Historical person
John Cabot
c. 1450–c. 1499
John Cabot was an Italian navigator, usually identified with Giovanni Caboto, who obtained letters patent from Henry VII of England for westward Atlantic exploration. Sailing from Bristol in 1497 aboard the Matthew, he reached the coast of North America, the first documented European voyage there since the medieval Norse expeditions.
Cabot’s voyage offered the English crown an early claim to Atlantic exploration and encouraged further Bristol-based expeditions, although the details of his final voyage and death remain uncertain. David Boyle’s Toward the Setting Sun treats Cabot’s project in direct comparison with the better-funded Iberian ventures of Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci.
Non Fiction
Non Fiction featuring John Cabot (1 book)
Biographies, histories and other non-fiction are listed separately from the historical novels above.