New Angoulême

New Angoulême (French: Nouvelle-Angoulême) was the name given in April 1524 by the Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano or Jean de Varrazane (1481-1528) to the site that later became New York City. The name refers to the town of Angoulême, in the Charente region of France. Verrazzano chose the name to honor his patron King Francis I of France, who had been Count of Angoulême from 1496 until his coronation in 1515.^[1] For the next century, the area was occasionally visited by fur traders or explorers, such as by Esteban Gomez in 1525.^[2]:11–12 The place became a Dutch colonial settlement named New Amsterdam in 1625 and when conquered by the English in 1664 was renamed New York.

References

1. Koussa, Nicolas (12 April 2016). "Quand New York s'appelait Angoulême : une conférence le 21 avril" (in French). French Morning. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
2. Burrows, Edwin G.; Wallace, Mike (1998). Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199729104.

• Rankin, Rebecca B., Cleveland Rodgers (1948). New York: the World's Capital City, Its Development and Contributions to Progress. Harper.