Samuel de Champlain
The ‘Father of New France’, who founded Quebec in 1608 and mapped the St Lawrence and the Great Lakes.
| Lived | c. 1574 – 1635 |
| Known as | Explorer |
| Birthplace or main place | Quebec City |
| Places on the map | Quebec City, Montreal |
Quebec CitySee the world of Samuel de Champlain in the interactive map
Who ruled these places in his lifetime
| Place | At birth (map of 1500) | At death (map of 1600) |
|---|---|---|
| Quebec City | Algonquin | Subarctic forest hunter-gatherers |
| Montreal | Huron | Subarctic forest hunter-gatherers |
From the border maps nearest to each date; borders are approximate.
Events in his lifetime
| Year | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1608 | Champlain founds Quebec | Quebec City |
Battles and sites of the time
- Jamestown · 1607
- Plymouth Colony · 1620
Further reading
Contemporaries
| Lived | Person | |
|---|---|---|
| 1564 – 1642 | Galileo Galilei | Scientist |
| 1577 – 1640 | Peter Paul Rubens | Painter |
| 1571 – 1629 | Shah Abbas I | Safavid shah |
| c. 1583 – 1663 | Queen Nzinga | Queen of Ndongo and Matamba |
| 1592 – 1666 | Shah Jahan | Mughal emperor |
| 1543 – 1616 | Tokugawa Ieyasu | First Tokugawa shogun |
| 1547 – 1616 | Miguel de Cervantes | Writer |
| 1564 – 1616 | William Shakespeare | Playwright and poet |
| 1596 – 1650 | René Descartes | Philosopher and mathematician |
| 1552 – 1610 | Matteo Ricci | Jesuit missionary |
Last updated 9 November 2026. Sources: border data from historical-basemaps, land and rivers from Natural Earth; texts written for Chronica Maps from standard reference works. How we make the maps.