Race to the New World

Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, and a Lost History of Discovery

Douglas Hunter

• Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN:
  9781553658573
• eBook ISBN:
  9781553658580
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

The final decade of the 15th century was a turning point in world history. The Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus sailed westward on the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, famously determined to discover for Spain a shorter and more direct route to the riches of the Indies. Meanwhile, a fellow Italian explorer for hire, John Cabot, set off on his own journey, under England's flag. Here, Douglas Hunter tells the fascinating tale of how, during this expedition, Columbus gained a rival. In the space of a few critical years, these two men engaged in a high-stakes race that threatened the precarious diplomatic balance of Europe--to exploit what they believed was a shortcut to staggering wealth. Instead, they found a New World that neither was looking for.Douglas Hunter provides a revelatory look at how the lives of Columbus and Cabot were interconnected, and that neither explorer can be understood properly without understanding both. Together, Cabot and Columbus provide a novel and important perspective on the first years of European experience of the New World.

INDEX

Numbers refer to pages in the print edition

Aeterni Regis
see papal bulls

Afonso V (King of Portugal), 27, 31, 34, 110, 115

Aguado, Juan de, 147, 180

Aguilar, Francisco de, 26

Albuquerque, Lopo de (Count of Penamacor), 162

d’Ailly, Pierre, 28, 215, 246

Alexander VI, Pope (Rodrigo Borja), 85, 86, 95, 233

Alexandria, 11, 60, 61, 201, 202, 204

Alvarez de Toledo-Zapata, Fernán, 158

Antilla, 27, 28, 32, 58–9, 98, 100, 117, 120, 178, 211, 212, 232

Antipodes, 40–1, 98

Aragon, 34, 42–5, 52, 181, 207

Arana, Diego de, 68

Arias, Pedro, 75

Aveiro, João Afonso de, 111, 114

Ayala, Pedro de, 5, 13, 132, 133, 153–4, 164–5, 198, 220, 223–7, 229–33, 238–9, 243, 245, 248

Azores,
see Terceira

Bahamas, 55, 59–60, 67, 100, 144

Balbi family, 22

Balsall, John, 214, 249

Banco di San Giorgio, 13

Banking, 3, 13, 15, 16, 19, 44, 47, 51, 171–73, 190, 191, 195, 198, 200, 208

Barbarigo, Agostino, 37, 150–1, 163

Barbaro, Ermolao, 37

Barbaro, Josophat, 203

Bardi, House of, 3, 172–4, 200, 247

Barros, João de, 32, 113, 120

Behaim, Martin, 5–6, 7, 9, 109–10, 114–17, 119–20, 136–8, 250–1
and Cabot, 109, 133, 138–40, 149, 154, 156, 168–9, 251
and Columbus, 111, 251
and Corte-Reals, 115, 120, 221–2, 251
death, 138, 250
in England, 133–4, 137, 154
and Erdapfel, 116–17, 120, 138, 139–40, 212
inheritance, 116–17, 138, 218, 251
and João II, 110, 114, 117, 120, 121, 128, 133, 137, 140, 161, 166, 168, 187, 215, 221
knighthood, 114–15, 246
and Münzer, 109, 117–19, 128, 130, 133–4, 138, 140, 147, 156, 161, 166, 168–9, 172, 187, 215
Guinea voyage, 110, 114, 116–20

Berardi, Gianotto di Lorenzo (Juanotto), 47–50, 60, 64, 65, 72, 77, 82, 106, 142, 145, 146, 147–8, 172, 174, 181, 241

Bianco, Andrea, 18, 212

Bobadilla, Beatriz de, 49–50, 222

Bobadilla, Francesco de, 245–6

Bollate, Cristoforo da, 23, 203

Borja, Rodrig
see Alexander VI, Pope

Borromeo, Giovanni, 57, 97, 129

Bradley, Thomas, 218, 241, 249

Bragadin, Piero (Pietro Bragadino), 149, 153

Braganza conspiracies, 33, 44, 74, 111, 162

Brasil, Isle of, 175–7, 188, 213–14, 230, 231, 239, 244, 245, 246, 249

Brazil, 18, 96, 175

Bristol, 3, 152–3, 167, 174–7, 179–80, 183–5, 200–1, 210–11, 213–14, 221–2, 240–1, 249–50

Bruges, Jacome de, 113

Buyl, Bernard, 127, 129–31, 231

Cabot, John
Atlantic voyages: on Columbus’ second (1493), 78–82, 91–2, 127, 156, 202, 207; first (1496), 79, 169, 179; second (1497), 183–5, 187–9, 191, 193, 196, 210–13; third (1498), 5, 132, 197, 199, 217–218, 219, 226, 227, 229–30, 233–4, 239, 240–1, 249
business activity, 21–24, 44–45, 52–4, 71–2, 78, 107, 117, 124–6, 128, 131–2, 153
cartography, 24, 138–9
Columbus rivalry, 9, 13, 82, 93, 127, 166, 197
death, 241
debts, 7, 36–8, 44, 51, 126, 156
in England, 79, 130, 133, 149, 153–4, 156, 161–3, 196, 200, 24
letters patent, 115, 165–8, 177, 217
marriage and family, 22, 166
“Montecalunya,” 38, 52, 53
in Portugal, 132, 133, 153–4
in Spain, 38, 44, 52–4, 71, 77–78, 80, 92, 93, 107
in Venice, 12–13, 19–20

Cabot, Pietro (brother), 36, 37

Cabot Project, 3–4, 9, 247, 249

Cabot, Sebastian (son), 26–27, 82, 153, 154, 165, 184, 211, 242, 248

Cadamosto, Alvise, 22

Cair, John, 218

Canary Islands, 14, 15, 17, 18, 26, 27, 32, 40, 42, 47, 48, 58, 60, 86, 96, 106, 107, 120, 208

cannibals, 57, 87–8, 89, 92–3, 142, 143, 144, 186, 189

Cão, Diego (“Jacobus Canus”), 32, 110–11, 114, 116

Cape Verdes islands, 14, 17, 18, 22, 85–6, 96, 97, 99, 100, 118, 209, 215, 222, 223, 233

Capella family, 28

Cappello, Francesco, 185–6

Cappello, Nicolò, 37, 154, 185

Cappello di Nicolò, Vincenzo, 37

Carbonariis, Giovanni Antonio de, 173–4, 191, 196, 198, 200, 226, 231, 248–9

Carbonear, 248

cartography
globe, 116, 138–40, 201, 251; Erdapfel, 116–17, 119, 120, 121, 138–40, 168
latitude, 29, 95, 99, 100, 110, 120
longitude (meridians), 29, 95–7, 99, 100, 101, 103, 110, 120
portolan, 24, 29, 175, 212

Castellesi, Antonio, 173

Cast...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Maps
• INTRODUCTION
• ONE
• TWO
• THREE
• FOUR
• FIVE
• SIX
• SEVEN
• EIGHT
• NINE
• TEN
• ELEVEN
• TWELVE
• THIRTEEN
• FOURTEEN
• FIFTEEN
• SIXTEEN
• SEVENTEEN
• EIGHTEEN
• NINETEEN
• TWENTY
• TWENTY-ONE
• TWENTY-TWO
• TWENTY-THREE
• TWENTY-FOUR
• TWENTY-FIVE
• TWENTY-SIX
• Afterword
• Bibliography
• Notes on Selected Sources and Commentary
• Index
• Copyright