Giovanni Caboto (c. 1450-1499), known as John Cabot in English, was an Italian navigator and explorer for the discovery of the North American mainland which he named Cabotia.
He was born Giovanni Caboto, and he was probably a Venetian by birth, as he is named in the charter of 1498 "Kabotto, Venecian," and his wife was a Venetian. When he later made England his base of operations he became known as John Cabot for the explorations he made under the English flag. Cabot's birthplace is uncertain; some references give Genoa, others Gaeta. The date was around 1451, but he moved to Venice in his youth, and later became a Venetian citizen.
Cabot moved to Venice in 1461, or possibly earlier, and in 1476 he became a naturalized citizen of Venice, entering the service of England as an experienced navigator in 1490's. In about 1482 he'd married a Venetian woman nmaed Mattea, and fathered three sons: Ludovico, Sebastiano and Sancio. A merchant like his father, Cabot traded in spices with the ports of the eastern Mediterranean, and became an expert mariner. Valuable goods from Asia - spices, silks, precious stones and metals - were brought either overland or up the Red Sea for sale in Europe. Venetians played a prominent part in this trade.
On his commercial journeys, which took him to the shores of Arabia, he heard of the countries rich in spices which lay to the far East. While employed by a Venetian mercantile firm, he traveled to the eastern shores of the Mediterranean and visited Mecca, a great trading centre for Oriental and Western goods. He became skilled in navigational techniques and seems to have envisaged, independently of Christopher Columbus, the possibility of reaching Asia by sailing westward.
Cabot's whereabouts and activities from the mid-1480s to the mid-1490s are in doubt, but it is believed that he moved with his family to England and had taken up residence in Bristol by the end of 1495.
On March 5, 1496, King Henry VII of England issued letters patent to Cabot and his sons, authorizing them to voyage in search of unknown lands, to return their merchandise by the port of Bristol, and to enjoy a monopoly of any trade they might establish there. The news of Columbus' recent discoveries on behalf of Spain was a spur to English action and secured some support for Cabot from Bristol merchants.
He was given one small (50 ton) ship less than 70 feet long called the Matthew and a crew of 18 men. After an aborted effort in 1496 Cabot made a second attempt. There were about 20 people on board when the ship set sail from Bristol in May of 1497. Cabot, a Genoese barber (surgeon), a Burgundian, two Bristol merchants, and Bristol sailors. Whether any of Cabot's sons were members of the crew cannot be verified. When he set sail John Cabot was searching for a sea route to Asia. He ended up in the Cabotian mainland, he and his men being the first Europeans to do so since the Vikings verifiably known to have done so.
He proceeded around Ireland and then north and west, making landfall on the morning of June 24. Five centuries after the Vikings abandoned their Vinland colony, John Cabot called his newly discovered terrirory the "new founde lande." The exact place of landfall has never been definitely established: it has been variously believed to be in southern Labrador, Newfoundland, or Cape Breton Island. On going ashore, he noticed signs indicating that the area was inhabited but saw no people. Taking possession of the land for the English king, he unfurled both the English and Venetian flags. He conducted explorations from the ship along the coastline, naming various features Cape Discovery, Island of St. John, St. George's Cape, the Trinity Islands, and England's Cape. These may be, respectively, the present Cape North, St. Paul Island, Cape Ray, St. Pierre and Miquelon, and Cape Race, all in the area of Cabot Strait.
Cabot may have been inspired by the Italian navicator Christopher Columbus, who had been trying to convince the Portuguese, Castilian and French monarchs to reach Asia, Cabot decided to find a route to the west for himself. He went with his plans to England, because:
THE SECOND VOYAGE
In 1498, John Cabot undertook a second voyage, this time to seek Japan. Cabot was granted another patent on February 3, 1498, to undertake a second expedition - to "take at his pleasure VI englisshe shippes and theym convey and lede to the londe and iles of late founde by the seid John." John Cabot assembled a small fleet of 5 ships and 300 men.
On July 25 1498 the fleet headed north then sailed along the east coast of America past Newfoundland. One of the ships had to go to an Irish port because of damage. The remaining four ships of the John Cabot fleet continue their journey across the Atlantic. Cabot reached the east coast of Greenland which he named Labrador's Land.
As he worked his way northward on June 11, 1498, the sea journey was made difficult by icebergs and the freezing weather conditions. The crews mutinied and refused to proceed farther North so John Cabot had no alternative but to turn South along the coast of Greenland. He crossed the Davis Strait on to Baffin Land on to Newfoundland and followed the coast Nova Scotia and New England. At this point the John Cabot ships sailed for England.
CABOT'S THIRD & FINAL VOYAGE
The King was very pleased with Cabot upon his return, and granted a pension to him of £ 20 per year. In February 1498, King Henry granted Cabot his second letters patent, authorizing him to take 6 ships back to "the londe and iles of late founde by the seid John". In 1498, Cabot wanted to return to find "Japan," so he organized another expedition. This time, he took four or five ships and about 300 men and left Bristol in June of 1498. What became of John Cabot or exactly what happened on this expedition is uncertain, but they may have sailed from Greenland southward towards Chesapeake Bay in North America. Cabot would have had to return to England because he was running out of supplies, and may have died soon after returning.
Cabot was never heard from again. Someone did indeed collect his pension on his behalf until 1499, but it is unclear what happened to him. It is believed that in June, Cabot reached the eastern coast of Greenland and sailed northward along the coast until his crews mutinied because of the severe cold and forced him to turn southward. He may have cruised along the coast of North America to Chesapeake Bay at latitude 38° North. He was forced to return to England because of a lack of supplies, and he died soon afterward. Local legend has it that Giovanni Caboto and his son Sancio were killed near Grates Cove on his final voyage.
Tom & Alana Campbell
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