WI: French Guinea by 1450

Hi there,

The Normands were trading in Guinea by the 1360's but got disrupted quite badly when Dieppe was taken during the 100YW.
When the Portuguese arrived, the locals were initially very friendly due to the good impression left by the Normands, to be soon surprised by the slave raids.

So here you go, what if the French had continued trading there? What would be the consequences of having France with such a long reach almost a century before anybody else arrived there (1440's)?

Just in term of naval technology they must have had quite a headstart (although I haven't found anything suggesting they used different boats)
 
The all Normands in Guinea in the 14th c. is a fancy myth created probably in the 16th c. by the Dieppe merchants. See Charles-André Julien's Les Voyages de découverte et les premiers établissements (Paris, 1947 et 2003).
 
The all Normands in Guinea in the 14th c. is a fancy myth created probably in the 16th c. by the Dieppe merchants. See Charles-André Julien's Les Voyages de découverte et les premiers établissements (Paris, 1947 et 2003).
Dammit.

Would you be able to quote the offending passage in the book? I'm curious about this.

I knew it was too good to be true...
 
Dammit.

Would you be able to quote the offending passage in the book? I'm curious about this.

I knew it was too good to be true...

No sorry, I do not have it in my library.

The all thing started when a Dieppe merchant came back from Guinea in 1669 and wrote to Colbert, asking for money, pleading that the ancient Dieppe merchants were the first Europeans in these parts. And generation after generation of pious local historians have copied his fancy story, without event thinking to seek sources.
 
No sorry, I do not have it in my library.

The all thing started when a Dieppe merchant came back from Guinea in 1669 and wrote to Colbert, asking for money, pleading that the ancient Dieppe merchants were the first Europeans in these parts. And generation after generation of pious local historians have copied his fancy story, without event thinking to seek sources.
Colour me disappointed.

It seems to be quite a common myth, I saw it in a couple sources. I'll have to say, it's not the easiest thing to track sources for
 
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