|
Dr Alwyn Ruddock, a former reader in history at the University
of London, was the world expert on John Cabot’s discovery
voyages from Bristol to North America (1496-98). What she was
said to have found out about these voyages looked set to
re-write the history of the European discovery of America. Yet,
when Dr Ruddock died in December 2005, having spent four decades
researching this topic, she ordered the destruction of all her
research.
 In an article published on 4 April in Historical Research, Alwyn
Ruddock’s extraordinary claims are explored by Dr Evan Jones of
the University of Bristol.
In Spring 2006, all Dr Ruddock’s research material was
destroyed, in line with the instructions in her will. However,
her correspondence with her intended publisher, the University
of Exeter Press, survived. Using this correspondence Dr Jones
has investigated the research that Dr Ruddock had worked on, and
kept secret, for so many years.
‘To describe Alwyn Ruddock’s claims as revolutionary,’ said Dr
Jones, ‘is not an exaggeration.’ Her apparent findings include
information about how John Cabot persuaded Henry VII to support
his voyages and why the explorer was able to win the backing of
an influential Italian cleric: Fr. Giovanni Antonio de
Carbonariis, an Augustinian friar who was also in charge of
collecting the Pope’s taxes in England.
Dr Ruddock’s most exciting claims, however, involve John Cabot’s
1498 voyage to America. While the fate of this expedition has
long been a mystery, Dr Ruddock appears to have found evidence
of a long and complex exploration of the American coastline,
which culminated in Cabot’s return to England in the spring of
1500, followed shortly by his death. During this voyage, Dr
Ruddock suggests that Cabot explored a large section of the
coastline of North America, claiming it for England in the
process.
Dr Ruddock intended to reveal that while Cabot was sailing south
down the coast of America his chief supporter, Fra Giovanni, was
establishing a religious colony in Newfoundland. Having
disembarked from his ship, the Dominus Nobiscum, Fra Giovanni
apparently established a settlement and built a church. This
church, the first to be built in North America, was named after
the Augustinian church of San Giovanni a Carbonara in Naples.
Dr Jones said: ‘Ruddock’s claims about the 1498 voyage are
perhaps the most exciting of all. For while we have long known
that Fra Giovanni accompanied the expedition, along with some
other “poor Italian friars”, nothing has been known of what
happened to their mission. If Ruddock is right, it means that
the remains of the only medieval church in North America may
still lie buried under the modern town of Carbonear.’
Dr Ruddock’s claims are clearly extraordinary but are they all
correct? This is an issue that remains, in large part, to be
resolved. In his article, Dr Jones shows that in many cases
Alwyn Ruddock’s claims can be substantiated by reference to
previously unknown material. However, much remains to be done.
Dr Jones continued: ‘In publishing this article now my intent
was to put into the public domain what appear to be the last
vestiges of Dr Ruddock’s research. While her correspondence does
not give all the answers, it does provide many clues that
historians can use to investigate her claims. I also hope that
the publication of this article might persuade people who
possess knowledge of Dr Ruddock’s research to come forward. For
it is clear from her correspondence that many people must
possess useful knowledge, ranging from her ex-students at the
British Library to the “old and historic families in Italy” who
gave her access to their private archives.’
As to why Alwyn Ruddock should have chosen to have all her
research destroyed on her death, Dr Jones confesses that he has
no clear answers. In her obituary in the Guardian newspaper, it
was suggested that she destroyed the first draft of her book
‘because it did not meet her exacting standards.’ This does not
explain, however, why she wanted everything destroyed –
including her microfilms, her photographs and the transcripts of
the documents she used.
‘What is clear,’ said Dr Jones, ‘is that she had a great sense
of possession for her work and she felt this gave her the moral
right to take her secrets to the grave. But even if all the
documents she claimed to have found do come to light eventually,
the mystery of why she sought to suppress her own basic research
may never be resolved.’
April 2007
-In
association with Asia Research News
.
|
