Menéndez de Avilés, Pedro

Menéndez de Avilés, Pedro, << meh NEHN dehth theh ah vee LEHS, PAY throh >> (1519-1574), a Spanish naval captain, founded St. Augustine, the first permanent European settlement in what would become the United States. He established the settlement in Florida. Menéndez also forced French colonists out of Florida and gained control of the territory for Spain.

Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, founder of St. Augustine, Florida
Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, founder of St. Augustine, Florida

King Philip II of Spain had selected Menéndez to lead an expedition to Florida in 1565. The main purpose of the mission was to drive out a group of French settlers who had begun colonizing Florida in 1564. The king also wanted Menéndez to colonize Florida for Spain.

Matanzas Massacre
Matanzas Massacre

In 1565, Menéndez landed in Florida and founded the fortified settlement of St. Augustine. He then led about 500 men in an attack on France’s Fort Caroline, near present-day Jacksonville. The Spanish seized the fort, killing about 130 French troops. They also ruthlessly executed 200 french troops, including the French commander, who had become shipwrecked south of St. Augustine. Menéndez’s victory ended French attempts to colonize eastern Florida. During the next few years, Menéndez established several more fortified settlements in what is now the southeastern United States. He was Spain’s governor of Florida from 1568 until his death on Sept. 17, 1574.

Menéndez was born on Feb. 15, 1519, in the Asturias region of northern Spain. He became a sailor at the age of 14. He was appointed captain general of Spain’s fleet in the Caribbean region in 1554.

See also Matanzas Massacre ; Mission Nombre de Dios .