John Cabot
Cabot is known today as Giovanni Caboto in Italian, as Zuan Chabotto in Venetian , and as John Cabot in English. This was the result of a once-ubiquitous European tradition of nativizing names in contemporary documents, something often adhered to by the actual persons themselves. In Venice Cabot signed his names as "Zuan Chabotto", Zuan being a form of John typical to Venice. [4] He continued to use this form in England, at least among Italians. He was referred to by his Italian banker in London as 'Giovanni', in the only known contemporary document to use this version of his first name. [5] Cabot was born in Italy, the son of Giulio Caboto and his wife; he had a brother Piero. [6] Gaeta (in the Province of Latina ) and Castiglione Chiavarese (in the Province of Genoa ) have both been proposed as birthplaces. [6] [7] The main evidence for Gaeta are records of a Caboto family residin...