16. John Cabot's third and final voyage

A land is born. And is immediately forgotten.

Returning to our main theme, the discovery of Canada, Giovanni Caboto under the authority of King Henry VII of England undertook three voyages in an ultimately failed quest for a western route to China. Little did he know how successful he would be - not for himself but for the Kingdom of England.

So much has been written about John Cabot and his voyages (and I am adding to it here) that it seems nothing more could be said, yet if my own education in Canada is any guide, what we learned about John Cabot was superficial and jingoistic. “The English, not the French were the first to discover the lands that would be Canada.” That may be true but England quickly lost the race to France after King Henry VIII turned the nation’s gaze towards an inept rivalry with the King of France.

Yet the lands Giovanni Caboto, otherwise known on John Cabot, discovered passed almost unnot…