20. Harvesting fishermen for European Wars

In time of war, 16th Century monarchs had a ready supply of highly-trained sailors to run their warships and they belonged to the vast cod fishing fleets off Newfoundland.

France and England sharing - really?

Throughout the 16th Century only four powers had the capabilities and resources to explore the “new worlds” across the Atlantic Ocean, some more than others.

All four were in a race to capture the Asian markets to enrich their coffers. At the beginning of the 16th Century, Spain and Portugal dominated the oceans. By the middle of the century, they were fast becoming exhausted from exploring and looting South and Central America. Consequently, the Iberian monarchies had little interest in sending ships north to find a northern route to Asia. This wasn’t the case for the Iberian commercial fishing fleets who sought the rich cod and whaling fisheries off Newfoundland, Labrador and Nova Scotia. The English and French fishing fleets would soon dominate the cod fisheries, however. But it isn’t like the Spanish were worried about it. Maybe the Portuguese who saw these northern neighbours infringing on their “God-given rights” to dominate the eastern coastli…