Villegagnon is one of the characters most massacred in our colonial history. The reason for this was the frequently re-edited book, Travel to the Land of Brazil by Jean de Lery, as well as the History of Martyrs by Jean Crespin, both found among the historians. Villegagnon is portrayed as the villain. Recently in 1991, the naval historian, Leonce Peillard, published in Paris a book entitled Villegagnon, the Vice-admiral of Britanny and Viceroy of Brazil (Perrin Editions) that showed convincing recent research explaining and absolving Villegagnon of the Calvinists' accusations. After this, the Brazilian Navy decided to pay homage to Villegagnon and in the year 2000, the Brazilian ambassador in France raised an obelisk made of stones from the Island in Provins, his birthplace, near Paris. The French admiral is considered by many historians as the true founder of Rio de Janeiro and not Estacio de Sa, who only arrived in Guanabara eleven years later.
Villegagnon; French Colonization; Estacio de Sa