FLORIDA - Matanzas - place of "Slaughters"

Flower on the beach near Fort Matanzas, Matanzas Inlet - Florida

A short distance south of St. Augustine, Florida is a place called Matanzas which when translated means "Slaughters" in Spanish. In 1565 Spanish Admiral and Explorer Pedro Mendez de Aviles convinced several hundred Frenchmen under the command of Jean Ribault who were shipwrecked to surrender after a failed attempt to capture St. Augustine. Mendez then had the French methodically slaughtered, not because they were French and the Spanish were at war with the French but because they were Huguenots (Protestants) and the Spanish were Catholic. The above flower and many like it on Matanzas beach are quite beautiful and mask any indication that something so sinister happened at this location over 450 years ago in Florida.


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