We do not know whether Cabot himself took part in the attempts made after 1490. None of them seems to have met with any success before 1497, for otherwise it would have been mentioned. But it was while the people of Bristol were occupied with such enterprises that Cabot’s great fellow-countryman, Columbus, made his remarkable voyage across the ocean farther to the south, in 1492, and found a new world, which he took to be India. With that came the awakening with which the time was pregnant. The news of the achievement, which fired all the adventurers of Europe, must soon have reached Bristol, and put new life and a wider purpose into the old plans.[285] That Cabot now became the soul of these plans is clear enough from all the facts, and we see from existing public documents that at the beginning of 1496 he was making special efforts to get an important expedition sent out, and was applying to the King of England for protection and letters patent to assure to himself and his three sons, Lewis, Sebastian and Sancto, the profit of the discoveries he expected to make on this expedition, which was to consist of five ships.
Cabot’s letters patent, 1496
The letters patent were accorded on March 5 (14th N.S.), 1496,[286] and give Cabot and his sons the right under the English flag
“to sail in all parts, regions and bays of the sea, in the east, west and north, with five ships or vessels of whatever burthen or kind, and with as many men as they wished to take with them, at their own expense, and to find, discover and investigate whatever islands, countries, regions or provinces belonging to heathens or infidels, in whatsoever part of the world they might be, which before that time were unknown to all Christians.” They also had the right as vassals or governors of the King of England, to take possession of whatsoever towns, camps or islands they might discover and be in a position to capture and occupy. They were to give the king a fifth part of all merchandise, profits, etc., of this voyage or of each voyage, as often as they came to Bristol, to which port alone they were bound to return. They were exempted from all duty on goods they might bring from newly discovered lands, and were given a monopoly of all trade and traffic with them. Furthermore, all English subjects, both by land and sea, were ordered to afford the said John, his sons, heirs and assigns, good assistance, “both in fitting-out their ships or vessels, and in supplying them with provisions which were paid for with their own money.”
As the south is not mentioned among the regions which might be explored, and as the new countries might not be known to Christians, it is clear that Cabot is here enjoined not to frequent those waters where the Spaniards and Portuguese had just made their most important discoveries, and thus run the risk of bringing England into conflict with the Spanish or Portuguese Crown.
Cabot’s preparations and plans
As the letters patent bear the same date (March 5) and are to some extent couched in the same terms as Cabot’s petition, they must have been granted as the result of previous negotiation and agreement between Cabot and the King, and must therefore contain Cabot’s plans for the new voyage, which were thus already formed in March 1496, when he had doubtless made at all events some preparations for the expedition.
That Cabot’s plans had been spoken of at the English Court as early as January of that year appears from an existing letter from Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain to the Spanish Ambassador in England, Dr. Ruy Gonzales de Puebla. The letter is dated March 28 (April 6, N.S.), 1496, and is an answer to a letter, now lost, of January 21 (30, N.S.) from the Ambassador. The answer is as follows:
“You write that one like Columbus has come to propose to the King of England another enterprise like that of the Indies, without prejudice to Spain or Portugal. He has full liberty. But we believe that this enterprise was put in the way of the King of England by the King of France in order to divert him from other business. Take care that the King of England be not deceived in this or any other matter. The French will try as much as they can to lead him into such enterprises; but they are very uncertain undertakings, and are not to be commenced for the moment. Moreover they cannot be put into execution without prejudice to us and to the King of Portugal.”[287]
It will be understood from this that Cabot’s plans had attracted attention in London, and that great importance was attached to them; consequently they must have been discussed for some time before the granting of letters patent. For this reason also, we must suppose that Cabot was prepared for his expedition in March 1496. It seems therefore unlikely that this was the expedition which did not leave until the year following that in which he applied for the letters patent, all the more so as the expedition of 1497 consisted of only one ship.[288] If we may interpret Ayala’s words of 1498 literally, that Bristol had sent out ships yearly for the seven previous years to search for the island of Brazil, etc., then we must suppose that Cabot actually set out in 1496 with the projected expedition of five ships, but for some reason or other turned back without having accomplished his object. After having been unfortunate in so large an undertaking, Cabot may have found it less easy to enlist support for a fresh attempt in 1497, and was thus obliged to content himself with one small ship and a scanty crew (eighteen men).[289] It may also be supposed that as the earlier expeditions consisting of several ships had failed to find the land they were looking for, Cabot as a practical seaman wished to make a pioneer expedition with a small swift-sailing craft and a picked crew, before again embarking on a large and costly undertaking. He was more independent, and could sail farther and more rapidly to the west, than when he was tied by having to keep a fleet of several ships together.