When James VI of Scotland and his entourage began his journey south to take up the crown of England in April of 1603, it looked as if the ancient enmity between the two realms had finally been swept away. With England’s aristocratic elite greeting their new...

In the middle of the fifteenth century, Europe, Africa, and the Americas came together, creating—among other things—a new economy. At the center of that economy was the plantation, an enterprise dedicated to the production...

Ferdinand Magellan, celebrated as the first circumnavigator, has long been the orphan of history. Although he...

A traveler considering an ocean voyage around 1600 had much to contemplate. Voyage by voyage, explorers and colonists...