The First Voyage
With his ship, the “Matthew”, his crew, and his sons, John Cabot set out to sea from Port Bristol on a warm day in May 1497. Cabot’s actual goal was to find a Northern sea route to Asia, seeing as Columbus had found a Southern route to Asia. After weeks at sea Cabot found land. Here we find yet another cloudy detail of Cabot’s life because we are not sure where he landed. Historians have speculated though that Cabot would have likely landed at Newfoundland, Cape Breton Island, or Labrador. Wherever Cabot actually landed he proceeded to sail around the area before departing again for England.
Again, after a long voyage, Cabot docked the “Matthew” in Port Bristol where he had begun his adventure. He was welcomed as a hero and got an immediate audience with the king. King Henry VII congratulated Cabot on his discoveries and rewarded him with a pension of twenty pounds of gold per year for the rest of his life for the claims in England’s name that he made on the newly discovered land. In that time, that amount of money would have been enough for Cabot to live out a comfortable retirement if he so chose.
This quote is from Raimondo de Raimondi de Soncino, an Italian diplomat living in England who was sending a letter to an Italian noble.
“Perhaps amid the numerous occupations of your Excellency, it may not weary you to hear how his Majesty here has gained a part of Asia, without a stroke of the sword. There is in this Kingdom a man of the people, Messer Zoane Caboto [John Cabot] by name, of kindly wit and a most expert mariner. Having observed that the sovereigns first of Portugal and then of Spain had occupied unknown islands, he decided to make a similar acquisition for his Majesty. After obtaining patents that the effective ownership of what he might find should be his, though reserving the rights of the Crown, he committed himself to fortune in a little ship, with eighteen persons. He started from Bristol, a port on the west of this kingdom, passed Ireland, which is still further west, and then bore towards the north, in order to sail to the east. After having wandered for some time he at length arrived at the mainland, where he hoisted the royal standard, and took possession for the king here; and after taking certain tokens he returned.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=261-NYB7Sko This short video clip illustrates the possible resources made available to England through Cabot's discoveries.
Again, after a long voyage, Cabot docked the “Matthew” in Port Bristol where he had begun his adventure. He was welcomed as a hero and got an immediate audience with the king. King Henry VII congratulated Cabot on his discoveries and rewarded him with a pension of twenty pounds of gold per year for the rest of his life for the claims in England’s name that he made on the newly discovered land. In that time, that amount of money would have been enough for Cabot to live out a comfortable retirement if he so chose.
This quote is from Raimondo de Raimondi de Soncino, an Italian diplomat living in England who was sending a letter to an Italian noble.
“Perhaps amid the numerous occupations of your Excellency, it may not weary you to hear how his Majesty here has gained a part of Asia, without a stroke of the sword. There is in this Kingdom a man of the people, Messer Zoane Caboto [John Cabot] by name, of kindly wit and a most expert mariner. Having observed that the sovereigns first of Portugal and then of Spain had occupied unknown islands, he decided to make a similar acquisition for his Majesty. After obtaining patents that the effective ownership of what he might find should be his, though reserving the rights of the Crown, he committed himself to fortune in a little ship, with eighteen persons. He started from Bristol, a port on the west of this kingdom, passed Ireland, which is still further west, and then bore towards the north, in order to sail to the east. After having wandered for some time he at length arrived at the mainland, where he hoisted the royal standard, and took possession for the king here; and after taking certain tokens he returned.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=261-NYB7Sko This short video clip illustrates the possible resources made available to England through Cabot's discoveries.