Jean Ribault

Jean Ribault was a French naval officer and explorer who led expeditions to Florida and founded the Huguenot settlement of Charlesfort in 1562.

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French Florida: A French colonial project in present-day Florida and the southeastern coast of North America during the sixteenth century. Ribault’s expeditions launched France’s attempt to establish a colony in the region.
Charlesfort mutiny: A rebellion among French settlers at Charlesfort that preceded the settlement’s abandonment. Ribault’s first colony collapsed after unrest and the settlers’ departure.
René de Laudonnière: A French officer who led the 1564 expedition that founded Fort Caroline and later served as its governor. Laudonnière carried on the settlement effort after Ribault’s earlier voyage.
Spanish Florida: The Spanish colonial territory centered on Florida from the sixteenth century through the early nineteenth century. Spanish control expanded after the destruction of Ribault’s French settlement.
French Wars of Religion: A series of conflicts between French Catholics and Protestants, chiefly Huguenots, from 1562 to 1598. Huguenot leaders supported Ribault’s expeditions amid growing religious conflict in France.
Laudonnière expedition: René de Laudonnière’s 1564 French expedition that founded Fort Caroline in Florida. It continued the colonization effort Ribault had begun.
Dominique de Gourgues: A French nobleman who led a 1568 expedition against Spanish forts in Florida after Fort Caroline’s destruction. His reprisal campaign followed the Spanish defeat of Ribault and the French colonists.
French–Spanish rivalry in Florida: The sixteenth-century contest between France and Spain for control of Florida and nearby territory. Ribault’s expeditions and Menéndez’s response were decisive episodes in this rivalry.
Gaspard de Coligny: A French admiral and Huguenot leader who promoted Protestant colonial ventures in the Americas. Coligny sponsored the Florida enterprise Ribault led.
Siege of Fort Caroline: The 1565 Spanish assault that captured and destroyed the French settlement of Fort Caroline. The attack formed part of the campaign that ended Ribault’s Florida enterprise.