The truth often seems like slander to those who cannot see. You can read some here:
From Fort Caroline, the freebooters went out and raided not only Spanish merchants and treasure ships but Spanish cities as well. Cartagena and Panama in South America both fell prey to the Protestant pirates. Cuba was hit particularly hard - probably due to proximity - with both Santiago and the well established capital of Havana sacked and plundered.
Of course the Spanish weren't going to hold still for all these Froggy shenanigans. In 1565 King Philip II sent a force led by Captain General Pedro de Menendez of Avilles to deal with the problem. 30 ships left Cadiz in June carrying a force of 2,000 soldiers along with upwards of 500 settlers. The Captain General was charged by the king to handle the pirate problem and establish a Spanish fort in "The Florida". De Menendez was the right man for the job not only because of his ruthlessness but his business interests as well. He owned several merchant ships, one of which had recently gone missing in the area of Fort Caroline with his own son aboard.
And here:
The Huguenots were naturally interested in capturing Spanish galleons.
After the Spanish instituted their treasure fleet, the French continued their attacks on vessels, but it became much more difficult to accomplish their felonious tasks. After Jean Fleury was captured during an attack in 1527 and hanged as a pirate, the French privateers realized that while ships were becoming more and more difficult to capture, Spanish port cities were much easier targets. This changed the Huguenots' strategies significantly. As long as they timed their raids correctly, the Huguenots would be able to capture much of the Spanish treasure before it ever reached the treasure fleet. This plan of action paid off handsomely as they proceeded to attack ports in Puerto Rico, Havana, and Cartagena (modern-day Colombia), collecting an impressive amount of pirate booty.
Fort Caroline
As the religious civil war in France continued, many French Protestants found themselves exiled. In 1564, a group of them settled on Florida's coast, calling their new home Fort Caroline. Unlike most settlers whose ambition was to work the land, this group was comprised of soldiers and tradesmen who planned to use the area as a base from which pirate raids on both Spanish ships and Spanish ports could easily be conducted. Unfortunately for the French, the Spanish were growing tired of the Huguenot pirates, and they decided it was time to settle the score.
In April of 1562, King Philip II sent Spanish nobleman Pedro Menendez de Avilles to the territories of the Spanish Main. Menendez was named the Captain General of the Spanish fleet, and his mission was to catch any pirates he could and deal with them ruthlessly. Menendez and his brother owned several merchant ships and he was very familiar with both trading and security. He made immediate recommendations that the port cities should be fortified, and that armed ships be on patrol in the Caribbean to protect the ports and ships while they were there.
So what we see is that Menedez's actions were quite horrific.
Yes horrific, but he killed only soldiers/pirates and let the women and children go. I suppose you can believe that if Ribault had reached Menedez’s outpost successfully he would not have killed any of them.
Perhaps you both might apologize to that freeper?
I don’t apologize for truth telling.
He is quite intelligent, you know?
That is a relative assessment that really has no meaning to anyone but yourself.
And he brought no untruths here.
No, just half-truths.
In fact, it does appear that Titanites is the one hoping to spin here.
The truth seems like spin to some.
Pretty sick, huh?
Yes, sick, but done to those murdering pirates were occupying Spanish territory, pirating Spanish ships and plundering Spanish settlements, and who had pirated Menedez’s own ships and killed his son.
From a [U.S.] National Park Service link which you yourself have cited here previous;
Presumed wannabe pirate but a Catholic, or simply being a fiddle player -- then ok, but a Huguenot? Death to ye.
As I mentioned before, much of this can be seen as carry-over from the religious wars in Europe at the time.
Yes, sick, but done to those murdering pirates were occupying Spanish territory, pirating Spanish ships and plundering Spanish settlements, and who had pirated Menedez’s own ships and killed his son.
Spanish territory? Yea, and the Moon belonged to the U.S. after the astronauts planted a flag, and spent a few nights there.
Murdering pirates? Unless a Catholic, then hey, that's different...
Perhaps one could rename the so-called "Bush Doctrine" the King Phillipe of Spain doctrine? No, wait --- the Bush doctrine did not include a "kill them all" clause in regards to those of a different religion. The Spaniard's did.
The blog like you offered, Pauline's Pirates & Privateers has a slightly different version than most other accounts, in that it is claimed A mass grave was dug for these men and over it de Menendez erected a marker which read: "I do this not to Frenchmen but to heretics.
Note that he did not say "pirates".
The executioner himself declaring himself doing such not to Frenchmen (whom otherwise may be entitled to some decency?) nor to pirates, (either caught in the act or convicted at trial before execution?) but to "heretics". Other accounts say he left them not buried, but "hanging in the trees". Since this reportedly shocked both Catholic and Protestant, even during a period which had seen a great many other atrocities having been committed in religious warfare, I'll go with that it was at least believed/i> in Europe at the time, that he left them hanging in trees, declaring them heretics, and most likely did so too, for that matter.
Tell me again about truth often seems like slander to those who cannot see?
The French king didn't care if these were Protestants or not, they were fighting against the enemy (so what if Spain was Catholic, they were the enemy of the French king).