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. For the next century, the area was occasionally visited by fur traders or explorers, such as by Esteban Gomez in 1525. The place became a Dutch colonial settlement named New Amsterdam in 1624 and when traded to the English in 1664 was renamed New York.