In 1574 Menéndez received the crowning honor of his career. He was chosen by Philip II of Spain to take command of a great armada of ships and men being assembled in the harbor of Santander, presumably for operation against the Low Countries, and possibly the English coast. On the day he assumed this important command he fell ill with a raging fever. The usual remedies of purging and blood-letting proved of no avail, and he died on September 17, 1574, at the age of 55.
The day before the beginning of his fatal illness he wrote a letter to his nephew, Marqués, expressing his desire to return to Florida, and stating that he hoped to do so in the spring, when he was confident the affair in Flanders would be settled.
“Then,” he wrote, “I shall be at liberty to go at once to Florida, never to leave it as long as I live, for that is my longing and my happiness.”
Storms prevented burial in his native Avilés, to which his remains were later removed. There an inscription on his tomb eulogizes him as “the illustrious Adelantado of the Province of Florida ... and Captain-General of the Oceanic Seas.”
His death was a blow to Spain. No outstanding naval figure arose to take his place, and the great armada he was to have commanded never sailed.
The outer case of Menéndez’ coffin is on display at St. Augustine’s Mission of Nombre de Dios.
CHAPTER II
The Years Accumulate
It was the following spring of 1575 before the news of Menéndez’ death reached Florida. St. Augustine, now ten years old, had lost not only its founder and a resourceful leader, but was left without his financial support. As he had spent his entire fortune in establishing the Florida posts, his heirs were in no position to assume the obligation of sustaining them.
Influential advisors in Spain urged that the settlement of Florida be abandoned, because the province produced no gold, silver, or other riches. King Philip II weighed the problem carefully. He decreed that the Florida posts should continue to be maintained, because of their value in protecting the vital trade route along the coast, and as a refuge for shipwrecked mariners and vessels in distress. Since the heirs of Menéndez could not finance them, they would be made crown colonies under the supervision of the King, and would be supported by an annual Situado or subsidy, which the Viceroy of New Spain (Mexico) was ordered to provide.