SEBASTIAN CABOT
Sebastian Cabot was the son of the explorer John Cabot. His father, John, had discovered Newfoundland in 1496 when Sebastian was with him. Just as with his father John, trying to find accurate information about the life of Sebastian is difficult. What is known is that Sebastian Cabot was born around 1474. He was a skilled navigator and because of this, in much demand. Cabot had many other talents to include being an explorer and mapmaker.
During his life, Cabot lived in Venice, London, and Seville. He worked primarily as a mapmaker for King Henry VIII of England but he was also a captain for Spain’s King Ferdinand V, performed a number of explorations for England’s King Henry VII, and some believe he secretly went into Venice on explorations.
Historians believe Cabot was a part of several Arctic voyages, along with expeditions to the West Indies. Around 1508, Cabot headed out on instruction from Britain, searching for the Northwest passage going across North America. Then, another voyage was started for Spain in 1526, which was a voyage meant to sail to China and the Moluccas, otherwise known as the “Spice Islands” of Indonesia. However, he took great interest in the River Plate (Rio e la Plata), which is a river running between Uruguay and Argentina in South America. With fighting erupting, Cabot abandoned some of his crew.
Then around 1526, Cabot spent time exploring the Parana River but with angry natives and a lack of food, he was forced to return to Spain. Everyone called the voyage a huge failure and his sponsors were very displeased. With this, Cabot was banished from Spain to Africa for two years. However, in 1553, he was again able to work for the English and decided to search for a water passage that would go across the north of Asia. During this particular voyage, Cabot sailed as far away as the White Sea, which is in the northwest region of Russia. Even though he was not near his intended goal, this trip resulted in a trade agreement being established between England and Russia.
Most of the journals kept accounting his life were lost and only one map still exists, one drawn by Sebastian in 1544. Historians also suspect that he made a number of undocumented trips while others have doubt about the trip in 1508 even occurring. Regardless, Sebastian Cabot did what he set out to do by leaving his mark on history. In 1548, he was awarded a large pension from King Edward VI, just prior to his death.