Medieval History
Italy has just moved from the periphery toward centre stage in the opening act of Canadian history. Historians probing medieval archives and a dead scholar's research notes have unearthed surprising new details about the financing of John Cabot's 1497 expedition across the Atlantic Ocean -- the voyage that led to the European rediscovery of Canada some 500 years after the Vikings landed on Newfoundland's shores.
Cabot's landmark journey to the New World aboard the Matthew, completed just five years after Italian-Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus had reached the Americas in 1492, has been viewed by historians as a wholly English enterprise -- despite Cabot's Italian birth -- because of the ship's departure from Bristol and the royal charter granted to the transplanted sailor by King Henry VII.
But a team of researchers led by University of Bristol historian Evan Jones says it has found documents proving Cabot's voyage was made possible by a loan from a London-based Italian bank -- recasting the famous 15th-century expedition as more of a multinational endeavour and rewriting the first chapter of the story of Canada.
Click here to read this article from the Calgary Herald
- Skeletons Point To Columbus Voyage For Syphilis Origins
Skeletons don?t lie. But sometimes they may mislead, as in the case of bones that reputedly showed evidence of syphilis in Europe and other parts of the Old World before Christopher Columbus made his historic voyage in 1492. None of this skeletal evidence,...
- Teeth Of Columbus?s Crew Flesh Out Tale Of New World Discovery
The adage that dead men tell no tales has long been disproved by archaeology. Now, however, science is taking interrogation of the dead to new heights. In a study that promises fresh and perhaps personal insight into the earliest European visitors to...
- A New World
This appeared today (11/13/08) in The Roanoke Times. I invite comments. ----- In 1492, a small Spanish expedition led by Christopher Columbus reached the Americas. These men were not the first to have reached the Americas from elsewhere ? we are now...
- Calling All Canadians
This is a repeat announcement and reminder. If you are a landed immigrant to Canada, or a Canadian citizen, and have published a book on any medieval topic (early to late) during 2009, you may be eligible to be nominated for the Margaret Wade Labarge...
- The Margaret Wade Labarge Prize
The Margaret Wade Labarge Prize Eligibility Any book in the field of medieval studies (including monographs,editions, translations, nd other categories as determined by the Prize Committee), authored or co-authored, translated or co-translated, edited...
Medieval History
Italian bank financed Cabot voyage to Canada, new research shows
Italy has just moved from the periphery toward centre stage in the opening act of Canadian history. Historians probing medieval archives and a dead scholar's research notes have unearthed surprising new details about the financing of John Cabot's 1497 expedition across the Atlantic Ocean -- the voyage that led to the European rediscovery of Canada some 500 years after the Vikings landed on Newfoundland's shores.
Cabot's landmark journey to the New World aboard the Matthew, completed just five years after Italian-Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus had reached the Americas in 1492, has been viewed by historians as a wholly English enterprise -- despite Cabot's Italian birth -- because of the ship's departure from Bristol and the royal charter granted to the transplanted sailor by King Henry VII.
But a team of researchers led by University of Bristol historian Evan Jones says it has found documents proving Cabot's voyage was made possible by a loan from a London-based Italian bank -- recasting the famous 15th-century expedition as more of a multinational endeavour and rewriting the first chapter of the story of Canada.
Click here to read this article from the Calgary Herald
- Skeletons Point To Columbus Voyage For Syphilis Origins
Skeletons don?t lie. But sometimes they may mislead, as in the case of bones that reputedly showed evidence of syphilis in Europe and other parts of the Old World before Christopher Columbus made his historic voyage in 1492. None of this skeletal evidence,...
- Teeth Of Columbus?s Crew Flesh Out Tale Of New World Discovery
The adage that dead men tell no tales has long been disproved by archaeology. Now, however, science is taking interrogation of the dead to new heights. In a study that promises fresh and perhaps personal insight into the earliest European visitors to...
- A New World
This appeared today (11/13/08) in The Roanoke Times. I invite comments. ----- In 1492, a small Spanish expedition led by Christopher Columbus reached the Americas. These men were not the first to have reached the Americas from elsewhere ? we are now...
- Calling All Canadians
This is a repeat announcement and reminder. If you are a landed immigrant to Canada, or a Canadian citizen, and have published a book on any medieval topic (early to late) during 2009, you may be eligible to be nominated for the Margaret Wade Labarge...
- The Margaret Wade Labarge Prize
The Margaret Wade Labarge Prize Eligibility Any book in the field of medieval studies (including monographs,editions, translations, nd other categories as determined by the Prize Committee), authored or co-authored, translated or co-translated, edited...