Juan Ponce de Leon

Juan Ponce de Leon

Biography, Timeline & Facts about the famous explorer, explorations & voyages in the Age of Exploration

Short Biography of the life of Juan Ponce de Leon - Explorer and Soldier
The following biography information provides basic facts about the life Juan Ponce de Leon:

• Nationality - Spanish

• Lifespan - 1460 - 1521

• Family - Juan Ponce de Leon was descended from the Spanish Royal family

• Education - Well educated befitting his noble birth

• Career - Courtier, Explorer and Soldier

• Famous as the first European to set foot in Florida. He also discovered the Gulf Stream and was famous for searching for the "fountain of youth". He also established the oldest European settlement in Puerto Rico

Facts, Timeline & History about the life of Juan Ponce de Leon - Explorer and Soldier
The following are additional facts and a timeline about the life and history of Juan Ponce de Leon:

• Juan Ponce de Leon was born in Santervas, Spain

• Juan Ponce de Leon came from a noble Spanish family and was well educated as befitted his status and would have been taught several languages, physics, geometry, mathematics and astronomy

• Ponce de Leon served as page to Pedro Nunuz de Guzman at the Spanish court

• 1490's Ponce travelled the seas as a Privateer, attacking ships belonging to the Moors

• 1493, 25 September  The Second voyage of Christopher Columbus with 16 ships from Cadiz, carrying about 1500 men - including Juan Ponce de Leon

• Columbus explores Hispaniola (Jamaica) and encounters the hostile Carib and Arawak native indians

• Columbus establishes a Spanish settlement in Haiti and searches for gold and Juan Ponce de Leon has gained a wealth of experience from this voyage of discovery

• 1494 September 29 Christopher Columbus returns to Spain but Juan Ponce de Leon stays in Santo Domingo (now called the Dominican Republic)

• 1512 23 February Charles V grants Juan Ponce de Leon  a patent authorizing him to discover and people the Island of Bimini (in the Bahamas) bestowing upon him the title of Adelantado and total jurisdiction

• 1508: Ponce de Leon founded the first settlement in Puerto Rico, Caparra (later relocated to San Juan)Ponce de Leon colonized Puerto Rico using just a few troops and one greyhound who scared the natives

• 3 March, 1513, Ponce sets out from San German ( Puerto Rico ) with three ships, fitted out at his own expense

• 14 March, 1513 Juan Ponce de Leon reaches Guanahani, San Salvador ,where Christopher Columbus first sighted land

• 27 March 1513 Juan Ponce de Leon comes within sight of the coast ( Florida)

• 2 April 1513 Juan Ponce de Leon took possession of the land which Ponce de Leon named "Pascua de Florida" ( Feast of Flowers) because they first spotted land on Palm Sunday

• 1513  Juan Ponce de Leon returned to Puerto Rico

• 27 September, 1514 Via his friend, Pedro Nunez de Guzman, he secured a second grant  giving him power to settle the Island of Bimini and the Island of Florida, ( at this point in time Florida was thought to be just an island)

• 1521 he set out with two ships ready to colonise Florida. Whilst building houses Ponce de Leon and his party were attacked by a tribe of the Calusa (on Pine Island)

• Ponce de Leon was injured by a poisoned arrow

• Juan Ponce de Leon returned to Havana, Cuba, where he died of his wounds. His tomb is in the cathedral in Old San Juan

Interesting Facts, Timeline and Information about Juan Ponce de Leon
Some interesting facts and biography information about the History, Life & Times of Juan Ponce de Leon

Famous Explorers - Juan Ponce de Leon - Explorer and Soldier
Additional details, timelines, facts, history and information about the famous European Explorers and events in the great Age of Exploration and Elizabethan Times can be accessed via the Elizabethan Era Sitemap.