Fr. (Brother) Giovanni Antonio de Carbonariis was an Augustinian Friar from Milan who served in London as envoy between the Duke of Milan and King Henry VII. He is known to have sailed with John Cabot during his 1498 expedition to North America. He may have founded a mission settlement and North America's oldest church at Carbonear, Newfoundland and Labrador.

John Cabot was an Italian navigator and explorer. His 1497 voyage to the coast of North America under the commission of Henry VII, King of England is the earliest known European exploration of coastal North America since the Norse visits to Vinland in the eleventh century. To mark the celebration of the 500th anniversary of Cabot's expedition, both the Canadian and British governments declared Cape Bonavista, Newfoundland as representing Cabot's first landing site. However, alternative locations have also been proposed.