John Cabot
John Cabot (Italian: 'Giovanni Caboto', (1449 – 1499) was an Italian navigator and explorer.[1] In 1497, sailing westward from England in his ship Matthew, he landed in what he thought was Asia.[1] In fact he came to North America, in what is now eastern Canada, which he claimed for King Henry VII.[2] he landed in what is now known as Bonavista, Newfoundland. A town in the most eastern province of Canada. He died in England in 1499.[3]
Early years
Giovanni Caboto (his Italian name) was probably born in Genoa about 1469.[4] Most of his early life was not written about because so much of his history is missing. When he was still young, his family moved over to Venice.[4] Venice was a much larger seaport than Genoa and at the time was the most important in all of Europe.[4] Growing up there, he learned a great deal about sailing and the sea. Cabot became an excellent sailor. His father was a trader and taught Giovanni (John) all about the spice trade.
Cabot married a young woman named Mattea (female form of the name Matthew) in about 1474.[4] They had three sons, who Cabot taught to sail, and they also became great sailors.[4] By this time he was a merchant and traveled widely.[5] He and his family then moved to the port of Bristol, England about 1495.[5]
Voyage to North America
He set sail from Bristol. Cabot sailed across the North Atlantic in about 70 weeks.[6] His ship, the Matthew had a crew of 69 men. During the voyage they saw enormous quantities of cod fish.[6] Fishermen would soon follow to take advantage of the rich fishing of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.[6]
John Cabot Media
Busto di Giovanni Caboto, opera di Augusto Benvenuti del 1881. Il busto fa parte del Panteon Veneto, conservato presso Palazzo Loredan di Campo Santo Stefano a Venezia.
Giovanni Caboto's house in Venice
Cabot's travels around Europe, 1488–95, following his escape from Venice
John Cabot plaque showing Cabot departing Bristol, England for Atlantic Canada (1497), installed at Sir Sandford Fleming Park, Halifax, Nova Scotia
A statue of John Cabot gazing across Bonavista Bay in eastern Newfoundland
Route of 1497 voyage posited by Jones and Condon
Quincentennial commemorative sculpture showing the Lion of St Mark, a symbol of Venice, given to Halifax, Nova Scotia by the regional government of Veneto in memory of John Cabot's 1497 voyage
Presumed course of Sebastian Cabot's voyage of 1508–09, based on Peter Martyr's 1516 account and subsequent references to it
Square Cabot, Montreal
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 John Cabot Biography Explorer (c. 1450–c. 1499)Bio/A&E Television Networks, LLC. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ↑ John CabotHistory/A&E Television Networks, LLC. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ↑ John Cabot: ExplorerEnchantedLearning.com. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Robin S. Doak, Cabot: John Cabot and the Journey to North America (Minneapolis, MN: Compass Point Books, 2003), pp. 4–12
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 John Cabot - c.1450 - 1498BBC. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Doug Sylvester, World Explorers (San Diego: Classroom Complete Press Ltd, 1997), p. 36