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In this episode we venture back to Florida, and the first of several almost comically incompetent attempts by the Spanish to settle the area, including Ponce de Leon’s second expedition in 1521, and the very ephemeral settlement of San MIguel de Gualdape under the “leadership” of Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón. We also explore the personal rivalry and indeed hatred among the leading players in the Spanish Caribbean of the early 1500s, and the implications for the Spanish exploration of the future United States.
Selected references for this episode
Andrés Reséndez, A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca
Douglas T. Peck, “Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón’s Doomed Colony of San Miguel de Gualdape,” The George Historical Quarterly
Samuel Turner, “Juan Ponce de León and the Discovery of Florida Reconsidered,” The Florida Historical Quarterly
