Montserrat

A small island located to the southwest of Antigua in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, Montserrat experienced a colonial era of conflict between, first, the Island Carib and its initial Irish colonists and, later, the French and the British.

Originally inhabited by Island Carib, Christopher CoLUMBUS first explored Montserrat in 1493, but Europeans ignored the island until the English claimed it in 1625. The Irish colonized the island in 1643 in the name of the English and suffered constant raids by Island Carib. Over time Montserrat became a valuable SUGAR-producing island dependent upon the institution of African SLAVERY. By the end of the 16th century the Island Carib threat ceased, but Montserrat became a pawn in the colonial wars for empire fought between the French and English.

When hostilities broke out between the French and English in 1666, the taking of Montserrat became one of the focal points of French strategy in the Lesser Antilles. The French captured Montserrat in 1667, and the Irish colonists immediately swore oaths of allegiance to the French Crown. The French controlled the island for over a century until they relinquished control under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles in 1783.

Further reading: Alan Burns, History of the British West Indies (London: Allen & Unwin, 1954); Howard A. Fergus, History of Alliouagana: A Short History of Montserrat (Plymouth, Montserrat: University Centre, 1975); Jean-Baptiste Labat, The Memoirs of Pere Labat, trans. John Eaden (London: F. Cass, 1970).

—Dixie Ray Haggard

Moryson, Fynes (1566-1617?) English traveler Fynes Moryson, the son of a member of the English Parliament, wrote one of the most important European TRAVEL narratives of the late 16th century.

Moryson, who studied law at Peterhouse in Cambridge, left England with his brother Henry on May 1, 1591, on a journey that lasted for the next six years, with a brief hiatus in England from May to December 1595. During his journey he traveled extensively through northern Europe before landing in Italy, where he remained for almost a year and a half. When he left on the second stage he headed directly for southern Europe, spending time along the Mediterranean and the Adriatic coasts. He then went through Venice to some of the Old World’s principal cultural centers, including Jerusalem, Constantinople, and Antioch, where his brother died in July 1596. Moryson arrived in London in July 1597. Other than time spent in Ireland as a colonial administrator, he apparently spent much of the rest of his life in London.

Moryson is best known now as the author of a remarkable travel narrative, entitled An Itinerary. . . Containing His Ten Years Travell, which was published in London in 1617. The account is significant because it reveals the extent of travels that Europeans undertook without crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Encounters between Europeans and non-Europeans, notably Americans and Africans, often emphasize the exotic nature of the other. Moryson’s account evokes that same sense of wonder in encounters between Europeans and reveals that the idea of “discovery” was not unique to accounts that went beyond the boundaries of the continent.

When he published his account, Moryson included a number of what he called “precepts” for travelers, 27 separate suggestions. The precepts ranged from the logical, such as the need for travelers to write a will before they embarked, a reasonable recommendation given the news about shipwrecks, to locking the door of any rented room. Travelers should also learn the language of places they planned to visit and do what they could to get along with those they met. It would also make sense to carry a good book, preferably one that would fit in one’s pocket.

Further reading: Fynes Moryson, An Itinerary. . . Containing His Ten Years Travell (London, 1617), excerpt in Peter C. Mancall, ed., Travel Narratives from the Age of Discovery (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).