The Age of Commerce
As the endless quest for resources ventured further into the seas to the north of Europe and thence to the east and west, the dreams of adventurers turned ineluctably to the opening of new sea routes. The search for two elusive new routes, termed the Northeast Passage and the Northwest Passage, marked the clear beginning of a new Age of Commerce.
Spurred by the exploits of the whalers, the first explorer to seek a new route to China through the Arctic Ocean was John Cabot. A Venetian captain in the merchant marine who lived in the bustling English port of Bristol, Cabot was commanded by King Henry VII to sail westward in search of new lands to claim for the English crown. In 1496 Cabot duly discovered both Newfoundland and Labrador, setting the cornerstone for the later British dominion over Canada. John Cabot's son, Sebastian Cabot, who is believed to have accompanied the elder Cabot on the Newfoundland voyage, followed in his father's footsteps. A prosperous merchant, Sebastian played a leading role in the early years of England's colonization program. Sebastian obtained the sponsorship of Northumberland county and, with the enthusiastic backing of London's most eminent citizens, advocated the establishment of a joint-stock company of adventurer-traders. The younger Cabot organized an expeditionary force of three ships, which set sail under the command of Lord Willoughby in 1553. Although Lord Willoughby discovered Novaya Zemlya, he was an early casualty of the northern exploration effort, freezing to death along with his entire crew on a foray into Lapland. Sebastian was unbowed by this tragic setback. In 1555 he established a group of London businessmen to found a trading company called the Muscovy Company, with the aim of fostering trade with Russia. Sebastian Cabot entrusted the dream of finding the new sea route to a young captain named Stephen Burrough, who set out in a small pinnace named the Searchthrift. Burrough rounded the Kola Peninsula beyond the northern tip of Norway and crossed the Kara Sea south of Novaya Zemlya, becoming the first sailor to successfully navigate the coast of Siberia.
The English had numerous rivals in the scramble for northern trade routes. In 1578 the Dutch launched trading relations with Russia to acquire furs and lumber from Arkhangelsk. The merchants of Amsterdam, seeking further sea passages to the east, enlisted Willem Barents, a seasoned mariner famed for the voyages of the Terschelling, to explore the possibility of a route through the extreme northern latitudes, sailing a vessel called the Mercurius. In those days it was still believed that sea ice lay only in regions close to the coast, and that open water would be found around the North Pole.
