Foundation of Empire in the Tudor Era: Further Explorations of the Northeast and Northwest Passages

• Main Author: Lloyd, Richard H, III
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University 2023
• Subjects: cultural; linguistics; Northeast Passage; Northwest Passage; Inuit; Sami; Cultural History; Diplomatic History; European History; History of Science; Technology; and Medicine; Medieval Studies; Social History; Cabot; inuit; Northwest passage; sami
• Online Access: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/4177; https://dc.etsu.edu/context/etd/article/5702/viewcontent/LloydR033123f.pdf

The British Empire is often traced back to the late sixteenth century and Sir Francis Drake's circumnavigation, but Tudor monarchs had been eyeing expansion beyond Britain long before Drake. John Cabot, commissioned by Henry VII in the late fifteenth century, became the first European to step foot in the Americas in five centuries. Half a century later, adventurers like Richard Chancellor and Sir Hugh Willoughby sought a possible Northeast Passage to Asia, interacting with the Sami and Russians along the way. These expeditions and others like them, funded by the English monarchy and merchants, aimed to expand the kingdom’s economic base and help England find its place in the world. Although the Northeast Passage and Northwest Passage were not successfully charted during the European Age of Exploration, these Tudor explorers contributed to geographic, social, and cultural knowledge and laid the foundation of the largest empire in world history.