Pánfilo de Narváez

Lore & Background

Pánfilo de Narváez was born in Castile in 1478 (or 1470) and was a relative of Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, the first Spanish governor of Cuba. He first sailed to Jamaica in 1510 as a soldier, participated in the conquest of Cuba, and led an expedition to Camagüey with Bartolomé de las Casas. De las Casas described him as 'a man of authoritative personality, tall of body and somewhat blonde inclined to redness.' Narváez presided over the massacre of Caonao, where Spanish troops killed a village full of natives who had come to meet them with food.

In 1519, Governor Velázquez sent Narváez with 1,400 men on 19 ships to intercept Hernán Cortés in Mexico. Narváez disembarked at Veracruz and set up camp at Cempoala. Cortés returned with as few as 250 men and defeated Narváez at the Battle of Cempoala on May 27, 1520, capturing him and taking an eye. After two years' imprisonment, Narváez was returned to Spain.

Appointed adelantado of Florida by King Carlos V, Narváez embarked from Sanlúcar de Barrameda on June 17, 1527, with five ships and 600 men. After losing ships in a hurricane and regrouping, he landed on Florida's west coast in April 1528 with 300 men. He split his force, ordering 100 men and 10 women aboard ships and 300 men and 42 horses to travel by land, but they never reunited. Narváez ordered the construction of rafts to reach Pánuco; a storm drowned most of his remaining 240 men near Galveston Island, and Narváez and a small group were carried out to sea and never seen again.

Reader's Guide

Pánfilo de Narváez is significant primarily for his two failed expeditions, which highlight the risks and challenges of early Spanish exploration in the Americas. His defeat by Hernán Cortés in 1520 demonstrated Cortés's tactical skill and contributed to the consolidation of Spanish control over Mexico. The Narváez expedition to Florida, which ended with his death and the survival of only four men after eight years, became famous through the account of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, one of the survivors. That narrative provided the first European descriptions of the people, animals, and geography of the present-day southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Narváez's career also illustrates the brutal treatment of indigenous peoples, as documented by Bartolomé de las Casas, who witnessed the massacre at Caonao and condemned Narváez. His legacy is thus tied to both the failures of conquest and the early ethnographic records that emerged from those failures.

Did You Know?

• Pánfilo de Narváez lost an eye during his capture by Hernán Cortés at the Battle of Cempoala on May 27, 1520.
• Bartolomé de las Casas, an eyewitness, reported that Narváez presided over the massacre of Caonao, where Spanish troops killed a village full of natives who had come to meet them with food.
• Only four men survived the Narváez expedition to Florida, reaching present-day Mexico City in 1536 after six years in captivity on or near Galveston Island.
• Narváez was named an adelantado by King Carlos V before his final expedition to Florida.