FAMOUS SEAFARERS AND EXPLORERS
Sebastian Caboto
Nationality: English/Italian. He was probably born in Venice although some sources say he was born in Bristol, and he was the son of a famous father, Giovanni Caboto (The English version of their name was Cabot.)
Years of exploration: 1497 and 1498, two voyages with his father and two brothers, Lewis and Santius, to the north east coast of America.
In 1509 Sebastian Cabot tried again to find a route to Asia. He sailed into Canada's Hudson Bay but could not get any further.
In 1526 he commanded a Spanish expedition to South America.
In 1548, as governor of the Merchant Adventurers, he organized an expedition to search for a northeast passage from Europe to Asia but he could only get as far as Russia.
Countries discovered: Newfoundland, the mainland of North America
Names of ships: The Matthew was a tiny ship with a crew of only 18 men but it took the Cabots safely to Newfoundland in 1497. This picture shows them setting off from Bristol.
Portrait of Sebastian Cabot:
Just like Columbus, the Cabots were sure they could reach Asia by sailing westwards but they found that America was in the way.
Sebastian was cartographer, or official mapmaker, to King Henry VIII, and he published a famous map of the known world, as it was in 1544.
His 1526 expedition to South America, looking for a different route to the Pacific was a failure. He looked along the Plata, Parana, and Paraguay rivers but it would be another 388 years before the Panama Canal gave a short cut between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans!
In 1548 he was offered, and accepted, a naval post in England by King Edward VI.
In 1552 he started the Muscovy Company to trade with Russia.