English privateer/pirate Robert Searle raided St Augustine in 1668 killing 60 and taking 75 as prisoners. With the English closing in on Florida, this pirate raid was the last straw for the Spanish authorities who looked to protect the colony more robustly afterward.

A Spanish Treasure ship of 1622 destroyed in a Hurricane.

The Straits of Florida provide the ultimate chokepoint causing shipwrecks and encouraging piracy.

The most fearsome pirate for intents and purposes of his age was Sir Frances Drake. His 1586 raid on St Augustine destroyed the town and was a big moment in the Anglo-Spanish War which was based around religion.

Dominique de Gourgues leads a French attack on Spanish Florida in 1568- the start of an era of piracy against Spanish Florida.

The French settlement of La Caroline posses a threat to Spanish hegemony.

We introduce new series on piracy and treasure fleets covering the time from 1513 through about 1750.

A new season of the Florida History Podcast is on the way starting soon!

We speak this week with Eric Romo, an Architectural Historian who has produced an incredible short film on some of the key historic sites of Old Florida.

George Washington never visited Florida but he had an obsession with the military value of St Augustine for the British.