1474: Sebastian Cabot ( Sebastiano Caboto ) was born in the Italian port of Venice
Sebastian Cabot was the son of the famous explorer John Cabot
The Italian word ‘Caboto’ means “a coastal seaman” which was quite a common name given to sailors and navigators
Sebastian Cabot had two brothers called Ludovico and Sancto Cabot
His mother's name was Mattea
Sebastian Cabot came from a family who were merchants in the lucrative spice trade
His father, John Cabot, had access to Italian seamen and the ships which had sailed to the East from Venice. John Cabot was ambitious and 'cut out the middle man', travelling the spice trade routes himself and then selling the spices on his return
1490's: Sebastian Cabot moved with his family from Venice, Italy to Bristol in England
Sebastian Cabot became involved in the family business and would have learnt about cartography, navigation, astronomy, mathematics and seamanship in his early life
1497 May 2: John Cabot embarked on his ship, the Matthew, to explore the lands across the Atlantic, hoping to find a sea route, a north west passage to the Indies and China. King Henry VII had granted John Cabot the right to 'seek islands and countries of the heathen towards the west, east, and north', with five ships sailing under the English flag
Sebastian Cabot claimed to have sailed with his father on this famous voyage of discovery on the ship the Matthew to the New World
John Cabot and his son Sebastian returned safely to England where John Cabot was rewarded by the King. Sebastian's father made a second voyage in 1498, but died shortly after his return
So Sebastian Cabot had a famous father who was known to the King and courtiers of England and to the merchants who traded in spices.
Sebastian Cabot had skills as a map maker, or cartographer, and had experienced voyages of exploration
Sebastian Cabot married a woman called Juana ( Joanna ) by whom he had a daughter Elizabeth. His wife died in 1514 and he re-married in Spain in 1525
1508: Sebastian Cabot leads an English expedition in search of a Northwest passage across North America ( but there is some doubt that this journey actually occurred)
We next hear about Sebastian Cabot in 1512
1512 May: Sebastian Cabot accompanied the English army of King Henry VIII against France as a map maker, or cartographer
Sebastian Cabot was paid twenty shillings "for making a carde of Gascoigne and Guyenne"
1512 September: Sebastian Cabot is invited to the court of Spain to advise the King's councillors about the coast of Newfoundland
1512 October 30: King Fredinand appoints Sebastian Cabot as a captain in the Spanish navy
Sebastian Cabot moves to Spain with his wife and daughter
March 1514: Preparations were underway for Sebastain Cabot to lead a Spanish expedition to Newfoundland - the date was set for March 1516
1516 January: King Ferdinand dies and the proposed expedition to Newfoundland planned for March is postponed
Sebastian Cabot remains in Spain
1518 February: Charles V of Spain appoints Sebastian Cabot Pilot Major and official examiner of pilots
1520: Sebastian Cabot visits England and the court of King Henry VIII. The niece of Charles V is the Queen of England, Katherine of Aragon
Thomas Wolsey offers him the command of five vessels on an expedition to Newfoundland but Sebastian Cabot declines and returns to Spain
Sebastian Cabot enters secret discussions with Venice, Italy in order to conduct an expedition for his own country to find the north-west passage to China but plans for the expedition come to nothing
1525 : Sebastian Cabot re-married. The name of his Spanish wife was Catalina de Medrano
1525 March 4: Sebastian Cabot was appointed commander of a Spanish expedition to leave from Seville "to discover the Moluccas ( the Spice Islands), Tarsis, Ophir, Cipango and Cathay (China)."
1525 April: Sebastian Cabot is appointed Captain General and leads the Spanish expedition of three ships to the New World to find a sea route to China and the Indies
1525 June: Sebastian Cabot reaches Brazil and sails towards the Straits of Magellan
The expedition sails as far as the Rio de la Plata (a river between Argentina and Uruguay in South America)
Sebastian Cabot learns of immense riches of gold and silver to be found in the New World
1526 - 1529: The expedition explores the area around the Rio de la Plata and the Parana River instaed of searching for a route to the Indies. The men face hostile Indians and Sebastian Cabot argues and abandons some of his men
Hostile natives, lack of food, failure to find any gold or silver and a depleted expedition force Sebastian Cabot to return to Spain
1530 August: Sebastian Cabot returns to Seville. The expedition was seen as a total failure and Sebastian is condemned to two years banishment to Oran in Africa
1533 June: Sebastian Cabot is reinstated in his former post of Pilot Major in Spain
1547: Sebastian Cabot moves back to England where he is appointed Great Pilot (much to the annoyance of the Spanish King)
1551 December: Sebastian Cabot founds the company of Merchant Adventurers which was later renamed as the Muscovy Trading Company
1553 May: Sebastian Cabot is appointed to head an exploration with three ships to search for a passage to the East by the northeast
Two of the vessels were caught in the ice near Arzina and the crews frozen to death
Sebastian Cabot sailed as far as the White Sea, off the Barents Sea in north-west Russia. He made his way to Moscow and negotiated a trade agreement with Russia
1554: Sebastian Cabot returned to England with news of the trade agreement with Russia
1555 and 1556: Sebastian Cabot leads two more expeditions to Russia on Trade Missions
Sebastian Cabot's ship is called the 'Searchthrift'
1557: The date of death of Sebastian Cabot is uncertain but he was believed to have died in the year 1557
