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Pedro Fernandes de Queirós
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Pedro Fernandes de Queirós
Pedro Fernandes de Queirós (Spanish: Pedro Fernández de Quirós; 1563–1614) was a Portuguese navigator in the service of Spain. He is best known for leading several Spanish voyages of discovery in the Pacific Ocean, in particular the 1595–1596 voyage of Álvaro de Mendaña y Neira, and for the 1605–1606 expedition that crossed the Pacific in search of Terra Australis.
Queirós (or Quirós as he signed) was born in Évora, Portugal in 1563. As the Portuguese and Spanish monarchies had been unified under the king of Spain in 1580 (following the vacancy of the Portuguese throne, which lasted for sixty years, until 1640, when the Portuguese monarchy was restored), Queirós entered Spanish service as a young man and became an experienced seaman and navigator.
In April 1595, he joined Álvaro de Mendaña y Neira on his voyage to colonize the Solomon Islands, serving as chief pilot. After Mendaña's death in October 1595, Queirós is credited with taking command and saving the only remaining ship of the expedition, arriving in the Philippines in February 1596. Isabel Barreto, Mendaña's wife, accompanied the expedition and was accused of causing the crew's low morale by her selfishness and strict discipline.
Queirós spent eighteen months in the Philippines, but returned to Spain in 1598, via Mexico. Upon his return to Spain, he petitioned King Philip III to support another voyage into the Pacific, hoping to find a large southern continent to claim for Spain. A devout Catholic, Queirós also visited Rome in 1600, where he obtained the support of Pope Clement VIII, for further explorations. He greatly impressed the Spanish Ambassador in Rome, the Duke of Sesa, who described him as a “man of good judgement, experienced in his profession, hard working, quiet and disinterested.” While in Rome, Queirós also first wrote his Treatise on Navigation as a letter to the king, further reinforcing his reputation as a navigator, and invented two navigational tools.
In March 1603, Queirós was finally authorized to return to Peru to organize another expedition, with the intention of finding Terra Australis, the anticipated "great south land," and claiming it for Spain and the Catholic Church. Queirós was shipwrecked in the West Indies, but made it to Peru by March 1605. Queirós's party of 160 men on three ships, San Pedro y San Pablo (150 tons), San Pedro (120 tons), and the tender (or launch) Los Tres Reyes left Callao on 21 December 1605.
In January 1606, the expedition came upon Henderson Island and Ducie Island, and then Rakahanga (Northern Cook Islands), and the Buen Viaje Islands (Butaritari and Makin) in the present-day island nation of Kiribati. It is also probable that his expedition sighted Tahiti and other islands in the Tuamotu archipelago. Queirós narrowly missed the Marquesas as well as New Zealand, thanks to a change in his planned itinerary.
In May 1606, the expedition reached the islands later called the New Hebrides and now known as the independent nation of Vanuatu. Queirós landed on a large island which he took to be part of the southern continent, and named it Australia del Espíritu Santo. In his printed memorials, notably the Eighth (which was published in Italy, Holland, France, Germany and England), this was altered to Austrialia del Espíritu Santo (The Australian Land of the Holy Spirit), a pun on "Austria", in honor of King Philip III, who was of the House of Hapsburg or 'Austria' in Spanish. The island is still called Espiritu Santo. Here, he stated his intention to establish a colony, to be called Nova Jerusalem. He seems to have identified Australia/Austrialia del Espíritu Santo with the huge northward extension of the Austral continent joining it to New Guinea, as depicted in maps like those of Gerard de Jode and Petrus Plancius. For, as he said in his Tenth Memorial (page 5): “New Guinea is the top end of the Austral Land of which I treat".
Queirós' religious fervour found expression with the founding of a new Order of Chivalry, the Knights of the Holy Ghost. The Order's purpose was to protect the new colony. However, within weeks the idea of a colony was abandoned due to the hostility of the Ni-Vanuatu and to disagreements among the crew.
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Pedro Fernandes de Queirós
Pedro Fernandes de Queirós (Spanish: Pedro Fernández de Quirós; 1563–1614) was a Portuguese navigator in the service of Spain. He is best known for leading several Spanish voyages of discovery in the Pacific Ocean, in particular the 1595–1596 voyage of Álvaro de Mendaña y Neira, and for the 1605–1606 expedition that crossed the Pacific in search of Terra Australis.
Queirós (or Quirós as he signed) was born in Évora, Portugal in 1563. As the Portuguese and Spanish monarchies had been unified under the king of Spain in 1580 (following the vacancy of the Portuguese throne, which lasted for sixty years, until 1640, when the Portuguese monarchy was restored), Queirós entered Spanish service as a young man and became an experienced seaman and navigator.
In April 1595, he joined Álvaro de Mendaña y Neira on his voyage to colonize the Solomon Islands, serving as chief pilot. After Mendaña's death in October 1595, Queirós is credited with taking command and saving the only remaining ship of the expedition, arriving in the Philippines in February 1596. Isabel Barreto, Mendaña's wife, accompanied the expedition and was accused of causing the crew's low morale by her selfishness and strict discipline.
Queirós spent eighteen months in the Philippines, but returned to Spain in 1598, via Mexico. Upon his return to Spain, he petitioned King Philip III to support another voyage into the Pacific, hoping to find a large southern continent to claim for Spain. A devout Catholic, Queirós also visited Rome in 1600, where he obtained the support of Pope Clement VIII, for further explorations. He greatly impressed the Spanish Ambassador in Rome, the Duke of Sesa, who described him as a “man of good judgement, experienced in his profession, hard working, quiet and disinterested.” While in Rome, Queirós also first wrote his Treatise on Navigation as a letter to the king, further reinforcing his reputation as a navigator, and invented two navigational tools.
In March 1603, Queirós was finally authorized to return to Peru to organize another expedition, with the intention of finding Terra Australis, the anticipated "great south land," and claiming it for Spain and the Catholic Church. Queirós was shipwrecked in the West Indies, but made it to Peru by March 1605. Queirós's party of 160 men on three ships, San Pedro y San Pablo (150 tons), San Pedro (120 tons), and the tender (or launch) Los Tres Reyes left Callao on 21 December 1605.
In January 1606, the expedition came upon Henderson Island and Ducie Island, and then Rakahanga (Northern Cook Islands), and the Buen Viaje Islands (Butaritari and Makin) in the present-day island nation of Kiribati. It is also probable that his expedition sighted Tahiti and other islands in the Tuamotu archipelago. Queirós narrowly missed the Marquesas as well as New Zealand, thanks to a change in his planned itinerary.
In May 1606, the expedition reached the islands later called the New Hebrides and now known as the independent nation of Vanuatu. Queirós landed on a large island which he took to be part of the southern continent, and named it Australia del Espíritu Santo. In his printed memorials, notably the Eighth (which was published in Italy, Holland, France, Germany and England), this was altered to Austrialia del Espíritu Santo (The Australian Land of the Holy Spirit), a pun on "Austria", in honor of King Philip III, who was of the House of Hapsburg or 'Austria' in Spanish. The island is still called Espiritu Santo. Here, he stated his intention to establish a colony, to be called Nova Jerusalem. He seems to have identified Australia/Austrialia del Espíritu Santo with the huge northward extension of the Austral continent joining it to New Guinea, as depicted in maps like those of Gerard de Jode and Petrus Plancius. For, as he said in his Tenth Memorial (page 5): “New Guinea is the top end of the Austral Land of which I treat".
Queirós' religious fervour found expression with the founding of a new Order of Chivalry, the Knights of the Holy Ghost. The Order's purpose was to protect the new colony. However, within weeks the idea of a colony was abandoned due to the hostility of the Ni-Vanuatu and to disagreements among the crew.
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