Editing Willem Barentsz

{{Short description|Dutch navigator, cartographer, and Arctic explorer (c. 1550 – 1597)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox person
|name        = Willem Barentsz
|image       = Willem Barents (1883).png
|image_size  = 250px
|caption     = Late 19th-century portrait based on an early 17th-century miniature engraving
|birth_date  = {{c.|1550}}
|birth_place = [[Formerum]], [[Terschelling]], [[Seventeen Provinces]]
|death_date  = {{Death date and age|1597|06|20|1550|df=yes}}
|death_place = at sea in the Arctic region
|other_names =
|known_for   = Exploration of the Arctic
|occupation  = [[Navigator]]
|nationality = [[Dutch Republic|Dutch]]
}}

'''Willem Barentsz''' ({{IPA|nl|ˈʋɪləm ˈbaːrənts}}; {{c.|1550}} – 20 June 1597), anglicized as '''William Barents''' or '''Barentz''', was a [[Dutch Republic|Dutch]] [[navigator]], [[cartographer]], and [[Arctic]] [[explorer]].

Barentsz went on three expeditions to the far north in search for a [[Northern Sea Route|Northeast passage]]. He reached as far as [[Novaya Zemlya]] and the [[Kara Sea]] in his first two voyages, but was turned back on both occasions by ice. During a third expedition, the crew discovered [[Spitsbergen]] and [[Bear Island (Norway)|Bear Island]], but subsequently became stranded on Novaya Zemlya for almost a year. Barentsz died on the return voyage in 1597.

The [[Barents Sea]], among many other places, is named after him.<ref name="Pitzer" />

==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}}

==Excavation and findings==
[[File:Het Behouden.PNG|thumb|The remains of the wooden lodge of Willem Barentsz on Novaya Zemlya, sketched by Elling Carlsen in 1871]]

The wooden lodge where Barentsz' crew sheltered was found undisturbed by Norwegian [[seal hunt]]er [[Elling Carlsen]] in 1871. Making a sketch of the lodge's construction, Carlsen recorded finding two copper cooking pots, a barrel, a tool chest, clock, crowbar, flute, clothing, two empty chests, a cooking tripod and a number of pictures.<ref>De Jonge, J.K.J. ''"Nova Zembla: De voorwerpen door de Nederlandsche Zeevaarders na hunne overwintering aldaar in 1597 achtergelaten en in 1871 door Kapitein Carlsen teruggevonden, beschreven en toegelicht."'', 1872.</ref> Captain Gunderson landed at the site on 17 August 1875 and collected a grappling iron, two maps and a handwritten translation of [[Arthur Pet]] and Charles Jackman's voyages. The following year, Charles L.W. Gardiner also visited the site on 29 July where he collected 112 more objects, including the message by Barentsz and Heemskerck describing their settlement to future visitors. All of these objects eventually ended up in the [[Rijksmuseum Amsterdam]],<ref name="survey" /><ref>{{cite journal |last= Braat|first= J.|date=December 1984|title= Dutch Activities in the North and the Arctic during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries|journal= Arctic|volume= 37|issue= 4|url= http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic37-4-473.pdf|doi=10.14430/arctic2229}}</ref> after some had initially been held in [[The Hague]].<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Barents, Willem}}</ref>

[[File:Behouden Finds 1.jpg|thumb|left|Objects found in ''Het Behouden Huys'']]

The amateur archaeologist Miloradovich's 1933 finds are held in the [[Arctic and Antarctic Museum]] in St. Petersburg. Dmitriy Kravchenko visited the site in 1977, 1979 and 1980 – and sent [[deep sea diving|divers]] into the sea hoping to find the wreck of the large ship. He returned with a number of objects, which went to the Arkhangelsk Regional Museum of Local Lore (Russia). Another small collection exists at the Polar Museum in [[Tromsø]] (Norway).<ref name="survey" />

In 1992, an expedition of three scientists, a journalist and two photographers commissioned by the ''Arctic Centre'' at the [[University of Groningen]], coupled with two scientists, a cook and a doctor sent by the ''[[Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute]]'' in [[St. Petersburg]], returned to the site,<ref name="survey">{{cite journal |last= Hacquebord|first= Louwrens|date=September 1995|title= In search of Het Behouden Huys: a survey of the remains of the house of Willem Barentsz on Novaya Zemlya|journal= Arctic|volume= 48|issue= 3|doi=10.14430/arctic1246|url= http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic48-3-248.pdf|citeseerx= 10.1.1.505.5702}}</ref> and erected a commemorative marker at the site of the cabin.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nordictravel.com.au/tourdetailweb.asp?id=314 |title=Nordic Travel<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=29 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070829090416/http://www.nordictravel.com.au/tourdetailweb.asp?id=314 |archive-date=29 August 2007 }}</ref>

The location of Barentsz' wintering on the ice floes has become a tourist destination for [[icebreaker]] cruiseships operating from [[Murmansk]].<ref name="new" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/arctic/north-pole|title=Quark Expeditions|access-date=17 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015204249/http://quarkexpeditions.com/arctic/north-pole/|archive-date=15 October 2008}}</ref>{{clear}}

==Legacy==
[[File:Monument to Willem Barents, Vardø, Norway.jpg|thumb|Memorial to Barentsz in [[Vardø Municipality]], [[Norway]].]]
Two of Barentsz' crewmembers later published their journals, [[Jan Huyghen van Linschoten]] who had accompanied him on the first two voyages, and Gerrit de Veer who had acted as the ship's carpenter on the last two voyages.

In 1853, the former ''Murmean Sea'' was renamed [[Barents Sea]] in his honour.<ref>"[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9013349 Barentsz Sea]." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 5 December 2007</ref><ref>C. Michael Hogan and Steve Baum. 2010. [http://www.eoearth.org/article/Barents_Sea ''Barents Sea''. Eds. P. Saundry & C. Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC]</ref> [[Barentsburg]], the second largest settlement on [[Svalbard]], [[Barentsøya]] (Barents Island) and the [[Barents Region]] were also named after Barentsz.

In the late 19th century, the [[Maritime Institute Willem Barentsz]] was opened on Terschelling.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.miwb.nl/index.php?db=4&maincat=miwb&cat=miwb&menu=MIWB|title=MIWB – NHL Hogeschool. Vergroot je perspectief.|website=www.miwb.nl|access-date=17 July 2017}}</ref>

In 1878, the Netherlands [[Ship naming and launching|christened]] the ''Willem Barentsz'' Arctic exploration ship.<ref>{{cite book |title= De eerste tocht van de Willem Barentsz naar de Noordelijke IJszee 1878|last= Bruijne|first= Antonius de|author2=Balje, Bastiaan Gerardus |year= 1985}}</ref>

In 1931, Nijgh & Van Ditmar published a play written by [[Albert Helman]] about Barentsz' third voyage, although it was never performed.

In 1946, the [[Whaling|whaling ship]] ''Pan Gothia'' was re-christened the ''Willem Barentsz''. In 1953, the second ''Willem Barentsz'' whaling ship was produced.<ref>{{cite book |title=De Nederlandsche Maatschappij voor de Walvischvaart |last= Boot|first= W.J.J. |year= 1987|publisher= Bataafsche Leeuw|location= Amsterdam|isbn= 978-90-6707-129-1}}</ref>

A [[protein]] in the molecular structure of the [[Drosophila melanogaster|fruit fly]] was named ''Barentsz'', in honour of the explorer.<ref>{{cite book |title= Barentsz is essential for the posterior localization of oskar mRNA and colocalizes with it to the posterior pole|author=Van Eeden, F.J.M. |author2=Palacios, I.M. |author3=Petronczki, M. |author4=Weston, M.J.D. |author5=St. Johnston, D. |year= 2001}}</ref>

Dutch filmmaker [[Reinout Oerlemans]] released a film called ''[[Nova Zembla (film)|Nova Zembla]]'' in November 2011. It is the first Dutch 3D feature film.

In 2011, a team of volunteers started building a replica of Barentsz' ship in the Dutch town of [[Harlingen, Netherlands|Harlingen]]. The plan was to have the ship ready by 2018, when the [[Tall Ships' Races]] was scheduled to visit Harlingen.<ref>{{in lang|nl}} [http://www.debarentsz.nl/ Website of the ''Stichting Expeditieschip Willem Barentsz'']</ref>

==References==
{{page numbers needed|date=June 2021}}
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite book |last=Markham |first=Clements R. |title=The Lands of Silence: A history of Arctic and Antarctic exploration |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1921 |url=https://archive.org/details/landssilence00Mark}}
*{{Cite book |last=Pitzer |first=Andrea |author-link=Andrea Pitzer |title=Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World |date=2021 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1-4711-8273-0 |location=London}}
*{{Cite book |last=Unwin |first=Rayner |title=A Winter Away From Home: William Barents and the North-east Passage |date=1995 |publisher=Seafarer Books |isbn=978-0-924486-85-2 |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/winterawayfromho0000rayn}}

== External links ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Barentsz, Willem}}
[[Category:16th-century Dutch explorers]]
[[Category:16th-century Dutch cartographers]]
[[Category:1550s births]]
[[Category:1597 deaths]]

[[Category:Deaths from scurvy]]
[[Category:Dutch polar explorers]]
[[Category:Explorers of Svalbard]]
[[Category:Explorers of the Arctic]]
[[Category:People from Terschelling]]