Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón

Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón (* around 1474 in Toledo, † October 18, 1526 in Virginia) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador.

In 1504, he went to Hispaniola, where he worked as a judge. So he gave in 1520 between the rivals Hernán Cortés and Diego Velázquez. At the same time he ran the slave trade with the Indians.

1526 Ayllón sailed with six ships and 500 colonists to the coast of present-day South Carolina, where he founded San Miguel de Gualdape, the first European settlement on the territory of the United States. On board were also African slaves, some of which deposed in an uprising of the settlement and found refuge with the Indians.

Due to the difficult circumstances ( starvation, disease and strife with the Indians ) died, most of the colonists. Ayllón himself died of a fever. After only three months, beginning of the year 1527, the settlement was abandoned. The 150 survivors returned to Hispaniola.