Juan Caboto (1450-1499) was an Italian navigator and explorer, whose voyages in 1497 to the lands where Canada is now established, allowed England to later proclaim its right over North American territories.
Under the patronage of King Henry VII of England (1457-1509), Cabot set sail for the West, guided by the theory also shared by Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) that by traveling in that direction they could find the fastest way to reach Asia. and all its commercial riches.
His life as a navigator was not very long, but his interest in exploring the unknown allowed the people of North America to possess the Anglo-Saxon heritage that characterizes them today..
Cabot is part of the illustrious group of explorers of the so-called 'Age of Discoveries', characterized by intrepid navigators who between the 15th and 17th centuries revealed the existence of new places and made known the true topography of the world.
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Juan Caboto, originally Giovanni Caboto Montecalunya was born in Genoa, Italy on May 23, 1450. His father, Giulio Caboto was a spice merchant from whom he received the first knowledge about the purchase and sale of goods.
At the age of 11, Caboto moved with his family to Venice where he learned to sail and started his own business as a merchant of furs and articles from the East..
It is said that at that time he traveled to Mecca during his exploratory trips to learn about the origin of spices..
In 1474 he married a young Venetian named Mattea with whom he had three children: Ludovico, Santo and Sebastián, the latter would also become a renowned world explorer.
Due to multiple debts and disagreements with his creditors that threatened to put him in jail, Caboto fled Venice in 1488 and started a new life in Spain in the construction area..
His experience as a navigator during his maritime trading days led him to choose exploration as his new project..
Historians affirm that initially he approached the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal requesting financial support to embark, but both denied him any type of patronage..
However, his proposal was well received by the King of England Henry VII, who saw how the Spanish and Portuguese went out to travel the world and extract benefit from these trips through the proclamation of new lands or establishing commercial agreements in previously inaccessible geographical areas..
The English monarch granted Cabot economic resources and permits for the navigator and his children to benefit from the profits of the lands proclaimed in the name of England.
In a letter signed on March 5, 1496, King Henry VII announced the agreement with Cabot:
"... Full and free authority, permission and power to navigate to all parts, regions and coasts of the East, West and North seas, under our banners, flags and flags, with five ships or ships of the cargo and quality that you want and with as many and which sailors and men he wishes to take with him in the said ships, at his own expense and expense, to find, discover or investigate, be these countries, regions or provinces of pagans and infidels, be they in the parts of the world that before that moment were unknown to all Christians. "
Kings and navigators had closely followed the news about Christopher Columbus and his discovery of new lands in 1492. Only four years after this discovery, Juan Caboto was faced with the possibility of making history for himself.
In 1496 he set out on a boat from Bristol, England. His intention was to follow the same route as Columbus: to travel west to find a faster route to the East, only Caboto headed further north..
At present this decision would not make sense, but it was totally valid for the navigator to insist on that option, since at that time the real extension and topography of the New World lands was not yet known exactly. America would be considered a continent many years later.
Unfortunately, this first Cabot expedition could not continue beyond Iceland. He had to return due to inclement weather, disputes with the crew and lack of food.
He had to wait another year to try again.
On May 2, 1497 Cabot left Bristol for the second time, this time aboard the Matthew a smaller and faster fifty-ton vessel, manned by 18 men.
The experience of the first trip and the mutiny of his men made him choose his companions more carefully. On this expedition, Cabot took his 12-year-old son Sebastian, sailors from England, France and Italy, merchants from Bristol, and an Italian doctor..
On June 24, 1497 Cabot arrived in the lands of present-day North America, proclaiming the place with a flag in the name of England, one in the name of the Vatican and another in honor of Venice..
Presumably, the explorer landed at the place thinking that he had reached northwest Asia, but later realized that it could not be like that, since, according to his calculations and the time it took him to arrive, his objective had to be even further away..
Cabot conducted explorations in the area, amazed by the natural riches, the climate and the considerable amount of fish that would bring immense economic benefits to England.
England did not take care of these lands immediately, but the Cabot expedition gave the British Empire legitimacy to expand its power to those distant territories during the 16th and 17th centuries..
Historians still debate the exact site Cabot arrived at. Some claim that it could have been Newfoundland and Labrador, Cape Breton or Nova Scotia, territories currently belonging to Canada.
Knowing the exact point of arrival is of the utmost importance. If Caboto came to set foot on continental lands on that trip, it would be he and not Columbus the true discoverer of the American continent.
To understand this premise, it is necessary to highlight that Columbus landed on the American continent on his third trip to the New World when he discovered Venezuela in 1498. This happened a year after Cabot's trip, since until then he had only explored the islands of the Caribbean..
However, the vague information about the sites that Caboto visited on his first trip, have not allowed to confirm this presumed achievement..
After a stay of only 15 days in the North, Cabot returned to Bristol on August 6, 1497, where he was received with honors by King Henry VII, who praised the achievements of his expedition. He appointed him Admiral and awarded him a payment of 10 pounds and a pension of 20 pounds per year..
The results of this trip led to the preparation of a new expedition, this one had more resources, ships and crew, but did not have the same successful results as the previous one..
In May 1498 he set sail with five ships and two hundred men heading west with the aim of reaching the shores of Japan this time..
Shortly before sailing one of the ships arrived in Ireland severely damaged, so it is presumed that the fleet was hit by a storm. The navigator Juan Caboto was never heard from again.
There are several versions about the disappearance of the navigator. Some point out that the fleet reached North America, but the ship in which Caboto was traveling was lost at sea.
Other hypotheses affirm that the entire expedition was shipwrecked or that the fleet reached eastern Greenland and there the crew mutinied, killing their officers..
Historians claim that Cabot's presence in North American lands places him as the first European in North America after the Vikings. However, this claim is rejected by some scholars on the subject who claim that Spanish travelers arrived before the Genoese navigator to that area..
They criticize Cabot's almost zero maritime experience and reject that the world pays honor to a man of doubtful moral character, who fled Venice full of debts and left unfulfilled commitments during his stay in Spain.
His detractors further claim that during his maritime trading days he trafficked in slaves and that his visit to Mecca is also considered dubious..
But without a doubt, the achievements of his expedition managed to reduce or eliminate before the world the details of an unflattering past, forever clotting his name with glory and success..
Currently the name and image of Caboto are part of parks, squares, statues and even a 32-meter tower, built in Bristol on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the discovery..
In 1997, Queen Elizabeth II visited Newfoundland and Labrador to celebrate the five centuries of the discovery of Caboto, an activity in which a replica of the Matthew, the boat used to make the journey.
Schools and universities have also been named in honor of the Italian explorer who exposed to the world the presence of new and productive lands.
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