Ribaut, << `ree` BOH, >> Jean (1520?-1565), a French colonizer, took part in attempts to establish French colonies in South Carolina and Florida. His name is also spelled Ribault. In 1562, Ribaut led the expedition that built Fort Charles, where Port Royal, South Carolina, now stands. He then returned to France. The garrison of 26 soldiers he left behind later deserted. In 1565, Ribaut led an expedition to the French Protestant settlement of Fort Caroline in Florida. He arrived safely, but the fort was later destroyed by the Spanish. Ribaut himself was shipwrecked and captured by the Spanish. Ribaut refused Spanish demands that he convert to Catholicism, and he was executed in Florida on Oct. 12, 1565. Ribaut was born in Dieppe, France, about 1520.
See also Matanzas Massacre .
