The Massacre at Matanzas Inlet: 300 Frenchmen Beheaded in 1565
The Florida Massacre at Matanzas Inlet was the mass killing of French soldiers by Spanish Royal Army troops near the Matanzas Inlet in 1565. The act came under orders from King Philip II to Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, the adelantado of Spanish Florida. As the French and Spanish battled for early control of Florida, several hundred Frenchmen set sail from an established base at Fort Caroline in what is now Jacksonville, to confront Menendez and his troops near St. Augustine. Unfortunately for French Captain Ribault, a tropical storm sank the fleet and the soldiers all had to swim for their lives. While many perished in the ocean, hundreds of shipwrecked Frenchmen washed up on shore near what's now Marineland, Florida. Spread out, they eventually formed two groups of 111 and 128 men. Within days the castaways were tracked down and executed by Pedro Menendez and his army, beheaded even after they surrendered because they refused to renounce their Protestant affiliations. Today a plaque commemorates the events near a popular local beach. #floridahistory #spanishflorida #ageofexploration #colonialusa