Pánfilo de Narváez and the Narváez Expedition

Spanish conquistador Pánfilo de Narváez arrived in modern-day Florida intent on finding and conquering a rich native empire – just like Cortes had done earlier in the decade. The Narváez Expedition is notable in that it marked the beginning of the amazing story of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca – whose life is covered in another podcast series.

Episodes

Pánfilo de Narváez and the Narváez Expedition
Pánfilo de Narváez marched into to swamps and forests Florida in 1527 with 300 men. Narváez and his men were in search of gold. Unfortunately, they are in store for a whole lot of misery and death. This story is really a prequel to the podcast on Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca.

Download this episode or listen online.

Maps

This map shows the route taken by the Narváez Expedition – in addition to the later travels of Cabeza de Vaca.

Resources

No better document for this podcast is the writings of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, the expedition’s second-in-command. Here is a good online version – or you can download a PDF or eReader version at archive.org.

The Wikipedia page detailing the Narváez Expedition is also an excellent resource. From there, you can access links to the various players in our tale.

Images courtesy of WikiPedia.org.