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John Smith (c. January 1580 – 21 June 1631), Admiral of New England, was an English soldier, explorer, and author. He was knighted for his services to Sigismund Bathory, Prince of Transylvania, and his friend Mózes Székely. He was considered to have played an important part in the establishment of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America. He was a leader of the Virginia Colony (based at Jamestown) between September 1608 and August 1609, and led an exploration along the rivers of Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay. He was the first English explorer to map the Chesapeake Bay area and New England. His books and maps were important in encouraging and supporting English colonization of the New World. He gave the name New England to the region and noted: "Here every man may be master and owner of his owne labour and land... If he have nothing but his hands, he may...by industries quickly grow rich."〔David Cressy (1987). "Coming Over: Migration and Communication Between England and New England in the Seventeenth Century". p. 99. Cambridge University Press,〕 When Jamestown was England's first permanent settlement in the New World, Smith trained the settlers to farm and work, thus saving the colony from early devastation. He publicly stated "He that will not work, shall not eat". This strength of character and determination overcame problems presented from the hostile Indians, the wilderness and the troublesome and uncooperative settlers. Harsh weather, lack of water, living in a swampy wilderness and attacks from the Powhatan Indians almost destroyed the colony. The Jamestown settlement survived and so did Smith, but he had to return to England after being injured by an accidental explosion of gunpowder in a boat. ==Early adventures== John Smith was baptised on 6 January 1580 at Willoughby near Alford, Lincolnshire, where his parents rented a farm from Lord Willoughby. He claimed descent from the ancient Smith family of Cuerdley, Lancashire,〔Churton, Ralph, ''The lives of William Smyth, Bishop of Lincoln, and Sir Richard Sutton'' (1800), p. 5〕 and was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Louth, from 1592–1595.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=History of the School )〕 After his father died, Smith left home at the age of sixteen and set off to sea. He served as a mercenary in the army of Henry IV of France against the Spaniards, fighting for Dutch independence from the Spanish King Phillip II. He then set off for the Mediterranean Sea. There he engaged in both trade and piracy, and later fought against the Ottoman Turks in the Long Turkish War. Smith was promoted to captain while fighting for the Austrian Habsburgs in Hungary, in the campaign of Michael the Brave in 1600 and 1601. After the death of Michael the Brave, he fought for Radu Şerban in Wallachia against the Ottoman vassal Ieremia Movilă. Smith is reputed to have killed and beheaded three Turkish opponents in single combat duels, for which he was knighted by the Prince of Transylvania and given a horse and a coat of arms showing three Turks' heads. However, in 1602 he was wounded in a skirmish with the Tatars, captured and sold as a slave. As Smith describes it: "we all sold for slaves, like beasts in a market".〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Soldier of Fortune: John Smith before Jamestown )〕 Smith claimed his master, a Turkish nobleman, sent him as a gift to his Greek mistress in Constantinople, who fell in love with Smith. He then was taken to the Crimea, from where he escaped from the Ottoman lands into Muscovy then on to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, before travelling through Europe and Northern Africa, returning to England in 1604. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Smith (explorer)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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