Joris Carolus
Encyclopedia
Joris Carolus was a Dutch
cartographer and explorer. He served for both the Noordsche Compagnie
and the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (Dutch East India Company
).
. After he lost a leg at the Siege of Ostend
(1601-04) he turned to the art of navigation and became a pilot (Stierman). In 1614 he was pilot of the Enkhuizen ship den Orangienboom (“Orange Tree”), under Jacob de Gouwenaer, one of the two ships sent by the whaling
company Noordsche Compagnie on a voyage of discovery. Carolus claimed to have reached 83° N, but this would have been impossible given the ice conditions described by Robert Fotherby
, who was also on a voyage of discovery in the ship Thomasine, sent by the rival Muscovy Company
of England
. According to Fotherby—who saw the Dutch ships riding off Amsterdam Island
on July 6/16, "ready for the first opportunity to discover", and on August 9/19 "two ships of the Hollanders, that were appointed for northern discovery, were seene thwart of Faire Haven, sayling to the southwards"— the ice was packed along the northern coast of Spitsbergen. Even in shallops the English were only able to go as far north as Castlins Point (modern Gråhuken, at 79° 48’N).
On the same voyage Carolus came upon the island of Jan Mayen
, which may have been discovered earlier the same year by the Dutchman Fopp Gerritsz., sailing in a whaleship sent by the Englishman John Clarke, of Dunkirk. Carolus named it after himself: Mr. Joris eylandt. He also named a bay Gowenaers bay (which name was moved to Gouwenaerbåen
) after the master of his ship, and a cape Jan Meys hoeck. This latter name, in honor of Jan Jacobsz. May
, master of the other ship sent on discovery, de goude Cath (“The Golden Cat”) of Amsterdam
, was later (1620) applied to the island as a whole, giving it the name it retains to this day.
Following his 1614 expedition to Spitsbergen
Carolus charted a map of the islands. The map labels various features, including Generaels hoeck (South Cape
), Bell sound (Bellsund
), Greene harbergh (Grønfjorden
), Mari mag. bay (Magdalenefjorden
), Hollandsche bay or Feer-haven (Fairhaven
), and de Reus ("The Giant", Cloven Cliff), among other things.
The map also shows what may be Edge Island’s south coast. Carolus showed the coastline split into two parts: Onbekende Cust (“Unknown Coast”) in the west, and Morfyn (a corruption of Matsyn, part of Novaya Zemlya
) in the east. Islands are shown offshore of Morfyn. Martin Conway
argued in 1901 that Carolus’ chart indicated that he had discovered Edge Island; but, as Wielder points out, Conway was ignorant of a map (engraved in 1612) by the Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius
, which illustrated a coastline to the east of Spitsbergen. The coastline, indented, with islands offshore, was labelled Gerrits Eylant. Wielder believed this to the first record of Edge Island’s south coast, when in fact this coastline as well was only copied from an earlier chart which merely showed a vague mass that was supposed to represent Spitsbergen.
Edward Heawood, writing in response to Conway’s claim of Carolus being the first discoverer of Edge Island, wrote a "Correspondence" refuting his claim. Carolus, who never made any claim of having discovered the said island (which is counter to his usual boastfull claims of discovery), shows Morfyn (or Marfyn, which Conway said represented Edge Island) some 18° too far east (relative to the mainland), while Onbekende Cust, which is supposed to represent Kvalpynten (which Heawood questioned as to why Carolus should refer to a land he allegedly discovered as “unknown”?), extends the longitude of the island to 30°, instead of its actual 4° of longitude. Heawood asserts that Carolus may have only copied both coastlines from earlier maps—in particular, Onbekende Cust may correspond to the land (without name) placed between Spitsbergen and Matsyn on a Dutch map of 1611.
The following year, 1615, Carolus was sent by the Noordsche Compagnie on a voyage to the Davis Strait
region. Passing through the strait he allegedly reached the impossible latitude of 80° N. The results of this voyage were presented in a (now lost) chart to the States General, and mentioned in a resolution of November 26, 1615. Carolus later (see below) described Baffin Bay
in a book he published, saying it extended to 79° N and was enclosed by land.
In 1617, Carolus was again sent on a voyage of discovery by the Delft
, Hoorn
, and Enkhuizen
chambers of the Noordsche Compagnie. He claimed to have discovered two islands: New Holland, between 60° and 63° N, and Opdams island, at 66° N and twenty Dutch miles east of Iceland
. Both islands were depicted on a map Carolus supplied to the Noordsche Compagnie, which applied to the States General for a monopoly on whaling rights at the islands (which was granted on October 28, 1617).
"When at length his years and growing feebleness prevented him from voyaging, he settled down at Amsterdam as teacher of navigation, and published a book of charts and sailing directions, now very rare, entitled Het nieuw vermeerde Licht, ghenaemt de Sleutel van’t Tresoor, Spiegel, Gesicht, ende vierighe Colon des Grooten Zeevaerts. Dat is claer ende seeckere beschrijcinghe van de Oost, West, Suydt ende Noordsche Navigatie, verciert met alle noodige perfecte ende duijdelycke Pas-kaarten, Opdoeninghen der Landen, Haven, Kapen ende Rivieren, aenwhsinghe der Drooghten, Landen, Clijpen ende Ondiepten; verscheijdentheijt der plaetsen, 800 deselve in mijlen, graden ende Compas-streecken van den omderen syn ghelegen. Alles van nieuws oversien, verbeetert ende vermeerdert, door Mr. Joris Carolus. Sierman. Leermeester ende Caert-schryver van de groote en cleyne Zeevaert binnen de vermaerde Coopstadt Amsteldam. Ghedruckt tot Amsteldam. By Jan Janssen Boeckvercooper op’t Water in de Paskaert. Anno 1634." This work was copied by many subsequent authors, many of whom claimed it as their own.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
cartographer and explorer. He served for both the Noordsche Compagnie
Noordsche Compagnie
The Noordsche or Groenlandse Compagnie was a cartel for whaling, founded by several cities in the Netherlands...
and the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
).
Career
Carolus apparently was a native of EnkhuizenEnkhuizen
Enkhuizen is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia.Enkhuizen was one of the harbour-towns of the VOC, just like Hoorn and Amsterdam, from where overseas trade with the East Indies was conducted. It received city rights in 1355...
. After he lost a leg at the Siege of Ostend
Siege of Ostend
The Siege of Ostend was a three-year siege of the city of Ostend during the Eighty Years' War and one of the longest sieges in history. It is remembered as the bloodiest battle of the war, and culminated in a Spanish victory...
(1601-04) he turned to the art of navigation and became a pilot (Stierman). In 1614 he was pilot of the Enkhuizen ship den Orangienboom (“Orange Tree”), under Jacob de Gouwenaer, one of the two ships sent by the whaling
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
company Noordsche Compagnie on a voyage of discovery. Carolus claimed to have reached 83° N, but this would have been impossible given the ice conditions described by Robert Fotherby
Robert Fotherby
Robert Fotherby was an early 17th century English explorer and whaler. From 1613 to 1615 he worked for the Muscovy Company, and from 1615 until his death for the East India Company.-Family Ties:...
, who was also on a voyage of discovery in the ship Thomasine, sent by the rival Muscovy Company
Muscovy Company
The Muscovy Company , was a trading company chartered in 1555. It was the first major chartered joint stock company, the precursor of the type of business that would soon flourish in England, and became closely associated with such famous names as Henry Hudson and William Baffin...
of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. According to Fotherby—who saw the Dutch ships riding off Amsterdam Island
Amsterdamøya
Amsterdamøya is a small island off the northwest coast of West-Spitsbergen.-History:Amsterdamøya was first seen by Willem Barents in 1596. The Dutch first occupied it in 1614 , building a temporary whaling station on the island's southeastern promontory. In 1619 a semi-permanent station was...
on July 6/16, "ready for the first opportunity to discover", and on August 9/19 "two ships of the Hollanders, that were appointed for northern discovery, were seene thwart of Faire Haven, sayling to the southwards"— the ice was packed along the northern coast of Spitsbergen. Even in shallops the English were only able to go as far north as Castlins Point (modern Gråhuken, at 79° 48’N).
On the same voyage Carolus came upon the island of Jan Mayen
Jan Mayen
Jan Mayen Island is a volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean and part of the Kingdom of Norway. It is long and 373 km2 in area, partly covered by glaciers . It has two parts: larger northeast Nord-Jan and smaller Sør-Jan, linked by an isthmus wide...
, which may have been discovered earlier the same year by the Dutchman Fopp Gerritsz., sailing in a whaleship sent by the Englishman John Clarke, of Dunkirk. Carolus named it after himself: Mr. Joris eylandt. He also named a bay Gowenaers bay (which name was moved to Gouwenaerbåen
Gouwenaerbåen
Gouwenaerbåen is a 10m shoal or reef southeast of Eggøya, on the southern coast of Jan Mayen. It is named after the Dutch seafarer Jacob de Gouwenaer, who was master of the Orangienboom in 1614, when he had first come upon the island...
) after the master of his ship, and a cape Jan Meys hoeck. This latter name, in honor of Jan Jacobsz. May
Jan Jacobs May van Schellinkhout
Jan Jacobszoon May van Schellinkhout was a Dutch seafarer and explorer.-Family:May was born in the small village of Schellinkhout, just east of the town of Hoorn in North Holland. He appears to be the brother of Cornelis Jacobsz May, the first director of New Netherland...
, master of the other ship sent on discovery, de goude Cath (“The Golden Cat”) of Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, was later (1620) applied to the island as a whole, giving it the name it retains to this day.
Following his 1614 expedition to Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Constituting the western-most bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea...
Carolus charted a map of the islands. The map labels various features, including Generaels hoeck (South Cape
Sørkappøya
Sørkappøya is a 7 km long island at the southern tip of Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago. Behind the island is Sørkapp , the southern cape of Spitsbergen.-References:...
), Bell sound (Bellsund
Bellsund
Bellsund is a 20 km long sound on the west coast of Spitsbergen, part of the Svalbard archipelago.-History:Bellsund was first seen by William Barents in 1596. He simply referred to it as Inwyck . In 1610 Jonas Poole explored Bellsund, giving the fjord the name it retains to this day. He named it...
), Greene harbergh (Grønfjorden
Grønfjorden
Grønfjorden is a 16km long fjord, separated from Isfjorden to the north by Festningsodden in the west and Heerodden in the east. It lies within the western portion of Nordenskiöld Land...
), Mari mag. bay (Magdalenefjorden
Magdalenefjorden
Magdalenefjorden is an 8 km long and up to 5 km wide fjord between Reuschhalvøya and Hoelhalvøya, Albert I Land, on the west coast of Spitsbergen, the largest island in the Svalbard archipelago.-History:...
), Hollandsche bay or Feer-haven (Fairhaven
Fairhaven, Svalbard
Fairhaven generally speaking is the area between Amsterdamøya and Danskøya and the mainland, while specifically it refers to the sound between Danskøya and the mainland , in particular the strait between Moseøya and Danskøya...
), and de Reus ("The Giant", Cloven Cliff), among other things.
The map also shows what may be Edge Island’s south coast. Carolus showed the coastline split into two parts: Onbekende Cust (“Unknown Coast”) in the west, and Morfyn (a corruption of Matsyn, part of Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya , also known in Dutch as Nova Zembla and in Norwegian as , is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe lying at Cape Flissingsky on the northern island...
) in the east. Islands are shown offshore of Morfyn. Martin Conway
Martin Conway
William Martin Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington , known as Sir Martin Conway between 1895 and 1931, was an English art critic, politician, cartographer and mountaineer....
argued in 1901 that Carolus’ chart indicated that he had discovered Edge Island; but, as Wielder points out, Conway was ignorant of a map (engraved in 1612) by the Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius
Petrus Plancius
Petrus Plancius was a Dutch astronomer, cartographer and clergyman. He was born as Pieter Platevoet in Dranouter, now in Heuvelland, West Flanders. He studied theology in Germany and England...
, which illustrated a coastline to the east of Spitsbergen. The coastline, indented, with islands offshore, was labelled Gerrits Eylant. Wielder believed this to the first record of Edge Island’s south coast, when in fact this coastline as well was only copied from an earlier chart which merely showed a vague mass that was supposed to represent Spitsbergen.
Edward Heawood, writing in response to Conway’s claim of Carolus being the first discoverer of Edge Island, wrote a "Correspondence" refuting his claim. Carolus, who never made any claim of having discovered the said island (which is counter to his usual boastfull claims of discovery), shows Morfyn (or Marfyn, which Conway said represented Edge Island) some 18° too far east (relative to the mainland), while Onbekende Cust, which is supposed to represent Kvalpynten (which Heawood questioned as to why Carolus should refer to a land he allegedly discovered as “unknown”?), extends the longitude of the island to 30°, instead of its actual 4° of longitude. Heawood asserts that Carolus may have only copied both coastlines from earlier maps—in particular, Onbekende Cust may correspond to the land (without name) placed between Spitsbergen and Matsyn on a Dutch map of 1611.
The following year, 1615, Carolus was sent by the Noordsche Compagnie on a voyage to the Davis Strait
Davis Strait
Davis Strait is a northern arm of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Nunavut, Canada's Baffin Island. The strait was named for the English explorer John Davis , who explored the area while seeking a Northwest Passage....
region. Passing through the strait he allegedly reached the impossible latitude of 80° N. The results of this voyage were presented in a (now lost) chart to the States General, and mentioned in a resolution of November 26, 1615. Carolus later (see below) described Baffin Bay
Baffin Bay
Baffin Bay , located between Baffin Island and the southwest coast of Greenland, is a marginal sea of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is connected to the Atlantic via Davis Strait and the Labrador Sea...
in a book he published, saying it extended to 79° N and was enclosed by land.
In 1617, Carolus was again sent on a voyage of discovery by the Delft
Delft
Delft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland , the Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam and The Hague....
, Hoorn
Hoorn
-Cities :* Purmerend * Enkhuizen * Alkmaar * Amsterdam * Lelystad * Den Helder * Leeuwarden -Towns :* Edam...
, and Enkhuizen
Enkhuizen
Enkhuizen is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia.Enkhuizen was one of the harbour-towns of the VOC, just like Hoorn and Amsterdam, from where overseas trade with the East Indies was conducted. It received city rights in 1355...
chambers of the Noordsche Compagnie. He claimed to have discovered two islands: New Holland, between 60° and 63° N, and Opdams island, at 66° N and twenty Dutch miles east of Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
. Both islands were depicted on a map Carolus supplied to the Noordsche Compagnie, which applied to the States General for a monopoly on whaling rights at the islands (which was granted on October 28, 1617).
"When at length his years and growing feebleness prevented him from voyaging, he settled down at Amsterdam as teacher of navigation, and published a book of charts and sailing directions, now very rare, entitled Het nieuw vermeerde Licht, ghenaemt de Sleutel van’t Tresoor, Spiegel, Gesicht, ende vierighe Colon des Grooten Zeevaerts. Dat is claer ende seeckere beschrijcinghe van de Oost, West, Suydt ende Noordsche Navigatie, verciert met alle noodige perfecte ende duijdelycke Pas-kaarten, Opdoeninghen der Landen, Haven, Kapen ende Rivieren, aenwhsinghe der Drooghten, Landen, Clijpen ende Ondiepten; verscheijdentheijt der plaetsen, 800 deselve in mijlen, graden ende Compas-streecken van den omderen syn ghelegen. Alles van nieuws oversien, verbeetert ende vermeerdert, door Mr. Joris Carolus. Sierman. Leermeester ende Caert-schryver van de groote en cleyne Zeevaert binnen de vermaerde Coopstadt Amsteldam. Ghedruckt tot Amsteldam. By Jan Janssen Boeckvercooper op’t Water in de Paskaert. Anno 1634." This work was copied by many subsequent authors, many of whom claimed it as their own.