Henry VII granted John Cabot, his sons and heirs the power to explore unknown areas under the English flag. They were allowed to conquer these new lands. Although the Cabots had to fund the explorations themselves, they only had to pay the Crown one fifth of the money they made by selling the goods they found.

Under the English flag, John Cabot left Bristol on his voyage of exploration across the Atlantic to find a route to Asia and to open new trade routes.

Expecting to find the east coast of Asia Cabot and his fleet of explorers landed on what we now know as Newfoundland or Nova Scotia.

John Cabot returned to Bristol after his voyage of discovery.

Cabot and a fleet of five ships sailed for America but were not heard from again.