The consensus of scholars is that Giovanni da Verrazzano was born in Val di Greve, south of Florence, the capital and the main city of the Republic of Florence, the son of Piero Andrea di Bernardo da Verrazzano and Fiammetta Cappelli.
It is generally claimed that he was born in the Castello di Verrazzano, hence its birth indicator (similar to Leonardo da Vinci).
Some alternative theories have been elaborated; for example, certain French scholarship assumes that Verrazzano was born in Lyon, France, the son of Alessandro di Bartolommeo da Verrazano and Giovanna Guadagni. "
Whatever the case," writes Ronald S. Love, "Verrazzano always considered himself to be Florentine," and he was considered a Florentine by his contemporaries as well.
He signed documents employing a Latin version of his name, "Janus Verrazanus", and he called himself "Jehan de Verrazane" in his will dated 11 May 1526 in Rouen, France (preserved at the Archives départementales de la Seine-Maritime).

Verrazzano left a detailed account of his voyages to North America, but little is known about his personal life.
After 1506, he settled in the port of Dieppe, Kingdom of France, where he began his career as a navigator.
He embarked for the American coast probably in 1508 in the company of captain Thomas Aubert, on the ship La Pensée, equipped by the owner, Jean Ango.
He explored the region of Newfoundland, possibly during a fishing trip, and possibly the St. Lawrence River in Canada; on other occasions, he made numerous voyages to the eastern Mediterranean.

In September 1522, the surviving members of Ferdinand Magellan's crew returned to Spain, having circumnavigated the globe.
 Competition in trade was becoming urgent, especially with Portugal.
King Francis I of France was impelled by French merchants and financiers from Lyon and Rouen who were seeking new trade routes and so he asked Verrazzano in 1523 to make plans to explore on France's behalf an area between Florida and Terranova, the "New Found Land", with the goal of finding a sea route to the Pacific Ocean.
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, which were under the dangerous 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 about March 1 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 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 Evreux, which would naturally be it.
West of it, conjecturally on the Delaware or New Jersey coast, is a
The consensus of scholars is that Giovanni da Verrazzano was born in Val di Greve, south of Florence, the capital and the main city of the Republic of Florence, the son of Piero Andrea di Bernardo da Verrazzano and Fiammetta Cappelli. It is generally claimed that he was born in the Castello di Verrazzano, hence its birth indicator (similar to Leonardo da Vinci). Some alternative theories have been elaborated; for example, certain French scholarship assumes that Verrazzano was born in Lyon, France, the son of Alessandro di Bartolommeo da Verrazano and Giovanna Guadagni. "Whatever the case," writes Ronald S. Love, "Verrazzano always considered himself to be Florentine," and he was considered a Florentine by his contemporaries as well. He signed documents employing a Latin version of his name, "Janus Verrazanus", and he called himself "Jehan de Verrazane" in his will dated 11 May 1526 in Rouen, France (preserved at the Archives départementales de la Seine-Maritime).
Verrazzano left a detailed account of his voyages to North America, but little is known about his personal life. After 1506, he settled in the port of Dieppe, Kingdom of France, where he began his career as a navigator. He embarked for the American coast probably in 1508 in the company of captain Thomas Aubert, on the ship La Pensée, equipped by the owner, Jean Ango. He explored the region of Newfoundland, possibly during a fishing trip, and possibly the St. Lawrence River in Canada; on other occasions, he made numerous voyages to the eastern Mediterranean.
In September 1522, the surviving members of Ferdinand Magellan's crew returned to Spain, having circumnavigated the globe.  Competition in trade was becoming urgent, especially with Portugal. King Francis I of France was impelled by French merchants and financiers from Lyon and Rouen who were seeking new trade routes and so he asked Verrazzano in 1523 to make plans to explore on France's behalf an area between Florida and Terranova, the "New Found Land", with the goal of finding a sea route to the Pacific Ocean. 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, which were under the dangerous 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 about March 1 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 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 Evreux, which would naturally be it. West of it, conjecturally on the Delaware or New Jersey coast, is a
Giovanni da Verrazzano