The Mediterranean Origins of the English Atlantic, 1585 to 1619

English transatlantic expansion commenced at a point in history when the Mediterranean was the center of intellectual and economic action in Europe. Using previously untranslated sections of Latin sources and archival material (Cotton Manuscripts and Royal Manuscripts at British Library, and National Archives, London), this essay argues that (1) proponents of overseas empire were instructed by the example of a wider range of ancient and modern Mediterranean states than previously recognized; and (2) the Bermuda and Virginia colonies were originally intended to curb English dependence on the Mediterranean by producing a market basket of exotic crops unavailable in the climate of the British Isles.