French Hugeonots have made a secret colony in the land the Spanish call Florida and claim as their own. The King of Spain calls upon Admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés to oust the French and finally create a Spanish settlement in Florida, a feat many have tried and most have died undertaking, all ending in massive failure. Menendez will now have to quickly raise a fleet, gather colonists and race the French Fleet, led by rival Jean Ribault, to Florida. Menendez will carry out a Holy War in the New World, the effects of which reverberate outward to us today.

Tristán de Luna y Arellano is ordered by the Viceroy of New Spain to construct a series of forts and settlements from the Gulf, to the Mound Builders at Coosa, to Santa Elena in modern day South Carolina. With 1500 settlers, only an act of God could derail, De Luna's plans.

For more information on the archeological finds related to De Luna see this wonderful podcast: https://thehistoryoftheamericans.com/calamity-at-pensacola/

Hernando De Soto came to so-called Spanish Florida on orders to plant settlements and build fortifications along the coast. Instead he chased rumors of golden empires into the interior of North America, all for nothing. In late 1540, De Soto had the option to travel to Pensacola, where his boats awaited, but decided to set out in the direction of the setting sun in search of possibilities…

Hernando De Soto invades the Mississippians Chiefdoms of the South in search of gold, forgoing his orders to build a seaside colony. He begins a period of time known in the archaeological records as the Mississippian Shatter Zone, and fights the deadliest battle on American soil until the U.S. Civil War.

Hernando de Soto returns to Spain as one of the richest men in the Empire, from his share of the spoils toppling the Incan Empire. Now he seeks to sail to the New World once more to conquer the Natives of the land the Spanish call Florida convinced the venture will make him the richest man in the world.

A judge named Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón meets a man from the land of Chicora who fills his head with tales of gold, pearls, domesticated deer and men with tails who only eat raw fish. De Ayllón brings the man to the King of Spain, and according to the historian Peter Martyr captivates the attention of the restless masses, 600 of whom will go with de Ayllón to the American South East.

Suggested Reading (full works cited will be presented in the season 4 endnotes episode)

Peter Martyr “Decades of the New World”

A SPANISH SETTLEMENT IN CAROLINA, 1526.By J. G. Johnson, M. A.

Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón's Doomed Colonyof San Miguel de GualdapeBy Douglas T. Peck

Juan Ponce de León is more famous today for the myths that surround him rather than the man that he was. Living in a brutal time, hot on the heels of the Reconquista and the voyages of Christopher Columbus, de León will leave a mark on the island of Puerto Rico and plant the seed for Spanish Florida. A life of high risk, high reward, violent behavior that will not make de León a modern man, but will make him a household name in the modern world.