Product Description: Located on the Avon which drains into the Severn estuary on the West Coast of England, Bristol was, from its very early days, a trading, manufacturing, and religious centre. Made an independent county in 1373 by Edward III, Bristol maintained a high and prosperous profile throughout the Middle Ages and for much of the Renaissance, being a seaport from which such explorers as John Cabot set out to discover the New World...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)