Giovanni da Verrazzano


 

Giovanni da Verrazzano

 

Giovanni da Verrazzano (also spelled Verrazano) was born in Tuscany, Italy in 1485 and died in 1528 in the Lesser Antilles. He was a Florentine explorer sailing under the French flag. He was the first European to sight New York and Narragansett bays.

 

http://www.italianhistorical.org/page50.html

 

 

 

 



Where did Verrazzano start his journey and where did he travel?

 

In early March, 1524 he arrived at Cape Fear in North Carolina. He then continued northward, exploring the eastern seaboard of North America as far as Nova Scotia. He made several discoveries including New York Bay, Block Island and Narragansett Bay. He was also the first European explorer to name newly discovered  North American sites after persons and placed in the Old World.

 

Without question, Verrazzano was the first European to enter New York bay in 1524. It was another 85 years, in 1609, that Henry Hudson, sailing on behalf of the Dutch East India Company and the individual usually associated with the discovery, would again sail a European vessel into the area. http://www.italianhistorical.org/page50.html

http://www.mrnussbaum.com/verrazano.htm

 


Who sent Verrazzano on his voyages and what was their motivation?

 

King François-premier (Francis I) of France decided to send out an expedition to discover a westward passage to Asia.. The expedition was also backed by wealthy Italian bankers and merchants living in Lyons. 

http://www.win.tue.nl/cs/fm/engels/discovery/verrazzano.html

http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9075141/Giovanni-da-Verrazzano?&query=giovanna%20da%20verrazano

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Who did Verrazzano meet on his voyages and how did he get along with them?

Further north he came to a beautiful place which he therefore called Arcadia. This was probably Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Here he kidnapped a young child, and failed to kidnap a young woman. Sailing further north, he missed the entrances to Chesapeake and Delaware bays, because until New Jersey he kept quite far from the coast.

He continued his voyage east, discovering Block Island, and reaching Narragansett Bay. Because the natives were very friendly, for once he decided to break his habit and anchor near the coast. These Wampanoags showed him an even better sheltered harbour, present day Newport, and Verrazzano stayed there for two weeks, waiting for better weather conditions. His men traded with the Wampanoags. Verrazzano described the Wampanoags very positively.

Much less positive he was about the Abnaki of Maine, whom he describes as "...of such crudity and evil manners, so barbarous, that despite all the signs we could make, we could never converse with them. They are clothed in peltry of bear, lynx, 'sea wolves' and other beasts. Their food, as far as we could perceive, often entering their dwellings, we suppose to be obtained by hunting and fishing, and of certain fruits, a kind of wild root. The Abnaki shot arrows at the French when they tried to land, but they could still conduct some meager trade through baskets, let down on a line from cliffs at the shore by the Indians. What displeased the French even more were the Abnaki's disdainful manners when the Europeans left, "such as exhibiting their bare behinds and laughing inmoderately". The country itself he described as immensely beautiful. Missing Bay of Fundy and most of Nova Scotia, he reached Newfoundland. As this was already known, he returned to France, and after a fast Atlantic crossing, reached Dieppe on 8 July.

In 1528 he again crossed the Atlantic (exploration and the cutting of logwood being the joint goals of the expedition), landing in Florida, then following the chain of the lesser Antilles. On one of the islands (probably Guadeloupe) his habit of anchoring away from the shore became fatal. Giovanni was going ashore in a boat to greet the natives, wading the last part while the boat, with his brother, remained at sea. Unfortunately, the natives were not a friendly tribe that wanted to trade, but cannibalistic Caribs. They expertly killed Giovanni and ate him while still fresh, under the eyes of his brother. The ship was too far away to give gunfire support.  http://www.win.tue.nl/cs/fm/engels/discovery/verrazzano.html

 

 

 

 

 


What was the outcome of Verrazzano's voyages?

Verrazzano wrote interesting, though sometimes inaccurate, accounts of the lands and inhabitants that he encountered. His explorations concluded at the eastern part of Newfoundland. His return to France on July 8, 1524, gave King Francis I his nation's claim to the New World. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9075141/Giovanni-da-Verrazzano?&query=giovanna%20da%20verrazanoVerrazzano was raised from obscurity by the efforts of  John N. LaCorte, founder of the Italian Historical Society of America, who was instrumental in having the bridge spanning the entrance to New York Harbor at the narrows and joining  Staten Island and Brooklyn named The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.

 


Websites about Verrazzano:

http://www.italianhistorical.org/page50.html

http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9075141/Giovanni-da-Verrazzano?&query=giovanna%20da%20verrazano

http://www.win.tue.nl/cs/fm/engels/discovery/verrazzano.html

http://www.mrnussbaum.com/verrazano.htm

 

***http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/giovanni-da-verrazzano.htm