GIOVANNI VERRAZZANO “The DISCOVERER of MANHATTAN ISLAND
& NEW YORK BAY”
Verrazzano was born in Val di Greve (now Greve in Chianti), south of Florence, the capital and main city of the Republic of Florence. Recent archival research indicates he was born on July 20, 1491 to Frosino di Lodovico di Cece da Verrazzano and Lisabetta di Leonardo Daffi. An older hypothesis identified him with a son born in 1485 to Piero Andrea di Bernardo da Verrazzano and Fiammetta Cappelli.
GIOVANNI VERRAZZONO VOYAGE 1522- 1524
DISCOVERS NEW YORK BAY
n September 1522, the surviving members of the Magellan expedition returned to Spain, having circumnavigated the globe. Competition in trade was becoming urgent, especially with Portugal.
French merchants and financiers urged King Francis I of France to establish new trade routes. In 1523, the king asked Verrazzano to explore on France’s behalf an area between Florida and Newfoundland, intending to find a sea route to the Pacific Ocean. The expedition was funded by a consortium of Florentine merchants based in Lyon and Rouen, including the Gondi, Rucellai, Nasi, and Albizzi families. Over 20,000 écus were raised, with Verrazzano himself contributing as both captain and investor.
Within months, four ships set sail due west for the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, but a violent storm and rough seas caused the loss of two ships. The remaining two damaged ships, La Dauphine and La Normande, were forced to return to Brittany.
Repairs were completed in the final weeks of 1523, and the ships set sail again. This time, the ships headed south toward calmer waters under hostile Spanish and Portuguese control.
After a stop in Madeira, complications forced La Normande back to home port, but Verrazzano’s ship La Dauphine departed on January 17, 1524, piloted by Antoine de Conflans, and headed once more for the North American continent.
It neared the area of Cape Fear on March 21, 1524 and, after a short stay, reached the Pamlico Sound lagoon of modern North Carolina. In a letter to Francis I, described by historians as the Cèllere Codex, Verrazzano wrote that he was convinced that the Sound was the beginning of the Pacific Ocean from which access could be gained to China.
Continuing to explore the coast further northwards, Verrazzano and his crew came into contact with Native Americans living on the coast. However, he did not notice the entrances to the Chesapeake Bay or the mouth of the Delaware River.
In New York Bay, he encountered the Lenape in about 30 Lenape canoes and observed what he deemed to be a large lake, really the entrance to the Hudson River. He then sailed along Long Island and entered Narragansett Bay, where he received a delegation of Wampanoag and Narragansett people.
The words “Norman villa” are found on the 1527 map by Visconte Maggiolo identifying the site. The historian Samuel Eliot Morison writes that “this occurs at Angouleme (New York) rather than Refugio (Newport). It was probably intended to compliment one of Verrazzano’s noble friends. There are several places called ‘Normanville’ in Normandy, France. The main one is located near Fécamp and another important one near Évreux, which would naturally be it. West of it, conjecturally on the Delaware or New Jersey coast, is a Longa Villa, which Verrazzano certainly named after François d’Orléans, duc de Longueville.”[27] He stayed there for two weeks and then moved northwards.
He discovered Cape Cod Bay, his claim being proved by a map of 1529 that clearly outlined Cape Cod. He named the cape after a general, calling it Pallavicino. He then followed the coast up to modern Maine, southeastern Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, and he then returned to France by 8 July 1524. Verrazzano named the region that he explored Francesca in honour of the French king, but his brother’s map labelled it Nova Gallia (New France).
MAJOR POINTS
GIOVANNI VERRAZZANO was born in Greve in The Republic of Florence, modern day Grave in Chianti, Italy.
VOYAGE of 1524 – From 1522 – 1524, the Exploration of the East Coast of North America, from Florida to Newfoundland, Canada.
Landed at Cape Fear, Florida – March 21, 1524
1524 – Reaches the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Delaware River
1524 – Sao;s into New York Bay and discovers Manhattan Island. Then explores Long Island, New York and discovers Narragansett Bay.
1527 – Second trans Atlantic Voyage to Brazil. Returns to Dieppe, France with a cargo of Brazil Wood.
3rd VOYAGE 1528 – After exploring Florida, The Bahamas, and the Lesser Antilles, Verrazzano anchorage of the Island of Guadalupe, and rowed ashore, where he was allegedly Killed and “Eaten” by the native Caribs.
, located in Greve in Chianti, is a historic Tuscan estate with roots dating to Roman times and documented winemaking since 1150. Famous as the birthplace of explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano (1485), the castle was held by his family until 1819. Owned by the Cappellini family since 1958, it is a renowned Chianti Classico producer focusing on Sangiovese and organic, sustainable farming.
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