Jean Ribaut

Jean Ribault
Born	1520 Dieppe, Kingdom of France
Died	October 12, 1565 St. Augustine, Florida
Nationality	French
Occupation	Explorer

Jean Ribault (1520 – October 12, 1565) was a French naval officer, navigator, and a colonizer of what would become the southeastern United States. He was a major figure in the French attempts to colonize Florida. A Huguenot and officer under Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, Ribault led an expedition to the New World in 1562 that founded the outpost of Charlesfort on Parris Island in present-day South Carolina. Two years later, he took over command of the French colony of Fort Caroline in what is now Jacksonville, Florida. He and many of his followers were killed by Spanish soldiers near St. Augustine.

Ribault was born in the town of Dieppe in the year of 1520 on the Province of Normandy. He entered into the French navy under the command of the great Huguenot admiral Gaspard de Coligny. In 1562 Coligny chose him to lead an expedition to the New World to found a colony. Leaving France on February 18 with a fleet of 150 colonists, he crossed the Atlantic Ocean and explored the mouth of the St. Johns River in modern-day Jacksonville, Florida. He named it the "River May", as this was the month when he found it, and erected a stone column claiming the territory for France. Ribault's fleet then proceeded north, charting more of the coastline and noting several rivers. Eventually they came to the Port Royal Sound in present-day South Carolina, and Ribault elected to establish a settlement on Parris Island, one of the Sea Islands off the coast. Ribault oversaw the layout of a small fort, which was named Charlesfort in honor of the French king Charles IX. Ribault left 27 men under the command of Albert de la Pierria to man the fort, and soon set sail for France.

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