João Álvares Fagundes

Who was João Álvares Fagundes?

João Álvares Fagundes, an explorer and ship owner from Viana do Castelo in Northern Portugal, organized several expeditions to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia around 1520-1521.

Fagundes explored the islands of St Paul near Cape Breton, Sable Island, Penguin Island, Burgeo, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon which he named the islands of Eleven Thousand Virgins in honor of Saint Ursula.

King Manuel I of Portugal gave Fagundes exclusive rights and ownership of his discoveries on March 13, 1521.

In 1607, Samuel de Champlain identified the remains of a large cross at what is now Advocate, Nova Scotia on the Minas Basin. He attributed the erection of the cross to Fagundes, whom he presumed to have visited the spot some eight decades earlier.