Francis I, a member of the Valois Dynasty, was born at Cognac, Charente, the son of Charles d'Angoulęme (1459 – January 1, 1496), 1st cousin of King Louis XII, and of Louise of Savoy (September 11, 1476 – September 22, 1531). He married Claude of France, the daughter of Louis XII and Anne of Brittany. Francis I is considered to be France's first Renaissance monarch. As King, in 1524, he assisted the citizens of Lyon to finance the expedition of Giovanni da Verrazano to North America; on this expedition, Verrazano claimed Newfoundland for the French crown. In 1534, he sent Jacques Cartier to explore the St. Lawrence River in Québec, certain islands and lands where it is said there must be great quantities of gold and other riches. In his castle in Villers-Cotteręts, Aisne, in 1539, Francis signed the edict which made French the administrative language instead of Latin.
The Virginia settlement was named for the English king at the time, James I. Although Francis I, the Father and restorer of Letters of France, had elder claims to this land by Giovanni da Verrazano (it was to be named Francesca), Francis I was crowned King of France in 1515 in the cathedral at Reims and reigned until 1547. Because of the Salic Law that stated that women could not inherit the throne of France, the throne passed to Francis I at the death of Louis XII, as he was the descendant of the eldest surviving male line of the Capetian Dynasty. The French chose to settle the lands sighted by John Cabot and left this land to the English. English colonization of the Americas began in the late 16th century. Colonies were established in North, Central and South America and in the Caribbean, and a protectorate was established in Hawaii.
Within twenty years following the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, the Calvert family obtained a charter from King Charles I for land along the Chesapeake north of the Potomac River. The colony was named in honor of the king’s consort, Henrietta Maria. King Charles I was deeply concerned about the presence of the Dutch in North America and decided to establish Maryland as a buffer between Virginia and the New Netherlands.