In February , Cabot was given permission to make a new voyage to North America; in May of that year, he departed from Bristol, England, with five ships and a crew of men.
The ships carried ample provisions and small samplings of cloth, lace points and other "trifles," suggesting an expectation of fostering trade with Indigenous peoples. En route, one ship became disabled and sailed to Ireland, while the other four ships continued on. From this point, there is only speculation as to the fate of the voyage and Cabot. For many years, it was believed that the ships were lost at sea.
More recently, however, documents have emerged that place Cabot in England in , laying speculation that he and his crew actually survived the voyage. Historians have also found evidence to suggest that Cabot's expedition explored the eastern Canadian coast, and that a priest accompanying the expedition might have established a Christian settlement in Newfoundland.
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John Smith was a British soldier who was a founder of the American colony of Jamestown in the early s. In March he resurfaced, this time as the commander of a proposed westward voyage under the flag of the King of England, Henry VII.
Had Cabot been present on this journey, Henry VII would have had some basis to believe the would-be Venetian explorer could make a similar voyage to the far side of the Atlantic. On 5 March , Henry awarded Cabot and his three sons a generous letters patent, a document granting them the right to explore and exploit areas unknown to Christian monarchs. Sailing westward in the north Atlantic was no easy task. Historians only know that it was a failure, with Cabot apparently rebuffed by stormy weather.
Cabot mounted a second attempt from Bristol in May , using a ship called the Matthew. Historians have long debated exactly where Cabot explored. The most authoritative report of his journey was a letter by a London merchant named Hugh Say. The rough latitudes Say provided suggest Cabot made landfall around southern Labrador and northernmost Newfoundland , then worked his way southeast along the coast until he reached the Avalon Peninsula , at which point he began the journey home.
He also brought back a snare for capturing game and a needle for making nets. Say also said it was certain the land Cabot coasted was Brasil, a fabled island thought to exist somewhere west of Ireland.
Some believed he had reached another fabled island, the Isle of Seven Cities, thought to exist in the Atlantic. There were also reports Cabot had found an enormous new fishery. Henry VII rewarded Cabot with a royal pension on December and a renewed letters patent in February that gave him additional rights to help mount the next voyage. The additional rights included the ability to charter up to six ships as large as tons. Despite reports from the voyage of masses of fish, no preparations were made to harvest them.
At the time, everyone believed that this land was the Indies, or Spice Islands. King Henry VII would also take his share. Everybody believed that Cathay and Cipangu China and Japan were rich in gold, gems, spices and silks. If Asia had been where Cabot thought it was, it would have made England the greatest trading centre in the world for goods from the east. John Cabot's ship, the Matthew , sailed from Bristol with a crew of 18 in Cabot had reached one of the northern capes of Newfoundland. His sailors were able to catch huge numbers of cod simply by dipping baskets into the water.
First Contact Biography of John Cabot. Biography of John Cabot John Cabot was in his early to mid forties when he set foot on the soil of Newfoundland, claiming the territory for Christianity in the name of the English crown.
Imaginary Medallion portrait of John Cabot, from a memoir published in Venice in Cabot Map, Last Topic: John Cabot. Current Topic: Biography of John Cabot.
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