Aymar Chaste
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Aymar de Chaste (d. 1603) was a French admiral during the Franco-Spanish Wars between 1582 to 1598.
A gentleman of the King's Chamber, Aymar (or Aimar) de Cleremont de Chaste served as governor of Dieppe and Arques as well as the French ambassador to England during mid to late 16th century. A vice admiral, Chaste commanded the French-Portuguese naval forces supporting Antonio, Prior of Crato's attempt to capture the Azores from Spain to use as a staging point to liberate Portugal. However, he was defeated by Alvaro de Bazán, Marquis of Santa Cruz at the Battle of San Miguel in 1583.
After agreeing to command an expedition to the St. Laurence River with former officers Pierre Dugua de Mons and Samuel Champlain, Chaste was appointed Viceroy of Canada by King Henri IV on February 6, 1602. Chaste would preside over New France as lieutenant governor later forming the Canada and Arcadia trading company, which would eventually establish French domination of the North American fur trade for more then a century, overseeing the company until his death in 1603, shortly before Champlain's return to France.
[edit] References
- Dupuy, Trevor N. The Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography, New York, 1992
[edit] Further reading
- Biographie universelle, 1811-1862.
- Dictionnaire historique de France, 1968.
