, it is the work of the jurist Étienne Cleirac and in the seventeenth century it was a well-known naval treatise, such is the case that its first edition dates from the year 1647.” It is one of the six copies that exists in the world of the first edition of the book. We have acquired it in Paris, from a retired antique dealer. The interest for the Basques is in the section dedicated to whaling, where there are multiple references to the Basques and the role they played in whale fishing and navigation” said the publisher that made the purchase of the work. Read more: That other theater with which Mazatlan had fun in the 19th centuryThis book is a historical reference to the arrival of Basque whalers in America, “there has been much speculation about when that navigation through the Atlantic Ocean to America began. In this case, the importance lies in the fact that they place it 100 years before the arrival of Columbus and they do it in an entire international treatise on navigation, not in a book about the Basques. In addition, we see that whoever collects it is not a madman, the author of the treatise is an eminence, the author of the first naval dictionary in history.” The jurist Étienne Cleirac wrote in his work that “a Basque warned Christopher Columbus of the West Indies, giving him the direction”, this had been suspected among scholars, however having the book finally, confirmed what happened in the sixteenth century. Congratulations, Mom Duck! 10 ducklings are born in the middle of a delivery room.

Original source in Spanish