French expeditions in Florida (1562-1567)

Summary of the 1562 expedition

On February 18, 1562, a French sailor left the port of Dieppe, then one of the major French ports, on his way to the New World.
The expedition reached the Florida coast on April 30 and Jean Ribault, its commander, erected a stone column bearing the crest of France to claim the sovereignty of his country on this part of American soil. The gesture was important since it was going against the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas which has shared the new lands, “discovered or to be discovered”, between Portugal and Spain.
He settled a small garrison in a place he named Charlesfort (South Carolina) in the honor of King Charles IX and sailed back to France to announce his discovery, his claim on the land and to organize a new trip that was to bring colons. It ended up being his second in command, René de Laudonnière, who came back first un June 1564 and founded Fort Caroline near current-time Jacksonville. Ribault came back in 1565 but the expedition ended with the massacre or almost all the French by the Spanish.

450 years later, this adventure is little known except by a few specialists of maritime history and 16th century expeditions. In Dieppe, in the courtyard of the Castle-turned-museum, a replica of the 1562 column was erected between the two World Wars, and a street and port jetty are named after Jean Ribault.

In Jacksonville, Florida, Jean Ribault is remembered, citizens considering him to be the founder of their town. The City of Jacksonville was founded 450 years ago by Jean Ribault, making it one of the oldest cities in the US. Several official buildings, including a library and a school, are named after him. North of the city lies the Fort Caroline national Memorial and where a replica of the 1562 columns was erected in 1924 and named The Ribault monument. The University of North Florida-UNF) is working on this adventure and archeologists excavate the locations of the first settlements.

The four Florida expeditions

1562: first Florida expedition led by Jean Ribault who give an account of it in his journal published in London in 1563: The whole and true Discoverye of Terra Florida.
1564: second trip led by captain de Laudonnière who was Jean Ribault second in command in 1562.
1565: third expedition led by Jean Ribault, that ended with the massacre of the French and the assassination of Jean Ribault, ordered by Spanish commander Menendez de Avila.
1567: fourth expedition led by captain de Gourgues who wanted to avenge and wash the honor of his country.