Gonzalo Mendez de Cancio
| Gonzalo Méndez de Canço | |
|---|---|
| 7th Governor of La Florida | |
|
In office March 22, 1596/ June 1597 – February 1603/ October 1603 |
|
| Preceded by | Alonso de las Alas, Bartolomé de Argüelles and Juan Menendez Marquez |
| Succeeded by | Pedro de Ibarra |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1554 Tapia de Casariego, Asturias, Spain |
| Died | March 31, 1622 Tapia de Casariego |
| Spouse(s) | Magdalena de Luazes Lugo |
| Profession | Admiral and colonial governor |
Gonzalo Méndez de Canço (or "de Cancio") y Donlebún (c. 1554 - March 31, 1622) was a Spanish admiral who served as the seventh governor of the Spanish province of La Florida (1596-1603). He fought in the Battle of San Juan (1595) against the English admiral Francis Drake. During his tenure as governor of Florida, he dealt severely with a rebellion known as Juanillo´s revolt among the Native Americans in Guale, forcing them, as well as other tribes in Florida, to submit to Spanish domination. De Canço was best known, however, for promoting the cultivation of maize in the province, and for introducing its cultivation to Asturias, Spain, where it eventually became an important crop.
Gonzalo Méndez de Canço was born in 1554 at Tapia de Casariego, in the parish of San Esteban de Tapia, Asturias, Spain. He was the son of Diego de Canço (or "de Cancio") Donlebún and Maria Mendez de San Julián y Villaamil, descendants of a family of hidalgos. Nothing of his childhood is known, but he joined the Armada de la Carrera de las Indias (Fleet of the West Indies Run) at age 14.
In 1571, at the age of 17, he traveled to America in the company of Sancho Pardo Osorio. In the course of his service to the Spanish Crown, de Canço provided three ships at his own expense for use by the royal navy. The first was called El Apóstol Santiago (The Apostle Santiago), an escort ship for Spanish merchants going to or coming from the Americas. During a return voyage from Mexico to Europe the ship was lost in the Atlantic at the latitude of Madeira. Not daunted by this setback, he ordered the construction of a ship similar to the first, called Nuestra Señora de Escontrela ("Our Lady of Escontrela"), of which he became captain. In 1584 de Canço sailed to the coast of the Panama isthmus with this ship, but ran aground at the entrance to the port of Nombre de Dios and lost the ship. The third ship, called Virgen de la Concepción ("Virgin of the Conception"), was equipped with thirteen pieces of artillery and other munitions.
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