500 YEARS OF ACADIE

Said to be born in Florence, Italy (circa 1485) and to have been killed around 1528 in the Caribbean by cannibals, Giovanni da Verrazzano, along with his youngest brother Gerolamo, gave the placename Arcadia to an area referred to today as the Delmarva Peninsula (Delaware, Maryland and Virginia) because it reminded them of the beautiful trees of an area in ancient Greece still called Arkadia today.

Otherwise, in regards to the land they explored along the Atlantic coast of North America, Giovanni named it Nova Francesca or Nova Gallia meaning New France in honour of the French King, François Ier, who financed his undertakings like for Jacques Cartier 10 years later (1534). Four versions exist of a letter written by Verrazzano to the king on July 8, 1524, one of which is at the New York Pierpont Morgan Library proving his handwritten authorship. It explained that it was financed by King François with the mission of attaining Cathy (ancient name of China). For him it was an occasion for commerce and exploration. Looking back, this source explains that prior to 1524, Verrazzano and his brothers had discovered 600 leagues of new territory during a six-month period, one of the most important voyages of exploration in North America. Verrazzano had in fact joined what is now Canada to the rest of the continent. Verrazzano was recognized by his peers comparable to earlier Amerigo Vespucci and Magellan.

The year 2024 marks the 500th anniversary of the 1524 toponymy (place-name) of ‘’Arcadia” by Giovanni Verrazzano. By the way, the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge recalls the name of our explorer from Florence, Italy. Samuel de Champlain uniformized the actual French spelling leaving out the ‘’r” thus becoming Acadie, the land historically inhabited by the Acadians.

David Le Gallant, Editor-in-chief,

Veritas Acadie