André d'Albaigne

André d'Albaigne was a 16th-century Italian merchant from the city of Lucca. Together with his brother Francisque d’Albaigne he tried to organize the expedition under patronage of French court to discover a “certain very rich new land of very great extent not yet discovered by the kings of Spain and Portugal”.

Francisque was an agent of the Bonvisi merchant house in Lisbon from where he traveled to Paris to propose a new exploration venture. He had also interested cosmographer Bartholomeu Velho in the venture. However, both Velho and Francisque died in 1568.

André d’Albaigne continued the work of his brother to organize the expedition to the unseen continent, portraying it as “a great area of lands and kingdoms abundant and rich in gold, precious stones, drugs, and spices”. He submitted his project to Admiral Coligny but, although the Admiral gave favorable consideration to it, all hopes for its implementation disappeared when Coligny was killed in 1572 during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre.