THE DEATH OF JEAN RIBAUT AND OTHER ATROCITIES

By Jorge M. Robert

I. Introduction

This neo-skepticism is largely out of fashion,

but the need to place the search for truth at
the center of the historians work is still
there, and it will remain there. The study of
microhistory, which could be defined as an
approach based on a sharply focused analysis
of a specific moment, place, individual or human
group, sometimes of lesser significance according
to the grander histories that deal principally
with the social elite.
Carlo Ginzburg (2015, interview Tanner Lecture)

This writing has been in elaboration for a long time.

Between, microhistory and the morals of history, the insights of

Ginzburg and Megill, the forever pursuit of justice in history,

the looking inside and around myself stopped, and this speck of

time (October 12th, 1565) came into focus. Historians placed

this spots for differed evaluation all the time. The opportunity

for closed inspection in our case has arrived. It is believed

that a man of action and his many comrades were slaughtered in

cold blood long ago at sun set in a Florida shore south of St.

Augustine.

On that day, at the Matanzas Inlet in the North-East coast

of Florida, this French commander navigator was killed along

with many of his friends, subordinates, fellow Huguenot

believers and countrymen. Defeated by a Florida hurricane, his

fleet still lays at the bottom of the ocean in the coastal area

1
of Cape Canaveral, Florida. They had lost everything and were

wandering on the shore trying to reach Ft. Caroline to sail back

to France. In that dire situation they found their enemies on

the shore, the Spaniards commanded by the Adelantado Pedro

Menendez de Aviles who was there to finish them off through

blood and fire, and thus fulfilled the mission assigned by

Philip II King of Spain.

The encounter may have been a surprise for the French but

not for the Spaniards who two weeks before, on Sept 29th, 1565

had already been in the same area butchering about 200 French

soldiers and sailors part of the same group which preceded

Ribaults, and before that on September 20th had assaulted Ft.

Caroline, leaving alive only 50 among women, children and

elderly people.

My purpose in this essay is to establish how Jean Ribault

died, who killed him, how was he killed and his spiritual

attitude at the end.

II. Primary Sources

David Henige teaches that there are three levels of primary

evidence, one produced by a participant, the second generated

by eyewitnesses, and the third originated in hearsay.

Although the first might seem the most reliable and the last

the least, it might not be so. He goes so far as saying that

2
 there is no compelling reason to treat all primary sources as

intrinsically more valuable than any other sources. 1

a) Spanish Accounts

The primary sources available on our topic from the Spanish

side seem to be four:

(1) the Memorial by Gonzalo Solis de Meras,

(2) the deposition of Antonio Garcia Vasalenque given in

Mexico, almost thirty years after the events,

(3) Menendez de Aviles own account included in his

correspondence with Philip II, and,

(4) Vidas y Hechos, a narrative by Bartolome Barrientos

published in 1568 and considered as a primary source because

Barrientos published it almost contemporaneously to the facts

described and to prepare the writing made copies of the

memorials describing the facts of the Adelantado Aviles, and the

letters, orders, cedulas e instructions of his majesty the King

of Spain, and true relaciones [reports] of people and soldiers

who take part of the enterprise and the conquest. 2

These four documentary sources containing a narrative of

what happened on October 12th, 1565 at the Matanzas inlet (what

is called the second massacre of the French) are known as the

Spanish accounts. There are four other accounts known as the

French accounts to which we will refer later.

The writer of memoirs seldom writes as a dispassionate

3
 Observer of events or as a detached critic of his contemporaries.
Allen Johnson, (The Historian and Historical Evidence, 1926, 82)

The pertinent narratives from these primary sources are as

follows:

(1) Solis de Meras says that

The Adelantado immediately directed that Captain

Diego Florez de Valdes, the Admiral of his armada,
should have them brought over as he had the others,
ten at a time; and taking Juan Ribao behind the sand
dune, between the bushes, where he had taken de
others, he had his hands and those of all the rest,
tied behind their backs, as was done to the previous
ones, telling them that they had to march 4 leagues on
land, and by night, so that he could not allow them to
go unbound; and when they were all tied, he asked them
if they were Catholics or Lutherans, and if there were
any who wished to confess Juan Ribao answered that he
and all those who were there were of the new religion,
and he began to sing the psalm, Domine memento mei;*
and when it was finished he said that from earth they
came, and unto earth must they return; that twenty
years more or less were of little account; that the
Adelantado was to do with them as he wished. And the
Adelantado, giving the order that they should march,
as he had to the others, in the same order and to the
same line in the sand, commanded that the same be done
to all of them as to the others: he only spared the
lifers, drummers, trumpeters, and 4 more who said that
they were Catholics, in all 16 persons: all the others
were put to the knife. [underline added, it might
express the spiritual condition of Ribault].

This is taken from the translation by Jeannette Thurber

Connor on page 122 in Chapter XII entitled The Second Massacre,

October 12th The Murder of Jean Ribaut. It was published for the

quadricentennial edition of the Memorial by Gonzalo Solis de

Meras by the University Press of Florida in 1964. In the Preface

4
pg. 9 it is said that the Florida State Historical Society can

add its tribute to the occasion in no more practical way than by

making available in English that delightfully quaint narrative,

the Memorial of Menendez written probably in 1567, by his

brother-in-law, Gonzalo Solis de Meras; but not published in

full until 1893, when it appeared in Ruidiazs La Florida in

Spanish. It is the Ruidiaz transcript of the Memorial which

was used for the translation into English. This memoir contains

a biography of Menendez de Aviles and also a partial

autobiography of Solis de Meras.

(2) Vasalenques deposition indicates that:

Y toda aquella noche vbo entre los franzeses

grande alarido y rebuelta, y por lo cual estuvieron el
dich Pedro Menendez y sus soldados con las armas en la
mano toda la noche, y al amanecer todos los franzeses
amanecieron a la orilla del rio sin armas pidiendo
pasaje, y se le dio en varcos; y llegados que fueron
donde el dicho Pedro Menendez estaua, se les dio de
comer, y dentro de una hora comencaron con ellos a
marchar con cierto horden que el dicho Adelantado dio,
y al doblar de vna punta de tierra comenzaron los
soldados espanoles a degollarlos a todos, sin que se
escapase nadie, ni el dicho Juan Ribao, ecepto algunos
muchachos menestriles del dicho Juan Ribao y vnos
oficiales de galafates. 3

(3) Menendez in his letter to the King Philip II of October

15, 1565

said:

Pareciome que castigarlos desta manera, Servia a

Dios Nuestro Senor y V.M., para que [en] Adelante nos
dejen mas libres esta mala seta, para plantar el

5
 Evangelio en estar partes y alumbrar, a los naturales
y traerlos a obediencia de V.M. que segun las tierras
son grandes,
"I had Juan Ribao, with all the rest, put to the
knife, understanding this to be expedient for the
service of God Our Lord and of Your Majesty; and I
hold it very great good fortune that he should be
dead;

According to assertions by Menendez in his letter

to the king, the number of French casualties as a
result of the attack to Ft. Caroline was 140. During
the first massacre at Matanzas he ordered 200 to be
killed, and at the second massacre 134. El total the
Frenchmen killed by the Spaniards from September 20th
to October 12d was 474 people. 4

(3) The historian Bartolome Barrientos continues his narrative

until the end of Ribaults life in this way:

El batel para traer los que se querian benir: El

adelantado prouey Al almirante diego flores de baldes
que los hiciese traer Como a los demas, de diez En
diez: y Ileuando Al capitan Ribao Entre las matas,
detras del monton de arena do lleu a los otros,
Mandales maniatar por la horden que a los pasados,
exceto Al Riuao, diciendole a el y a los demas que'
abian de yr de alli quatro leguas por tierra, y de
noche no se sufria ir sueltos: ya que los bio Atados,
pregunt si eran Catholicos o luteranos, y si auia
Algunos que quisiesen Confesarse: El capitan Ribao
Respondi que todos eran de la nueua Religion luterana
y que de tiera eran y que En tierra se auian de
boluer: que 20 a"s mas a menos todo era Vna q a , que
hiciese El adelantado lo que quisiese dellos: mand El
adelantado que marchasen Con la mesma horden, y en la
misma Raya Mand que hiciesen de'Es- tos lo que de los
otros: solos sac A los pifanos, a tambores y
trompetas y otros quatro que digeron que Eran
catholicos: Eran por todas diez y seys personas: los
demas fueron degollados: Auia mandado Al capitan Juo
de sant bicente y gonzalo de solis de meras que
lleuasen Al capitan Ribao, Auiendo dicho antes que lo
matasen: lleuaua V n fieltro El Ribao, y dijole El ca-
pitan que se lo diese: quitaselo y despues dice que ya
saue Como los Capitanes Estan subjetos A obedescer

6
 yacer lo que sus generales m.dan, y que le auia de
atar las manos: Abiendoselas Atado y marchando Vn poco
adelante, El capitan sant bicente le dio Vna pualada
En la olla, y gonzalo de solis le atraues por los
pechos Con Vna pica que lleuaua, y cortaronle la
caueza:

The English translation of this passage in Spanish was done

by Kerrigan thus:

Menendez directed Admiral Diego Florez de Valdez

to bring the French across as they had the first
contingent, in groups of ten. Ribaut was led into the
bushes, behind the same sand dune where the others had
been taken. The same command as before was issued and,
excepting Ribaut, they were all ordered bound. The
Adelantado once more explained how they must proceed
four leagues farther, and how they could not be
allowed to go unbound. Once they were tied, he asked
them if they were Catholics or Lutherans, and if there
was anyone who wished to confess himself. They were,
each of them, of the New Religion, said Captain
Ribaut. From earth had they com, and to earth they
must return. Twenty years, one way or another, was of
small moment in the general sum. The Adelantado might
do with them as he would. Menendez ordered them
marched off as before. At the same line where the
others had fallen, he ordered this group cut down. The
fifers, drummers, and trumpeters alone were spared, in
addition to four men who said they were Catholics-in
all, sixteen people. The rest were knifed to death. As
regards Ribaut, Menendez had ordered Captain Juan de
San Vicente and Gonzalo de Solis de Meras to take him
away, after having privately commanded them to kill
him. Ribaut had been wearing a felt hat and Captain
San Vicente now asked him for it. When it was handed
him he said: You know that captains must obey their
generals and carry out their orders, and so we must
tie your hands. His hands bound, Ribaut was marched
ahead for a little distance. Captain San Vicente then
thrust a knife in his belly, and Gonzalo de Solis ran
him through the heart with a pike; then they cut off
his head. 5

(4) Analysis of the Spanish Accounts

7
 Some writers do not accept Barrientos version of the facts

as to (A) that Solis de Meras was one of the killers, (B) who

was the other killer, if any, (C) how he was killed, and (D)

that Ribault was beheaded. We will see that other sources add

that (E) his beard was cut and sent to Philip II, and that (F)

he was quartered and the pieces exhibited at fort St. Agustine

along with his head.

Vidas y Hechos de Pedro Menendez de Aviles by the historian

Bartolome Barrientos is not strictly speaking a primary source

but because of (a) its contemporaneousness with the events, (b)

the nature of the sources cited by Barrientos (original texts or

reports available to him), it may be considered so. Barrientos

kept saying that from these materials the present work was

compiled, to the end that the benefit of which Titus Livius

speaks in the introduction to his own writings might be derive

therefrom, namely, that the imitation of virtue, whereby men may

forward themselves and their countries, be made easier, and that

a vision be granted of the path to good and the path to evil.

(Kerrigans translation), and finally the third reason, (c) the

obvious anti-protestant bias of the writer (lets follow here

the criterion of embarrassment to determine the authenticity of

Barrientos assertion). Following Henige, Barrientos may be

considered a primary source despite the fact that for him the

information was second hand (hearsay).

8
 As to who killed Ribault and how he was killed, neither

Solis de Meras nor Menendez and/or Vasaleque say a word. In

other words they do not say that Vicente and Solis do not kill

Ribault, they just do no mentions his killers. Some historians

say that Solis de Meras was not present at the second massacre

but they do not identify the source of this negative conclusion.

However, Barrientos precise narrative reveals otherwise. There

is no source saying that he was absent.

Barrientos instead give us all the details about agency,

and the way Ribaut was killed. He adds that after the attack his

head was cut.

It seems to me that any objective historian has to accept

Barrientos account of the facts, because his narrative is the

only source free of bias, on the contrary, Barrientos was

obviously heavily bias in support of Spain and the Church. His

narrative cannot be impugned otherwise.

Another marginal comment should be made concerning

Menendezs equity. It may be said that he neither forgave

Ribault, the pirate, nor accepted the ransom offer, however,

in 1552, it happened to be that Menendez while carrying

merchandise in the Caribbean [] was captured by a sizeable

French galleass. For fifteen days, Menendez was kept prisoner as

he negotiated with the corsair for his ransom and release. In

Santiago de Cuba, he borrowed 1,098 gold pesos to ransom his

9
person and ship. 6 [See, Eugene Lyon, The Adelantamiento de

Florida: 1565-1568, University of Florida, 1973, 16; Footnote

27: Menendez Describes his adventures in a memorial to the

Council of the Indies dated 1553, and found in A.G.I. Santo

Domingo 71. In Stetson Collection, mis-dated 1567, repeated by

Sam Turner, Pedro Menendez de Aviles timeline: In the kings

service, posted: 01/18/2015, St. Augustine Records]. See also,

Michael Kenny, S.J. (1863-1946), The Romance of the Floridas,

N.Y.: Bruce Publishing, 1934, at 125, note 5. Mr. Kenny says

that Bourne and Lowery recall the wholesale slaughters of

surrendered prisoners by Cromwell and others; but if Menendez

had followed the corsair practice in his own experience at

Havana and elsewhere, he would have hanged or burn them

wholesale. Or he could have inclosed them unarmed in a

concentration camp, or on one of the islands, and left them

there foodless to die, after the fashion of Sir Francis Drake.

In connection with Barrientos Vidas y Hechos, it should be

also taken into consideration what Allen Johnson says in his

chapter on assessment of evidence in the sense that:

The instant that the desire to transmit

intelligence appears in source material, the historian
must be on his guard. Historical information
transmitted by an active intelligence is bound to be
somewhat deflected from the exact truth. No human mind
is infallible. Every man is a child of his age, a
creature of his environment, and subject to conditions
of time and place. What these conditions are in any

10
 given case must always be ascertained. There remains
the further question whether the narrator of
historical happenings desired to the tell the truth. 7

Here I would like to give context to the beheading of

Ribault by referring to this atrocious practice. In 1565, it was

regularly done in Ireland. The subject is well presented by

David Edwards, Atrocities: Some days two heads and some days

four, History Ireland, vol. 17, No. 1 (Jan Feb, 2009), pp.

18-21. Edwards explains why the gruesome practice of the taking

of heads as trophies escalate in Tudor Ireland following the

[English] governments adoption of a policy of conquest and

colonization becoming a feature of warfare common to both

Irish and English soldiers. For other accounts on the beheading

practice see David Edwards, et al. editors, Age of Atrocity,

Cornwall, 2007, pg. 56 and 306 [index on beheadings].

In Spain executions were carried out by various methods

including strangulation by the garrotte. In the 16th and 17th

centuries, noblemen were sometimes executed by means of

beheading. They were tied to a chair on a scaffold. The

executioner used a knife to cut the head from the body. It was

considered to be a more honourable death if the executioner

started with cutting the throat. 8 Finally, Lowery finds nothing

unusual in the practice of beheading and exhibition at St.

Augustine saying that it was among the customs of that age. 9

11
 As to Solis de Meras silence concerning his presence at

the parley with Ribault and moreover being one of the killers

which is asserted by Barrientos, it seems to me that he was not

going to incriminate himself in such and atrocious killing. He

was supposed to be just the chronicler of the expedition. On the

other hand, it made sense for Menendez to trust two persons of

his confidence to carry out the killing of the French commander.

Additionally, Solis de Meras does not say that anybody else

killed Ribaut nor that he was killed in a different fashion, or

that his head was not severed.

Allen Johnson reminded us that in the memoirs of statesmen

and politicians, the desire to justify conduct or a course of

action is often uppermost. 10

Who was Gonzalo Solis de Meras? First and foremost he was

Menendezs brother-in-law, his younger sister married the

Adelantado. Second, he was the chronicler of the 1565 Menendez

expedition to Florida (there is some discussion as to him being

a clerigo, a priest, but if that change took place was later

on in his life after he returned to Spain). Third, if he

participated in the killing of Ribault and perhaps also in the

head-cutting practice, was he to include in the memoir his

direct participation in the atrocity, tainting not only him but

also Menendez who allow it? Solis de Meras was from the Asturian

province like Menendez. The Asturians pretensions of nobility

12
was uppermost in their social aspiracions. See, Helena Carretero

Suarez, Ascenso Social de la Nobleza Avilesina en los Siglos XVI

y XVII. El Servicio al Imperio, Congreso Internacional Pequena

Nobreza nos Imperios Ibericos de Antigu Regimen, Lisboa, 18-21

Maio de 2011.

Finally, the literature on Solis de Meras is scant, but

recently a countryman from Asturias Jose Ignacio Gracia Noriega

wrote a short piece entitled El Cronista Gonzalo Solis de

Meras published in his website ignaciogracianoriega.net

09/08/2006.

On the biography cited he narrates how Solis de Merass

uncle became famous for having killed the pirate Barbarroja in

1518. It is a coincidence between what Meras did to Ribault and

what his uncle did to Barbaroja in 1518.

The argument would be that Solis de Meras in imitation of

his worshipped ancestor used the same method to eliminate

Ribault, this other corsair or pirate. Both used a pike, and

then beheaded the political-religious enemy, what total

similarity to reflect just a coincidence. But, perhaps, even

more surprising is the triumphalism and approbation implied by

Mr. Gracia Noriega who lives in the XXI century. The Spaniards

always complaint about the Black Legend but I believe still is

alive and well in modern Spain. Meras and Barrientos are almost

13
contemporaneous and Barriento seems to have had available to him

the Meras Memorial.

Then in the 17th century comes Barcia who had available

Meras, he was able to confront Meras with his other sources, but

not Barrientos.

At the end of the 19th century Ruidiaz was also able to

confront Barcia and Meras. He even patched Meras in several

places using Barcias narrative, but he had never seen

Barrientos.

Finally, in 1902, Genaro Garcia publishes Barrientos and

the game changes because it was not a question of only rejecting

the French accounts but also of questioning Barrientos whose

narrative was contemporaneous to the events and to Meras

himself, and benefited from having been able to confront many

other primary sources.

b) French Accounts

1. Jacques le Moyne de Morgues (1533-1588)

He was the mapmaker and artist who went with the Laudonnieres

expedition to Florida in 1564. After the attack on Fort

Caroline, he was able to flee with other countrymen and returned

to France writing in Latin a Narrative of his experiences in

Florida. After his death, his wife delivered to de Bry Moynes

drawings and in 1591 the de Bry firm in Frankfurt published them

along his narration was in great part taken from the narrative

14
of one of the Frenchmen who after the execution was left for

dead and was able to escape. Le Moyne says that so ends the

narrative of the sailor, who told it to me himself.

Ribault himself, and DOttigny, Laudonnieres

lieutenant, were first led into the fort by
themselves; the rest were halted about a bowshot from
the fort, and were all tied up in fours, back to back;
from which, and other indications, they quickly
perceived that their lives were lost. Ribault asked to
see the governor, to remind him of his promise; but he
spoke to deaf ears. DOttigny, hearing the despairing
cries of his men, appealed to the oath which had been
taken, but they laughed at him. As Ribault insisted on
his application, a Spanish soldier finally came in,
and asked in French if he were the commander,
Ribaut. The answer was, Yes. The man asked again,
if Ribault did not expect, when he gave an order to
his soldiers, that they would obey; to which he said
again, Yes. I propose to obey the orders of my
commander also, replied the Spaniard; I am ordered
to kill you; and with that he thrust a dagger into
his breast; and he killed DOttigny in the same way.

The problem with this narrative is that the killings did not

take place within any fort. All the other details, in general

seem to correspond with the Spanish accounts except for the

topic of the promise (of leniency we assumed) which is

introduced in this way. This account seems to be also dubious

because it is said that Ribault and Ottigny were first led into

the fort by themselves; the rest were halted about a bowshot

from the fort. If the rest of the sailors and soldiers were

tied up at such a distance how could this witness hear the

dialogue reproduced in the extract? Besides, the geographic

location of the entire incident is inaccurate (what fort?).

15
 Winsor asserts that Le Moyne was so incorrect as to make

this last slaughter take place at Ft. Caroline.

2. Le Challeux

Challeux was the carpenter and lay minister of Landounieres

expedition who after the attack on Fort Caroline was able to

flee with other countrymen and returned to France. In 1579, he

published Discours de lhistoire de la florite contenant la

trahison del Espangnols, contre les subjects du Roy. His

narrative contains two paragraphs telling the demise of Ribault.

Le Challeux was not present at the massacre, but he says that

the details of what happened where told to him by Christophe Le

Breton of Havre-de-Grace who was with Ribault but he was

pardoned by Menenedez and taken by the Spaniards to Seville

whence he escaped to Bordeaux, France and from there to Dieppe.

Le Challeux says that after the hurricane, Ribault ended up on

the mouth of the St. Johns river and sent a group of 16 to go to

Ft. Caroline which they did not know had been taken by the

Spaniards. This group met the Spaniards on the other side of the

river. Some swimmed over to talk to them. The Spanish captain

name was Vallemande who swore to keep the French safe. The

Spaniards sent a barge which brought 30 of the other side among

them Ribault. All were walked to the fort and there killed.

Ribault was stabbed apparently more than once with a dagger, his

16
beard cut off and sent to Seville. Some of the French sailors

were spared and sent to Seville too. One of them was Christopher

le Breton who escaped to Dieppe and told Challeux the story. He

added that Ribaults body and head were quartered, and stuck at

the four corners of the fort.

During this act of cruelty, Captain Jean Ribaut made a

great plea to save his life to Vallemande: the same was made by

dOttigny at his feet, but nothing came of their wishes. Then,

one of the soldiers marched behind Captain Jean Ribaut and

stabbed him in the back until life had escaped him.

To show even greater cruelty, the Spaniards in spite

cut off the beard of the Kings Lieutenant as proof of
[their] prowess and sent it to Seville, they told us
of this. (Lorant, 116).

Finally, after the treatment of our men, there were

the repercussions of the Spanish. And for their
cruelty and barbarous behavior: they cut off [this is
the original phrase found in this translation]
the beard of the Kings Lieutenant to demonstrate
their power and it was made to be sent on an
expedition to Seville, and some of our sailors, were
sent on the same voyage also, one of us whose name was
Christopher le Breton of Haure, Greece, having left
Seville to the town of Bordeaux and boarded a ship to
Dieppe. And it was by him that relayed the events that
befell the body of the good and faithful subject of
the King: and [the Spanish] quartered [Ribauts body]
and placed pieces at the four corners of the fort. 11

The geographic location is totally misplaced. Many of the

details also varied.
3. La Popeliniere

In 1582, Henri Lancelot Voisin, Sieur de La Popeliniere

17
published in Paris a narrative of the massacre which may be

found in Lowery, Appendix P, pg. 427.

4. Jehan Memyn

On October 16, 1566, Memyn a French seaman captured by the

Spaniards gave a deposition printed by Lowery, in Appendix P,

pg. 426 saying that Ribaults beard was cut off and sent to

Philip II, but nothing about the head being cut off.

General Evaluation

The French accounts are valuable for the slight corroboration

they provide of some aspects of the Spanish accounts. In all

other concerns cannot be taken seriously because they are full

of errors, and inconsistencies. For a detailed discussion of

these problems, see McGrath, Appendix: A Note on the Sources.

III. Secondary Sources

Where the pundits contradict each other so

flagrantly the field is open to inquiry

Edward Hallett Carr, What is History?, 1967

No matter how perseveringly an historian may press back to original sources,

he cannot afford to ignore the work of historians who may have preceded him

Allen Johnson, The Historian and Historical Evidence, 1926, 90

Gabriel de Cardenas y Cano (Barcia) Ensayo Cronologico (1829)

(281) que los hiciese traer como a los demas de diez en

diez, e llevando el adelantado a Juan Ribao detras del
medano de la arena entre las matas, donde los demas les
hizo amarrar las manos atras a el e a todos como a los

18
 demas, diciendoles que habian de caminar cuatro leguas por
tierra, e de noche, que no se sufria ir sueltos. Y estando
amarrados todos, dijo: si eran catolicos o luteranos, e si
habia alguno que se quisiese confesar. El Juan Ribao
respondio: que el e todos cuantos alli estaban eran de la
nueva religion; y empezo a decir el salmo de Domine memento
mei: y acabado dijo: que de tierra eran, y que en tierra se
habian de volver; e veinte anos mas o menos todo era una
cuenta: que hiciese el adelantado de ellos lo que quisiese;
e mandando el adelantado los matasen, con la misma orden, e
en la misma raya, mando que se hiciese de todos lo que de
los otros. Solo saco a los pifaros, atambores e trompetas,
y a otros cuatro que dijeron eran catolicos, que eran en
todo diez y seis personas; todos los demas fueron
degollados.

Robert Greenhow (1800-1854) History of Florida (1856)

Ribault himself took the same course, and their intention

having been declared to Menendez, they were carried as the
others had been over the inlet in parties of ten, who were
in like manner securely tied on landing, and driven towards
St. Augustine. The French commander being asked of what
religion were the prisoners, replied that he and all with
him were of the new faith; four of the men nevertheless
proclaimed themselves Catholics; and they as well as twelve
others, including all the musicians, reached the town in
safety: the remaining one hundred and thirty-six, were
despatched on the way, by the Spanish soldiers, Ribault
himself receiving the first blow, while engaged in prayer
to the Almighty for forgiveness of his sins.

In an underneath note the author mentioned the narrative of Solis de

Meras, describing these atrocious proceedings. Trivia: Mr. Greenhow, a
physician, married Rose ONeal who became a spy for the Confederacy
during the Civil War.

Daniel Brinton (1837-1899) Florida Peninsula (1859)

(32) The Spanish accounts, though agreeing as regards the

facts with those of their enemies, take a very different
theoretical view. In them, Aviles is a model of Christian
virtue and valor, somewhat stern now and then, it is true,
but not more so than the Church permitted against such
stiff necked heretics. The massacre of the Huguenots is
excused with cogent reasoning; indeed, what need of any
excuse for exterminating this nest of pestilent
unbelievers? Could they be ignorant that they were breaking
the laws of nations be settling on Spanish soil? The
council of the Indies argue the point and prove the

19
 infringement in a still extant document (Ternaux-Compans
Recueil des Pieces sur la Floride, appended to the Compte-
Rendu of Guido de las Bazares, without a distinct title)
Did they imagine His Most Catholic Majesty would pass
lightly by this taunt cast in the teeth of the devoutest
nation of the world?.

Jared Sparks (1789-1866) Jean Ribault (1864)

On page 109 of The Library of American Biography, vol. 12, Sparks

says:

A soldier, by the order of his commander, thrust a dagger into

the breast of Ribault; the same hand inflicted a like blow upon
Ottigny; they fell and expired together. Then companions were
butchered in a similar manner, like cattle bound for the
slaughter; and as if in justification of this unparalleled
perfidiousness and cruelty, they were told, in their last
agony, that they were Lutherans, enemies of God and the Virgin
Mary.

There are small textual discrepancies between the Boston 1875 edition
of the Narrative of Le Moyne wherefrom this paragraphs was taken and the
version published by Stefan Lorant in his The New World, see pages 22 and
84 respectively. The Sparks version however contains more important
discrepancies citing Le Moynes Brevis Narratio, pg. 28 (in Latin). Sparks
indicates that on the French side there were two French sailors who left
accounts of what happened to Ribaut. One was a native from Dieppe, left
for dead with the other corpses, who told Le Moyne the story of what
happened. The other was Christophe le Breton of Havre-de-Grace who told
basically the same story to Challeux the carpenter. It is said that he
was carried by the Spaniards to Seville whence he escaped to Bordeaux.

George Fairbanks (1820-1906) History of Florida (1871)

(121) in Chapter IX, Fairbanks described the shipwreck and massacre of

Ribaut and his followers.

(127) Ribaut and Ottigny alone were taken into the fort.
I have been directed to kill you. And thereupon he
plunged his dagger to the heart of Ribaut, and immediately
after Ottigny fell by the same hand. The rest were killed
outside the fort, three musicians alone being spared. The
author of this account, whose name is not given by Le
Moyne, was left for dead Other accounts, contemporaneous
with the event, say that Ribaut was quartered and his
dissevered body place on the four angles of the fort, and
that his beard was sent as a trophy to Spain a statement
indignantly denied by Spanish authorities. Besides this

20
 account we find in De Bry a statement given in a
supplicatory letter addressed to Charles IX, offered in the
name of the widows, orphans, and relatives of those who
were slaughtered by the Spaniards in this expedition.
that Ribaut, after being forced to witness the slaughter of
his men, vainly appealing to the faith of Menendez, was
struck down from behind, his body treated with the grossest
indignity, his beard cut off and sent as a trophy to Spain,
and his head quartered and stuck upon spears in the area of
the fort. But these statements are denied by Spanish
writers, whose representations of the course of Menendez,
his pledges to Ribaut, and treatment of this body after he
had been killed, are so utterly at variance that the
historian has no means of deciding upon facts, and can only
state the probabilities of the case, which on this point
lean in favor of the Spaniards, -divesting Menendezs
conduct of none of its enormity, but relieving the tragedy
of some of the horrors which which the French records
surround it. The atrocity of the deed struck all Europe
with horror, even in that day; and the shocking story has
been perpetuated over three hundred years, giving the name
of Menendez a stain of infamy which time cannot wipe out.

The fact of the killing of Ribault taking place inside the fort
and the killing of the rest of the soldiers outside of it, repeats Le
Moynes narrative which in this main point is erroneous.
I think it was H.E. Carr who said that before to study history we
should study the historian. By the same token I offered here the
following paragraph taken from Mr. Fairbanks biography by Arthur
Joseph Lynch, in describing the historians mother Mary Massey
Fairbanks. It says that She was a Presbyterian and very anti-
Catholic. So strong were her feelings about the Roman Catholic Church
that, referring to a friends daughter who had become a Catholic, she
wrote, You do not know how much she has my pity. If she was my
daughter I would sooner put her in the grave. Georges life would
reflect the views, prejudices, and examples that came from his father
and mother, as well as their strengths of character.

Barnard Shipp (1813, Natchez, Miss.- 1904, Russum, Miss.), The History
of Hernando de Soto and Florida; Record of the Events of Fifty-six
years, from 1512 to 1568, Philadelphia: Lindsay, 1881.

Mr. Shipp tells the story of the first 56 years of Florida after Ponce
de Leons discovery. On page 559, the * footnote following on pg.
560, cites Solis de Meras, brother-in-law of Menendez as the source of
the killing of Ribault and his companions narrative. It does not cite
any location or editing for the manuscript. Mr. Shipps book was
published in 1881 well before any version of the Memorial either in

21
Spanish and/or in English was available. This may account for
discrepancies between Shipps text (obviously in English) and what
afterwards, 12 years later, was included in Ruidiaz (in Spanish). In
the preface to this book pg. vi, Shipp cites generally Francisco
Lopez de Mendez Grajales, who accompanied Menendez, tells the story of
his expedition to Florida.

On pg. 559, footnote * following on pg. 560, Shipp reproduced

verbatim a 08/01/1569 letter sent by Pius V to Menendez, and, right
after that Shipp indicates that on 08/22/1572 the massacre of St.
Bartholomew took place in which 70,000 protestants perished, so that
the massacre of the Huguenots or Lutherans in Florida on 29th of
September, 1565 was that a prelude of that scheme the most bloody and
the most destructive to the repose of mankind that had ever been
suggested by superstition to the human heart. My research disclosed
two other similar interpretations of the massacre of the French as
prelude or rehersal to St. Bartholomews. See, Matanzas was a
rehersal of organized terror in the Netherlands and the mass murder of St.
Spanish Bartholomew day in France. David Dowd, his introduction to
Ribaults Whole and True Discovery, and Frank Lestringant, Une Saint-
Barthelemy americaine: lagonie de la Florida huguenote, Bulletin de la
Societe de LHistorie du Protetantisme Francais, vol. 138 (Oct-Dec 1992),
pp. 459-473.

Charles Baird (1828-1887) Huguenots (1885)

(74) Menendez was reminded that his nation was still at

peace with France. True, he answered, but not so in the
case of heretics, with whom I shall ever carry on war in
these parts: and I shall do it with all possible cruelty
toward all of that sect, wherever I shall find them,
whether by sea or by land. Yield yourselves to my mercy,
give up your arms and your colors, and I will do as God may
prompt me. We shall not reproduce here the sickening
details of the massacre that followed.

Justin Winsor (1831-1897) Narrative & Critical (1888)

(277) The French commander gave up the banner of France

and that of Coligny, with the colors of his force, his own
fine set of armor, and his seal of office. As he and his
comrades were bound, he intoned one of the Psalms; and
after its concluding words added: We are of earth, and to
the earth we must return; twenty years more or less is all
but as a tale that is told. Then he bade Menendez do his
will. Two young nobles, and a few men whom Menendez could
make useful, he spared; the rest were at once despatched.

22
 Footnote 1 below says This is the Spanish account of Solis
de Meras. Lemoyne and other French men [Challeux and le
Breton] maintain that Menendez promised La Caille, under
oath and in writing, to spare their lives if they
surrendered. This seems utterly improbable; for Menendez
from first to last held to his original declaration, el
que fuere herege morira. Le Moyne is so incorrect as to
make this last slaughter take place at Caroline.

John Fiske (1842-1901) Discovery of America (1892)

(514) Menendez, the last of the Crusaders. He was going

on a crusade. The original crusades were undertaken for a
worthy purpose, and helped to save the Cross from being
subdued by the Crescent. But after a while, when heresy
became rife, the pope would proclaim a crusade against
heretics, and a bloody affair this was apt to be, as the
towns of Southern France once had reason to know. We may
fitly call Menendez the Last of the Crusaders. (518) but
besides these, one sailor, who was not quite killed,
contrieved to crawl away, and after many adventures
returned to France, to tell the harrowing tale. From this
sailor, and from one of the five who were spared, we get
the French account of the affair. The Spanish account we
have from Menendez himself who makes his official report to
the king as coolly as a farmer would write about killing
pigs or chickens. The two accounts substantially agree,
except as regards the promise of safety by which the
Frenchmen were induced to surrender. Menendez represents
himself as resorting to a pious fraud in using an equivocal
from of words, but the Frenchman declares that he promised
most explicitly to spare them, and even swore it upon the
cross. I am inclined to think that the two statements may
be reconciled, in view of the acknowledged skill (519) of
Menendez and all his kith and kin as adroit dissemblers.
After all said and done, it was a foul affair, and the name
Matanzas, which means slaughterings, came naturally
enough to attach itself to that inlet, and remains to this
day a memento of that momentary fury of a New World
crusade. From his master, however, Menendez received
hearty approval for his ferocity, relieved by a slight hint
of disapprobation for his scant and tardy humanity. Tell
him, said Philip, that as to those he has killed, he has
done well, and as to those he has sabed, they shall be sent
to the galleys.

Edward Bourne (1860-1908) Spain in America (1904)

(185) Bourne basically repeated Solis de Meras and Menendez

letter to the king. (186) The story of this tragedy has

23
 been told from the Spanish side, for the accounts of
Menendez and Solis bear upon them the marks of truth so far
as these are discoverable. They do not blink the facts, nor
do they show signs of consciousness that there was need of
concealment or apology. The accounts of the French who
escaped accuse Menendez of having promised on oath to save
the lives of those who surrendered. This it is difficult to
believe in view of the whole tone of Menendezs
correspondence with the king. That a man of honor and
religion could have done such a deed seems impossible
today.

Bournes conclusion would be consistent if we do not take into

consideration
Menendezs conduct and artifices used for the killing of the French
interpreter. See, below Appendix A.

Caroline Mays Brevard (1860-1920) History of Florida (1904)

(49) The French demanded of Menendez who he was and why he

came. He replied in no gentle words that he was Menendez of
Spain with orders from his king to kill and behead all
Protestants in the regions about. (52) But Ribaut with one
hundred and fifty of his men, as the two hundred had been,
were taken by tens across the inlet, then were bound and
massacred. The noble Ribaut met his death calmly and
fearlessly. In a clear voice he sang a psalm. Then he said
that in twenty years, more or less, he must make his final
account to God, and Menendez might do with him as he would.
So with calm and pious courage that strengthened his
comrades to the last, his life ended.

Ms. Mays properly emphasized the dignity with which Ribault faced
his last moments.

Francis Parkman (1823-1893) Pioneers of France (1910)

(96) Chapter VII starts on this page and Parkman says:

The monk, the inquisitor, and the Jesuit were lords of

Spain, -sovereigns of her sovereign, for they had formed
the dark and narrow mind of that tyrannical recluse. They
had formed the minds of her people, quenched in blood every
spark of rising heresy, and given over a noble nation to a
bigotry blind and inexorable as the doom of fate. Linked
with pride, ambition, avarice, every passion of a rich,
strong nature, potent for good and ill, it made the
Spaniard of that day a scourge as dire as ever fell on
man.

24
Parkman next chapter VIII on pg. 131 is entitled Massacre of the
Heretics. Then Parkman gives the Spanish version of the final
killings followed on page 146 with the French version from Le Moynes
and Challeuxs. Then Parkman adds that the charge of breach of faith
contained in them was believed by Catholics as well as Protestants;
and it was a defence against this charge that the narrative of the
Adelantados bother-in-law was published. That Ribaut, a man whose
good sense and courage were both reputed high, should have submitted
himself and his men to Menendez without positive assurance of safety,
is scarcely credible; nor I it lack of charity to believe that a bigot
so savage in heart and so perverted in conscience would act on the
maxim, current among certain casuists of the day, that faith ought not
to be kept with heretics.
This last argument is a good one, but the problem with Parkman is
not only his obvious bias against the Spaniards, but also his
reputation as a historian. See, Francis Jennings, The Invasion of
America, 1975, preface, pgs. v-ix.

Woodbury Lowery (1853-1906) Spanish Settlements (1911)

Lowery is perhaps one of the most accomplished historians on our

topic. He wrote The Spanish Settlements within the Present Limits of
the United States. Florida. 1562-1574 in two volumes, the first
covering from 1513 to 1561. The Death of Jean Ribault narrative is
included in chapter X entitled The Fate of Ribaults Fleet, pg. 186,
and also in Appendix P (The Death of Ribault). Lowery was certainly
a man of his age, born in New York in 1853, learned French and German
while living with his parents in Europe, graduated from Harvard
University in 1875, got his law degree from Columbia and was admitted
to the District of Columbia bar in 1897, specializing in patent law.
He abandoned the law in his forty-fourth year, and took up historical
investigation specializing in the Spanish history of North America.
Lowery died prematurely in 1906 in Sicily. The first issue W.L.
discussed in the Preface to the first volume of his Spanish
Settlements is a comparison between the accomplishments of the Anglo-
Saxons in North America and those of the French. He wonders why the
English adventurers found almost no armed opposition on the part of
the uncivilized races unlike the Latin brotherhood for whom it was
much harder. He answers himself this unusually interesting and
absorving question indicating that the specifics may be found in
France and England in North America by Mr. Parkman. As to Spain,
Lowery shows in his book her preliminary success, later apathy, and
final decadence. The Anglo-Saxon supremacy ideology is elaborated and
explain historically by Thomas F. Gossett in his Race the history of

25
an idea in America (1997) ch. XIII, pg. 310. The Preface to the second
volume of Spanish Settlements contains a very detailed bibliography of
our subject where W.L. often reaches unwarranted conclusions. As to
our precise topic he says on pg. 199 that

Aviles had confided Ribaut to his brother-in-law, and

biographer, Solis de Meras, and to San Vincente, with
directions to kill him. Ribaut was wearing a felt hat and
on Vicentes asking for it Ribaut gave it to him. Then the
Spaniard said: You know how captains must obey their
generals and execute their commands. We must bind your
hands, When this had been done and the three had proceeded
a little distance along the way, Vincente gave him a blow
in the stomach with his dagger, and Meras thrust him
through the breast with a pike which he carried, and then
they cut off his head, citing Barrientos, Meras, Aviles, Le
Challeux, and Le Moyne (pg. 200, note 4).

Lowery says that Le Moynes version who comes from the Dieppe
sailor who survived deserves consideration [even tough contains
serious anachronisms as explained by McGrath]. Barrientos is of the
opinion that Menendez granted Ribaut an honorable death by cutting his
head when he could legally have burnt him alive. He thinks that he
killed him by divine inspiration (pg. 204)[Barrientos never read Mt.
25:40 Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these
my brothers, you did it to me.

Herbert E. Bolton (1870-1953) Borderlands (1921)

(148) Menendez set out immediately. Once more were the

same ceremonies repeated; and Ribaut and his two hundred
men were induced to surrender. One of Menendezs captains
thrust his dagger into Ribauts bowels, and Meras, the
Adelantados brother-in-law, drove his pike through his
breast; then they hacked off his head. I put Jean Ribaut
and all the rest of them to the knife, Menendez wrote to
Philip, judging it to be necessary to the service of the
Lord Our God, and of Your Majesty. And I think it a very
great fortune that this man be dead he could do more in
one year than another in ten; for he was the most
experienced sailor and corsair known, very skillful in this
navigation of the Indies and of the Florida Coast.

some condemned Menendez for his cruelty But Barrientos, a

contemporary historian, holds that he was very merciful to them for
he could legally have burnt them alive He killed them, I think,
rather by divine inspiration. And Philips comments As to those he
has killed he has done well, and as to those he has saved, they shall

26
be sent to the galleys. And he wrote to Menendez, We hold that we
have been well served. The name of Menendez is popularly associated
in America almost solely with this inhuman episode.

Jeannette Thurber Connor (1872-1927) Memorial translation (1923)

(Preface, 12)Mendoza and Meras accompanied Menendez on his

expedition to Florida in 1565; Mendoza was with him at the
first massacre of the French and Meras at the second. Meras
was one of the two men who killed Ribaut. We learn this
fact from Barrientos; Meras does not mention it.

Kathryn Trimmer Abbey (1895-1967) Fla Land of Change (1941)

(36) Throughout the centuries criticism and censure have

been heaped on Menendez for the cruelty and deadly
effectiveness of his enterprises; but the modern world
tries to be more even-handed in its judgments. Realizing
that some of the most atrocious details have little
substantiation in sound evidence, it sees the root of the
massacre in the wars and policies of Europe. Lutheran and
Catholic gave each other little quarter, and corsairs were
legitimate prey far enough removed from starvation and
danger to enable a victor to succor a vanquished foe nearly
his size in number. The French and Spanish struggle in
Florida exemplified all these conditions.

Felix Zubillaga, La Florida La Mision Jesuitica (1566-1572) y La

Colonizacion Espanola, Roma, 1941.

On pgs. 194 to 196, Zubillaga refers to the massacre of the

French not providing any detail as to the way they were killed
saying simply that Menendez hizo pasar a cuchillo [put them to
the knife] a los franceses. Then he dedicates the rest of the
section to discuss the possibility that Menendez had make
promises to obtain the French to surrender.

Stefan Lorant (1901-1997) New World (1965)

Lorant was a member of the intellectual migration an a pioneer in

America of picture textbooks [Fermi, 266] as evidenced by the beauty
of The New World. The First Pictures of America edited and annotated
by Lorant, New York: Duell, 1965. Lorant was born in Budapest, Hungary
and died in Rochester, MN in 1997, moving to the U.S. in July 1940.
According to Wikipedia he was better known as a filmmaker and
photojournalist.

(84)[the French narrative by Le Moyne] When Ribaut again

said, Yes, the Spaniard continued, I also obey my

27
 commanders orders, which are to kill you. Whereupon he
thrust a dagger into Ribauts breast. Ottigny was killed in
the same way. Other Spanish soldier were detailed to slay
all the rest of the Frenchmen by beating their heads with
clubs, and axes, at the same time calling them Lutherans
and enemies of God and the Virgin. Thus were they murdered,
most brutally and a violation of an oath, all except four;
there of these were musicians who were kept alive to play
for dancing a drummer and a fifer from Dieppe, the former
named Dronet, and a fiddler named Masselin. The Fourth was
the sailor who escaped and lived to tell me the story. He
was among those tied up for slaughter and was battered on
the head, but when the three to whom he was tied fell on
top of him, he was left there for dead. He was not dead,
however, only stunned. A wooden pyre was built, on which
the Spaniards wanted to burn the victims, yet they put off
the burning till the next day. The sailor, coming to his
senses in the night, found himself among the dead bodies.
He remembered a knife he wore in a wooden sheath, and he
managed to twist himself around little by little until he
could get the knife out and cut his fetters. He then
slipped away, walking throughout the night. As he had long
been a sailor, he knew how to tell direction by the sun.
Thus he was able to lay his course the next day. He left
the fort behind, and in the next three days he covered
forty miles. He arrived at the place of a certain Indian
chief, and there he stayed.

(116)[the French narrative by Le Challeux] In the horror,

Captain Ribaut begged Vallemande to save his life, and the
Sieur of Ottigny, on his knees, recalled his solemn promise
but all to no avail. Turning his back Vallemande stood off
a short distance while one of his murderers came from
behind and struck Captain Ribaut to the ground with a
dagger. Then he was stabbed until there was no life left in
him. In such a way were our men handled, men who had
yielded in the shadow of Spanish assurances. To show even
greater cruelty, the Spaniards in spite cut off the beard
of the Kings Lieutenant as proof of their prowess and sent
it to Seville. As some of our sailors, whose lives had been
spared were also sent to Seville, they told us of this. One
of them was Christopher le Breton, who escaped and fled
from Seville to the town of Bordeaux and thence by ship to
Dieppe. It was he who related what had happened to that
faithful servant of the King, Jean Ribaut. As a memorial of
their victory, the Spaniards quartered his body and his
head, which they stuck at the four courners of the fort.

M. Adele Francis Gorman ( -1995) Jean Ribaults Colonies in Florida,

FHQ, vol.44, July 1965, pg. 51

28
 Her article analyzes mainly the international and diplomatic
contest of the massacres. As to our topic, she only says:

Using the same tactics as he had earlier, Menendez

dispatched a force which captured the French and killed
them, Ribault was murdered by Menendezs brother-in-law,
Solis de Meas, and an officer named San Vicente.

David B. Quinn (1909-2002) Explorers y Colonies (1990)

To accept the unconditional surrender of unarmed men with whom

there had been no fighting and then to kill them off in cold
blood was, even by the standards of the time, a savage act. It
differed from the surrender at mercy after a siege. there was
here only the desire to kill It is indeed his view of the
Protestants as subhuman monsters which is most revealing of the
naked hatred of the Spaniards of the Counter-Reformation. But it
was national sensibilities that he most affronted when his action
became known in Europe This episode survives in the broader
fields of history as one, not soon forgotten by either nation, in
the long Hapsburg-Valois struggle France retained the will to
re-establish herself, and the creation of French Canada in the
end reflected in some degree a long-term reaction to the Florida
killings. Pg. 274.

Maria Antonia Sainz ( La Florida, Siglo XVI (1991)

This historian says on page 187 todos los demas fueron

degollados, incluido el capitan Ribault, que fue ejecutado por
Solis de Meras, cunado del adelantado. On the issue of
justification, on pg. 189 adds: intransigencia religiosa del
siglo XVI y ejecutor de las ordenes de un rey que, legitimado por
el derecho internacional y por la suprema autoridad de la iglesia
La crueldad de esta accion, que hoy parece evidente, deberia
contemplarse a traves de un studio mucho mas amplio que el hecho
concreto que se esta analizando, y posiblemente al final se
alcanzarian conclusions mas comprensivas con el suceso, como asi
lo han interpretado diversos autores, no todos ellos espanoles
[citing Gonzalez Ruiz, Bushell, and Manucy] on footnote 5 Manucy
is transcribed as saying that como herejes, era legal y
permissible quemarlos, en cambio, Menendez le garantizo una
muerte honorable con la espada.

Albert Manucy (1910-1997) Menendez (1992)

29
 Ribault would threaten them no more; his head now decorated a
pikestaff. True, some thought Menendez was cruel. But most,
being practical about the matter, rated him a good captain.
There was not enough food for both Frenchmen and Spaniards.
Besides, the prisoners outnumbered their captors. Furthermore,
since the French were heretics, it was legally permissible to
burn them; instead, Menendez had granted them honorable death
with blades of steel. Pg. 45.

Jerald T. Milanich (1945- ) Laboring in the Fields of the Lord:

Spanish Missions and Southeastern Indians, Washington D.C.,
Smithsonian Institute Press, 1999.

(85) In accordance with his own beliefs and duties,

Menendez de Aviles swore to pursue them with a fire and
blood war to extermination(Lyon 1976, 125). Numbering as
many as 200, the French had their hands bound, were taken
behind a nearby dune, and slain. The small inlet where
the execution took place would be named Matanzas for the
massacre. Today, it sill bears the infamous name. Two weeks
later on October 11, a second group of French shipwreck
victims including Jean Ribault, arrived at the same inlet.
Again Menendez de Aviles and his soldiers confronted the
French soldiers and sailors. About half agreed to surrender
and put themselves at the mercy of the Spaniards. The
others opted to return South. Like their compatriots, all
the French who surrendered, Ribault among them, were
killed.

John McGrath ( ) The French in Early Florida. In the Eye of the

Hurricane, Gainesville, FL, Univ Press of Florida (2000)

McGrath is a professor of history at Boston University. He

questioned the French accounts of Le Moyne and Le Chailleux with good
arguments which more or less disqualified their versions of the death
of Ribaut. Thus, we have left only Solis de Meras, Menendez,
Barrientos y Vasalique as primary sources because Mendoza Grajales did
not accompany Menendez during the second massacre on October 11th.
McGrath believes that Solis de Meras stayed with Mendoza in St.
Augustine on that day too. On pg. 219, footnote 16 he says that Many
historians accept the claim of Menendezs biographer Barrientos,
composed in 1568, that Solis de Meras was not only at Matanzas on
October 11th, but he was one of the two Spaniards who executed
Ribault. Since Solis de Meras never specifically claims that he was
present, and there is no mention of his presence by Menendez, this
leaves room for doubt. See McAlister, preface to Solis de Meras,
Menendez, 12.

30
 It seems to me surprising that this historian does not mention
the colleague to whom he owes the availability of the Barrientos
manuscript. It was presented for the first time in 1902 at the 13th
Congress of the Society of American Americanists in New York by the
Mexican historian Genaro Garcia who published it as part of his book
Dos relaciones de La Florida. After that, 63 years later it was
translated into English by Kerrigan and published by the University
Press of Florida in 1965.
I was unable to find Mr. Garcias name in this book, but it is
not an exception because the historical community try to avoid
Garcia also. All this happened because he was an uncompromising critic
of Spain and the Church, being unable to silence the crimes during the
Spanish Conquest of America, and those carry out by the Catholic
Church.
He published Vidas y Hechos by Barrientos who said that Ribaut
was killed by Menendezs order who directed his brother-in-law Solis
de Meras and the captain San Vicente to killed him. San Vicente used
his dagger and Meras used a pike. Then he added that they cut
Ribaults head. This is the way that the French commander died
executed by San Vicente and Meras who then cut his head.
It seems understandable that neither Meras nor Menendez were
eager to reveal the atrocity and its authorship, and even less the
cutting of his head. As to Barrientos, he could be described as a
ravid catholic who hated deeply the heretics and believed that as such
Ribault could have been legally burnt.
So, his version of the events sounds very credible, because if he
was bias, his discrimination was against the Huguenots and in favor of
catholics as Meras and Menenedez. Besides, Menendez in his letters to
Philip II, and even Vasalique do not say that the killing of Ribault
had taken place in any other way or by the hand of any other person,
he remains silent about these details.
Thus if we follow the primary Spanish sources (not the French
accounts) Barrientos version must be taken as the final truth of the
matter.

Charles Bennett (1910-2003) Laudonniere (2001)

(42-43) The man who actually killed Ribault first inquired

of him whether the French commander did not expect his
soldiers to obey orders. Ribault answered, Yes Then the
Spaniard said. I proposed to obey the orders of my
commander also. I am ordered to kill you. The psalm that
Ribault recited before the dagger was thrust into his body
was the 132nd Psalm which begins Lord, remember (43).
David; but Ribault began it, according to an eyewitness,
with Lord, remember me. According to some early accounts,

31
 Ribaults beard and a piece of his skin were sent to Philip
II and the Frenchmans head was cut into four parts, which
were penetrated by lances and raised at each corner of the
Spanish fort at St. Augustine.

Barbara Purdy ( Papal Line (2002)

Ribault and dOttigni were taken a distance along the

shore away from the others. I demand to speak with your
governor, said Ribault when he heard the cries of his
countrymen. He took an oath to spare us. Meras just
laughed. You must know that a verbal agreement is worth as
much as a blank page. Then he said, When you give an
order to your soldiers, do you expect them to obey you?
Yes. Well, I proposed to obey the order of my commander
also. I am instructed to kill you. With that, Meras thrust
a dagger into the heart of Jean Ribault. The other soldier
killed Lieutenant dOttigni in a similar manner. They cut
off Ribaults grand red beard to send to King Philip.
Following that, they cut off his head, and placed it on the
end of a pike to be carried back to St. Augustine. Pg.
357.

Michael Gannon (1928- ) Florida, a short history (2003)

Mr. Gannon worked as a radio sportscaster, Coast Guardsman, war

correspondent in Vietnam, priest of the diocese of St. Augustine, and
official historian for the Catholic Church of Florida, before leaving
the priesthood and becoming a professor of history at the University
of Florida (289, see Horwitz, A Voyage ). (291)
Horwitz interviewed him for his book and asked him about the
massacres of the French at the Matanzas inlet. Mr. Gannon said
Menendez has reason to kill them. Because he could hardly feed his
own colony. And he had no means of guarding all those men After
that, Gannon became angry at the notion that the Huguenots were
religious martyrs, as Jacksonvilles evangelicals believed. He said,
we do not know that the French died for their faith. They happened to
be Calvinists, but Fort Caroline was a military bastion. It could have
been a religious refuge, but I dont think it was intended as one.
As a priest, Mr. Gannon certainly either forgot or disregarded
Mt. 25:40 where Jesus said Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one
of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.

Paul Hoffman (1943- ) New Andalucia (2004)

Writers then and since have debated the justice of Menendez

execution of his prisoners. The official Spanish position was
that they were pirates as well as heretics, and as such
merited no mercy. Indeed, it had been standard practice in

32
 times of peace to execute seamen engaged in attacks on Spanish
ships and possessions after putting them to a summary trial,
regardless of what legal title they claimed under letters of
reprisal. The execution of the French in Florida had been
recommended by Juan Rodriguez de Noriega as early as he end of
March, 1565 (AGI, IG 2004, fls. 289-289 v). In justifying the
action to the French, Philip II had his ambassador say that
Ribault was a pirate sent by Admiral Coligny, and a heretic,
and that Menendez had lacked supplies and ships to send them
to France (Spain, Negotiation VIII, 246-50). It is clear,
however, that the Spaniards were uneasy about what they had
done, because they knew, although the denied it, that Ribault
had a commission from the king of France. A royal agent,
Ribault and his men were not pirates outside the protection of
the law, even Spanish law. Pg. 230, n. 49.

Juan Carlos Mercado Menendez y la Florida (2006)

Mercado is a professor in the Department of Foreign Languages at

CUNY. He edited this book and wrote the introduction in Spanish. It
contains the Spanish version of the Memorial by Gonzalo Solis de Meras
(35-232), and also the Spanish version of Vidas y Hechos by Bartolome
Barrientos (233-376).

T. D. Allman (1944- ) Finding Florida (2013)

(42) Allman used the French version by Le Moyne to narrate the

death of Ribaut.

Tony Horwitz (1958- ) A Voyage (2008)

Twelve days later, at the same river and on the same

terms, another group of French castaways surrendered,
including the Fleet commander, Jean Ribault. Again, they
were ferried across the water, tied up, and asked whether
they were Catholics or Lutherans. Jean Ribault replied
that all who were there were of the new religion, and
began intoning a psalm. He was stabbed with a knife, stuck
with a pike, and then beheaded. More than a hundred others
were executed in similar fashion. (279).

Miles Harvey ( ) Savage Land (2008)

Menendez ordered his brother-in-law, Gonzalo Solis de

Meras, and a second soldier, Captain Juan de San Vicente,
to take Ribault away. They led him off toward that same
line in the sand where his countrymen had been cut down
twelve days earlier. Having now realized that he, too,
would be killed. Ribault repeatedly begged to speak to the

33
 commander to remind him of his promise, wrote Le Moyne,
but his words fell on deaf ears. The Spanish chronicler
Bartolome Barrientos described what happened next: Ribault
had been wearing a felt hat and Captain San Vicente now
asked him for it. When it was handed to him he said: You
know that captain must obey their generals and carry out
their orders, and so we must tie your hands. His hands
bound, Ribault was marched ahead for a little distance.
Captain San Vicente then thrust a knife in his belly, and
Gonzalo de Solis ran him through the heart with his pike,
they they cut off his head. Pg. 168/69.
As to Spains pretensions in America Harvey says that the
French found ways to plunder Spains New World interests
almost as soon as the Spanish began plundering the New
World itself. Pg. 28.

IV. Comparative History: the Massacre of the French at the

Matanzas inlet and the siege of Smerwick in Ireland

It helps to understand the tragedy of the Florida massacres

to do a bit of comparative history with a similar atrocity which
happened almost contemporaneously to the French massacre. They
took place in 1565 and 1580, the first one in Florida, and the
other one in Ireland. They are remembered as the massacre of the
French at the Matanzas Inlet and the massacre at Smerwick (or the
siege of Smerwick).

The siege of Smerwick was an episode in the history of the

British colonization of Ireland. Philip IIs role in the massacre
of the French was similar to Elizabeth Is on Smerwick. The
Adelantado Menendez de Aviles role during the former was played
by the Lord Deputy of Ireland Grey of Wilton at Smerwick.

The comparative history approach is frequently a good way

to illuminate differences and brief analogies and thus to get a
more precise and complete understanding of the compared
historical experiences. 12

There is a significant discrepancy in our picture. The

French thought at Matanzas from Spains point of view, the final
victims were the invaders trying to spread their own version of

34
Christianity. They challenged the Spaniards to colonize Florida.
At Smerwick, the English invaders were colonizing Ireland while
the Irish and his European allies, Italians and Spaniards try to
invade Ireland in their support. In our more focused approach we
see what happened in the Sixteenth century to two small armies
and its commanders surrendering to Spain in 1565, and to England
in 1580.

The siege was part of the final phase at the Great Desmond
War (Second Desmond Rebellion). This rebellion, the looming was
on the continent, the undeclared war at sea were befining to draw
forth the entire nation, not just the dregs of the shires or a
few soldiers adventurers.An unanimous favorite of the puritan
faction, Lord Grey arrived with his army in Dublin. After taking
the oath of office, Grey formed his green troops into marching
formation and launch his attack headfirst into the Wicklows.
Unfortunately for the English Grey was defeated at Glenmalure and
500 soldiers perished in the glen. Other officers were also
killed or wounded. For the English was his first defeat to date
in Ireland. Then Greys army turned South to face more serious
challenges. The long-awaited Spanish aid was arriving at Dingle
bay where it installed itself into old breastworks at Smerwick,
Fort del Oro. The entire English army was ordered to converged on
the West. Greys inspection of the army at Smerwick revealed they
were Basques and Italians. They were the papal troops. Few
soldiers could speak English or Gaelic. With this 600-people army
came Oliver Plunket, William Walsh and Nicholas Sanders; they
entered the fort and remainded as interpreters. The papal troops
were under the command of the Italian Captain Sebastiano di San
Gisseppe. After a few skirmeshes between the two forces it became
clear that Fort del Oro had to be surrendered on the basis of,
hopefully, lenient terms.

On November 8, 1580, San Joseppi and Plunket tried to negotiate

terms but the next morning San Joseppi capitulated without assurances.

35
The surrendered was virtually accomplished and Greys soldiers
searched the fort dragging out Plunket, Walsh, father Lawrence Moore
and a crowd of Irish women. San Joseppi and his principal officers
(gentlemen) were safe. Gallows were erected and the Irish women
despite pleading their bellies were hanged by the troops. As to
Plunket, Walsh, and Moore, they were led in chains to the blacksmith
of Smerwick where their arms and legs were broken in three places
each. They were bellow to suffer without food and water in a shed for
two days before they were carted back up the hill to the English
encoampment and hanged, drawn, and quartered.

All the Italian and Irish soldiers at the fort were

massacred by sword or pike by Greys soldiers. There were 600
slained. The killing styled was either cut to the neck or stab to
the belly. The killing operation was supervised and carry out by
Mackworth and Raleigh. Greys operation was informed to Elizabeth
I by letter and the queen answer his approval.

The best analysis of Smerwick is provided by Richard Berleth

asserting as follows: The grim particulars of the Smerwick massacre
are described in order that the close and personal nature of such
things be understood. Atrocities are the property of not one age, but
in the period of the Irish wars they required an intimacy with the
victims which later progress has made unnecessary. Raleighs troops,
for instance, came out of the abattoir dazed and blood-splattered, the
metal of their blades had been turned and dulled by bone and gristle;
the blood of their victims had streamed in their faces; the screams
had been in their ears.

Worse atrocities occurred during the sixteenth century, worse

massacres occurred in Ireland alone, yet of all the arguments summoned
to dimiss or justify Smerwick, none seems more patently false than the
broad historical, the view that such things were less objectionable to
an earlier and more barbaric age. To say that mercy or compassion had
a different value for Elizabethans, that the found the slaughter of
prisoners more congenial, is to miss the shame and horror. 13

36
 The two military campaigns, Menendez de Aviles expedition, and
Lord Greys army were sent by their respective monarchs to confront
the French in Northeast Florida, and to destroyed the Irish mobilized
by the Desmond Rebellion in Ireland. Both were campaigns for
colonization.

For both kingdoms the stakes were high, England had Ireland in
front of her coast, and Spain was defending its exploitation of the
riches from Peru and New Spain, and the continuation of its occupation
of the New World. Both were ideologies of justification and entire
libraries have been written on this theme.

Among other reasons we have chosen Smerwick for this exercise in

comparative history because the underlying objective of the Black
Legend was and many say still is, the aggrandizement of the English
virtues over the Spanish (or Latin) bad habits. And here will see that
the differences are not great, but I cannot help confessing that the
savagery of the English by hanging the Irish women, pregnant or not,
and the torturing of the trio Plucket, Walsh, and Moore appals me,and
placed the English on the extremer side, at least in this period.

V. Appendixes

(A) The French Interpreter

In 1566, during the months of April and May, Menendez left San
Mateo (former Ft. Caroline) to visit cacique Guale and cacique Orista
who were in a state of war with each other. Guale was in Santa Elena
todays Hilton Head, South Carolina, and Orista in Port Royal (Santa
Elena) todays Charleston harbor, South Carolina. When Menendez de
Aviles reached the shore saw many Indian archers and one Christian
among them who came running toward them and a dialogue in Spanish took
place with the Christian who said to the Adelantado he was a Frenchman
born in Spain who came to Florida with Jean Ribault identifying
himself as an interpreter (Ruidiaz, vol. 1, pg. 191). Neither one of
the two manuscripts identifies this individual by name. Solis and
Barrientos call him lengua or interpreter. Thurber Connor

37
translates lengua as interpreter. Menendez called him brother
providing for him who was naked with a new shirt, a pair of breeches,
a hat, and some food.
The lengua narrated to Menendez his service under Ribault, the
sack of Ft. Caroline, and then the wreck of the French armada. He said
that for these reasons he went to live with the Indians who married
him to the caciques daughter.
At this point Solis manuscript is truncated and about two pages
are added. According to Mercado, Ruidiaz provides the lost text taken
the missing paragraphs from Barcias Ensayo Cronologico.
The contents of the fragment are as follows. The interpreter
informed Menendez about the war between Guale and Orista and the
famine prevailing in Guale because of the draught. They reached the
Indian town and were well received by the cacique due to the
interpreters recommendation who indicated that the Spaniards were
good people who treated the Indians very well. The cacique asked
Menendez how come that the Christians fight among themselves killing
each other. Menendez answered that they were not real Christians but
his enemies because they rebelled against the church and the king.
That if the King of Spain had not help him to punish them, they would
have taken over the kingdom to give it to the spurious sect. That
those whom he killed deserve and even crueler death because they come
to deceive the caciques and his Indians. That these people were so
evil and bad that he appeased them by killing them. That he made war
to them to destroy so bad and pestilential sect. On the contrary,
Menendez said that the war with Orista was unjustified because they
were from the same country and the offenses were very minor.
This addition to the manuscript ends saying that Guillermo, the
interpreter explained the cacique all said by Menendez.
The interpreter called Guillermo was another French character who
should be distinguished from the lengua. In effect, Mercado
indicates that this individual was Guillaume Rouffi or Rufin who
stayed in Port Royal after Ribault escaped to France in 1562 marrying
and Orista Indian. The other interpreter who was in Guale was a
Lutheran. (Mercado, 153, n. 286 & Thurber Connor, 169, n. 8).

38
Solis further says that Menendez begged the interpreter as Spaniard to
become a Catholic, that he loved him very much and would give him many
things. The lengua answered that he wanted to stay in Florida and
become a Christian catholic, and to work to Christianize the Indians.
Menendez thanked him much and asked him to mediate between the Guale
and Orista tribes.
The Guale cacique chose two Spaniards to stay as hostages for the
peace negotiation with Orista. They were Menendezs nephew Alonso and
Vasco Zabal who carried the real banner. Their names were suggested to
Guale by the lengua. Menendez told Guale that if he did not treat well
the Spaniards he would come back to the Indians heads.
Menendez departed to Santa Elena the next day and told Guillermo to
cheet up the Indians and recommended to all the soldiers treat the
Indians well. Menendez used Guillermos interpreting services in his
dealing with the Orista Indians who did not allow Guillermo to be
present at their deliberations.
On May 8, 1566, Menendez went back to Guale with Guillermo. Then,
his nephew Alonso and Vasco Zabal told him that the French interpreter
was Lutheran and sodomite, that Guillermo could tell him with what
Indians he had relationships. In secret, Menendez found out that the
French interpreter mocked the Christians and spit on the cross.
Menendezs nephew said that the French should be killed but because
the caciques son loved the French, the Indians would become restive
and go back to war. Menendez asked Guillermo to take the French to
Santa Elena carrying gifts for the tribe. He gave the French a letter
for Esteban de las Alas. At the same time, Menendez wrote another
letter to de las Alas ordering him to kill the French in secret
because he was sometico and Lutheran and sent the letter with a
soldier. Menendez asked also de las Alas to fake a lot of concern
afterward when the French did not show up any longer saying that he
had escaped to the hills so not to have to come back to Guale. So, de
las Alas killed the French giving him the garrote.
The garrote or garrote vil was an execution procedure
consisting in killing by strangulation, typically with an iron collar.
Woodbury Lowery in his Spanish Settlements called the executed French

39
unfortunate Lutheran interpreter, the poor fellow.
Albert Manucy in his article entitled The Man who was Pedro
Menendez, 44 F.H.Q. 1/2 (Jul-Oct 1965): 67-80, 79, said that In
warfare, the word is no less a weapon than the sword; and he and
Ribault were at war, whether or not it was openly sanctioned by their
sovereigns at home. Whatever the reason, this is one of several
recorded instances where Menendez used guile to gain the objective.
Some months later, he decoyed a French sodomite (who had formed an
attachment with the caciques son) into leaving Guale, by having him
told that Captain De las Alas up the coast would pay very well for an
interpreter. The man made the trip posthaste, only to find his neck in
the garrote. Menendez sometimes bent the truth to his own ends.
(B) The Way that ISIS deals with gay people in the XXI century

ISIS has published pictures of its latest atrocities The

group militants can be seen throwing gay prisoners off roofs
The terror group imposes an ultra-strict version of Sharia in
areas under its control. Shocking pictures have emerged of a
prisoner being thrown to his death from a rooftop by masked ISIS
thugs because he was gay. The captive is seen being held over
the edge of a high-rise building in Iraq as a crowd, including
young children, watch expectantly from the ground. Prisoner is
seen falling to his death when he is thrown from the top of a
building. He is then pushed off, falling 100ft on to the
concrete below. It comes just weeks after a sickening video
thought to have been made by ISIS was revealed showing the
brutal way of life under their fanatical rule. Terrifying
footage showed a thief about to get his hand chopped off and gay
man thrown off a roof before being stoned to death. The
fanatics were also filmed tearing crucifixes from churches and
burning Christian symbols. It showed a series of horrific
violent attacks on those who are not tolerated under ISISs
regime. Masked ISIS terrorists throw the man to his death Share

40
on Facebook Share on Twitter. A crowd which includes young
children watch from the ground. In horrifying echoes of these
new pictures, the video titled The Voice of Virtue in Deterring
Hell shows ISISs version of Sharia Law in action. His head was
turned away from the camera as he awaited his fate. A
blindfolded man was then flogged in the street by ISISs
religious police the Hisbah. An ISIS militant who is thought to
be from the Hisbah speaks from the ground Their full title Rijal
al-hisbah means men who guard against infringements. Their job
is to enforce their harsh form of Islamic Law, and it is
believed that the masked men in these new photos are from this
group. 14

(C) Gonzalo Solis de Meras Memorial

Our main topic in this writing is the death of Jean Ribault with
the additional marginal issue presented in the previous appendix on
the story of the French interpreter, basically two atrocious killings
carried out by the founder of St. Augustine, the oldest city located
in continental United States. For both stories the main primary source
is one and the same, Solis de Meras Memorial written by Menendezs
brother-in-law who traveled with the Adelantado as the Spanish
expedition of 1565s official chronicler.
This document is divided in 29 chapters and it was written down
probably in 1567, but not published in full until 1893 when it
appeared in Ruidiaz. See above, n. 3. Despite the title indicating
that is a narrative of the Menendezs voyage to Florida, actually
includes at the beginning an entire biography of Menendez.
What is this memorial? In the first place, it must be remembered
that the writer of memoirs seldom has a purely scientific purpose in
view. He rarely writes as a dispassionate observer of events or as a
detached critic of his contemporaries. Whatever his motive, he writes
out of the fullness of his own experience. (Johnson, 82).
The first chapters of the memorial show clearly that la busqueda

41
de ascenso social es un anhelo constant en todas las familias de la
pequena y mediana nobleza, siendo la consecucion de un titulo de
Castilla la expression del exito. 15 To be also more specific about
the context of Menendez expedition, it should be remember that it is
sometimes forgotten that Florida was only a small and relatively
unimportant part of Spains vast American empire. 16
What was Solis de Meras dominant purpose in writing this
memorial? It was clearly and apology and justification to exalt
Menendez and Solis himself.
For the Asturians, Solis is a hero to the point that even now he
receives praise in the unusual form of, for instance, a Fictional
Interview to Solis de Meras, by Jose Ignacio Gracia Noriega. 17 See
below some extracts of the fictional interview.

No particip en la matanza, pero se pas a cuchillo a 130 hugonotes

El tinetense realiz la principal contribucin asturiana a la historia
de las Indias con los relatos sobre las hazaas de su cuado Pedro
Menndez de Avils en Florida.

I did not take part in the massacre, but 130 Huguenots were put to
the sword The tinetense provided the main Asturian contribution to
the history of the Indias with his narratives of the feats of his
brother-in-law Pedro Menendez de Aviles in Florida.

Las Memorias de todas las jornadas y sucesos del adelantado Pedro

Menndez de Avils y de la conquista de La Florida y justicia que hizo
con Pedro Ribao y otros franceses, escritas por el cuado del
conquistador, Gonzalo Sols de Mers, es la ms importante
contribucin asturiana a la historia de Indias; y como historiador de
Indias podemos considerar, por tanto, al tinetense que la escribi.

The Memorial written by Doctor Gonzalo Solis de Meras of all the

voyages and deeds of the Adelantado Pedro Menendez de Aviles his
brother-in-law and of the conquest of Florida and the justice he
worked on Juan Ribao and other Frenchmen, written by the
conquistadors brother-in-law, Gonzalo Solis de Meras, is the most
important Asturian contribution to the history of Indias; and as
Indias historian we can consider therefore the tinitense that wrote
it.

Otro tinetense ilustre, Jess Evaristo Casariego, dice poco de l en

sus Transmigraciones asturianas, donde hace nmina de los asturianos
que participaron en el descubrimiento y la conquista de las Amricas.
El Memorial de Sols de Mers fue incluido parcialmente en el
Ensayo cronolgico para la historia de La Florida, de Gabriel de

42
Crdenas y Cano, en 1722, y ms tarde en La Florida, de Eugenio
Ruidaz y Caravia, Madrid, 1893. En 1990 fue publicado con el ttulo
de Pedro Menndez de Avils y la conquista de La Florida, en Grupo
Editorial Asturiano, meritoria aventura editorial, pese a que su
editor nunca consigui reprimirse de la mana de aadir a los textos,
en forma de anotaciones, prlogos y eplogos, algunas botaratadas de
su propio magn.

Another famous Tinetense, Jesus Evaristo Casariego, does not say much
about him in his Asturian Migrations, where he lists the Asturians
who participated in the discovery and conquest of America. The
Memorial by Solis de Meras was included partially in the Ensayo
Cronologico para la historia de La Florida, by Eugenio Ruidiaz y
Caravia, Madrid, 1893. In 1990was published with the title of Pedro
Menendez de Aviles y la Conqueista de la Florida, in Grupo Editorial
Asturiano, praiseworthy editorial adventure, despite the fact that its
editor was never able to suppress his craze to add to the texts by the
way of annotations, prologues and epilogues, nonsense from his own
imagination.

El texto procede de un manuscrito de 1565. Constantino Surez cita

como obra indita de Sols de Mers la titulada Historia de la
conquista de La Florida, aunque anotando, prudentemente, que es obra
atribuida y que puede tratarse del propio Memorial.

The text originates in a 1565 manuscript. Constantino Suarez cites as

an unpublished work by Solis de Meras the one entitled Historia of
the Conquest of La Florida, though indicating, prudently, that it is
an imputed work and that it may be the Memorial itself.

Sobre Sols de Mers se sabe poco: no es hombre aficionado a darse

publicidad y sabe, por otra parte, que la gran figura del adelantado
Pedro Menndez de Avils le da sombra. Tambin es consciente de que
ser cuado es ocupar un lugar secundario en la estructura familiar, y
de que el bigrafo est subordinado al biografiado, como el soldado lo
est a su superior jerrquico. Y Sols de Mers sirvi como capitn en
la conquista de La Florida, a las rdenes de su cuado.

About Solis de Meras is not much what is known: he is a man not used
to show himself off, and he knows, on the other hand, that the great
renown of the Adelantado Pedro Menendez de Aviles casted a shadow over
him. He is also aware that to be a brother-in-law is to occupy a
secondary position in the familiar structure, and also that the
biographer is subordinated to the subject of the biography, as the
soldier is to his superior in rank. Solis de Meras served as captain
in the conquest of La Florida, under his brother-in-law authority.

De su actividad como historiador, ms importante que la de

conquistador, escribe Carlos Gonzlez de Posada (citado por
Espaolito): Yo hallo a Sols de Mers el carcter de historiador; su
estilo, lenguaje y compostura estn manifestando su sinceridad y
talento, y se pueden producir para pruebas de la hermosura que tena

43
en aquel tiempo la lengua castellana, en que siempre fueron
aventajados los asturianos, como se conoce en el marqus de Santa Cruz
de Marcenado, en don Valentn Morn, obispo de Canarias, y en el seor
conde de Campomanes . Y Constantino Surez aade, refirindose al
Memorial : Es un documento de admirable valor histrico y no mal
escrito .

About his performance as a historian, more important than that of

conquistador, writes Carlos Gonzalez de Posada (cited by
Espanolito):I see Solis de Meras as a historian; his style, language
and composition revealed his sincerity and ability, and you can see a
proves of the beauty that the Castilian language had at that time, as
to which the Asturian were always good, as in the case of the marquis
Santa Cruz de Marcenado, in don Valentin Moran, bishop of Canarias,
and in the Sr. Count of Campomanes. Constantino Suarez adds, as to the
Memorial: it is a document of great historical value and well
written.

En efecto, la prosa de aquellos conquistadores, de aquellos clrigos

que pasaron a las Indias con el propsito de conquistarlas, unos con
la espada, otros con la cruz, es con frecuencia una prosa excelente,
empezando por la de Hernn Corts, que fue el ms importante de los
conquistadores. Podr objetarse que, al lado de Corts, Pizarro slo
saba dibujar malamente su nombre. Pero en las grandes empresas hay de
todo, y sobre lo que no cabe discusin es que la conquista de la Nueva
Espaa fue efectuada por gente ms ilustrada y menos violenta que la
del Per.

In effect, the prose of those conquistadors, of those clerics who went

to the Indias with the purpose of conquest, some with the sword,
others with the cross, it is often an excellent prose, beginning with
that of Hernan Cortes who was the most important of the conquistadors.
It may be objected that besides Cortes, Pizarro knew only how to draw
his name deficiently. But in the great enterprises there is all kind
of things, and specially that there cannot be argue that the conquest
of New Spain was done by people more educated and less violent that
that of Peru.

Gonzalo Sols de Mers en la actualidad es cannigo de la catedral de

Oviedo, con la dignidad de arcediano de Benavente, en el obispado de
Oviedo, y vive libre de sobresaltos y cuidados, tras haber dejado en
reposo, hace ya muchos aos, tanto la espada como la pluma.
Tambin la pluma?
S, seor. Adems, de qu voy a escribir? Ya escrib sobre las
tierras y la conquista de La Florida, y sobre mi cuado don Pedro
Menndez de Avils, que fueron las cosas, hechos y persona ms grandes
que me fue dado contemplar. Por ms que miro alrededor, no encuentro
asunto que merezca mojar la pluma en el tintero y ponerse a llenar
pliegos sobre l.

Gonzalo Solis de Meras currently is the priest in charge of the

Cathedral of Oviedo, with the rank of archdeacon of Benavente, in the

44
bishopric of Oviedo, and he lives free of cares and concerns, after he
put to rest many years ago, the sword and the pen.

Also the pen

Yes, Sir. Besides, about what am I going to write? I already wrote

about the lands and the conquest of Florida, and about my brother-in-
law don Pedro Menendez de Aviles, which were the things, events and
person greatest I had to consider. Even though I look around I cannot
find a matter deserving of my inking the pen in the inkwell to fill
out sheets of paper about it.

..

Usted naci en Avils, como tantos compaeros de don Pedro?

No, soy de Tineo. Soy sobrino del clebre Garca de la Plaza de

Tineo, famoso por haber dado muerte al pirata Aruch Barbarroja, en el
tiempo de las cerezas, primavera de 1518. Barbarroja haca
irrespirable el Mediterrneo con sus pirateras, pero cuando tram una
alianza contra los cristianos con el rey de Fez, el gobernador de
Orn, marqus de Comares, sali contra l con un gran ejrcito en el
que figuraba mi to Garca de Tineo, a las rdenes del capitn Diego
de Andrade. Derrotado el pirata, y sin esperanzas despus de la toma
de Tremecn, busc la salvacin en la huida hacia las montaas, y para
detener a los espaoles que le perseguan, entre los que iba mi to en
primer lugar, dejaba caer tras s monedas de oro y plata y objetos
labrados valiossimos; mas los espaoles se las ingeniaron para
recoger el botn y continuar la persecucin, hasta conseguir que
Barbarroja, agotado y sediento, se refugiara en un corral de cabras
rodeado de una flaca pared de piedra seca; all mi to se enfrent a
l cuerpo a cuerpo, hasta herirlo con la pica; entonces lo derrib al
suelo y le cort la cabeza. Mi to quedo herido en un dedo de la mano
derecha, y le gustaba ensear la ua hundida, como comprobacin de su
hazaa. Tal hazaa figura en nuestro escudo de armas.

Were you born in Aviles like so many friends of Don Pedro?

No, I am from Tineo, nephew of the famous Garcia de la Plaza de Tineo

famous because he killed the pirate Aruch Barbarroja, in the time of
the cherries, Spring of 1518. Barbarroja dominated the Mediterranean
sea with his piracy, but when he plotted an alliance against the
Cristians with the king of Fez, the governor of Oran, Marquis of
Comares, came out against him with a large army integrated by my uncle
Garica de Tineo, under the captain Diego de Andrade. Defeated the
pirate and without hope after Tremecen was taken, he look for safety
in the mountains and to stop the Spaniards who chased him, among whom
was my uncle in the first place, dropped behind him gold and silver
coins, and carved pieces of great value; but the Spaniards managed to
take the boot and continue the chase, til Barbarroja exhausted and
thirsty find refuge in a goat yard surrounded by a slim wall of dry
stone; there my uncle faced him hand to hand till he wounded him with

45
the pike; then he knock him down and cut his head. My uncle was
wounded in a finger of his right hand, and he liked to show his
collapse nail as a corroboration of his feat. Such achievement is
reflected in our coat of arms.

La Nueva Espaa 18 de junio de 2001 (translation is by this writer).

VI. The Presence of the Past

The past isnt dead. It isnt even past

William Faulkner, 1951

1. Bones at Smerwick and at the Matanzas inlet

The Times of London reported on April 13, 2004 that massacre of

victims from Raleighs time return to haunt Irish shore. The piece is
written by David Lister at Cul Dorcha, County Kerry. They informed that a
campaign has been launched to monitor and preserve the still emerging
remains of more than 500 men, women and children massacred in southwest
Ireland in the late 16th century. At least once a month, a skeleton is
left exposed after high tide on an eerie, windswept beach in County Kerry
known in Gaelic as Dark Corner. Some of the skeletons are intact but
others, say those who find them, are headless. After one recent storm a
local farmer claimed to have seen three skeletons floating out to sea,
while another man said that he counted twelve heads bobbing in the water.
The macabre findings appear to lend weight to a local legend that the
beach marks the spot where the English, including Sir Walter Raleigh and
the poet Edmund Spenser, massacred an army of Italians, Spaniards, and
Irish, together with the comen and children who had taken shelter with
them in 1580. That a massacre took placed is not in doubt, or that it is
remembered by the Irish as one of the most infamous moments in the English
colonization of their country.
Some vacationers from New England in the 19th century had making
comments that from time to time in the sands of Matanzas inlet appear
rests of human bones pertaining to the many victims of the massacre.

46
 2. The Pope in Latinoamerica in 2015

Pope Francis gave direct apology on Thursday for the complicity of the
Roman Catholic Church in the oppression of Latin America during the
colonial era

I say this to you with regret: Many grave sins were committed against
the native people of America in the name of God.

Bolivia suffered stark exploitation during Spanish rule, as silver

deposits helped finance the Spanish empire, bankroll European
colonialism elsewhere and also fill the treasury of the Vatican.

I humbly ask forgiveness, not only for the offense of the church
herself, but also for crimes committed against the native peoples
during the so-called conquest of America.

I would even say that the future of humanity is in great measure in

your own hands, through your ability to organize and carry out
creative alternatives, through your daily efforts to ensure the three
Ls labor, lodging, land.

In Bolivia, Pope Francis Apologizes for Churchs Grave Sins By JIM

YARDLEY and WILLIAM NEUMAN FROM THE AP FOR THE NYT ON JULY 9, 2015

Mexican Bishop Raul Vera, who attended the summit where Francis made
the apology, said the church was essentially a passive participant in
allowing natives to become enslaved under the Spanish "encomienda"
system, by which the Spanish king granted land in conquered
territories to those who settled there. Indians were allowed to live
on the haciendas as long as they worked them.

Campesino leader Amandina Quispe, of Anta, Peru, who attended the

grass-roots summit, said the church still holds lands it should give
back to Andean natives. The former seat of the Inca empire, conquered
by Spaniards in the 16th century, is an example. "The church stole our
land and tore down our temples in Cuzco and then it built its own
churches and now it charges admission to visit them," she said.

Nuns Urge Pope to Rescind Doctrine of Discovery at ICTMN Staff-9/9/14-

A group of nuns is urging Pope Francis to rescind the Doctrine of

Discovery, the set of 15-century papal bulls that gave tacit
permission to seize lands and justify colonization of Indigenous
Peoples, most notably on Turtle Island. When I learned about it, I
was horrified, said Sister Maureen Fiedler, the nun who hand-
delivered the letter to Pope Francis, speaking to Religion News
Service. She belongs to the Loretto Community, made up of religious
women and lay people, the news service said.

Pope Francis has, as CNN described it last November,

47
made headlines by decrying the iniquities of modern capitalism,
embracing the poor and people with disabilities and reaching out to
gays and lesbians. "I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and
dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church
which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own
security,"

3. The Solis de Meras Memorial new manuscript

The website centrotampa.com published recently a piece entitled

Manuscript tells Floridian history, saying that in the Summer of
2012, a professor of the University of South Florida (USF) went back
to a XII century Spanish palace where he used to play as a child.
David Arbesu, professor and paleographist, had an special interest in
the collection of XVI century manuscripts archived there. The family
of one of Arbesus friends, descendant from the Marquis of Ferrara,
had been the owners of the palace for generations. On day looking at
books and papers with the mother of his friend, his attention was
called to the following title: La Conquista de la Florida por el
Adelantado Pedro Menendez de Aviles. Just by chance the professor had
discovered the most complete and reliable history ever found on the
foundation of St. Augustine 450 years ago.
The University Press of Florida has announced the publishing of
this new version of the Solis de Meras Memorial for November 2016. One
of the most intriguing and exciting comments by the publisher is that
indicating that Professor Arbesu discovered a more complete record: a
manuscript including folios lost for centuries and, more important,
excluding portions of the 1893 publication based on retellings rather
than the original document.

4. Old Sears mural lives on at Main Library

On Oct 17, 2014, in the old Sears building in downtown

Jacksonville, there was a dining room upstairs called the Ribault
Room. In that room, there was a big beautiful mural of Fort Caroline,
and the Jacksonville coastline. My question is did they replace that
mural somewhere in Jacksonville, or did they just destroy it when they

48
destroyed the building?
Weve answered this one before, and were happy to do it again as
the mural has sentimental value for Ribault Room diners. Youll be
happy to know that its in an appropriate spot at the Main Library at
303 N. Laura St. Its on permanent display in the Florida Collection
area on the fourth floor across from the reference desk. Lee Adams
created the 31-foot mural in 1959, and it was in the Bay Street
department store until it closed in 1981. It depicts Jean Ribault
leading French Huguenots up St. Johns Bluff to meet with Timucuan
Indians in 1562. The oil painting was donated to the school system,
rolled up and stored in Lee High Schools basement.
It languished for some years until then City Council president
Jim Overton remembered the mural from its Sears days and spearheaded
the effort to have it restored. It had been heavily damaged by age,
neglect and pesky critters. In 1999, the council appropriated $10,000
for restoration, which was coordinated by Jacksonville artist Jim
Draper. Later, it was displayed at La Villa School of the Arts. Draper
did a new cleanup and repair before its move to the library.
sandy.strickland@jacksonville.com
To visit the Jacksonville Main Library in downtown is really a
worthy, beautiful experience. This writer, a Floridian for 35 years
has visited many main libraries in the state, many of them deserving
great praise. However, in my estimation the one in Jacksonville is one
of the greatest amont the mid-size American libraries, for its layout,
and beautiful architecture. There the Ribault mural can be
appreciated.

5) 16th Century Shipwrecks Found

In August 2016, Global Marine Exploration (GME) discovered three
sunken Spanish ships off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida. The
seabed is known as an underwater graveyard for failed rocket
launchers, as as it sits near the US Air Force base at Cape Canaveral
and Nasa's Kennedy Space Center
It was first believed these items were from Ribault's two 'lost
ships' that were destroyed in 1565 by a storm. However, after

49
reviewing records, Prichett and his team discovered that the bronze
cannons and marble monument were not aboard Ribault's ships, but were
station at an early French Huguenot colony in Fort Caroline, which is
now Jacksonville, Florida.
Daily Mail, o8/16/2016.

VII. Visualization of the Massacre of the French

Over 400 years ago, Jacques Le Moyne met Theodore de Bry in London
and as a result it grew one of the most profusely illustrated
collection of voyages and travels ever published. The Florida volume,
second in the series, was published in small folio in 1591 with Latin
text. For the following volumes most of the illustrations were
principally the invention of the engraver inspired only by
descriptions and woodents in the original text. With few exceptions,
this same practice was followed for the next fifty years in all of de
Brys subsequent publications.
After de Brys death, in 1598, the publishing business was at first
run by his son and grand-sons. Together, they continue to publish
volumes of the Grand and Petit Voyages for another 46 years These
were Abridgments of the original volumes, which were published by de
Brys descendants at first by Ziegler and then by Gottfriedt. They
contained many of the original plates, but which had to be re-set
without titles into continuous text on both recto and verso and some
had to be reworked or re-engraved. (Johann Ludwig Gottfriedt, Newe
Welt und Americanische Historien, Merian, 1655) [all this information
has been taken from Theodore de Bry and his Illustrated Voyages and
Travels, www.history-engraved.org].
The print which concerns us is the one found on page 336 of the
Gottfriedt book previously cited. It is available online at the web
page of the Wisconsin Historical Society, image ID: 23845 entitled
Spanish Massacre French, Collection name: Rare books. Further
reference indicates that it is a cooperplate engraving from Johann
Ludwig Gottfriedts Newe Welt un americanische historien (Frankfurt,
Bey Denen Merlanishen Erben, 1655). The second edition of an

50
abridgment of the German text of the Grands Voyages (1590-1634), Newe
Welt contains a series of illustrated exploration narratives that were
originally published by the de Bry firm. The engravings were made by
Theodore de Bry (1528-1598), his sons Johann Israel de Bry (died 1611)
and Johann Theodore de Bry (1561-1623), and other family members. The
engravings were not firsthand depictions but rather based on source
material that the de Bry firm obtained for publication. This image is
also viewable in the American journeys online edition of Newe Welt un
americanischen historien.

[engraving]

In looking at and evaluating [an] engraving it should be taken

into account that anyone confronted with a work of art, whether
aesthetically re-creating or rationally investigating it is affected
by its three constituents: materialized form, idea (subject matter)
and content The re-creative experience of a work of art depends,
therefore, not only on the natural sensitivity and visual training of
the spectator, but also on his cultural equipment. (Erwin Panofsky,
Meaning in the Visual Arts, Univ of Chicago Press, 1955, 16).
The engraving depicts three separate scenes, one on the left side
of the picture which seems to represent Menendez de Aviles sitting in
a fancy chair receiving the pleads of two individuals one of which is
kneeling in front of him. Behind Menendez are two Spanish soldiers.
The whole thing takes place in an open structure. It is obviously an
idealized and stylized image of either one of the two French massacres
that took place at the Matanzas inlet on October 11th, 1565 or October
12th, 1565.
The right side of the engraving has two sections, a lower section
where Spanish soldiers seem to threatened with knives or daggers other
individuals who are supposedly French officers and nobles.
On the right upper section we see the massacre taking place close
to a river shore. Four groups of tied up (from the back) soldiers
composed of four individuals each group who are being killed with
axes. Two of those groups still standing are being butchered by two

51
Spaniards each, and two other groups are already on the ground being
hatched up by one soldier each.
The entire picture may be interpreted syncronically or
diacronically, either the three scenes take place at the same time and
we can see a hierarchical order from left (the commanders), to right
(the officers and noblemen), and up (the soldiers and sailors being
executed in an undignified way). Or, we may see a story, first on the
left the parley, on the right the execution of the officers, and up
the massive killing of the rest of the French. It may be concluded
that this engraving does not depict the death of Jean Ribault but only
his dialogue with Menendez, if at all.

VIII. CONCLUSION
After all these years of research, what to say about the death of
Jean Ribault? What is its meaning if any? He and Laudonniere too
represented the French civilization coming to America, including its
religious sect of French Protestants and the beautiful art of Le
Moyne. You may add their ambitions and the confrontations with the
other world powers.
It could have been a French-Spanish Florida, all of us Floridians
could have been richer and more diverse even under the political
control of the English and then the Americans. Instead, we have this
horrendous massacre of several hundreds, with all the hatred and
horror for generations to come. In the end the authoritarian
absolutism, and spiritual fanaticism of the Spaniards failed miserably
as it should.
By the 1800s they began going back to the peninsula, and by 1898
it was all over. The decadence of the Spanish project was evident for
all to see, and what is worse the consequences for the ex-American
dominions are evident: constant political instability, permanent
economic failure, generalized corruption, and the other spiritual
failures. It is our Hispanic heritage which, perhaps, began when
Menendez refused to absolve Ribault and his friends.

IX. Notes

52
 1. David P. Henige, Historical Evidence and Argument, Madison:
University of Wisconsin Press, 2005
2. Genaro Garcia, Dos Antiguas Relaciones de la Florida,
Mexico, 1902. Vidas y Hechos de Pero Menendez de Aviles por Bartolome
Barrientos, p. 1-16 (after LXXXVII).
3. Eugenio Ruidiaz y Caravia, La Florida, su conquista y
colonizacion por Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Madrid, 1893, tomo II,
Apendice 9no, pg. 614.
4. Juan Carlos Mercado, ed. Pedro Menendez de Aviles. Cartas
sobre la Florida (1555-1574), Madrid: Iberoamericana, 2002, pg. 139.
5. Vidas y Hechos de Pero Menendez de Aviles by Bartolome
Barrientos, translated into English by Anthony Kerrigan, Gainesville:
University of Florida Press, 1965.
6. Eugene Lyon, The Adelantamiento de Florida: 1565-1568,
University of Florida, 1973, 16; Footnote 27: Menendez Describes his
adventures in a memorial to the Council of the Indies dated 1553, and
found in A.G.I. Santo Domingo 71. In Stetson Collection, mis-dated
1567, repeated by Sam Turner, Pedro Menendez de Aviles timeline: In
the kings service, posted: 01/18/2015, St. Augustine Records. See
also, Michael Kenny, S.J. (1863-1946), The Romance of the Floridas,
N.Y.: Bruce Publishing, 1934, at 125, note 5. Mr. Kenny says that
Bourne and Lowery recall the wholesale slaughters of surrendered
prisoners by Cromwell and others; but if Menendez had followed the
corsair practice in his own experience at Havana and elsewhere, he
would have hanged or burn them wholesale. Or he could have inclosed
them unarmed in a concentration camp, or on one of the islands, and
left them there foodless to die, after the fashion of Sir Francis
Drake.
7. Allen Johnson, The Historian and Historical Evidence, New
York: Scribners, 1926, 80.
8. J. Gears, Van het Barokke leven, Baarn, 1957, BI. 183-188.
9. Woodbury Lowery, The Spanish Settlements within the Present
Limit of the United States, New York: Putnam, 1911, tomo II, Appendix

53
P, p, g. 427. See also, R.G. Marsden, Law and Custom of the Sea, 1999,
I, p. 13, 19.
10. Johnson, ibidem, 83.
11. Internet: Early Visions of Florida, translation by P.J.
Morrone and James Everett, 2011.
12. Carl N. Degler, Comparative History: An Essay Review, 34 J.
of Southern History 3 (Aug 1968):425/30. Ben Kiernan, Blood and Soil,
Yale UP, New Haven, 2007, 169.
13. Richard Berleth, The Twilight Lords. Elizabeth I and the
Plunder of Ireland, Lanham: Roberts/Reinhart, 2002 (rev. ed.),
174/175.
14. Andrew Sweeny, Isis Comits latest atrocity against gays,
04/19/2016, naij.com (Nigeria News).
15. Helena Carretero Suarez, Ascenso Social de la Nobleza
Avilesina en los Siglos XVI y XVII. El Servicio al Imperio,
University of Oviedo, May 2011, citing Enrique Soria Meza, La Nobleza
en la Espana Moderna, Cambio y Continuidad, Madrid, 2007, 231/254.
16. John Frederick Schwaller, Nobility, Family and Service:
Menendez and his men, Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 66, No. 3
(Jan 1988): 298/310, 298.
17. La Nueva Espana, 2001, as part of the series Entrevistas en
la Historia: El Cronista Gonzalo Solis de Meras, La Nueva Espana,
06/18/2001, www.llanes.as. Also published in Jose I. Gracia Noriega,
Hombre de Brujula y Espada, Presentacion: Cajastur, Prologo de Gustavo
Bueno, 2002.

54