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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: 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.