Pedro Menéndez de Avilés

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (* 1519 in Avilés, Asturias, † September 17, 1574 in Santander) was a Spanish admiral, the founder of the city of St. Augustine and also the first governor of the Spanish colony of Florida.

Life

Menéndez came from a noble family and distinguished himself in the service of Emperor Charles V in the fight against the pirates in the Atlantic Ocean off. He accompanied the later Spanish King Philip II to England in 1554 and was named after his accession to the throne in 1556 as commander of the Spanish silver fleet. In 1557 it carried the troops that it contributed to the Spanish victory of St. Quentin, on its ships. For a time, he fell into disfavour, but was governor of Florida in 1565 and was ordered to destroy the Huguenot colony of Jean Ribault. He did this in a thorough and brutal manner and massacred all the French, who were suspicious of Protestantism. Menéndez founded St. Augustine ( 1565), the first European settlement in what is now the United States, which had continued existence. Menéndez named the city after Saint Augustine of Hippo. He organized the Spanish fortifications as governor of Cuba, and was appointed shortly before his death to Spain to take command of the Spanish Armada.