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Christopher Columbus Biography
Part 1: How It All Came About
Christopher Columbus is famous because he found something he wasn't looking for.
In 1492, Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in search of India. What he found was something far
different. He found the New World. How did this come about? It all started in Italy.
Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa in 1451. His family didn't have a lot of many, and Christopher wasn't
an only child. He didn't have much of an education until he was much older. Instead, he went to sea. He sailed
around the Mediterranean and as far north as England and Ireland. When he was 25, he was shipwrecked and
found his way ashore to Portugal, where he later lived with his brother.
He met the woman who would be his wife in Portugal, too. Sadly, she died soon after their son, Diego, was
born. After that, Columbus took his son to Spain.
During his travels, Columbus had heard sailors' reports of land to the west of the Madeira
and Azores Islands, which were in the Atlantic Ocean west of Portugal. He wanted to know
more and got maps and books on geography. (Fortunately, he had learned Latin, the
language used on most maps.) These books and maps suggested, based on stories of Marco
Polo and others who traveled to Asia, that the Far East wasn't all that far away.
Marco Polo said that Japan was only 1,500 miles east of China. Ptolemy, the great
geographer of ancient Greece, had made two giant errors: He had said that Earth was smaller around than it
really was, and he had said that the landmass of Europe and Asia was larger than it really was. As a result,
Columbus was convinced that Japan was only 3,000 miles west of Portugal. And 3,000 miles was a distance that
ships could travel in those days.
Add to this the fact that trade routes overland from Europe to the Far East were too slow for many traders. Also
add to this the fact that trade routes by sea from Europe to the Far East were still too slow for many traders.
Finally, add to this the idea (which was generally accepted by this time) that Earth was round.
So, Columbus decided that he wanted to get to the East by going west. He thought that if he sailed far enough
west, he would eventually sail around the world enough to reach the East. Based on his calculations, Japan was
only 3,000 miles away, after all.
Part 2: The Long First Voyage
Columbus knew of the great reputation of Portugal in exploration. Prince Henry the Navigator had been sending
ships to explore Africa and the East for years. Columbus asked Portugal's King John II for money and ships for
his voyage. King John refused, so Columbus went to Spain.
At first, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella also refused. Columbus tried for seven years to get them to accept
his proposal, but they kept on saying no. Finally, he told them he would move to France and ask the French
king for help. The Spanish king and queen finally said yes.
Columbus spent the early months of 1492 getting ready for the voyage. His three ships--the
Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria--set sail from Palos, Spain, on August 3. Columbus
captained the Santa Maria. The captains of the other two ships were brothers, Martin Pinzon
(Pinta)and Vicente Pinzon (Nina).
The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean was long and frightening to many of the sailors aboard
Columbus's three ships. They threatened mutiny. Columbus himself was worried when they did not see land for
many days. He promised his crew on October 10 that if they did not see land in the next three days, they would
turn back.
On October 12, they saw land. They landed at San Salvador, in the Bahamas. They met
friendly natives there and then sailed on to Cuba and to Hispaniola. There, the Santa Maria
was wrecked. Columbus got his men ashore and onboard the Nina. Then, they headed back
to Europe.
They arrived in Lisbon, Portugal, in March 1493. Columbus met with Portugal's King John,
then traveled to Barcelona, Spain, to meet with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Each
time, Columbus made the claim that he had reached islands very near Asia. He showed gold, artifacts, and even
natives that he had brought back with him. Spain's king and queen were so excited that they almost
immediately gave him money and ships for another voyage.
Part 3: The Other Three Voyages
The Second Voyage
Columbus set sail on his second voyage in September 1493. He had 17 ships this time. They
landed in the Lesser Antilles in November. They traveled on to Hispaniola, to Natividad, a
colony founded by sailors who had stayed behind when the first voyage had returned home.
When Columbus arrived, he found the colony empty. The Spaniards had tried to take over
the area and had been killed by the natives. Columbus founded another colony east of
Natividad, naming it Isabela. He traveled around Cuba and Jamaica, then decided to return home again. His
brother Batolome stayed behind on Hispaniola and founded Santo Domingo, the first permanent European
settlement in the New World. Columbus arrived back in Spain in 1496.
The Third Voyage
There wasn't much change of a third voyage until Portugal's Vasco da Gama landed in India
in 1497. Spain quickly wanted to catch up, so it sent Columbus back to the New World with
six ships. They arrived on the island of Trinidad in July 1498 and then traveled on to the
mainland, discovering South America. Columbus sailed back to Santo Domingo and found
more trouble with Spaniards left behind. A royal commissioner from Spain soon arrived,
blamed Christopher and Bartolome Columbus for the trouble, and had them both arrested
and put in chains and then sent home in disgrace.
The Fourth Voyage
The king and queen freed him and even gave him money and ships for a fourth voyage. This one left Spain in
1502 and sailed to the island of Martinique and then to Honduras, in Central America. After more exploring in
the Caribbean, Columbus returned home to Spain, in 1504. He died two years later, still believing he had
reached Asia.
Sadly, Columbus never reached his goal. He did, however, prove several things:
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You could get to the East by sailing west. Ferdinand Magellan's voyage proved it several years later.
You could sail to the New World and back. Columbus did it four times himself.
The New World was full of vast new lands for Europeans to explore.
Vasco da Gama Biography
Part 1: Looking for Fame
Vasco da Gama gained everlasting fame as the first European explorer to reach India. He lived in an exciting
time of exploration and fulfilled the promise begun by several of his predecessors. He also realized the dream
of the famed Prince Henry the Navigator.
Vasco was born at Sines, in Portugal, in 1469. He grew up the son of an important man,
Estevao da Gama, and learned the life of a sailor and soldier. He played an important role
in the defense of Portuguese colonies on the coast of Guinea, and this brought him
recognition from many people, including the Portuguese king. Bartolomeu Dias had recently
returned from his voyage around the Cape of Good Hope, and the Portuguese crown wanted
more. Though he was young, Vasco was granted the honor of commanding the next great
expedition, with the goal being establishing a trade route to India by sailing around the
southern tip of Africa.
The goal was to bring back spices and jewels. Portugal also wanted to be considered a powerful nation. For
many years, Portuguese sailors had sailed the high seas, following in the footsteps of Christopher Columbus.
Portugal was one of Europe's leading countries in exploration, led for many years by Prince Henry the Navigator,
a very rich man who had a passion for broadening the boundaries of the known world. Once Dias had returned,
the table was set for someone else to achieve even more greatness for Portugal.
Vasco left on July 8, 1497, with a fleet of four ships and a crew of 150 men. They made
their way around the tip of Africa, stopping at several ports along the way. On December
16, they sailed past the stopping point of Dias, the furthest-known area to Europeans. They
also named the nearby coastline Natal (Christmas in Portuguese). It is called that to this
day. They sailed up the eastern coast of Africa and then on to India, arriving in Calicut on
May 20.
Da Gama and his men stayed several weeks, negotiating with the local ruler on terms for a
trade agreement. Satisfied that he had it, da Gama left for home on October 5. He didn't
exactly set any sea speed records on the way home, stopping at several ports in Arabia and Africa to set up still
more trade agreements and then finally reaching Lisbon the following September. A huge reception awaited
him. He was famous with both the king and the people and was given the title "Admiral of the Indian Ocean."
Part 2: Fame and Fortune
He was known in some ports he visited in later years, however, as the bringer of cruelty. He didn't like to hear
no for an answer, and he enforced some trade decrees with violence. He returned to Calicut in 1502 and took
control of the port city by force, after discovering that the men he had left behind were dead and the trading
post destroyed. He returned home again as a hero and was rewarded with the riches of a few Portuguese cities
to go along with his already extensive wealth.
He enjoyed several years as a famous man but was called back to duty in 1524, at the head of another
expedition to India, again to "maintain order." He died not long after he arrived, apparently of natural causes.
Vasco da Gama is remembered as not only the first European explorer to arrive in India but also as one of the
men responsible for making Portugal a world power in the spice trade and colonization race.
Ferdinand Magellan Biography
Part 1: The Story Before the Voyage
The story of Ferdinand Magellan is, in the end, a sad one. He had a great idea, a great wish.
He wished to lead a voyage that sailed around the world. He started off on that voyage, but he
didn't live to see the end of it.
It began slowly. He served as a junior sailor onboard ships sailing to India. He made a name
for himself as an able sailor and especially on one voyage in which he saved the lives of many
of his fellow sailors.
The story continued with his becoming famous at the Portuguese court. But Portugal's King Manuel was jealous
of Magellan's fame and told Magellan to sail for someone else. Magellan went to Spain and won over that
country's king, Charles, with his idea of a "secret strait" through South America.
Magellan's idea was to sail west to get to the East. Now, Columbus had had this in mind, but he never did it.
Other sailors, like Vasco da Gama and Vasco Balboa, didn't really want to do such a thing. But Magellan burned
with the fire of doing such a great thing.
So he worked for many years and finally got the money and ships he needed. He had a
recent map and globe--both of which showed that the "South Sea," as Balboa called it, was
only a few days' sail wide. He also knew that one sailor who had recently sailed down the
eastern coast of South America had reached a wide waterway that seemed to stretch on for
miles. Magellan presented all this information to Spain's King Charles. The king was happy to
give him money and ships enough (five in all) for a voyage that would sail through South America all the way to
the Spice Islands.
The Spice Islands were the Moluccas, islands rich in spices that were in great demand in Europe. Magellan
hoped to sail west, reach the Moluccas, then return home, all the time still sailing west.
His spirits were high as the voyage began.
Part 2: The Voyage Itself
Things went well enough on the voyage, until the mutiny. In spite of constant interference by the
now insanely jealous King Manuel of Portugal, Magellan had managed to get his voyage in shipshape and ready to sail. He had kept under control his jealous Spanish captains, who didn't like
the idea of reporting for orders to a Portuguese.
They had reached Port San Julian, far south along the eastern coast of South America. They had
dropped anchor for the winter. Before he knew it, Magellan was faced with a mutiny. He bravely
put down the mutiny, leaving two of its leaders behind, and sailed on. The search for the strait was long and
difficult, but they found it. The ships sailed through to the "South Sea," which Magellan named the Pacific
Ocean.
Then, things got really tough. One of the ships had slipped away and headed back for Spain, taking most of the
rest of the food and water with it. The mutiny was in part a reaction to Magellan's telling his sailors to east less
food every day. Now, the vast Pacific Ocean stretched on and on in all directions. Everywhere was water.
Nowhere was land. The bright blue ocean stretched on for as far as anyone could see, day after day.
The food and fresh water ran out before it was over. Sailors ate anything they could find, including rats. Some
sailors died. Finally, a full 98 days after leaving the strait, the crews landed in Guam.
A few days later, they arrived in the Philippines. Magellan managed to make a friend of a local island chieftain,
and they were talking of taking control of all the nearby islands. Another island chieftain, on the island of
Mactan, was making trouble, and Magellan decided to teach him a lesson.
Part 3: The End of the Voyage
This is where our sad story ends. Ferdinand Magellan had decided to try to control the Filipino peoples by
converting them to Christianity. This had worked well on Cebu, but it had no effect on Mactan. Magellan, not
listening to his officers, led the invasion of Mactan himself. Having converting so many other native people to
his sacred religion, Magellan now believed that he was on a mission to spread that religion everyone who had
not heard it.
For this invasion, he took only 60 men. More than a thousand natives awaited on Mactan.
Yes, Magellan and his men were armed with swords and covered in armor, but the armor
didn't cover their legs and the swords were no use against spears thrown from far away.
Magellan was killed in a sudden charge, and his men retreated to their ships.
The voyage continued without him. One ship even made it back to Spain. But it took awhile
for word of the voyage to spread.
Magellan's voyage was a great moment in the history of exploration. It was the first voyage to circle the globe,
proving that the world was round. It was the first voyage to sail through the American continent and beyond. It
was the first voyage to sail the width of the Pacific Ocean.
It was one of a kind.
Bartolomeu Dias
Dias was the first European to lead a 1487 voyage around the Cape of Good Hope on the Southern most tip of South Africa
Purposes of the Dias expedition
Bartolomeu Dias was a Knight of the royal court, superintendent of the royal warehouses, and sailing-master of the
man-of-war, São Cristóvão (Saint Christopher). King John II of Portugal appointed him, on 10 October 1487, to head
an expedition to sail around the southern tip of Africa in the hope of finding a trade route to India. Dias was also
charged with searching for the lands ruled by Prester John, who was a fabled Christian priest and ruler.[citation needed]
The expedition
Dias' ship São Cristóvão was piloted by Pêro de Alenquer. A second caravel, the São Pantaleão, was commanded by
João Infante and piloted by Álvaro Martins. Dias' brother Pêro Dias was the captain of the square-rigged support ship
with João de Santiago as pilot.[citation needed]
The expedition sailed south along the West coast of Africa. Extra provisions were picked up on the way at the
Portuguese fortress of São Jorge de Mina on the Gold Coast. After having sailed past Angola, Dias reached the Golfo
da Conceicão (Walvis Bay) by December. Having rounded the Cape of Good Hope at a considerable distance, Dias
continued east and entered what he named Aguada de São Brás (Bay of Saint Blaise)—later renamed Mossel Bay—
on 3 February 1488. Dias's expedition reached its furthest point on 12 March 1488 when they anchored at Kwaaihoek,
near the mouth of the Bushman's River, where a padrão—the Padrão de São Gregório—was erected before turning
back.[2] Dias wanted to continue sailing to India, but he was forced to turn back when his crew refused to go further.[3]
It was only on the return voyage that he actually discovered the Cape of Good Hope, in May 1488. Dias returned to
Lisbon in December of that year, after an absence of sixteen months.
The discovery of the passage around southern Africa was significant because, for the first time, Europeans realized
they could trade directly with India and the other parts of Asia, bypassing the overland route through the Middle East,
with its expensive middlemen. The official report of the expedition has been lost.
Bartolomeu Dias originally named the Cape of Good Hope the "Cape of Storms" (Cabo das Tormentas). It was later
renamed (by King John II of Portugal) the Cape of Good Hope (Cabo da Boa Esperança) because it represented the
opening of a route to the east.
Follow-up voyages
After these early attempts, the Portuguese took a decade-long break from Indian Ocean exploration. During that
hiatus, it is likely that they received valuable information from a secret agent, Pêro da Covilhã, who had been sent
overland to India and returned with reports useful to their navigators.[4]
Using his experience with explorative travel, Dias helped in the construction of the São Gabriel and its sister ship, the
São Rafael that were used by Vasco da Gama to circumnavigate the Cape of Good Hope and continue the route to
India. Dias only participated in the first leg of Gama's voyage, until the Cape Verde Islands. He was then one of the
captains of the second Indian expedition, headed by Pedro Álvares Cabral. This flotilla first reached the coast of
Brazil, landing there in 1500, and then continued eastwards to India. Dias perished near the Cape of Good Hope that
he presciently had named Cape of Storms. Four ships encountered a huge storm off the cape and were lost, including
Dias', on 29 May 1500. A shipwreck found in 2008 by the Namdeb Diamond Corporation off Namibia was at first
thought to be possibly Dias' ship;[5] however, recovered coins come from a later time
Second Biography Bartolomeu Dias
A famous Portuguese navigator of the fifteenth century, discoverer of the Cape of Good Hope; died at sea, 29 May,
1500.
Several Portuguese historians state that he was a relative or descendant of João Dias who sailed around Cape Bojador
in 1434, and of Diniz Dias who is said to have discovered the Cape Verde Islands. As early as 1481 Bartolomeu Dias
had accompanied Diogo d'Azambuja on an expedition to the Gold Coast.
Dias was a cavalier of the royal court, superintendent of the royal warehouses and sailing-master of the man-of-war
"San Christovao", when King John (João) II appointed him on 10 October, 1486, as the head of an expedition which
was to endeavor to sail around the southern end of Africa. Its chief purpose was to find the country of the Christian
African king known as Prester John, concerning whom recent reports had arrived (1486) through João Alfonso
d'Aveiro, and with whom the Portuguese wished to enter into friendly relations.
After ten months of preparation Dias left Lisbon the latter part of July or the beginning of August, 1487, with two
armed caravels of fifty tons each and one supply-ship. Among his companions were Pero d'Alemquer, who wrote a
description of Vasco da Gama's first voyage, Leitao, João Infante, Alvaro Martins, and João Grego. The supply-ship
was commanded by Bartolomeu's brother, Pero Dias. There were also two negroes and four negresses on board who
were to be set ashore at suitable spots to explain to the natives the purpose of the expedition.
Dias sailed first towards the mouth of the Congo, discovered the year before by Cao and Behaim, then following the
African coast, he entered Walfisch Bay, and probably erected the first of his stone columns near the present Angra
Pequena. From 29° south latitude (Port Nolloth) he lost sight of the coast and was driven by a violent storm, which
lasted thirteen days, far beyond the cape to the south. When calm weather returned he sailed again in an easterly
direction and, when no land appeared, turned northward, landing in the Bahia dos Vaqueiros (Mossel Bay). Following
the coast he reached Algoa Bay, and then the limit of his exploration, the Great Fish River, which he named after the
commander of the accompanying vessel, Rio Infante. It was only on his return voyage that he discovered the Cape, to
which, according to Barros, he gave the name of Cabo Tormentoso. King John, in view of the success of the
expedition, is said to have proposed the name it has since borne, Cape of Good Hope. In December, 1488, Dias
returned to Lisbon after an absence of sixteen months and seventeen days. He had shown the way to Vasco da Gama
whom in 1497 he accompanied, but in a subordinate position, as far as the Cape Verde Islands.
In 1500 Dias commanded a ship in the expedition of Cabral; his vessel, however, was one of those wrecked not far
from the Cape of Good Hope, which he had discovered thirteen years before. An official report of the expedition to
the cape has not yet been found. Besides the account by Barros there is a note written on the margin of page 13 of a
manuscript copy of Cardinal Pierre d'Ailly's "Imago Mundi", which is of importance, as this copy was once the
property of Christopher Columbus. Ravenstein has attempted, and not unsuccessfully, by the aid of contemporary
charts to reconstruct the entire voyage with the different stopping-points of the route.
Sir Francis Drake Biography
A Synopsis of the Circumnavigation
The Golden Hind (From the Hondius Broadside map of circa 1595)
Late in 1577, Francis Drake left England with five ships, ostensibly on a trading expedition to the Nile. On reaching
Africa, the true destination was revealed to be the Pacific Ocean via the Strait of Magellan, to the dismay of some of
the accompanying gentlemen and sailors. Still in the eastern Atlantic, a Portuguese merchant ship and its pilot - who
was to stay with Drake for 15 months - was captured, and the fleet crossed the Atlantic, via the Cape Verde Islands, to
a Brazilian landfall.
Running down the Atlantic South American coast, storms, separations, dissension, and a fatal skirmish with natives
marred the journey. Before leaving the Atlantic, Drake lightened the expedition by disposing of two unfit ships and
one English gentleman, who was tried and executed for mutiny. After rallying his men and unifying his command
with a remarkable speech, Drake renamed his flagship, previously the Pelican, the Golden Hind.
In September of 1578, the fleet, now three ships, sailed through the deadly Strait of Magellan with speed and ease,
only to emerge into terrific Pacific storms. For two months the ships were in mortal danger, unable to sail clear of the
weather or to stay clear of the coast. The ships were scattered, and the smallest, the Marigold, went down with all
hands. The Elizabeth found herself back in the strait and turned tail for England, where she arrived safely but in
disgrace. Meanwhile, the Golden Hind had been blown far to the south, where Drake discovered - perhaps - that there
was open water below the South American continent.
The storms abated, and the Golden Hind was finally able to sail north along the Pacific South American coast, into the
previously undisturbed private waters of King Philip of Spain. The first stop, for food and water, was at the (now)
Chilean Island of Mocha, where the rebellious residents laid a nearly disastrous ambush, having mistaken the English
for their Spanish oppressors.
After this bad beginning in the Pacific the tide turned, and for the next five and a half months Drake raided Spanish
settlements at will, among them Valpariso, Lima and Arica, and easily took Spanish ships, including the rich treasure
ship "Cacafuego," leaving panic, chaos, and a confused pursuit in his wake. During this time, he captured and released
a number of Europeans, whose subsequent testimony survives. The plundering was remarkable for its restraint;
neither the Spanish nor the natives were intentionally harmed, there was very little violence, and there were very few
casualties. Drake's crew in the Pacific was of unknown number, with estimates ranging from around sixty to one
hundred men.
After stopping to make repairs at an island, Cano, off the coast of Southern Mexico and after a final raid, on the
nearby (now vanished) town of Guatulco, the Golden Hind, awash with booty, including perhaps twenty-six tons of
silver, sailed out of Spanish waters in April of 1579. As she left the sight of all Spanish observers, and of the captured
Portuguese pilot who had been set ashore, she was accompanied by a small captured ship, crewed by Drake's men,
which was kept for an unknown time.
Sailing first westerly and then northerly, well off the shore of North America, the leaking Golden Hind reached a
northernmost position variously reported as between 48 degrees and 42 degrees north latitude, a range which includes
most of Washington, all of Oregon, and a sliver of California. There, somewhere in the region he named Nova
Albion, in the strangely cold and windy June of 1579, Drake found a harbor - reportedly at 48, 44, 38 1/2, or 38
degrees. He stayed in this now lost harbor for over five weeks, repairing the Golden Hind and enjoying extensive and
peaceful contact with the Indians. Before he left he set up a monument, in the form of an engraved metal plate, which
has never been found.
After stopping briefly at some nearby islands to fill out his larder, Drake turned his back to America and sailed into
the vast Pacific. The crossing was uneventful, and landfall was made in sixty eight days, at a location which, like the
Lost Harbor, remains elusive. The next months were spent puttering about in the Indonesian archipelago, making
promising commercial contacts, local political alliances and trading for spices - and again entering the sight of
witnesses. Difficulty in finding a route through the thousands of islands nearly ended the journey in January of 1580,
when the Golden Hind ran hard onto a reef in apparent open water; but after several desperate days a change of wind
brought salvation.
Continuing westward, the Golden Hind crossed the Indian Ocean without incident, rounded the Cape of Good Hope
into the Atlantic, sailed up the coast of Africa, and arrived triumphantly in England in the fall of 1580, nearly three
years and some 36,000 miles having passed beneath her keel.
Drake’s interactions with Natives:
Francis Drake and his crew were fascinated by the friendly Indians* of Nova Albion; the fascination was mutual, and
contact was extensive. As a result, the narratives of the voyage contain a great deal of detailed information on the
Indians. The Nova Albion passages of the World Encompassed are filled with details about the Indians, more than
about all other subjects combined. It is the existence of these descriptions that proves that Drake ever set foot on the
Northwest Coast (not that many have doubted that he did, but the idea has been voiced); everything else said about
the region could have been fabricated in a London pub, but the information about the native people could only have
come from the sort of contact described. Some of what is essentially the same information is found in the shorter
"Famous Voyage," while the remaining pertinent accounts, the "Anonymous Narrative," John Drake's depositions to
his Spanish captors, and the "Madox Diary" are more sparse in their descriptions of the Indians. No artifacts or
sketches of the Indians are known to have been brought home by Drake, so everything that has been conveyed to us
from the circumnavigators about the people they met in California in 1579 is contained in these accounts. Any
attempt to decipher the mysteries surrounding Drake's visit must start, if not with the original documents and
publications, at least with true copies of this source material - an obvious prerequisite for success which has been
surprisingly elusive.
Cultural details aside, the remarkably harmonious nature of this first encounter of Europeans and native northern
Californians deserves more attention than it has received. The way that Drake treated these people stands in sharp
contrast not only to the later tragic destructions of native cultures, but to common practices of the day. Virtually at the
same time as Drake was in California, English explorer Martin Frobisher was hunting down and killing Inuits in the
Atlantic Arctic just to get a closer look at them. Drake's actions and attitudes could be viewed as nothing more than
pragmatic self-interest; a brilliant tactician would hardly surround himself with hostile natives if that could be
avoided. But that Drake's demeanor was more than a momentary convenience is evident from his reaction to several
earlier incidents in South America. Even when his men had been attacked and killed and he himself had been
wounded, Drake took no punitive action, as in an instance in South America when the Golden Hind was in position to
devastate, with her heavy ordnance, a beach full of Indians celebrating a fatal ambush. One can hardly imagine what
would have befallen a native who snatched a hat from the head of a Spanish Conquistador, as one Patagonian did
from Drake's.
Drake did not put the Indians of Nova Albion to work or try to buy them. He allowed them to come and go as they
pleased and treated them with interest and respect. There was no trading in the usual sense of the word. Drake gave
gifts, and the Indians gave gifts, without either having been asked. The Indians even returned things that had been
given to them.
John Cabot Biography
Giovanni Caboto (Cabots Italian name, other spellings are used as well) was born in Genova, probably around 1451. However,
already when he was a child, or maybe a young man, he moved to Venice.
It was probably on hearing of Columbus's discovery of 'the Indies' that he decided to find a route to the west for
himself. He went with his plans to England, because he incorrectly thought the spiceries were coming from northern
Asia
Like other Italian explorers, including Christopher Columbus, Cabot was commissioned by another country, and in Cabot's case
it was England. Cabot had a simple plan, to start from a northerly latitude where the longitudes are much closer together, and
where, as a result, the voyage would be much shorter.
King Henry VII gave him a grant "full and free authoritie, leave, and power, to sayle to all partes, countreys, and seas, of the
East, of the West, and of the North, under our banners and ensignes, with five ships ... and as many mariners or men as they
will have in saide ships, upon their own proper costes and charges, to seeke out, discover, and finde, whatsoever iles,
countreyes, regions or provinces of the heathen and infidelles, whatsoever they bee, and in what part of the world soever they
be, whiche before this time have beene unknowen to all Christians."
Cabot went to Bristol to make the preparations for his voyage. Bristol by then was the second-largest seaport of
England, and during the past years (from 1480 onwards) several expeditions had been sent out to look for Hy-Brasil,
an island that would lay somewhere in the Atlantic according to Celtic legends. Some people think Newfoundland
may have been found on (one of) these voyages.
Cabot left with only one vessel, the Matthew, a small ship (50 tuns), but fast and able. The crew consisted of only 18
people. He departed on 20 May, 1497 (he had also made a voyage in 1496, but got no further than Iceland). He sailed
to Dursey Head, Ireland, from where he sailed due west to Asia - or so he thought. He landed on the American
eastcoast at 24 June, 1497. I would have liked to be more precise, but his landing-place is a matter of much
controversy. He went ashore to take possession of the land, and explored the coast for some time, probably departing
at 20 July.
Cabot is only reported to have landed once during the expedition and did not advance "beyond the shooting distance
of a crossbow".[32] Both Pasqualigo and Day agree that no contact was made with any native people, but they found
the remains of a fire, a human trail, nets and a wooden tool. The crew only appeared to have remained on land long
enough to take on fresh water and to raise the Venetian and Papal banners and claim the land for the King of England,
while recognising the religious authority of the Roman Catholic Church.
On the homeward travel his sailors thought they were going too far north, so Cabot sailed a more southernly course,
reaching Brittany instead of England. At 6 August he arrived back in Bristol.
Back in England Cabot got well rewarded (a pension of 20 pounds a year), and a patent was written for a new voyage.
The next year, 1498, he departed again, with 5 ships this time. Except for one of the ships, that soon after depart made
for an Irish port because of distress, nothing was heard of the expedition, or of John Cabot, ever since.
As I said before, Cabot's landfall is still unknown, because of lack of evidence. Many experts think it's on Cape
Breton Island, but others look for it in Newfoundland, Labrador or Maine. We'll probably never know the truth.
John's son Sebastian later made a voyage to North America, looking for the northwest passage (1508), and one to
repeat Magellan's voyage around the world, which ended up looking for silver along the River Plate (1525-8). About
the 1508 voyage little is known, and Morison doubts whether it really has taken place, suggesting it might be nothing
more than bluff.
Second Biography of John Cabot
John Cabot (about 1450-1499) was an Italian-born English explorer and navigator. In Italy, he is known
as Giovanni Caboto (which is his original name).
Cabot was born in Italy but moved to England in 1495. At the request of King Henry VII of England,
Cabot sailed to Canada in 1497, commanding the small ship called "Matthew." Cabot landed near
Labrador, Newfoundland, or Cape Breton Island (the exact spot is uncertain) on June 24, 1497. One of
John Cabot's three sons, the explorer Sebastian Cabot, accompanied him on this trip. Cabot claimed the
land for England and the Catholic Church.
Cabot explored the Canadian coastline and named many of its islands and capes. The mission's purpose
was to search for a Northwest passage across North America to Asia (a seaway to Asia). Cabot was
unsuccessful, although he thought that he had reached northeastern Asia.
Cabot undertook a second, larger expedition in 1498. On this trip, Cabot may have reached America, but
that is uncertain. Cabot's expeditions were the first of Britain's claims to Canada.
John Cabot died in 1499, most likely lost at sea because he was never seen again.
Juan Ponce De Leon Biography
(and the Fountain of Youth!)
Part 1: The Early Years
One of the sailors who sailed with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World was a man
named Juan Ponce De Leon. This voyage would change his life.
He decided to stay in Hispaniola when Columbus returned. Ponce became very popular and was named
governor of neary Puerto Rico then called (Boriquien) in 1508.
While there, he heard many stories of a magical water source. People called it the "Fountain of Youth" and said
that drinking its water kept you young. Ponce decided that he must find this water source.
For the next few years, he tried to find out where this "Fountain of Youth" was. He finally
believed he knew where it was, and he asked permission from Spain's King Charles V to go
in search of it. The king agreed, as long as Ponce agreed to pay for the ships and crew.
The young explorer did so readily, and they were off. It was March 1513. They sailed for
Bimini.
They sailed for days but didn't see the island. On March 27, he came within sight of the Florida coast. On April
2, he landed at what he named St. Augustine. This was the first Spanish settlement on the mainland of North
America.
Part 2: The Fountain of Youth
He had several adventures along the way, fighting off fierce native tribes and discovering some hidden riches.
He did not, however, find the Fountain of Youth. In need of fresh ships and crew, he returned to Boriquien.
He continued to govern the island, and he continued to hear stories of the Fountain of Youth. Finally, in 1521,
he set out again. He had gained permission to settle both Bimini, which he still hoped to find, and Florida, which
he thought was an island.
He failed to find Bimini again, but he did land on the Florida coast. (No one is really sure
where he landed.) While he and his men were building houses for a proposed settlement,
they were attacked by native tribesmen. Many of his men died, but Ponce escaped, although
he was injured. He boarded his ship and set sail again. He reached Cuba and entered a
hospital, where died of wounds from the attack in Florida.
Juan Ponce De Leon never found the Fountain of Youth. Neither did anyone else, at least as far we know.