Jean Cousin (navigator)

Jean Cousin was a lieutenant in the fleet of the Norman shipowner Jehan Ango of Dieppe.

Life

Due to various chronicles of the 15th century is considered likely that Jean Cousin 1488 with a merchant vessel Angos left for West Africa and, stripped of the equatorial flow in the amount of the Azores, after a two-month journey across the Atlantic on an unknown land and let out a mighty river, which he called " Maragnon " and in 1489 returned safely after a short stay over West Africa to Dieppe. Striking are several early trips of different ships of different captains of the shipping company Ango to Brazil, which had an excellent navigator school in Dieppe.

Doubtful appear reports that Jean Cousin had already sailed around the Cape of Good Hope.

More recently, the New York Times on February 14, 1922 the contents of a telegraphic message was received from France resist.

Accordingly, thirty Norman merchants should have come together from Rouen and Dieppe to equip a fleet, with which they wanted to open up new trade opportunities west of Africa. Reason for this step was that Dutch, British and Portuguese coasts of West Africa controlled the Equator down. It would therefore have been necessary to arm including commercial vessels. These costs were afraid the merchants.

Cousin stabbed in 1488 in lake, sailed to the equator and then westward. The American continent, he should have reached after two months, near the mouth of the Amazon.

It is alleged that he reached on the return trip South Africa and the Cape of Good Hope, nine years before Vasco da Gama rounded. Trailer of Cousin reported repeatedly pointed out that there was a Spaniard named Vicente Pinzon under occupation.

Columbus was four years later accompanied by four brothers Pinzon, one of which, Vicente Yanez Pinzon, his navigator was.

The records of the town of Dieppe on the journey of Jean Cousin were destroyed during a bombardment by British in 1604.