John Cabot biography

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Born Giovanni Caboto, around 1450, John Cabot was an Italian sailor/ and explorer whose 1497 voyage to North America claimed resulted in his claiming it for England. He Cabot was the son of a spice merchant, Guilo Caboto, in Genoa. At age eleven11, his family moved to Venice, where he learned sailing and navigation from Italian seamaen and merchants. In 1474, John Cabot married a girl named Mattea and over time would have father three sons, Ludovico, Sancto, and Saebaistiano. Saebiastiano would follow in his father’s footsteps and become an explorer in his own right.

In 1476, John Cabot officially became a Venetian citizen and began conductinged trade in the eastern Mediterranean. Records indicate that he got into financial trouble and left Venice as a debtor in November, 1488. During this time period, Cabot became inspired by the discoveries of Bartholomew Diaz’s and Christopher Columbus. Like Columbus, Cabot believed that sailing west from Europe was the shorter route to Asia. was by sailing west from Europe. Hearing of opportunities in England, Cabot traveled there and, through contacts, met King Henry VII, who gave him a grant to “seeke out, discover, and finde” new lands for England.

In early May, of 1497, John Cabot left Bristol, England, with only one small vessel, the Matthew, a fast and able ship of weighing fifty 50 tons, and with a crew of eighteen 18 men. They Cabot and his crew sailed west and north under Cabot’s belief that the route to Asia would be shorter from northern Europe than Columbus’ voyage along the trade winds. On June 24, 1497, fifty days into the voyage, Cabot landed on the east coast of North America, though the precise spot location of this landing is subject to controversy. Some historians believe that he Cabot landed at Cape Breton Island or on mainland Nova Scotia. Others believe he may have landed at Newfoundland, Labrador, or even Maine.

Though the ship’s Matthew’s logs are incomplete, it is believed that John Cabot went ashore with a small party and took possession ofclaimed the land for the King of England. The ship returned sailed for England in July, 1497 and arrived in Bristol on August 6, 1497. Cabot was soon rewarded with a pension of £20 and the gratitude of King Henry VII. In February, 1498, Cabot he was given permission for to make a new voyage to North America.

In May, 1498, John Cabot departed Bristol with five ships and a crew of 300 men. The ships carried ample provisions and small samplings of cloth, lace points and other “trifles,” suggesting an expectation of fostering trade with indigenous people. En route, Oone ship became disabled and sailed to Ireland