René Goulaine de Laudonnière
Encyclopedia
René Goulaine de Laudonnière (c. 1529–1574) was a French
Huguenot
explorer and the founder of the French colony of Fort Caroline
in what is now Jacksonville, Florida
. Admiral Gaspard de Coligny
, a Huguenot, sent Jean Ribault
and Laudonnière to explore potential sites in Florida
suitable for settlement by the French Protestants.
, France. His birthdate and family origins are uncertain. One school of historians attaches him to a branch of the Goulaine family seated at Laudonnière, near Nantes
. A competing claim insists that he was a Burdigale (or Bourdigalle) from the port town of Sables d'Olonne. No contemporary records have been published to substantiate either theory.
In 1562, Laudonnière was appointed second in command of the Huguenot expedition to Florida
under Jean Ribault
. Leaving in February 1562, the expedition returned home in July after establishing the small settlement of Charlesfort in present-day South Carolina
.
After the French Wars of Religion
broke out between French Catholics and Huguenots, Ribault fled France and sought refuge in England
. Meanwhile the Huguenots planned another expedition to Florida and Laudonnière was placed in command in Ribault's absence. In 1564 Laudonniere received 50,000 crowns from Charles IX
and returned to Florida with three ships and 300 Huguenot colonists.
Laudonnière arrived at the mouth of the May River (today called the St. Johns River
) on June 22, 1564. He sailed up the river where he eventually founded Fort Caroline
, which they named for King Charles, in what is now Jacksonville. He made contact with the Saturiwa
, a Timucua
chiefdom who were friendly to the colonists and showed them a shrine they had built around a monument left behind by Ribault. When some of the men complained about the manual labor
, Laudonnière sent them back to France.
The colony did not flourish and had to get food from the Timucua. Colonists complained and a small group seized a ship and sailed to the Gulf of Mexico
to become pirates
. Deserters from the colony angered the Timucua, who refused to give any more food. Colonists had to rely on acorns and roots and finally rebelled.
On August 3, 1565, Laudonnière bought food and a ship from passing privateer
John Hawkins
so he could ship the colonists back to France. While he was waiting for a favorable wind, Jean Ribault arrived with 600 more settlers and soldiers on September 10. Ribault informed Laudonnière that he had been relieved of his authority, but offered him an informal co-regency over the colony. This arrangement was unacceptable to Laudonnière, who resolved to return to France.
Events interrupted Laudonnière's departure when a Spanish fleet commanded by Adelantado Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
appeared. Spain based her long-standing claim to Florida on the voyage of discovery of Juan Ponce de León
in 1513, as well as four other expeditions of exploration. Menéndez, one of the foremost naval officers of his day, had been sent out by King Philip II of Spain
with a fleet and 800 Spanish settlers with specific instructions to remove the French Protestants from Florida. Menéndez's fleet attempted to grapple and board Ribault's ships just off the mouth of the St. Johns River, but sea conditions denied success to both combatants. The Spanish admiral sailed 40 miles south to the next deep inlet on the Atlantic Florida coast. Spanish troops disembarked on 28 August 1565 near the Timucua Indian village of Seloy and hastily threw up some field fortifications, anticipating a French attack. Ribault set sail southward on 10 September 1565, taking most of the soldiers with him to attack the newly established Spanish earthworks-and-palm-log camp at St Augustine
. He left Laudonnière with 100 men but only 20 soldiers.
During a hurricane, Ménendez had sent Spanish troops marching 40 miles north overland to attack Fort Caroline on September 20. They overwhelmed the lightly defended Huguenot garrison and killed most of the male colonists, about 140; about 60 women and children were spared. Laudonnière and 40-50 others managed to escape. He made his way to the river's mouth, where Ribault's son was anchored with three ships. He set sail in the younger Ribault's company but eventually headed home on a lone vessel, unexpectedly landing in Wales.
Meanwhile, Jean Ribault's fleet ran into the same hurricane that had bedeviled the Spanish approach to Fort Caroline. The storm drove the French squadron many miles south toward present-day Daytona Beach, destroying all the warships. Ribault and hundreds of other survivors washed ashore, and began to walk north along the beach. At Matanzas Inlet
, a Spanish patrol encountered the remnants of the French force, and took them prisoner. Following the king of Spain's express edict, all heretics were taken behind a sand dune and put to the sword. The few confessing Catholics and the young musicians were spared their lives. Ribault was executed, along with about 350 of his men. By mid-October 1565, the military power of France on the Florida coast had been obliterated, in accord with the wishes of Philip II of Spain.
Traveling overland via Bristol
and London, Laudonnière probably reached Paris in December 1565. After reporting to the royal Court at Moulins
, Laudonnière faded from the historical picture. Several years later he emerged as a merchant mariner in 1572 at La Rochelle. He evaded the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre
of Huguenots, and died at St. Germain-en-Laye in 1574. His memoirs, L'histoire notable de la Floride, contenant les trois voyages faits en icelles par des capitaines et pilotes français, were published in 1586.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
explorer and the founder of the French colony of Fort Caroline
Fort Caroline
Fort Caroline was the first French colony in the present-day United States. Established in what is now Jacksonville, Florida, on June 22, 1564, under the leadership of René Goulaine de Laudonnière, it was intended as a refuge for the Huguenots. It lasted one year before being obliterated by the...
in what is now Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
. Admiral Gaspard de Coligny
Gaspard de Coligny
Gaspard de Coligny , Seigneur de Châtillon, was a French nobleman and admiral, best remembered as a disciplined Huguenot leader in the French Wars of Religion.-Ancestry:...
, a Huguenot, sent Jean Ribault
Jean Ribault
Jean Ribault was a French naval officer, navigator, and a colonizer of what would become the southeastern United States. He was a major figure in the French attempts to colonize Florida...
and Laudonnière to explore potential sites in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
suitable for settlement by the French Protestants.
Biography
Laudonnière was a Huguenot nobleman and merchant mariner from PoitouPoitou
Poitou was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers.The region of Poitou was called Thifalia in the sixth century....
, France. His birthdate and family origins are uncertain. One school of historians attaches him to a branch of the Goulaine family seated at Laudonnière, near Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
. A competing claim insists that he was a Burdigale (or Bourdigalle) from the port town of Sables d'Olonne. No contemporary records have been published to substantiate either theory.
In 1562, Laudonnière was appointed second in command of the Huguenot expedition to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
under Jean Ribault
Jean Ribault
Jean Ribault was a French naval officer, navigator, and a colonizer of what would become the southeastern United States. He was a major figure in the French attempts to colonize Florida...
. Leaving in February 1562, the expedition returned home in July after establishing the small settlement of Charlesfort in present-day South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
.
After the French Wars of Religion
French Wars of Religion
The French Wars of Religion is the name given to a period of civil infighting and military operations, primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants . The conflict involved the factional disputes between the aristocratic houses of France, such as the House of Bourbon and House of Guise...
broke out between French Catholics and Huguenots, Ribault fled France and sought refuge in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Meanwhile the Huguenots planned another expedition to Florida and Laudonnière was placed in command in Ribault's absence. In 1564 Laudonniere received 50,000 crowns from Charles IX
Charles IX of France
Charles IX was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death. His reign was dominated by the Wars of Religion. He is best known as king at the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.-Childhood:...
and returned to Florida with three ships and 300 Huguenot colonists.
St. Johns River
The St. Johns River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant for commercial and recreational use. At long, it winds through or borders twelve counties, three of which are the state's largest. The drop in elevation from the headwaters to the mouth is less than ;...
) on June 22, 1564. He sailed up the river where he eventually founded Fort Caroline
Fort Caroline
Fort Caroline was the first French colony in the present-day United States. Established in what is now Jacksonville, Florida, on June 22, 1564, under the leadership of René Goulaine de Laudonnière, it was intended as a refuge for the Huguenots. It lasted one year before being obliterated by the...
, which they named for King Charles, in what is now Jacksonville. He made contact with the Saturiwa
Saturiwa
The Saturiwa were a Timucua chiefdom centered around the mouth of the St. Johns River in what is now Jacksonville, Florida. They were the largest and best attested chiefdom of the Timucua subgroup known as the Mocama, who spoke the Mocama dialect of Timucuan and lived in the coastal areas...
, a Timucua
Timucua
The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The various groups of Timucua spoke several dialects of the...
chiefdom who were friendly to the colonists and showed them a shrine they had built around a monument left behind by Ribault. When some of the men complained about the manual labor
Manual labour
Manual labour , manual or manual work is physical work done by people, most especially in contrast to that done by machines, and also to that done by working animals...
, Laudonnière sent them back to France.
The colony did not flourish and had to get food from the Timucua. Colonists complained and a small group seized a ship and sailed to the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
to become pirates
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
. Deserters from the colony angered the Timucua, who refused to give any more food. Colonists had to rely on acorns and roots and finally rebelled.
On August 3, 1565, Laudonnière bought food and a ship from passing privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
John Hawkins
John Hawkins
Admiral Sir John Hawkins was an English shipbuilder, naval administrator and commander, merchant, navigator, and slave trader. As treasurer and controller of the Royal Navy, he rebuilt older ships and helped design the faster ships that withstood the Spanish Armada in 1588...
so he could ship the colonists back to France. While he was waiting for a favorable wind, Jean Ribault arrived with 600 more settlers and soldiers on September 10. Ribault informed Laudonnière that he had been relieved of his authority, but offered him an informal co-regency over the colony. This arrangement was unacceptable to Laudonnière, who resolved to return to France.
Events interrupted Laudonnière's departure when a Spanish fleet commanded by Adelantado Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés was a Spanish admiral and explorer, best remembered for founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565. This was the first successful Spanish foothold in La Florida and remained the most significant city in the region for several hundred years. St...
appeared. Spain based her long-standing claim to Florida on the voyage of discovery of Juan Ponce de León
Juan Ponce de León
Juan Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer. He became the first Governor of Puerto Rico by appointment of the Spanish crown. He led the first European expedition to Florida, which he named...
in 1513, as well as four other expeditions of exploration. Menéndez, one of the foremost naval officers of his day, had been sent out by King Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
with a fleet and 800 Spanish settlers with specific instructions to remove the French Protestants from Florida. Menéndez's fleet attempted to grapple and board Ribault's ships just off the mouth of the St. Johns River, but sea conditions denied success to both combatants. The Spanish admiral sailed 40 miles south to the next deep inlet on the Atlantic Florida coast. Spanish troops disembarked on 28 August 1565 near the Timucua Indian village of Seloy and hastily threw up some field fortifications, anticipating a French attack. Ribault set sail southward on 10 September 1565, taking most of the soldiers with him to attack the newly established Spanish earthworks-and-palm-log camp at St Augustine
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
. He left Laudonnière with 100 men but only 20 soldiers.
Meanwhile, Jean Ribault's fleet ran into the same hurricane that had bedeviled the Spanish approach to Fort Caroline. The storm drove the French squadron many miles south toward present-day Daytona Beach, destroying all the warships. Ribault and hundreds of other survivors washed ashore, and began to walk north along the beach. At Matanzas Inlet
Matanzas Inlet
Matanzas Inlet is a channel in Florida between barrier islands connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the south end of the Matanzas River. It is south of St. Augustine, in the southern part of St. Johns County, at coordinates...
, a Spanish patrol encountered the remnants of the French force, and took them prisoner. Following the king of Spain's express edict, all heretics were taken behind a sand dune and put to the sword. The few confessing Catholics and the young musicians were spared their lives. Ribault was executed, along with about 350 of his men. By mid-October 1565, the military power of France on the Florida coast had been obliterated, in accord with the wishes of Philip II of Spain.
Traveling overland via Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
and London, Laudonnière probably reached Paris in December 1565. After reporting to the royal Court at Moulins
Moulins, Allier
Moulins is a commune in central France, capital of the Allier department.Among its many tourist attractions are the Maison Mantin the Anne de Beaujeu Museum.-History:...
, Laudonnière faded from the historical picture. Several years later he emerged as a merchant mariner in 1572 at La Rochelle. He evaded the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre
St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations, followed by a wave of Roman Catholic mob violence, both directed against the Huguenots , during the French Wars of Religion...
of Huguenots, and died at St. Germain-en-Laye in 1574. His memoirs, L'histoire notable de la Floride, contenant les trois voyages faits en icelles par des capitaines et pilotes français, were published in 1586.