The voyage of Verrazzano

by Henry Cruse Murphy

The map of Agnese stands, therefore, as the earliest chart of an acknowledged date showing the western sea, and that is independently of the Verrazzano discovery, or the Verrazano map. The hitherto unpublished maps produced by Mr. Kohl, also for the purpose of proving the influence of the Verrazzano discovery, fail entirely of that object. The first of them, in point of date, the sketch (No. XV. c) from the portolano of 1536, preserved in the Bodleian library at Oxford, shows a track of navigation from the north of France, across the Atlantic, RUNNING BETWEEN THE BACALAOS AND THE LAND OF THE BRETONS, THROUGH THE GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE, TO THE PACIFIC, AND THENCE TO CATHAY. There is no representation of the western sea, as shown on the Verrazano map, but on the contrary, the whole of the western coast of North America is shown conjecturally in a different form, by dotted lines. So far as this map affords any indication on the subject, it refers to the route of Cartier, and delineates the Atlantic coast according to the Spanish map of Ribero, that is, with a trending of the coast in a more northerly direction than the Verrazano map, and with the peculiar return of that coast westerly, in latitude 40 Degrees N., given on that map. The next chart (No. XV. d) from a map made by Diego Homem in 1540, shows the western sea nearly the same as on the map of Agnese, but conjecturally only; while the representation of the Atlantic coast has the same characteristics as the Bodleian and Agnese maps, showing its derivation from Ribero and not the Verrazano map. The remaining sketch given by Mr. Kohl (No. XV. b) from a map made by G. Ruscelli in 1544, presenting the same features, as do the two others, in regard to the Atlantic coast, puts beyond all question that the map of Ribero is its authority, by adopting from it the name of Montagne Verde which is applied by Ribero to the hills at the mouth of the river San Antonio, in latitude 41 Degrees N., thereby certainly excluding any recognition of the Verrazzano discovery or the Verrazano map.

The first published map which refers to the Verrazzano discoveries, that of Mercator in 1569, makes no reference to the Verrazano map, and does not recognize it in any manner. Mercator was the first to give the name of Claudia to the island of Louise, evidently mistaking the name of the wife of Francis for that of his mother, after whom the island was called, according to the letter, without stating her name. Mercator gives a legend in which he mentions that Verrazzano arrived on the coast on the 17th of March 1524, which is the day according to the version of Ramusio, following our mode of computation, as before explained. It is evident, therefore, that Mercator had the Ramusio version before him, and not the Verrazano map, as his authority on the subject. His delineation of the Atlantic coast, moreover, is according to the plan of Ribero, and he gives no indication of the western sea of the Verrazano map, but mentions in a legend the fresh water inland sea spoken of by Cartier, of the extent of which the Indians were ignorant.

The existence of the Verrazano map, much less its date, is obviously not proven by any of the maps or charts to which reference has here been made, and which are supposed to reflect some of its features, or indicate the verity of the Verrazzano discovery. There is, however, some evidence of a positive character, both historical and cartographical, which points to the existence of this map in two different forms, one originally not representing the Verrazzano discovery, and the other subsequently, as now presented.

The existence of a Verrazano map in some form or other, as early as 1537, seems to be established by a letter of the commendatory, Annibal Caro, written in that year. Caro, who became distinguished among his countrymen for his polite learning, was, in early life, secretary to the cardinal, M. de Gaddi, a Florentine, residing in Rome. While thus engaged, he accompanied his patron on a journey to the mines of Sicily, and there, from Castro, addressed a playful letter to the members generally of the cardinal's household, remaining at Rome. In this letter, which is dated the 13th of October in that year, he writes to them: "I will address sometimes one and sometimes another of you, as matters come into my mind. To you, Verrazzano, a seeker of NEW WORLDS and their marvels, I cannot yet say anything worthy of YOUR MAP, because we have not passed through any country which has not been discovered by you or your brother." [Footnote: "De le lettre familiari des commendatore Annibal Caro," vol. 1. P. 6-7. Venetia, 1581.] This passage was supposed by Tiraboschi to have been addressed to the navigator, and as proving that he was alive at the time the letter was written. But we now know that Verrazzano had then been dead ten years; besides, it is not probable, inasmuch as the person addressed was one of the servants of the prelate, that the navigator would have occupied that position. M. Arcangeli suggests that the name is used by Caro merely as a nom de guerre; [Footnote: "Discorso sopra Giovanni da Verrazzano," p. 27, in "Archivio Storico Italiano," Appendice vol. IX.] but in either case, whether borrowed or not, the remark plainly enough refers to a Verrazzano map, which may POSSIBLY have been the map of Hieronimo.

Hakluyt furnishes testimony which, if correct, shows the probable existence of this map before 1529, BUT NOT IN ITS PRESENT FORM. In the dedication to Phillip Sydney of his "Divers voyages touching the discoveries of America, &c.," printed in 1582, he refers to the probabilities of the existence of a northwest passage, and remarks that, "Master John Verarzanus which had been THRISE ON THAT COAST in an olde excellent mappe, which HE GAVE to King Henry the eight, and is yet in custodie of Master Locke, doth so lay it out as is to bee seene in the mappe annexed to the end of this boke, being made according to Verarzanus plat." Hakluyt thus positively affirms that the old map to which he refers was given by Verrazzano himself to the king. What evidence he had of that fact he does not mention, but he speaks of the map as if it had been seen by him, and probably that was his authority. The map he declares of his own knowledge was transferred, so far as regards the western strait, to the map of Lok, which he himself publishes. Lok's map represents the northwest passage as attempted by Frobisher in his several voyages, and as continued from the termination of the English exploration, to a western sea, a portion of which lying between the parallels of 40 Degrees N. and 50 Degrees N. latitude is laid down the same as it appears on the Verrazano map, and bears the inscription of Mare de Verrazana, 1524. The map of Lok is the first one upon which the western sea is so called. The designation was undoubtedly the work of Lok himself, as it is in conformity with his practice in other parts of the map, where he denotes the discoveries of others in the same way, that is, by their names with the dates of their voyages annexed. He no doubt applied the name of Verrazzano to this ocean from finding it represented on the old map given by Verrazzano to the king, and obtained the date from the letter, of which Hakluyt printed in the same volume a translation from the version in Ramusio. It is certain that Verrazzano could not have been accessory to declaring it a DISCOVERY by himself for the reason already mentioned that no such sea, as there laid down, existed to have been discovered.

Lok's map represents on the Atlantic coast, in latitude 41 Degrees N., the island alleged in the Verrazzano letter to have been named after the king's mother, and gives it the name of Claudia. That it is the same island is proven by note to the translation of the letter given in the volume in which this map is found. Hakluyt puts in the margin, opposite the passage where mention of the island occurs in the letter, the words "Claudia Ilande." From whatever source this name was derived by them, whether from Mercator or by their own mistake, both Lok and Hakluyt here indirectly bear their testimony to the fact, that the name of Luisia was not upon the old map given to Henry VIII, which Lok consulted, and Hakluyt described. It is thus to be concluded that the map delivered to the king showed the western sea, but not any discoveries of Verrazzano on the Atlantic coast.

In another work, as yet unpublished, Hakluyt affords some additional information in regard to the old map, which though brief, is quite significant. He remarks that it is "a mightie large olde mappe in parchment, made AS IT WOULD SEEM by Verrazanus, now in the custodie of Mr. Michael Locke;" and he speaks also of an "olde excellent GLOBE in the Queen's privie gallery, at Westm'r, w'h ALSO SEEMETH to be of Verrazanus making." [Footnote: MS. in possession of the Maine Historical Society, cited in Mr. Kohl's Discovery of Maine, p. 291, note.] Both the map and the globe are thus mentioned as the PROBABLE workmanship of Verrazzano, from which it is probable that there was no name upon them to determine that question positively. The great size of the chart, the material upon which it was made, and the authorship of the map and globe by the same person, are circumstances which go to prove that they were both the work of a professed cosmographer, and embraced the whole world; and consequently that the map was not a chart made by the navigator, showing his discoveries, but possibly the map of Hieronimo in its original form. The construction of this old map, whoever was the author, is fixed certainly BEFORE 1529, by the statement of Hakluyt, that it was presented to Henry VIII by Verrazzano, the navigator, inasmuch as Verrazzano came to his death in 1527. The Verrazzano map, in its present phase, not claiming to have been made before the year 1529, could not, therefore, have furnished the original representation of the western sea, or have been the one used by Lok.

Hakluyt adds to his statement that Verrazzano had been three times on the coast of America, which, if true, would disprove the discovery set up in the letter. That document alleges that the coast explored by him was entirely unknown and HAD NEVER BEFORE BEEN SEEN BY ANY ONE before that voyage, and consequently not by him; and that, as regards the residue of the coast north of 50 Degrees N., the Portuguese had sailed along it as far as the Arctic circle, without finding any termination to the land, thus giving the Portuguese as his authority for the continuity of the northern part of the coast, and excluding himself from it. It is thus clearly stated in the letter, that he had not been there before. It was impossible that he could have, consummated two voyages to America, and another to England, and made his court to the king, after 1524, and before his last and fatal cruize along the coast of Spain, as would have been necessary to have been done. In asserting that Verrazzano made other voyages to America, Hakluyt is corroborated by the ancient manuscripts, to which the author of the memoirs of Dieppe refers, as mentioning that one Jean Verassen commanded a ship which accompanied that of Aubert to Newfoundland in 1508. [Footnote: Desmarquets. "Memoires chronologiques pour servir a l'histoire de Dieppe," I. 100. (2 Vols. Paris, 1785.) It is worthy of remark that this annalist seems to regard Verasseu and Verrazzano as different persons, which proves, at least, that his authority was independent of any matter connected with the Verrazzano claim. That these names really relate, however, to the same individual, appears from the agreement with Chabot] It is possible, therefore, that Verrazzano made three voyages to Newfoundland, and was well acquainted with that portion of the coast, before hostilities broke out between Francis I. and the emperor, in 1522; at which time, as will be seen, he entered upon his course of privateering; and that during the time Francis was a prisoner at Madrid, in 1525-6, and the state of war accordingly suspended, and Verrazzano thrown out of employment, he visited England, and laid before the king a scheme of searching for the northwest passage; a project which Henry had been long meditating, as may be gathered from the proposition of Wolsey to Sebastian Cabot in 1519, and the expedition actually sent out for that purpose by that monarch under John Rut, in 1527. [Footnote: Letter of Contarini, the Venetian ambassador in Spain, to the Council of Ten. See "Calendar of State Papers &c. in Venice," 1520- 6. Edited by Rawdon Brown. No. 697, London, 1869. Purchas, III. p. 809.] It is evident that the representation of the western sea, upon the map given to the king, was merely conjectural of its existence in connection with the supposed strait, laid down upon the map, according to Hakluyt. This explanation will serve also to account most readily for the partial knowledge which the letter exhibits, in regard to the customs and characteristics of the Indians of Cape Breton, which might have been collected by the writer, from the journals of those early voyages or other notes of Verrazzano in relation to them; although the same information was obtainable from others who had made similar voyages to that region, from Normandy and Brittany.

It is thus established by the same testimony which furnishes the map of Lok, taken in conjunction with its own teachings, that it was not derived from the Verrazano map in its present shape, and does not represent the Verrazzano discovery.

The only evidence of the existence of the Verrazano map in any cosmographical production whatever, book, chart or globe, so far as known, independently of its history in the Borgian collection, is a copper globe, found by the late Buckingham Smith in Spain, a few years ago, and now in the possession of the New York Historical Society. This globe purports to have been constructed by Euphrosynus Ulpios in 1542. Inscribed upon it, in a separate scroll, is a dedication, in these words; "Marcello Cervino S. R. E. Presbitero Cardinali D.D. Rome." Cervinus had been archbishop of Florence and was afterwards raised from the cardinalate to the pontificate under the title of Marcellus II. This globe represents the western sea in the same form as it is on the Verrazano map, and contains a legend on the country lying between the isthmus and Cape Breton, in these words: "Verrazana sive Nova Gallia a Verrazano Florentino Comperta anno sal. M.D." In all other respects it differs essentially from the map in its description of the coast. Florida and Cape Breton are laid down in their true positions, and the isthmus occurs at the parallel of 33 degrees N. latitude, instead of 41 degrees. The direction of the coast, between the two points just mentioned, is more northerly, and the length of it consequently much reduced. The names along the coast, so far as the photograph of the map furnishes the means of comparison, are entirely different, except that Piaggia de Calami appears north of the isthmus. Dieppa and Livorno are not found upon it. But the legend affords indubitable evidence that the Maker had consulted the map. The name of Verrazana applied to the land is found no where else no applied, except on the map. But the incompleteness in which the date of the discovery is left, us if written 15—, proves that the maker was unable to ascertain it fully from his authority; the map, therefore, must have been his sole authority.