Editing Willem Barentsz (section)

==Life and career==
Willem Barentsz was born around 1550 in the village [[Formerum]] on the island [[Terschelling]] in the [[Seventeen Provinces]], present-day [[Netherlands]].<ref name="godutch">{{cite web |url= http://www.godutch.com/windmill/newsItem.asp?id=257|title= Historic expedition led by Willem Barentsz nears 400th anniversary|access-date=8 December 2007 }}</ref> ''Barentsz'' was not his [[surname]] but rather his [[Dutch_name#Patronymics|patronymic name]], short for ''Barentszoon'' "[[Barent]]'s son".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iNxJAQAAMAAJ&q=Willem+Barentszoon&pg=PR55|title=A True Description of Three Voyages by the North-east Towards Cathay and China: Undertaken by the Dutch in the Years 1594, 1595 and 1596|first=Gerrit|last=De Veer|date=17 July 2017|publisher=Hakluyt Society|access-date=17 July 2017|via=Google Books}}</ref>

A cartographer by trade, Barentsz sailed to Spain and the Mediterranean to complete an [[atlas]] of the [[Mediterranean|Mediterranean region]], which he co-published with [[Petrus Plancius]].<ref name="godutch"/>

His career as an explorer was spent searching for a [[Northeast passage]] in order to trade with China.<ref name="Pitzer" /> He reasoned clear, open water north of [[Siberia]] must exist since the [[Midnight sun|sun shone 24 hours a day]] melting Arctic sea ice, indeed he thought the farther north one went the less ice there would be.<ref name="Pitzer" /><ref name="new">{{cite journal |date=April 1993|title= God and the Arctic survivor|journal= [[New Scientist]]|url= https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13818674.500-god-and-the--arctic-survivors-without-modern-medicineswindcheaters-or-ski-boots-explorers-still-managed-to--survive-the-arcticwinters-of-400-years-ago--who-was-their-unseen-ally-.html}}</ref>

===First voyage===
[[File:Linschotens nordenkart, 1601 (12067624705).jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Map of Willem Barentsz' first voyage]]

On 5 June 1594, Barentsz left the island of [[Texel]]<ref name="godutch" /> aboard the small<ref>Alexander, Philip Frederick. [https://archive.org/details/northwestnorthea00alexrich The North-west and North-east passages], 1915.</ref> ship ''Mercury'',<ref>Mirsky, Jeannette. ''"To the Arctic!: The Story of Northern Exploration from Earliest Times"'', 1997.</ref> as part of a group of three ships sent out in separate directions to try to enter the [[Kara Sea]], with the hopes of finding the [[Northeast Passage]] above [[Siberia]]. Between 23 and 29 June, Barentsz stayed at [[Kildin Island]].

On 9 July,<ref name="discovery">{{cite book |title= A Book of Discovery |url= http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=synge&book=discoverybook&story=_contents&PHPSESSID=458b6ee0d |last= Synge|first= J.B.|year= c. 1912}}</ref> the crew encountered a [[polar bear]] for the first time. After shooting and wounding it with a [[musket]] when it tried to climb aboard the ship, the seamen decided to capture it with the hope of bringing it back to Holland. Once leashed and brought aboard the ship however, the bear [[running amok|rampaged]] and had to be killed. This occurred in Bear Creek, Williams Island.

Upon discovering the Orange Islands, the crew came across a herd of approximately 200 [[walrus]]es and tried to kill them with hatchets and pikes. Finding the task more difficult than they imagined, cold steel shattering against the tough hides of the animals, they left with only a few ivory tusks.<ref name="Pitzer" /><ref name="diary" />

Barentsz reached the west coast of [[Novaya Zemlya]], and followed it northward before being forced to turn back in the face of large icebergs. Although they did not reach their ultimate goal, the trip was considered a success.<ref name="godutch" />

[[Jan Huyghen van Linschoten]] was a member of this expedition and the second.

===Second voyage===
[[File:Aanvaring tussen de schepen van Barentsz en Van Linschoten, 1595, NG-1979-564-7 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Barentz flagship ''Gulden Windthunde'' nearly collided with that of the Vice Admiral on the second voyage 6 August 1595]]
[[File:Polar bear, Gerrit de Veer (1596).jpg|thumb|Crew of Willem Barentsz fighting a polar bear]]

The following year, [[Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange|Prince Maurice of Orange]] was filled with "the most exaggerated hopes"<ref name="maine" /> on hearing of Barentsz' previous voyage, and named him chief pilot and conductor of a new expedition, which was accompanied by six ships loaded with merchant wares that the Dutch hoped to trade with China.<ref name="lights">{{cite web|url=http://www.ub.uit.no/northernlights/eng/wbarentsz.htm|title=The Northern Lights Route – Willem Barentsz|website=www.ub.uit.no|access-date=17 July 2017}}</ref>

Setting out on 2 June 1595,<ref name="maine" /> the voyage went between the Siberian coast and [[Vaygach|Vaygach Island]]. On 30 August, the party came across approximately 20 [[Samoyedic peoples|Samoyed]] "wild men" with whom they were able to speak, due to a crewmember speaking their language.<ref name="diary" /> 4 September saw a small crew sent to [[States Island]] to search for a type of [[crystal]] that had been noticed earlier. The party was attacked by a polar bear, and two sailors were killed.<ref>Beechey, F.W. [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_MKwNAAAAQAAJ/page/n265 <!-- p=240 quote=barentz. --> "A Voyage Of Discovery Towards The North Pole, In The Majesty's Ships"], 1843.</ref>

Eventually, the expedition turned back upon discovering that unexpected weather had left the [[Kara Sea]] frozen.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Van Der Werf|first= Siebren Y.|date=November 1997 |title= Astronomical Observations During Willem Barents's Third Voyage to the North|journal= Arctic|volume= 51|issue= 2|url= http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic51-2-142.pdf|doi=10.14430/arctic1055}}</ref> This expedition was largely considered to be a failure.<ref>Scoresby, William. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Jz4rwPKKnqYC&dq=barentz&pg=RA1-PA59 "An Account of the Arctic Regions"], 1820.</ref>

===Third voyage===
[[File:1598 map of the Polar Regions by Willem Barentsz.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Map of the entire Arctic from Willem Barentsz's third voyage]]
[[File:JONGE(1877) p042 Map of NOVAYA SEMLYA.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The tracks of the Dutch navigators (1596–97)]]
In 1596, disappointed by the failure of previous expeditions, the States-General announced they would no longer [[subsidy|subsidize]] similar voyages – but instead offered a high reward for anybody who ''successfully'' navigated the Northeast Passage.<ref name="maine" /> The Town Council of [[Amsterdam]] purchased and outfitted two small ships, captained by [[Jan Rijp]] and [[Jacob van Heemskerk]], to search for the elusive channel under the command of Barentsz. They set off on 10 May or 15 May, and on 9 June discovered [[Bear Island (Norway)|Bear Island]].<ref name="diary">De Veer, Gerrit. "''The Three Voyages of William Barentsz to the Arctic Regions''" (English trans. 1609).</ref>

They discovered [[Spitsbergen]] on 17 June, sighting its northwest coast. On 20 June they saw the entrance of a large bay, later called [[Raudfjorden]]. On 21 June they anchored between Cloven Cliff and Vogelsang, where they "set up a post with the arms of the Dutch upon it." On 25 June they entered [[Magdalenefjorden]], which they named ''Tusk Bay'', in light of the walrus tusks they found there. The following day, 26 June, they sailed into the northern entrance of [[Forlandsundet]], but were forced to turn back because of a shoal, which led them to call the fjord ''Keerwyck'' ("inlet where one is forced to turn back"). On 28 June they rounded the northern point of [[Prins Karls Forland]], which they named ''Vogelhoek'', on account of the large number of birds they saw there. They sailed south, passing [[Isfjorden (Svalbard)|Isfjorden]] and [[Bellsund]], which were labelled on Barentsz's chart as ''Grooten Inwyck'' and ''Inwyck''.

[[File:Barents' ship among the arctic ice.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|left|Willem Barentsz's ship amidst the Arctic ice]]

The ships once again found themselves at Bear Island on 1 July, which led to a disagreement between Barentsz and Van Heemskerk on one side and Rijp on the other. They agreed to part ways, with Barentsz continuing northeast, while Rijp headed due north in an attempt to cross directly over the north pole to reach China.<ref name="Pitzer" /><ref name="survey"/> Barentsz reached Novaya Zemlya on 17 July. Anxious to avoid becoming entrapped in the surrounding ice, he intended to head for the [[Vaigatch Strait]], but their ship became stuck within the many icebergs and floes.<ref name="maine"/> Stranded, the 16-man crew was forced to spend the winter on a barren bluff.<ref name="discovery" /> After a failed attempt to melt the [[permafrost]], the crew used driftwood and lumber from the ship to build a 7.8×5.5-metre lodge they called ''Het Behouden Huys'' (The Saved House).<ref name="new" />

[[File:Barents house inside.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|''Het Behouden Huys'' on [[Novaya Zemlya]]]]

Dealing with extreme cold, the crew realised that their socks would burn before their feet could even feel the warmth of a fire – and took to sleeping with warmed stones and cannonballs. They used the merchant fabrics aboard the ship to make additional blankets and clothing.<ref name="diary" /> The ship bore salted beef, butter, cheese, bread, [[barley]], peas, beans, [[groats]], flour, oil, vinegar, mustard, salt, beer, wine, brandy, [[hardtack]], smoked bacon, ham and fish. Much of the beer froze, bursting the [[cask]]s. By 8 November [[Gerrit de Veer]], the ship's carpenter who kept a diary, reported a shortage of beer and bread, with wine being rationed four days later.<ref name="diary" />

In January 1597, the crew became the first to witness and record the atmospheric anomaly of a polar mirage, now coined the [[Novaya Zemlya effect]] due to this sighting.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.eh2r.com/mp/data3.html|title= Homage to Gerrit de Veer|access-date=7 December 2007 }}</ref>

[[File:Death of Wiliam Barents.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left|''The Death of Willem Barentsz'' (1836) by Christiaan Julius Lodewyck Portman]]

Proving somewhat successful at hunting, the group caught [[Arctic fox]]es in primitive traps.<ref name="new" /> The raw flesh of the Arctic fox contains small amounts of vitamin C, which, unknown to the sailors, reduced the effects of scurvy.<ref name="Pitzer" /> The crew were continually attacked by polar bears that infested the area where they camped.<ref name="Pitzer" /> The bears turned the stranded and now empty ship into a wintertime abode. Primitive guns usually did not kill the bears on first or even second shot (unless well aimed at the heart) and were difficult to aim, while the cold and brittle metal weapons often shattered or bent.<ref name="Pitzer">{{cite book |title=Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World |publisher=Scribner |author=Andrea Pitzer |author-link=Andrea Pitzer |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-9821-1334-6}}</ref>

By June, the ice had still not loosened its grip on the ship, and the remaining desperate [[scurvy]]-ridden survivors took two open boats. Barentsz died at sea soon after on 20 June 1597. It is not known whether Barentsz was buried on [[Severny Island|the northern island of Novaya Zemlya]], or at sea.<ref>[http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic55-4-329.pdf "Search for Barents: Evaluation of Possible Burial Sites on North Novaya Zemlya, Russia"], Jaapjan J. Zeeberg et al., ''Arctic'' Vol. 55, No. 4 (December 2002) pp. 329–338</ref> It took seven more weeks for the boats to reach the [[Kola Peninsula]], where they were rescued by a Dutch merchant vessel commanded by former fellow explorer Jan Rijp who by that time had returned to the Netherlands and was on a second voyage, assuming the Barentsz crew to be lost, and found it by accident.<ref name="Pitzer" /> By that time, only 12 crewmen remained. They did not reach Amsterdam until 1 November.<ref name="sea">Goorich, Frank Boott. "Man Upon the Sea", 1858.</ref> Sources differ on whether two men died on the ice floe and three in the boats,<ref name="new" /> or three on the ice floe and two in the boats.<ref name="maine">De Peyster, John Watts. [https://archive.org/details/dutchatnorthpole00depeuoft The Dutch at the North pole and the Dutch in Maine]. 3 March 1857.</ref> The young cabin boy had died during the winter months in the shelter.<ref name="discovery" />{{clear}}