Today in 1525 the explorer Stephen Borough was born in Devon. Devon and Cornwall were were some of the communities of explorers and adventurers were gathering at this time, and he himself became an explorer. In 1553 he was part of the crew on the Edward Bonaventura to try to discover a NorthEast passage to India. The thought was that you could sail across the arctic, over the top of Russia, to get to India. Borough’s ship had to turn back, but the other ships in that particular voyage did happen to discover a trade route to Russia, and the Muscovy Compay was born out of it. Borough made another trip up north, and then headed to Sevilla where he trained with Spanish pilots, giving them his information about the arctic in exchange.
Borough later became one of the keeper’s of Her Majesty’s Ships on the Medway, and died in 1584.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com where there is an episode about the quest to find the NorthEast passage.
Episode Link:
https://aca.st/666985