John Cabot

Cabot, John
John Cabot, Anglo-Italian navigator, explorer (b perhaps at Genoa, Italy 1449/50; d probably off the coast of Newfoundland 1498/99). Cabot's voyages of discovery from Bristol, Eng (1497, 1498), were the first recorded landfalls on the N American continent since the Norse voyages. Cabot conceived the idea of reaching Asia by sailing westward across the Atlantic. In 1496 Henry VII authorized him and his 3 sons to search, at their own expense, for unknown lands to the west. Cabot left Bristol on 2 May 1497 with 18 men.

On 24 June 1497 he landed somewhere on the N American coast - the actual place of landing most likely being either CAPE BONAVISTA, Newfoundland or CAPE BRETON ISLAND. Cabot claimed the land for England and returned to Bristol, arriving in Aug. Early in 1498 Henry VII authorized a second expedition consisting of 5 ships and 300 men. After landing in Greenland, Cabot sailed southward, probably as far as Chesapeake Bay, but failing to find the rich lands he had envisaged and because supplies were running low he turned back towards England.

It appears that Cabot perished on this voyage, though one or more of his ships may have returned to Bristol. Most historians maintain that he was probably lost off the coast of Newfoundland. Because the fact that Cabot had found a new continent soon became known in Europe, Cabot made what has been called "the intellectual discovery of America." His voyages provided the basis for England's claim to N America and led to the opening of the rich NW Atlantic fishery.

Author JOHN PARSONS

Links to Other Sites
European Exploration: From Earliest Times to 1497
Follow John Cabot's historic voyages of discovery at this Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Web Site.

John Cabot
Historica’s acclaimed one-minute movies about Canadian history.

Major Northwest Passage Exeditions and Explorers
This site offers brief accounts of various European expeditions to North America in search of the Northwest Passage. From the website "Of Maps and Men: In Pursuit of a Northwest Passage," Princeton University.

Letters Patents of King Henry the Seventh
Read the text of the "Letters Patents of King Henry the Seventh Granted unto Iohn Cabot and his Three Sonnes, Lewis, Sebastian and Sancius for the Discouerie of New and Unknowen Lands." From the Yale Law School website.

The lost voyage: First English-led expedition to North America
An article about recently revealed research concerning a 1499 English exploratory voyage to North America. From the website for the University of Bristol.

Alwyn Ruddock: John Cabot and the Discovery of America
An analysis of Dr. Alwyn Ruddock's research on the North American discovery voyages of John and Sebastian Cabot. From the "Wiley InterScience" website.

The Cabot Project
The website for an international investigation into the Bristol discovery voyages of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries – in particular, those undertaken by the Venetian adventurer John Cabot. Scroll down the page for links to full text copies of key research documents that relate to John Cabot and his contemporaries. From the University of Bristol.

Reader's Guide to the History of Newfoundland and Labrador
An extensive history of Newfoundland and Labrador (to 1869). Includes numerous links to primary sources and other online publications. From Sir Wilfred Grenfell College.

Forgotten expedition to Canada revealed in centuries-old letter
About a letter from King Henry VII that refers to a previously unknown 1499 expedition to North America led by English shipping merchant William Weston. From the canada.com website.