ABSTRACT
At the beginning of August 1497, probably on the 6th, the date given in Toby's Bristol chronicle, Cabot came back to Bristol. The year 1497 was one of crisis for Henry VII. At midsummer, while Cabot was on the American coast, the pretender Perkin Warbeck was in Scotland, where James IV took up his cause and declared war on his behalf. The diplomatic situation as it affected Cabot was therefore that Henry was not greatly afraid of Spanish disapproval, although he was not at all desirous of a real breach with the sovereigns. Cabot was relying on Marco Polo, whose exaggerated account of Japan was his greatest error. Cabot knew enough from Marco Polo to be aware that when he did impinge upon the rich and well-organized peoples of Asia he would have to behave circumspectly.
