John Cabot and Sebastian Cabot. The discovery of North America

Giovanni Caboto, better known as John Cabot, was an English navigator of Italian descent. He occupied important posts and achieved a lot, but today he is better known as a man who discovered North America.

Biography

Giovanni Caboto was born in Genoa, but later John's father decided to move to Venice, where they settled for a long time. Here the future navigator lived for many years, managed to get a family: a wife and three children. Subsequently, one of his sons will become a follower of his father and take part in his expedition.

Living in Venice, Cabot worked as a sailor and merchant. Once in the East, he had the opportunity to talk with Arab traders, who tried to find out who is supplying them with spices.

Career

It was during his travels to the East that John Cabot began to think about reaching unknown lands through the northwest, since the existence of America was not yet known. He tried to inspire the Spanish and Portuguese monarchs with his ideas, but he did not succeed. Therefore, in the early 1490s, the seafarer went to England, where he would be called John in English, rather than Giovanni.

Soon after Columbus managed to open new lands, that is, South America, Bristol merchants decided to organize an expedition, the commander-in-chief of which was assigned to Cabot.

The first expedition

In 1496, at that time, a well-known seafarer managed to obtain permission from the English king to sail under the English flag. In 1497, he left the Bristol port to reach China by water. This expedition was very successful and quickly gave its results. At the end of June the ship reached the island, although it remained unclear what John Cabot discovered. There are two versions, one, it was the Labrador Peninsula, the other - Newfoundland.

Since the time of the Normans, this discovery was the first authentic visit to North America, carried out by Europeans. Remarkable is the fact that Cabot himself believed that he had almost reached East Asia, but he deviated from the course and went too far to the north.

Having landed on the terra incognita, Cabot named the new lands the possession of the English crown and went on. Heading to the southeast with the intention of reaching China, the seafarer noticed large shoals of cod and herring in the sea. It was an area that is now known as the Great Newfoundland Bank. Since there is a very large number of fish in this area, after its discovery, the British merchants lost the need to go to Iceland for her.

The second expedition

In 1498, a second attempt was made to conquer new lands, and John Cabot was again appointed at the head of the expedition. The discovery of North America this time still took place. Despite the meager preserved information, it is known that the expedition managed to reach the mainland, along which the ships passed right up to Florida.

It is certainly not known how the life of John Cabot ended, presumably he died on the road, after which the leadership of the expedition passed to his son - Sebastian Cabot. Seamen periodically landed on the shore, where they met people dressed in animal skins, who had neither gold nor pearls. Due to a shortage of supplies, it was decided to return to England, where ships and arrived in the same year of 1498.

Residents of England, however, like the sponsors of the expedition, decided that the trip was unsuccessful, because it was spent huge funds, and as a result, the seamen could not bring anything of value. The English expected to find a direct sea route to "Katai" or "India", but they received only new, almost uninhabited land. Because of this over the next few decades, the inhabitants of the foggy Albion did not make new attempts to find a short road to East Asia.

Sebastian Cabot

John Cabot, Sebastian's father, obviously had a strong influence on his son, considering that even after his death, he continued his father's business and became a seafarer. Returning from the expedition, where he replaced his father after his death, Sebastian achieved success in his craft.

He was invited to Spain, where he became the helmsman, and in 1526-1530 led a serious expedition that went to the shores of South America. He managed to reach the La Plata River, and then swim deep into the mainland through Parana and Paraguay.

After this expedition under the Spanish flag, Sebastian returned to England, where he was appointed chief overseer of the naval department, and later became one of the founders of the English fleet. Inspired by the views held by his father John Cabot, Sebastian also sought to find a sea route to Asia.

These two famous navigators have done a lot to develop new lands. Despite the fact that it was not only difficult but also dangerous to make such long and distant trips in the 15th and 16th centuries, the brave father and son were devoted to their ideas. But, unfortunately, John Cabot, whose discoveries could fundamentally change the life of Europeans, never learned what he managed to accomplish.