John Cabot

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John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto; fl. 1450–1498) was a Venetian navigator and explorer commonly credited as one of the first early modern Europeans to land on the North American mainland, aboard the Matthew in 1497.

Giovanni Caboto left his birthplace for Venice, Italy in 1461, and was naturalized on 28 March 1476. Although Venice is not his place of birth, for this reason he is known as a Venetian by force of government rights. It is here he acquired his experience with navigation on commercial voyages to Arabia, as well as the idea to sail westward to find a different route to the Spice Islands, the Northern Passage, as it was imagined.

In 1490, with his 3 sons: Ludovico, Sebastiano (who later also became a prominent navigator), and Sancto, he left for Bristol, England, and would remain there for the remainder of his life. It is unknown whether he had a hand in the failed expedition of 1491, but it is certain that after the success of Columbus the following year, that he decided to offer the same opportunity to Henry VII, and England, rather than to his other adoptive home in Venice, or to any of the Italian city states. Finally, on 6 March 1496, Henry VII issued letters patent awarding Cabot and his three sons the right to seek islands and countries of the heathen towards the west, east, and north, with five ships under the English flag.

Contents 1 Exploration 2 Gallery 3 References 4 External links 5 Further reading

[edit] Exploration

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After an aborted effort in 1496,John Cabot set sail from Bristol on the Matthew in May 1497. The trip was uneventful, and he finally spotted land a month later, landing somewhere on the east coast of Newfoundland on June 24, possibly Labrador, Newfoundland or Cape Breton Island (Canada and Great Britain accept Cape Bonavista, Newfoundland as the official landing site). Seeing signs of habitation, he explored south down the coastline. He mapped the North American coastline from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland.^[1]

Cabot believed he had reached the northeast coast of Asia, and returned on August 6, 1497. Amidst a positive reception, he planned to return and then continue on to Japan, and received new letters patent on February 3, 1498.

Richard Ameryk, the chief investor in Cabot's second transatlantic voyage, has been proposed as the person from whom the name America derives.^[2] Five ships set sail for Newfoundland the same year, but en route one ship was forced to return after being damaged in a storm. The rest were never heard from again, although some evidence suggests Cabot may have made it to America a second time.^{[citation needed]} Cabot's voyages laid the groundwork for the later British claim to Canada. ^[3]

[edit] Gallery

Cabot.tower.bristol.1.arp.jpg Cabot Tower (Bristol), distant view	Cabot.tower.bristol.3.arp.jpg Cabot Tower (Bristol), close up	Cabot.tower.bristol.4.arp.jpg Cabot Tower (Bristol), close up	Cabottowernf.jpg Cabot Tower (St. John's)
Cabot tower stamp.jpg Cabot Tower (Newfoundland) postage stamp	Cabotstamp.jpg John Cabot Stamp.	Nlc000840-v6.jpg Letters patent for a voyage to discover new lands granted to John Cabot and his three sons by the king of England, Henry VII, at Westminster on March 5, 1496.	Matthew-BristolHarbour-Aug2004.jpg A replica of the Matthew in Floating Harbour,Bristol
Johncabotbonavista.jpg John Cabot statue, Bonavista Newfoundland

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Contemporary letters about Cabot's discoveries.
• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
• This article incorporates material from http://www.win.tue.nl/~engels/discovery/cabot.html. Copied with permission.
• Catholic Encyclopedia "John & Sebastian Cabot"
• Encyclopaedia Britannica John Cabot
• Preface and first few chapters Gibbons, Henry K. 1997. The Myth and Mystery of John Cabot: The Discoverer of North America. Marten Cat Publishers, Port Aux Basques, Newfoundland.
• Derek Croxton, The Cabot Dilemma: John Cabot's 1497 Voyage & the Limits of Historiography, 1990-1991
• The John Day Letter 1497-1498
• Home page of the Matthew replica with information about Cabot and the voyage.
• John Cabot memorial Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
• Script about Vespucci's and Caboto's voyages

[edit] Further reading

• Wilson, Ian (1996). John Cabot and the Matthew. Tiverton: Redcliffe Press. ISBN 1900178206. 
• Cabot's story was featured on A Moment In Time in 2007bs:John Cabot

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