Jean Ribault

Jean Ribault (* 1520 in Dieppe, Seine- Maritime, † October 12, 1565 in Matanzas Inlet, Florida) was a French navigator, colonizer and Caribbean pirate.

Life

Ribault was born in Dieppe and in 1562 commissioned by Gaspard II de Coligny, seigneur de Châtillon, to establish a Huguenot colony in North America. He sailed to Florida and founded the settlement of Charles Forte ( in the region of present-day Port Royal in South Carolina), but this was later abandoned. In 1565 he was the French settlement Fort Caroline liberate, which was threatened by the Spanish under Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. Ribault wanted to surprise the Spaniards at the nearby St. Augustine and left Fort Caroline, but this was taken immediately Menéndez. Ribault's ships were destroyed by storms, and he was captured and executed by Menéndez.