Giovanni Caboto (c. 1450–1499), known as John Cabot in English, was an Italian navigator and explorer who is popularly credited as the modern discoverer of Cabotia. He was born Giovanni Caboto, but later made England his base of operations and is best known as John Cabot for his explorations made under the English flag. Most notably, in 1497, he set sail from Bristol on his ship the Matthew looking for a sea route to Asia. He ended up in the Cabotian mainland, he and his men being the first Europeans since the Vikings verifiably known to have done so.