Facts, Information and History about the Voyage on the John Cabot Ship
1496 March 5: King Henry VII granted Cabot the right to 'seek islands and countries of the heathen towards the west, east, and north' sailing under the English flag
1497 May 2: John Cabot embarked on his ship, the Matthew, to explore the lands across the Atlantic, hoping to find a sea route, a north west passage to the Indies and China
John Cabot and the crew of the Matthew sailed for fifty days
1497 June 9: John Cabot reached the New World
The landing spot is disputed as either being Cape Breton Island or Labrador
26 June Cabot began his return voyage
1497 August - John Cabot and his crew of the Matthew landed the ship in Bristol, England to great acclaim
Facts, Information and History about the John Cabot Ship the Matthew A list of facts providing the description and the history of John Cabot Ship, the Matthew:
The name of the John Cabot Ship was the Matthew
March 5 1496 - John Cabot received a patent from King Henry VII of England granting John Cabot the right to 'seek islands and countries of the heathen towards the West, East, and North'
The name of the John Cabot ship, the Matthew was possibly a derivation of his wife's name - Mattea
Preparations for the voyage and the John Cabot ship, the Matthew, were made between March 1496 and May 1497
The voyage of John Cabot was largely financed by the merchants of Bristol
The Matthew sailed under the flag of England May 1497
The John Cabot ship, the Matthew, had a crew of just 19
The crew of the Matthew included seamen from England, France and Italy
There was a ship's doctor on board the ship who came from Genoa, Italy
Sebastian Cabot, one of John's sons, claimed that he had accompanied his father on the Matthew
John Cabot was the Captain of the Matthew
The second-in-command to John Cabot, the Master, was believed to be Lancelot Thirkill
The overall length of the ship was about 80 feet
The sail area of the Matthew was about 2500 square feet
The Matthew was 50 tons
Facts and Information about the Navigational Aids on the Matthew, the John Cabot Ship Various aids to navigation were available on ships during the Renaissance. The Navigational aids that John Cabot would have used on John Cabot ship, the Matthew would have included:
Astrolabes - calculating latitudes
Charts and Maps - Cartography or map making was an important Renaissance skill
Compasses - Enabled Renaissance sea men to find their bearing in the fog
Cross-staffs - Used to measure the angle of the Sun or a star above the horizon
Nocturnals - Measuring and timekeeping instrument
Quadrants - Measuring and timekeeping instrument
Traverse boards - Navigation instrument - older version of Astrolabe
The Hour-glass, Minute-glass and Sun-dial - timekeeping instruments
Almanacs - which forecast precisely where the the sun, moon, planets and selected navigational stars, are going to be, hour by hour, years into the future
All of the navigational aids used on John Cabot Ship, the Matthew were used to measure the angle between objects above the ocean, such as the stars or the sun, with the horizon. This would have enabled John Cabot to calculate Matthews's position at sea.
Facts and Information about the Living Conditions on the John Cabot Ship, the Matthew
Conditions on the John Cabot ship would have been very basic. Food provisions would have included bread, beer, hard biscuits, fish and salted meat. The Captain would have had some private stores which might include wine
The Captain would have had some private stores which might include wine
There was a lack of proper sanitation
Large ships would have carried a surgeon or doctor
One of the worst health problems on board the John Cabot Ship would have been scurvy
Fresh livestock included pigs and chickens were part of John Cabot's provisions
Meat would have been preserved by being salted
Cooking was done in a fire box located on decks in the bow of the ship. Cooking pots or cauldrons would be suspended from a bar
The seamen would sleep in cramped and damp conditions on the deck of the ship
Interesting Facts, Timeline and Information about John Cabot Ship, the Matthew Some interesting facts and information about John Cabot Ship, the Matthew
Famous Explorers - John Cabot Ship, the Matthew Some interesting facts and information about John Cabot Ship, the Matthew. Additional details, timelines, facts, history and information about the famous European Explorers and events in the great Age of Exploration can be accessed via the Elizabethan Era Sitemap.
