French Florida was a colonial territory established by French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 Huguenot

Huguenot

The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...

 colonists in the modern area of Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 between 1562 and 1565.

The colonial endeavour was started following plans by the French Huguenot leader, Admiral of France Gaspard de Coligny

Gaspard de Coligny

Gaspard de Coligny , Seigneur de Châtillon, was a French nobleman and admiral, best remembered as a disciplined Huguenot leader in the French Wars of Religion.-Ancestry:...

, to establish New World

New World

The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...

 colonies where his persecuted Protestant correligionnaries could safely establish themselves. The first such attempt was an establishment in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, named France Antarctique

France Antarctique

France Antarctique was a French colony south of the Equator, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which existed between 1555 and 1567, and had control over the coast from Rio de Janeiro to Cabo Frio...

.

A first landing in Florida was made by Jean Ribault

Jean Ribault

Jean Ribault was a French naval officer, navigator, and a colonizer of what would become the southeastern United States. He was a major figure in the French attempts to colonize Florida...

, seconded by René Goulaine de Laudonnière

René Goulaine de Laudonnière

René Goulaine de Laudonnière was a French Huguenot explorer and the founder of the French colony of Fort Caroline in what is now Jacksonville, Florida...

 in 1562, before moving north where he set up Charlesfort. Charlesfort was abandoned by all colonists save one the following year due to hardship and internal conflicts, and they sailed back to France.
In 1564, René Goulaine de Laudonnière

René Goulaine de Laudonnière

René Goulaine de Laudonnière was a French Huguenot explorer and the founder of the French colony of Fort Caroline in what is now Jacksonville, Florida...

 again traveled from France, to establish Fort Caroline

Fort Caroline

Fort Caroline was the first French colony in the present-day United States. Established in what is now Jacksonville, Florida, on June 22, 1564, under the leadership of René Goulaine de Laudonnière, it was intended as a refuge for the Huguenots. It lasted one year before being obliterated by the...

 in modern Florida.

The French establishment was wiped out by the Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 in 1565, and all Huguenots put to the sword, in the capture of Fort Caroline, and the subsequent Massacre at Matanzas Inlet

Matanzas Inlet

Matanzas Inlet is a channel in Florida between barrier islands connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the south end of the Matanzas River. It is south of St. Augustine, in the southern part of St. Johns County, at coordinates...

.

In 1568, Dominique de Gourgue

Dominique de Gourgue

Dominique de Gourgue was a French nobleman and soldier. He is best known for leading an attack against the Spanish in Florida in 1568, in response to the destruction of the French Fort Caroline. He was a captain in King Charles IX's army.-Youth:De Gourgue's early life is not well known...

 further explored the area, and, with the help of his allies the Saturiwa

Saturiwa

The Saturiwa were a Timucua chiefdom centered around the mouth of the St. Johns River in what is now Jacksonville, Florida. They were the largest and best attested chiefdom of the Timucua subgroup known as the Mocama, who spoke the Mocama dialect of Timucuan and lived in the coastal areas...

Indians, massacred the Spanish garrison in retaliation, but he did not capitalize on this action.