14. From Caboto to Chabotto to Cabot
A Venetian named Giovanni Caboto becomes John Cabot to find his life's mission in Bristol.
Updated: May 9, 2024
The French had St. Malo. The Portuguese had Lisbon. The Spanish had Seville. The English had Bristol, the most unlikely entrant in the great European ports that sent out ships in the Age of Discovery.
The trading port of Bristol
The town of Bristol was for hundreds of years England’s key port on the southern coast of England. However, through the voyages of John Cabot, this small port would become the most important center for sending out ships to settle the east coast of what would become the Maritime Provinces of Canada.
During the 15th and 16th century, Bristol’s life and wealth depended on trade with the major kingdoms and territories that bordered the Atlantic Ocean. This included Ireland, Iceland (a nominal territory of Norway), Bordeaux (part of the Angevin Empire of the English Plantagenet dynasty until 1453), Lisbon and later (after 1450s) Seville and Bilboa. The key exception was the Kingdom of France who due to its perpetual “Hundred Year War” with England…
