Famous for : Exploring the coastline of Canada the subsequent colonization of Canada. Cabot was the second European to find North America (after Christopher Columbus)
Facts & History about the Early life of John Cabot - Explorer and Navigator The following are facts and dates in a timeline format telling the story about the early life and history of John Cabot:
1450: John Cabot ( Giovanni Caboto ) was born in the Italian port of Genoa
John Cabot was the son of a spice merchant Guilo Caboto
The Italian word ‘Caboto’ means “a coastal seaman” which was quite a common name given to sailors and navigators
1461: John Cabot moved to the bustling city of Venice with his family when he was eleven years old
His father continued to trade as a spice merchant and John Cabot helped with the family business
John Cabot learnt about trading in the spices obtained from the East from Guilo Caboto. This, together with access to Italian seamen and ships who had sailed to the East, provided John Cabot with the ambition to 'cut out the middle man' and travel the spice trade routes himself and then sell the spices on his return
Italy had obtained many lucrative monopolies on the spice trade
Map making was an important skill acquired by the Italians - older brother of Henry the Navigator was known to have purchased "world" maps in Venice in the 1420's
Some of the best early mapmakers were in Italy. The Italian city-states were leading centers of trade and had great interest in anything that might affect their commerce, especially exploration and map making
Venice was therefore an excellent place to learn cartography - John Cabot would have learnt about cartography, navigation, astronomy, mathematics and seamanship in his early life
John Cabot and his spice trading merchant family would have also made many connections in Europe - a knowledge of languages would have also been a requirement of the skills acquired by John Cabot
1474: John Cabot married a girl called Mattea
1476: After living in Venice for fifteen years, gaining experience in trading voyages to the East and seamanship, he obtained Venetian citizenship and was naturalized on 28 March, 1476
John and Mattea Cabot had three sons called Ludovico, Sebastiano, and Sancto
Timeline, Facts & History about the 1497 and 1498 voyages of John Cabot to the New World
Two major events in the Age of Exploration must have inspired and fired the ambitions of John Cabot
In 1488 Bartholomeu Dias was the first European to sail from the Iberian Peninsula to the south of Africa
1490's: John Cabot and his family moved to Bristol in England - a perfect position to launch an expedition to the North West and find a sea trade route to the Indies and China via a North West passage
Bristol was an important European port and city
Bristol faced West and had a history of ship building with many experienced sailors living in the area
John Cabot had the reputation of an an experienced seaman, navigator and spice merchant
Following the success of fellow Italian Christopher Columbus and his expeditions, John Cabot sought the patronage of the English Tudor King Henry VII so he could do for England what Columbus had done for Spain
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
1497 August 6: John Cabot achieved fame and glory. He was given a gift of £10 for having "found the new isle."
King Henry VII also granted John Cabot a pension of £20 a year
1498 February 3: John Cabot was granted another patent to undertake a second expedition. Cabot was empowered 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
1498 July 25: The fleet headed north then sailed along the east coast of America past Newfoundland, which Cabot named Bacallaos
One of the ships had to go to an Irish port because of damage
The remaining four ships of the John Cabot fleet continued their journey across the Atlantic
Cabot reached the east coast of Greenland which he named Labrador's Land
1498 June 11: The weather had become increasingly cold and the journey was made difficult by icebergs. The crews mutinied and refused to proceed farther North
John Cabot had no alternative but to turn South along the coast of Greenland
John Cabot crossed the Davis Strait on to Baffin Land on to Newfoundland
He then followed the coast Nova Scotia and New England
At this point the John Cabot ships sailed for England
The death of John Cabot. There is no accurate record of the date or reason for the death of John Cabot, however, the pension which had been granted to John Cabot by King Henry VII continued to be paid unti1 1499. It therefore seems reasonable to assume that John Cabot reached England with his returning fleet
Famous Explorers - John Cabot - Explorer and Navigator Some interesting facts, timeline and biography information about the History, Life & Times of John Cabot. 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.
John Cabot
Interesting Facts, Picture and information about John Cabot
Picture and Short Biography and Timeline about the life of John Cabot
Facts, Story and History about John Cabot
Major voyages of discovery and exploration
Famous Explorer - Timeline, Story and Biography
Important accomplishments, dates and events in the life and history of John Cabot
