Huguenot Florida?

Thande

Donor
I know the 'Huguenot colony in the Americas' WI is pretty popular here, and I found this while browsing through Wikipedia...

The French began taking an interest in the area as well, leading the Spanish to accelerate their colonization plans. Jean Ribault led an expedition to Florida in 1562, and his associate René Goulaine de Laudonnière founded Fort Caroline in what is now Jacksonville in 1564 as a haven for the Huguenots. San Agustín (St. Augustine), founded in 1565 by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, is the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in any U.S. state; it is second oldest only to San Juan, Puerto Rico in the United States' current territory. From this base of operations, the Spanish began building Catholic missions throughout what is today the southeastern United States.

On September 20, 1565, Menéndez de Avilés attacked Fort Caroline, killed all the French soldiers defending it (except Catholics), and renamed the fort San Mateo. Two years later, Dominique de Gourgues recaptured the settlement from the Spanish and slaughtered all of the Spanish defenders. In 1586, English sea captain and sometime pirate Sir Francis Drake plundered and burned St. Augustine.

Could this have grown into a full-fledged Huguenot colony if it hadn't been strangled at birth?
 
Its an interesting fact that the English nearly rescued the Huguenots. An expedition was being arranged but broke down over conflicts in command.
 
I don't think that the French colony at Fort Caroline has what it takes to become a full fledged successfull colony. The lack of a harbour certainly doesn't help matters as well as it's less than ideal location. Not to mention that the geography isn't exactly well suited for defense.

Perhaps had the Huguenots settled further north they would have been able to escape the intrigues of the Spanish...
 
The original colony was founded on Parris Island (of Full Metal Jacket fame) as Charlesfort, but was abandoned when Jean Ribault was arrested by the English because they thought he was going to try and steal some of there ships. If he had somehow found supplies/more colonists and not gotten waylaid in an English prison, it would be a perfect place for them to begin a colony.
 
A good article. Accurate?


If the Huguenots manage to defeat the Spanish, how do the Spanish react? Another expedition? The two nations aren't at war, so how far can they go?

What effect on other North American colonization? I doubt any difference with Virginia and the Carolinas, but there's definitely no Georgia ITTL. What about New France and New Netherlands? I'm going to say no difference for New France, but New Netherlands will have fewer settlers as (according to Wikipedia) many Huguenots settled there. Will that make any difference other than different place names?

I was going to say something about de Luna but, oops, he was in 1558.

Anyway, back to Spain, i bet they found a colony kind of close. How close?

A nice port and place to buy supplies would doubtless bring a few more pirates into the area, looking for Spanish gold. How does Spain react?

Last thought, if we go with the English bailing Charlesfort out, do they continue to back the colony up? What's the long-term relationship like?
 
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