It was in 1534 that Jacques CARTIER, a French navigator born in SAINT MALO (1491-1557) was sent by François 1st to search for a passage to Asia north of the New World.
It's on board the GRANDE HERMINE, a ship specially chartered for this trip, which he reached Newfoundland and CANADA, whose shores had been discovered by CABOT, a Venetian navigator in 1497, and which he visited three times. He earned the name “Discoverer of CANADA.” The GRANDE HERMINE was an exploration ship used for peaceful purposes and had no weapons