The Opening of the Atlantic World: England's
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THE OPENING OF THE ATLANTIC WORLD: ENGLAND’S TRANSATLANTIC INTERESTS DURING THE REIGN OF HENRY VIII By LYDIA TOWNS DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Texas at Arlington May, 2019 Arlington, Texas Supervising Committee: Imre Demhardt, Supervising Professor John Garrigus Kathryne Beebe Alan Gallay ABSTRACT THE OPENING OF THE ATLANTIC WORLD: ENGLAND’S TRANSATLANTIC INTERESTS DURING THE REIGN OF HENRY VIII Lydia Towns, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Arlington, 2019 Supervising Professor: Imre Demhardt This dissertation explores the birth of the English Atlantic by looking at English activities and discussions of the Atlantic world from roughly 1481-1560. Rather than being disinterested in exploration during the reign of Henry VIII, this dissertation proves that the English were aware of what was happening in the Atlantic world through the transnational flow of information, imagined the potentials of the New World for both trade and colonization, and actively participated in the opening of transatlantic trade through transnational networks. To do this, the entirety of the Atlantic, all four continents, are considered and the English activity there analyzed. This dissertation uses a variety of methods, examining cartographic and literary interpretations and representations of the New World, familial ties, merchant networks, voyages of exploration and political and diplomatic material to explore my subject across the social strata of England, giving equal weight to common merchants’ and scholars’ perceptions of the Atlantic as I do to Henry VIII’s court. Through these varied methods, this dissertation proves that the creation of the British Atlantic was not state sponsored, like the Spanish Atlantic, but a transnational space inhabited and expanded by merchants, adventurers and the scholars who created imagined spaces for the English. Not only does this reveal the consistent and active presence of the English in the Atlantic world throughout the sixteenth century, but it also acts as a case study for the European moment of contact with the Atlantic World. ii Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1 The Dawn of Atlantic Trade ......................................................................................... 37 Chapter 2 Networks of Knowledge............................................................................................... 96 Chapter 3 Imagining the New World: More, Rastell, Rotz and Eden ........................................ 151 Chapter 4 John Rastell: A Man of his Times .............................................................................. 204 Chapter 5 Royal Interest in the Atlantic ..................................................................................... 248 Chapter 6 English Merchants in Seville and the Atlantic World ................................................ 304 Chapter 7 The South Atlantic: Brazil, Africa and the Dawn of England’s Transatlantic Trade 369 Chapter 8 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 439 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 458 iii Table of Figures Figure 1-1 Juan de la Cosa map, (1500).. ..................................................................................... 57 Figure 1-2 Juan de la Cosa map, (1500).. ..................................................................................... 66 Figure 1-3 The Caverio map (1505).. ........................................................................................... 69 Figure 1-4 Martin Walsdeemüller (c.1507). ................................................................................ 70 Figure 1-5 Ribeiro map, (1529). ................................................................................................... 74 Figure 1-6 Sebastian Cabot's possible northern location. ............................................................. 85 Figure 2-1 Portrait of Henry VIII in his Psalter,(1540). ............................................................. 133 Figure 3-1 Juan de la Cosa map, (1500). .................................................................................... 175 Figure 3-2 Pedro Reinel Portolan, (c. 1535) ............................................................................... 177 Figure 3-3 Rotz's chart of Labrador and the Newfoundland region.. ......................................... 178 Figure 3-4 Overlay map of Newfoundland/Labrador. ................................................................ 179 Figure 3-5 Robert Thorne’s Orbis Universalis ........................................................................... 182 Figure 3-6 North America from Girolamo Verrazano's World Map ca. 1540.. ......................... 185 Figure 3-7 Rotz’s map of Labrador.. .......................................................................................... 189 Figure 3-8 Rotz’ map of North America..................................................................................... 190 Figure 3-9 Rotz, detail on the tunics ........................................................................................... 191 Figure 3-10 Map of North American in the Queen Mary Atlas.. ............................................... 194 Figure 3-11 Rotz, Natives of Brazil ............................................................................................ 196 Figure 3-12 Northern section of Rotz’ map of South America. ................................................. 197 Figure 3-13 Cannibalistic feast from the Queen Mary Atlas. ..................................................... 199 Figure 4-1 Rastell’s printer’s mark. ............................................................................................ 232 Figure 5-1 Robert Thorne’s Orbis Universalis Descriptio .......................................................... 275 Figure 5-2 Ribeiro map, (1529). ................................................................................................. 292 Figure 7-1 J. D. Fage, An Atlas of African History ..................................................................... 403 Figure 7-2 A, Gastaldi’s map of Africa (1564)........................................................................... 404 Figure 7-3 A. Ortelius map of Africa (1570). ............................................................................ 405 Figure 7-4 Hans Eworth’s portrait of Thomas Wyndham.. ........................................................ 411 Figure 7-5 Expanded view of the Ortelius map .......................................................................... 418 Figure 7-6 Expanded view of S. Münster map of Africa (1598) ................................................ 419 iv List of Tables Table 2-1 Break down of books by languages ............................................................................ 143 Table 2-2 Numerical chart, breakdown of the books. ................................................................. 144 v List of Abbreviations BL British Library BRO Bristol Records Office LMA London Metropolitan Archives L&P Brewer, J. S., and R. H. Brodie, Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII, vol. 1-7, 2nd ed. London: His Majesty’s Stationary Office 1920. NAW Quinn, David B., Alison M. Quinn, Susan Hillier, New American World: A Documentary History of North America to 1612, 5 volumes New York: Arno Press, 1979. PLRE Fehrenback, R. J., E. S. Leedham-Green, eds. Private Libraries in Renaissance England: A Collection and Catalogue of Tudor and Early Stuart Book-Lists, vol. II-III, Binghamton, New York: Medieval and Tenaissance Texts & Studies, 1992. SP State Papers TNA The National Archives, Kew, UK vi Introduction This project originated from an office conversation between my fellow graduate student, Christopher Malmberg, and myself about the competitive nature of Henry VIII. So much of Henry’s personality, the pageantry and excess of his court, the jousting and hunting, even the politics, policy, and warfare, stemmed from Henry’s consistent need to be the best, to prove his superiority, and to outshine those around him and his peers on the continent. This aspect of Henry’s personality led to the defining moments of his monarchy. We wondered if Henry was competitive with both France and Spain, to the point that it impacted even the shoes he wore and the dances he performed, why did he not do anything in the Atlantic world? From this key question, this dissertation emerged. It started by asking, “What was Henry’s attitude toward the opening of the Atlantic world?” From this, subsequent questions emerged which focused on the central themes of how the English participated in the opening of the Atlantic world and how they perceived the discoveries of the New World. The primary argument of this dissertation is that the English were interested in the new discoveries occurring in the Atlantic world during the first half of the sixteenth century; that they discussed these discoveries in educated circles and participated physically in the opening of the Atlantic to European expansion much earlier than the traditional historiographical narrative has acknowledged. This activity demonstrates a continuity of English