Almost 500 years ago, French ships landed in what is now Brazil with a mission to found 'France Antarctique', a new colony on South America's Atlantic coast. Riven by religious divisions and stormed by Portuguese rivals, the project lasted just a few years – but would end up reshaping Europeans' understanding of the so-called New World.
The voyage began in 1555, 63 years after Europeans had learned that the Americas existed – or 67, if you believe some French accounts that the first explorer to reach the continent wasn't Christopher Columbus, but a sailor from Normandy named Jean Cousin.
