The Voyage of Verrazzano Part 6

X.

THE CAREER OF VERRAZZANO. AN ADVENTUROUS LIFE AND AN IGNOMINIOUS DEATH. CONCLUSION.

The true history of Verrazzano, so far as known, is now to be given, in order to make a final disposition of this story. Nothing is preserved in relation to his early life. Even the year of his birth is matter of conjecture. He is called by Ramusio, Giovanni da Verrazzano, Florentine; and according to Pelli, was born about the year 1485, His father was Piero Andrea, son of Bernardo, the son of Bernardo of Verrazzano, a little town situated in the Val di Greve, near Florence,--the latter Bernardo having belonged to the magistracy of the priors in 1406. All that his eulogist was enabled to gather concerning him, beyond this brief genealogy, is taken from the Verrazzano letter and the discourse of Ramusio, relating how he was killed, roasted and devoured by the savages in a second voyage to America; [Footnote: The account which Ramusio gives of Verrazzano, and the manner of his death, occurs in his Discourse on Labrador, the Baccalaos and New France (vol. III fol. 41), in which, after reffering to the Cortereaes and Sebastian Cabot, he adds:

"There also sailed along the said land, in the year 1524, a great captain of the most Christian king in France, called Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine; and he ran along all the coast, as far as Florida, as will be particularly seen by a letter of his, written to the said king, which alone we have been able to have, because the others have got astray in the troubles of the unfortunate city of Florence. And in the last voyage which he made, having wished to descend on the land with some companions, they were all put to death by those people, and in the presence of those who remained on board of the s.h.i.+p, were roasted and devoured. Such a wretched end had this valiant gentleman, who, had not this misfortune intervened, would, by the great knowledge and intelligence which he had of maritime affairs, and of navigation, accompanied and favoured by the immense liberality of King Francis, have discovered and made known to the world, all that part of the earth, up to the north pole, and would not have been contented with the Coast merely, but would have sought to penetrate far inland, and as far as he could go; and many, who have known and conversed with him, have told me, that he declared it was his intention to seek to persuade the most Christian King to send from these parts, a good number of people to settle in some places of said coast which are of temperate climate, and very fertile soil, with very beautiful rivers and harbors capable of holding any fleets. The settlers in these places would be the occasion of producing many good results, and among others of bringing those rude and ignorant tribes to divine wors.h.i.+p, and to our most holy faith, and to show them how to cultivate the land, transporting some of the animals of our Europe to those vast plains; and finally, in time, having discovered the inland parts, and seen whether among the many islands existing there, any pa.s.sage to the south sea exists, or whether the main land of Florida or the West Indies continues up to the pole. This and so much is what has been related of this so brave a gentleman, of whose toil and sweat, in order that his memory may not remain buried, and his name pa.s.s into oblivion, we have desired to give to the light the little that has come into our hands."

Ramusio here distinctly a.s.serts that the only doc.u.ment in relation to the voyage of Verrazzano which he had been able to procure, was the letter which he published; but he informs his readers that he had been told by certain persons who had known and conversed with Verrazzano, that it was the intention of the navigator, as he himself declared, to seek permission from Francis I, his adopted sovereign, in whose service it is claimed he made the discovery, to make another voyage to the new found land for the purposes of colonization and further exploration; and he also states, upon the same or other authority, that Verrazzano on another voyage was killed and eaten, by the natives of the country. Consequently, Verrazzano must have made a second voyage to America and obtained such permission from the king. But there is not a particle of evidence in existence, apart from the declarations of these persons to Ramusio, that any such permission was ever given, or that a second voyage took place. It proved the credulity of Ramusio that he received these naked statements without any examination.] with the suggestion of Coronelli, the Venetian geographer, that the place where he thus met his death was at the entrance of the gulf of St.

Lawrence, The spurious letter of Carli adds that he had been in Egypt, Syria and most other parts of the world. The ancient ma.n.u.scripts of Dieppe, as we have seen, [Footnote: Ante, p. 112, note] speak of one of his name who accompanied Aubert, in his voyage to Newfoundland, in 1508; and the statement of Hakluyt before referred to, gives some ground to believe that he was employed in early voyages to that region, before he engaged in his operations against the commerce of Spain.

What is certainly known of him relates almost exclusively to his career as a French corsair, during the few years which intervened between the breaking out of hostilities between Francis I and Charles V, and his death, in 1527. His cruises, though directed princ.i.p.ally against the Spaniards, were not tender of the interests of Portugal; and it is accordingly from Spanish and Portuguese writers and doc.u.ments of the period, that the little information that exists in relation to him, is derived. He is called by the former, Juan Florin or Florentin, or simply, the Florentine,--the French corsair. He is designated on an occasion to be noted, as Juan Florin of Dieppe. [Footnote: On the capture of the treasure fleet.

See Appendix, iv.] They appear to have known him by no other name.

They never heard of him as a discoverer, real or pretended, of new countries, until long afterwards. The Verrazzano letter had not been published when Peter Martyr, Oviedo and Gomara wrote; and when Martyr and Gomara make mention of him, they do so only by the t.i.tle by which he was designated by the Spanish sailors. There was, therefore, no opportunity for his identification by them in the double character of a great discoverer, and a corsair; and it was not until many years after the publication of the Verrazzano letter that this identification was first declared by Barcio [Footnote: Ensayo Chronologico, sub anno, 1524.].

There is no room, however; to doubt its entire correctness. That the occupation of Verrazzano was that of a cruizer on the seas, is not only declared in the letter ascribed to him, [Footnote: Ramusio gives Verrazzano this character more distinctly than it appears in the original version. One of the first alterations of the text, is of the pa.s.sage previously referred to, relating to the cruise of the Normandy and Dauphiny, after their repairs in Brittany. The Carli version, reads, in connection with the two s.h.i.+ps on that occasion: date restaurati ara V. S. M. inteso il discorso facemo con quelle armate in querra per li liti di Spagna, that is, "where being repaired, your serene majesty will have understood we made the cruize with THIS FLEET OF WAR along the coasts of Spain," from which it is to be implied only, that the cruize was for the purpose of depredating on Spanish commerce. But Ramusio, as became his practice, with this doc.u.ment at least, altered this clause into doce poi che furono secondo il bisogno raccociate So ben armeggiate, per i liti di Spagna ce n'andammo in carso, il che V. M. haverd inteso per il profitto che ne facemmo; which Hakluyt fairly renders: "Where, after we had repaired them in all points as was needfull, and armed them very well, we took our course along by the coast of Spain, which your majesty shall understand, BY THE PROFIT WE RECEIVED THEREBY." As this cruize according to the date of the letter must have taken place in 1523, this language, which is Ramusio's own, as to the profit, would seem to refer almost to the capture by Verrazzano of the treasure sent by Cortes, to the emperor which occurred in the summer of that year, as hereafter related: but Verrazzano's fleet consisted of six instead of two s.h.i.+ps on that occasion. The words of Ramusio, show, however, that he knew Verazzano was a rover, in search of booty on the seas or at least, that he so regarded him.] but is clearly established by the agreement made by him with Chabot. Besides, there is no other Giovanni, a Florentine, known in the history of the time, sailing in that capacity under the French flag and from the same port of Dieppe; and the references must have therefore been to him alone.

The appellation of corsair, does not necessarily imply a pirate. It was applicable to any one engaged in the capture of vessels on the high seas, whether authorized to do so or not. The state of hostilities between France and Spain, protected Verrazzano under the rules of war, as a subject of Francis, in capturing Spanish vessels, as long as it continued; and the anomalous condition of affairs existing at that time, according to the Portuguese historian, Andrade, of private war between the subjects of the kings of France and Portugal, without any public war between the sovereigns, would seem to have justified him in similar acts in regard to the commerce of the Portuguese, as long as the practice was not forbidden by the kings of the two countries.

The first adventure of the kind, in which we hear of Verrazzano, was in 1521. At this time a valuable commerce had grown up between Spain and her conquests in the West Indies, and large amounts in gold, pearls, sugar, hides and other articles were sent home. A s.h.i.+p, on her way from Hispaniola, was captured by him, in the year just mentioned, having on board eighty thousand ducats in gold, six hundred pounds weight--eight ounces to the pound, of pearls and two thousand arrobas, of twenty-five pounds each, of sugar.

[Footnote: Peter Martyr, Dec. v. c. 8. Epistola 771 (ed. 1671). In this letter which is dated at Valladolid 19th November 1522, Martyr writes: "Anuo quippe superiore Florinus quidam Gallus pirata navim unam ab Hispaniola venientem, auro ad sommam octoginta millium dragmarum, unionum vero libris octuolibus s.e.xcentis & ruborum saecari duobus millibus rapuit."]

In the following year, he took possession of seven vessels bound from Cadiz to the Canary islands, with emigrants, but being overhauled off the point of Gando, by vessels sent in pursuit, was compelled to relinquish his prizes. [Footnote: Don Bartholome Garcia del Castillo in Noticias de la historia de las islas de Canaria, by Don Joseph de Viera y Clavijo. (Madrid 1772-84).]

He is next found apparently meditating an expedition against the Portuguese possessions in Brazil, upon the pretext of discovering other countries in the east, which that nation had not found. The mention of this project is positive, and becomes curious and interesting in the history of his life, as it affords the only authentic evidence extant of any suggestion of a voyage of discovery, contemplated by him towards Cathay. The design, if really entertained, appears, however, to have fallen through and to have been abandoned; but it may, nevertheless, have been the foundation of the story of the alleged voyage. It is related by Francisco d'Andrade, in his Chronicle of John III, the then reigning king of Portugal. After referring to the death of Magellan, as an event which removed a cause of difference between the crowns of Portugal and Castile, growing out of the famous expedition of that navigator, Andrade thus speaks of the state of affairs between the crowns of France and Portugal.

"At that time, the king was told by some Portuguese, doing business in France, that one Joao Varezano, a Florentine, offered himself to Francis, to discover other kingdoms in the East, which the Portuguese had not found, and that in the ports of Normandy a fleet was being made ready under the favor of the admirals of the coast, and the dissimulation of Francis, to colonize the land of Santa Cruz, called Brazil, discovered and laid down by the Portuguese in the second voyage to India. This, and the complaints every where made of the injuries inflicted by French corsairs, rendered the early attention of the king necessary.

"Accordingly he sent to France an amba.s.sador, Joao da Silveyra, son of Fernao da Silveyra, who delayed his going no longer than was necessary to get ready. The purpose of his mission was to ask Francis, inasmuch as there never had been war between them, but rather an ancient peace and friends.h.i.+p, that he would give orders throughout his kingdom for the many robberies and injuries, perpetrated at sea on each other by the Portuguese and French, to cease, (which tacitly was a private and not an open war, as in general they were friends); that whatever could be found in his ports taken from the Portuguese, should be restored, as what might be found in the harbors of Portugal, taken from the French, should be forthwith given up, and that to all who should ask justice in this particular it should he rendered immediately and fully. The king then required Francis likewise, to prevent his vessels from making outfits to go to parts of the Portuguese conquest, whither it was not lawful for even Portuguese vessels to sail or the people to traffic.

"Joao da Silveyra was well received at the court of France; but as respects the specific matters of negotiation in his charge, he was answered every way indefinitely, with reasons more specious than sound which appeared to be given not so much to conclude the affaire upon which he treated as to procrastinate and consume time.

"Joao da Silveyra continued to solicit with much urgency the matters in his keeping at the court of France, and received answers respecting them according as the matters which were proposed in Portugal, [the marriage of Carlota, daughter of Francis, with the prince Dam Joao], gave hopes of advancement. The king said through one Luys Homem that he greatly desired the fostering and increase of ancient friends.h.i.+p. Following upon that in a few days he ordered the vessels in his ports preparing for India to be stopped, stating that he would arrange this in such a way that the king should be satisfied. Measures were adopted for the restoration of all property that was known to have been taken from the king or his vessels, and expectations were entertained of an order making such provision throughout as should put a stop to all the robberies and the evils arising from them. Since this had been the princ.i.p.al object for which the emba.s.sador had been sent to France, it appeared to the king of Portugal, that it would be for his service that he should order the return of Joao da Silveyra, and that the licentiate Pedro Gomez Feixeira with Master Diego de Gevoeya, (to whom he likewise wrote of this matter) should demand justice respecting certain matters of his property and a.s.sist such of his vessels as were seeking it. But before the order for the return of Silveyra had left this court, information was received by one Jacome Monteyro (who by authority of the king of France sought the rest.i.tution of property) that Francis had issued new orders, commanding the general sequestration of all the property of the king of Portugal and of his people, the embargo of all his vessels to be found in the ports of France, without the declaration of any new cause, or the statement of any reason for this order, the opposite of what had before been promulgated. The king in consequence, directed Joao da Silveyra to take truthful information of the particulars and the reasons for this proceeding and commanded his presence before the council, to make them known.

"Following this, hostilities having been declared between the kingdoms and seignories of the emperor and the king of France, they waging cruel strife by land and sea, the French with an armament afloat took a Spanish s.h.i.+p with gold, belonging to the emperor, within the limits of the Portuguese coast, besides much property of individuals, regardless of where she had been found, so little attentive were they in those times, to Portugal and Portuguese; seized her by force as belonging to their enemies, and carried her off, as good prize of war. Pedro Batelho was sailing the while, giving protection to the coast of Portugal, by the royal order, according to the ancient custom of this kingdom, held always to be useful and necessary, the value of which became evident from what occurred afterwards, when it fell into disuse.

"The captain coming out one morning with his fleet, near those who were carrying of the Spanish s.h.i.+p, he obliged them by force to take in sail, as they hesitated to obey for some time, until he informed himself of what had pa.s.sed. Discovering that there were some doubts and that deliberation would be necessary to do justice, he brought all before him to the port of Lisbon, where the prize was sequestrated and they made prisoners, and the case, by order of the king, was sent to the Casa da Supplicacam where sentence was p.r.o.nounced the following year. This news, which was directly known in France, made great change in the order of affairs with Portugal, and produced the state they were afterwards in, during the following nine consecutive years that Joao da Silveyra was there, in which time, he accomplished nothing he had in hand, except to EMBARGO THE VOYAGE OF THE FLORENTINE, of which mention is made before, and of some few vessels of corsairs which was but sheer justice to us."[Footnote: Cronica de muyto alto, emuyto poderoso rey destes reynos de Portugal Dom Joao o III deste nome. By Francisco d'Andrade. Part I, c. 13 and 14. (Lisbon 1613.)]

The time when these preparations were being made by Verrazzano is more definitely fixed by a despatch of Silveira to the king, from Paris on the 25th of April 1523, in which he states that "Verazano"

had not yet left for Cathay that this whole story of an intended voyage of discovery was proposed for the purpose of concealing the real object of the preparations which were going on in Normandy, of seizing the treasure which had been sent from Mexico, by Cortes to the emperor, of the successful accomplishment of which we have now to speak. [Footnote: Sautarem gives the date of this dispatch as the 23d of April 1522, Quadro Elementar, tom III, sec. XVI, p. 165.

But the letter of Silveira will be found in full in the Appendix (III) from the Portuguese archives. Santarem]. It is highly probable, therefore, is evidently mistaken as to the year, inasmuch as the news of Magellan's death, to which Andrade refers as a prior event, did not reach Spain until September 1522 and Silveira's appointment as emba.s.sador was after that news was received.]

In November, 1522, a vessel arrived in Spain which had been sent from Mexico, by the conquistador with the emperor's share of the tribute money collected in that country, in the special charge of Alonzo Davila and Antonio Quinones, with other articles of value.

Fearing capture by the French corsairs, this vessel had sailed by the way of the Azores, and leaving the treasure, with its custodians, at the island of Santa Maria, proceeded on without it, in order that a proper force might be sent to that island to bring it safely to Spain. Joan Ribera, the secretary of Cortes, came in the s.h.i.+p to Spain. These facts appear to have become notorious immediately. Peter Martyr mentions them in his letter of the 17th of November 1522, and in the fifth of his decades, written while the treasure was still at Santa Maria, speaks of the French having knowledge of its being left there. "I know not," he says, "in reference to the s.h.i.+ps sent there for it, what flying report there is that the French pirates have understood of those s.h.i.+ps, G.o.d grant them good successe." [Footnote: Dec. v. c. 10. (Lok's trans.)] Three caravels were despatched from Seville to Santa Maria, under the command of Captain Domingo Alonzo, arriving there on the 15th of May 1523. Davila and Quinones immediately embarked in them, with the treasure, sailing directly to Spain. Meanwhile, Verrazzano proceeded with six vessels towards Cape St. Vincent, for the purpose of intercepting them, which he succeeded in doing, within ten leagues of that cape. After a sharp encounter, in which Quinones was killed, he captured two of them, in one of which Davila was taken with the gold, and the other most valuable articles. The third caravel escaped, and arrived in Spain, with a tiger and various articles of rich manufacture, which had belonged to Montezuma. Verrazzano took his prizes into Roch.e.l.le. The value of the treasure and articles taken was estimated at more than six hundred thousand ducats, or one million and a half of dollars. [Footnote: Peter Martyr, Dec. v. c.

8. Epist. 771, Nov. 19, 1522, and 779, June 11, 1523 (ed. 1670).

Herrera, Dec. III. lib. IV. c. 20. Letter of Davila to the emperor from Roch.e.l.le, June 17, 1523, in the archives at Seville, now first published in the Appendix (IV). Martyr says there were two s.h.i.+ps, the larger of which only containing the treasure fell into the hands of John Florin, the French pirate, and the others escaped; but Davila must be right.]

These facts at least establish that Joao Verazano mentioned by the Portuguse, Andrade and Silveira, was the same person who made the capture of the treasure s.h.i.+ps; for it is not to be supposed that two different Florentines of the name of Giovanni, were in command of French fleets, at the same time, belonging to the ports of Normandy alone; and consequently that Verrazzano, our navigator, and Juan Florin the corsair were one. But how far the seizure of the treasure s.h.i.+ps was, as before suggested, the original purpose of the fleet can only be inferred from the circ.u.mstances, and is important only in connection with the DESIGN of a voyage of discovery. Between the time of the arrival of Ribera with the information that the treasure had been left at the Azores, and the sending of the caravels to bring it to Spain, nearly six months elapsed. Taking the dates, which are established by the official doc.u.ments now produced, of the fitting out of the fleet in Normandy by Verrazzano and the actual capture of the two caravels, it is easy to see that the real purpose of those preparations from the first, might have been to effect the capture of the treasure. The transmission of the news to Portugal of an intended voyage to Brazil and the sending of instructions to the emba.s.sador at [Footnote: According to the letter of Silveira, he was at Polssy on Christmas, and Andrade was therefore, probably in error in stating that he had his instructions in regard to Varezano before he left Portugal.] the French court could all have taken place after the detention of the treasure at Santa Maria became known in France and the fitting out of the vessels for its capture had begun to be made. It is stated by Andrade that it was at a port in Normandy where the vessels were being made ready; and it is to be presumed, from the connection of Verrazzano with Jean Ango, as shown subsequently by the agreement with Chabot for a like purpose, that it was from Dieppe, and probably a the expense of that rich merchant, who we are told was enabled to entertain his sovereign with princely magnificence and to embargo the port of Lisbon, with a fleet of his own, [Footnote: Mem. Chron. de Dieppe. I. 106-111.]

that they sailed on this occasion.

Verrazzano is certainly found at Roch.e.l.le on the 16th of June, 1523, two months after the despatch of Silveira was written, with his prizes captured on a different expedition from that mentioned by the amba.s.sador. It is evident, therefore, that the project of a voyage of discovery to Cathay, if ever seriously entertained, had at that time been abandoned; as may also be inferred from the statement of Andrade, that Silveira, in the nine years he was at the court of France, succeeded only in embargoing the voyage of the Florentine, and accomplis.h.i.+ng some minor matters.[Footnote: The doc.u.ment accompanying the letter of Davila in the archives, describes Juan Florin as of Dieppe, and thus fixes the seat of his operations in Normandy. See Appendix, (IV. 2.)]

But the question of any such voyage of discovery having been made at the time claimed in the Verrazzano letter is effectually set at rest by the fact that Verrazzano was then actually engaged in a corsairial enterprise elsewhere. Peter Martyr, in an epistle written on the 3d of August 1524, less than a month after the alleged return of Verrazzano to Dieppe from his voyage of discovery, wrote from Valladolid that "a courier of the king of Portugal had arrived (with word) that Florin, the French pirate, had captured a s.h.i.+p of his king on her way from the Indies, with a cargo valued at one hundred and eighty thousand ducats." [Footnote: Epist. 800 (ed. 1670).] It is impossible for Verrazzano to have been on the coast of North America, or on his return from Newfoundland to France, and at the same time to have taken a s.h.i.+p on her way from the Indies to Portugal, coming as she must have done, by the Cape of Good Hope.

The defeat of Francis I at the battle of Pavia and his capture and detention in Spain during the year 1525, seem to have suspended the depredations upon the seas by the French, and nothing more occurs relating to Verrazzano, until after the release of the king, in the following year, and then in an adventure which seems to have cost him his life, unless his probable appearance in England as mentioned by Hakluyt, to which reference has already been made, be an exception. Allusion has also been made several times to an agreement between Chabot, admiral of France, and others, including Verrazzano, which now a.s.sumes particular importance. It is the only doc.u.ment yet produced in France, relating to him, and is of recent discovery.

[Footnote: Margry, Les Navigations Francaises, p.194 (Paris, 167.) See Appendix (II)] By this agreement it was stipulated that Chabot, as admiral of France, should furnish two galleons, Jean Ango one s.h.i.+p, and Verrazzano two pilots besides himself, and that the three persons here named should with Guillaume Preudhomme, general of Normandy, Pierre Despinolles and Jacques Boursier, in different specified amounts each, make up the sum of twenty thousand pounds in Tours currency for the expenses, on joint account, of a voyage to the Indies for spices,--the admiral and Ango, however, to have one- fourth of all the merchandise returned, for the use of the vessels, and Verrazzano to have one-sixth of the remaining three-fourths, for his compensation and that of his two pilots. The contract contained another provision, that if any booty should be taken on the sea from the Moors, or other enemies of the faith and the king, the admiral should first take a tenth of it and the remainder should be divided as stipulated in regard to the merchandise, except such part as should, upon advis.e.m.e.nt, be given to the crew. The admiral was to have letters patent expedited from the king for permission to make the voyage. This paper has no date, but as it was made by Chabot, in his official capacity, as admiral of France, it could not have been earlier than March 1526, when, as we have seen, he was so created.

It belongs, therefore, either to that or the following year, judging from the fatal consequences which happened to Verrazzano in the latter.

Although a voyage from France to the Indies for spices was not an improbable venture at that time inasmuch as one was actually made from Dieppe, two years afterwards, by Jean Parmentier in the service of Ango, there is every reason to believe that such was not the real object of the parties to this agreement. One of the stipulations between them was for a division, of booty, showing an intention to make captures on the sea. Who were the enemies of the king from whom it was to be taken is not stated. By the treaty of Madrid, in January 1526. peace existed between France and Spain, and any expedition from one of them against the commerce of the other, was clearly piratical. Neither did war exist at this time, between France and Portugal. Yet it appears that both the Spaniards and the Portuguese, were searching for Verrazzano at the time, when the former succeeded in capturing him, in September or October 1527. He had, therefore, not sailed to the Indies and must have made himself obnoxious to those nations, by fresh depredations upon their vessels. Bernal Diaz, who gives an account of his capture and execution, states that he was actually so engaged. [Footnote: Historia verdadera, fol 164.] It appears from the letters of the judge who superintended his execution that he was then encountered by six Biscayan galleons and s.h.i.+ps, and after battle, captured and taken by them to Cadiz, with his crew, consisting of one hundred and twenty or thirty persons, besides several gentlemen adventurers, Verrazzano offered his captors thirty thousand ducats to be released, but in vain. He was sent under guard with the adventurers to Madrid, but was overtaken on the way at Colmenar near Puerto del Pico, villages between Salamanca and Toledo, [Footnote: Blaen, Utriusque Castilia nova descripto. Martiniere, Dictionaire Geographique, aub Colmenar et Pico.] by the judge of Cadiz with an order made by the emperor at Lerma on the 13th of October 1527, by virtue of which he was there put to death in November of that year.

Such was the termination of the career of this hold man, which was long ago substantially told by Bernal Diaz and Barcia, but so loosely in regard to dates, as to have created doubts as to their correctness, but which is established by the doc.u.ments existing in the archives at Simancas, now brought to light. [Footnote: See the letter of the judge of Cadiz, in the Appendix (V.L.) Barcia, in his Chronological Essay, mentions the capture and execution of Juan the Florentine as a pirate under the year 1524. He does not state that they took place in that year, but refers to them in connection with the discoveries alleged to have been made in that year by Verrazzano, whom he identifies as the corsair. It has been supposed, consequently, that he meant that year as the time of Verrazzano's death; and hence, inasmuch as Verrazzano was known to have been alive after that year, that the whole story was an error. The letters of Juan de Giles, the resident judge of Cadiz, appended to this memoir, enable us to fix the date of his execution, for although not dated themselves, they contain a reference to the date of the cedule, ordering the execution, by which it can be determined. Giles mentions that this cedule was dated at Lerma, on the 13th of last month, showing that it was made there on the 13th of some month. According to the Itinerary of Charles V, kept by his private secretary, Vandernesse, containing an account of the emperor's journeys from the year 1519 to 1551, Charles went to Lerma, a small town in Old Castile, for the first time on the 9th of May, 1524 and returned thence to Burgos on the 12th of that month, going to Lerma again on the 21st of July of that year and leaving it on the 24th for Vallidesole. He was not there afterwards, until the 12th of October, 1527, where he remained until the 17th of that month when he went to Burgos. He went to Lerma again on the 20th of February 1528, and remained there for two days only. These are all the occasions of his presence at Lerma during the whole period of the Itinerary. These dates prove that the only possible occasion for issuing the order of execution was the 13th of October 1527. The prisoners left under guard, on the 15th of that month for Madrid, and the letter apprising the emperor that the order had been executed upon Verrazzano must have been written in November, the month following.

The Itinerary will be found in the Correspondence of the Emperor Charles V, by William Bradford, London, 1850.]

And thus finally the testimony, upon which the tale of discovery was credited and proclaimed to the world, is contradicted and disproved.

The statement that Verrazzano and a member of his crew were killed and then feasted upon by the inhabitants of the coast which he had visited a second time, has no support or confirmation in the history of that rude and uncivilized people; for, however savage and cruel they were towards their enemies, or, under provocation, towards strangers, no authenticated instance of their canibalism has ever been produced; but on the contrary the testimony of the best authorities, is that they were guiltless of any such horrid practice. Yet that statement was a part of the information which Ramusio received and communicated to his readers at the same time with the Verrazzano letter; and const.i.tuted a part of the evidence upon which he relied. How utterly false it was is shown by the agreement with Chabot and the capture and execution of Verrazzano by the Spaniards. It is now seen how the credulity of the historian was imposed upon, and he was led by actual misrepresentations to adopt a narrative which has no foundation in truth, and whose inconsistencies and incongruities he vainly sought to reconcile, but which, for three centuries, sanctioned by his authority alone, has been received as authentic and true; until at length, by the exposure of its original character, and the circ.u.mstances of its publication by him, with the production of undoubted evidence from the records of the time, it is proven to be a deliberate fraud.

This completes our purpose. The question, however, still presents itself what was the motive for this gross deception? The answer is suggested by the feet that all the evidence produced in favor of the story is traceable to Florence, the birthplace of Verrazzano.

Ramusio obtained the Verazzano letter there,--the only one, he says, not astray in consequence of its unfortunate troubles. The letter of Carli, enclosing that of Verrazzano, is professedly written by a Florentine to his father in that city. The map of Hieronimo de Verrazano bears the impress of the family. The discourse of the French captain of Dieppe appears to have been sent originally to Florence, whence it was procured by Ramusio. Even the globe of Euphrosynus Ulpius, a name otherwise unknown, is represented to have been constructed for Marcellus, who had been archbishop of Florence.

They are all the testimony of Florence in her own behalf. The cities of Italy which had grown in wealth and importance during the fifteenth century, by means of enterprising and valuable commerce, produced and nurtured a race of skillful seamen, among whom were the most distinguished of the first discoverers of the new world, in the persons of Columbus, Vespucci and the Cabots; but those cities contributed nothing more to the discoveries which thus were achieved, than to give these men birth and education. The glory of promoting and successfully accomplis.h.i.+ng those results belonged to other nations, which had the wisdom and fortune to secure the services of these navigators. The cities shone, however, with the l.u.s.tre reflected from having reared and instructed them to the work they so wonderfully performed. Although enjoying a common nationality, these munic.i.p.ales belonged to independent republics and were in a measure rivals of each other. Florence emulated Genoa. She truly boasted that Vespucci, born and raised on her soil, was the first to reach the main land and thus to have his name applied for the whole continent, "America quasi Americi terra;" while Genoa justly claimed for her son, that the discovery of all America was to be regarded as a.s.sured from the moment that Columbus landed on the little sandy island of Guanahana, on the 12th of October 1492.

[Footnote: Humboldt, Examen Critique, IV, 37.] But Florence enjoys in addition the unenviable distinction of having sought to advance the pretensions of Vespucci by fict.i.tious letters, purporting to be signed with his name.[Footnote: Varnhagen, Amerigo Vespucci, son caractere, ses scrits (meme les moins authentiques) &c., p. 67, et seq. (Lima, 1865).] That this spirit of civic pride in that same community may have actuated the fabrication of the Verrazzano letter is not improbable; but in justice to the memory of Verrazzano it must be added, there is no reason to believe that he was in any way accessory to the imposture.

APPENDIX

I.

LETTERA DI FERNANDO CARLI A SUO PADRE.

From the Archivo Storico Italiano. Appendice Tomo IX. 58-5 Firenze 1858.

Al nome di Dio

a di 4 Agosta 1524.

"Onorando padre,--Considerando che quando fui in la armata di Barbaria alle Gierbe vi furono grate le nuove advisatevi giornalmente per lo ill.u.s.tre sig. Don Ugo di Moncada, capitano generale della Cesarea Maesta in quelle barbare parti, seguite certando [Footnote: Combattendo (Nota dell edisione Romana) con li Mori di detta isola; per la quale mostrasi haver fatto piacere a molti nostri padroni ed amici, e con quelli della conseguita vittoria congratulatovi, pertanto, essendo nuovamente qui nuova della giunta del capitano Giovanui da Verrazzano nostro fiorentino allo porto di Diepa in Normandia con sua nave Delfina, con la quale si parti dalle insule Canarie fino di Gennaio pa.s.sato, per andare in busca di terre nuove per questa serenissima corona di Francia, in che mostro coraggio troppo n.o.bile e grande a mettersi a tanto incognito viaggio con una sola nave che appena e una caravella di tonelli [Footnote: L'amanuense ha lasciato il numero delle lonnellate di cui era capace la nave (Nota come sopra)], solo con 60 uomini, con intenzione di, giusta sua possa discoprire il Oataio, tenendo cammino per altri climati di quelli usano li Portughesi in lo discoprire di verso la parte di Calicut, ma andando verso coro e settentrione omnino tenendo, che ancora [Footnote: Ancorche] Tolomeo ed Aristotile ed altri cosmografi descrivano verso tali climati non trovarsi terra, di trovarvene a ogni modo; e cosi gli ha Dio concesso, come distintamente descrive per una sua lettera a questa S. M.; della quale in questa ne e una copia. E per mancargli le vettovaglie, dopo molti mesi giunto navigando, a.s.segna essergli stato forza tornare da quello in questo emisperio; e in sette mesi suto in viaggio mostrare grandissimo ed accelerato cammino, aver fatto cosa miranda e ma.s.sima a chi intende la marinera del mondo.

Della quale al cominciamento di detto suo viaggio si fece male iuditio [Footnote: L'ediz. romana ha indizio, una crediamo per errore di stampa.], e molti pensorno che non piu nedilui ne del vascello si avesse nuova, ma che ei dovesso perdere da quella banda della Norvegia per il grands diaccio che e per quello oceano settentrionale; ma come disse quel Moro, lo Dio grande, per darca ogni giorno piu notizie di sua infinita possanza e mostrarci di quanto sia admirabile questa mundiale machina, gli ha discoperto una lat.i.tudine di terra, come intenderete, di tauta grandezza che, secondo le buone ragioni e gradi, per lat.i.tudine (et) altezza, a.s.segna e mostra piu grande che l'Europa, Africa e parte di Asia: ergo mundus novus; e guesto senza lo che [Footnote: Quello che (Nota come sopra.)] hanno discoperto in piu auni gli Spani per l'occidente, che appena e un anno torno Ferrando Maga-ghiana, quale discoperse grande paese con una nave meno delle cinque [Footnote: Forse venne qui omesso ite o simile; e sembra accennarsi al naufragio di una di quelle cinque navi] a discoprire. Donde addusse garofani molto piu eccellenti delli soliti; e le altro sue navi in 5 anui mai nuova ci e trapelata. Stimansi perae. Quello [Footnote: nelle romana si legge: "stimansi per se quello ec."; ma ci sembra che il senso gl.u.s.tifichi abbastanza la nostra correzione.] che questo nostro capitano abbia condotto non dice per questa sua lettera, salvo uno uomo giovanetta preso di quelli paesi; ma stimansi che abbia portato mostra di oro, poicbe da quelle bande non lo etimano, e di droghe e di altri liquori aromatici, per conferie qua con mold mercatanti di poi che sara stato alla presenza della Serenissima Maesta. E a questa ora doverra. essarvi, a di qua trasferirsi in breve, per che e molto desiato, par ragionare seco; tanto piu che trovers qui la Maesta del Re nostro sire, Che fra tre o quattro giorni vi si attende: e speriamo She S. M. lo rimetta. di mezza dozzina di buoni vascelli, e che tornera al viaggio. E se Francesco Carli nostro ci fosse tornato dal Cairo, advisate che alla ventura vorra andere seco a detto viaggio, e credo si conoschino al Cairo dove e stato piu anni; e non solo in Egitto ed Soria, ma quasi per tutto il cognito mondo; e di qua mediante sua virtu e stimato un altro Amerigo Vespucci, un altro Ferrando Magaghiana, e davantaggio; e speriamo che rimontandosi delle altre buone navi e vascelli ben conditi a vettovagliati come si richiede, abbia ad iscoprire qualche profittoso traffico e fatto; e fara, prestandogli nostro Signore Dio vita, onore alla nostra patria da acquistarne immortale fama e mamoria. E Alderotto Brunelleschi che parti con lui, e per fortuna tornando indietro nou volse piu seguire, come di costa lo intende, sara malcontento. Ne altro per ora mi occorre, perche per altre vi ho avvisato il bisogno. A voi di continuo mi raccomando, pregandovi ne facciate parte agli amici nostri, non dimenticando Pierfrancesco Dagaghiano [Footnote: Forse, da Gagliano], che per essere persona perita, tengo che na prendera grande pa.s.satempo; ed u lui mi raccomanderete. Simile al Rustichi, al quale non dispiacera se si diletta, come suole, intendere cose di cosmografia. Che Dio tutti di male vi guardi.

Vostro figliuoio FERNANDO CARLI in Lione."

II.