The Cabot Voyages and Bristol Discovery under Henry VII

1962

Journals G161 H2 Ser. 2 no. 120

Cambridge: Published for the Hakluyt Society at the University Press

In about 1494, the Italian John Cabot (born Giovanni Caboto, c. 1451) moved his family to Bristol and ingratiated himself into a circle of men involved in Atlantic sea exploration. After seeking and receiving sailing patents from Henry VII, Cabot and his crew set off west from Bristol in the Matthew. They made slow progress against the prevailing westerly winds and currents and after 35 days they reached the east coast of Canada, most probably Newfoundland. Cabot planted a flag, annexed the land for the King, and promptly returned home thinking that he had landed in China. This map shows the course of the Gulf Stream that Cabot would have encountered on the journey.