Carlos, also known as Calos or King Calusa (died 1567), was king or

paramount chief A paramount chief is the English-language designation for a king or queen or the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a Chiefdom, chief-based system. This term is used occasionally ...

of the

Calusa The Calusa ( , Calusa: *ka(ra)luś(i)) were a Native American people of Florida's southwest coast. Calusa society developed from that of archaic peoples of the Everglades region. Previous Indigenous cultures had lived in the area for thousands o ...

people of

Southwest Florida Southwest Florida is the region along the southwest Gulf coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is known for its beaches, subtropical landscape, and winter resort economy. Definitions of the region vary, though its boundaries are genera ...

from about 1556 until his death. As his father, the preceding king, was also known as Carlos, he is sometimes called Carlos II. Carlos ruled over one of the most powerful and prosperous

chiefdom A chiefdom is a political organization of people representation (politics), represented or government, governed by a tribal chief, chief. Chiefdoms have been discussed, depending on their scope, as a stateless society, stateless, state (polity) ...

s in the region at the time, controlling the coastal areas of southwest Florida and wielding influence throughout the southern peninsula. Contemporary Europeans recognized him as the most powerful chief in Florida. Carlos inherited the throne from his father, who had been installed as regent while the designated heir, Felipe, was too young to rule. Carlos' father bypassed Felipe in favor of Carlos, creating tension between Carlos' and Felipe's families. Felipe served as war chief and was seen as a stronger leader by many Calusa. Carlos was chief at the time of contact with the Spanish under

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (; ; 15 February 1519 – 17 September 1574) was a Spanish admiral, explorer and conquistador from Avilés, in Asturias, Spain. He is notable for planning the first regular trans-oceanic convoys, which became known as ...

in 1566. At this time, Carlos faced internal political pressure from Felipe as well as war with external enemies, most notably the

Tocobaga Tocobaga (occasionally Tocopaca) was the name of a chiefdom of Native Americans, its chief, and its principal town during the 16th century. The chiefdom was centered around the northern end of Old Tampa Bay, the arm of Tampa Bay that extends betw ...

around

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater i ...

. As a result, he initially sought an alliance with the Spanish. The alliance soon failed due to the conflicting aims of the two parties, and the relationship between the Calusa and the Spanish turned violent. Eventually Carlos was captured and executed by Spanish officers. Felipe succeeded him as chief.

Background and succession

During Carlos' time, the Calusa were a major power in Florida. Both the Spanish and French colonists considered Carlos the most powerful chief in the region. The Calusa did not practice substantive agriculture, but the abundant supply of fish and shellfish in their territory supported their large, sedentary population. They controlled the southwest Florida coast from Charlotte Harbor south to the

Florida Bay Florida Bay is the bay located between the southern end of the Florida mainland (the Everglades, Florida Everglades) and the Florida Keys in the United States. It is a large, shallow estuary that while connected to the Gulf of Mexico, has limited ...

and wielded influence over most peoples in the southern part of the peninsula, possibly stretching as far north as

Cape Canaveral Cape Canaveral () is a cape (geography), cape in Brevard County, Florida, in the United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. Officially Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated ...

. Calusa society was highly organized, with considerable power vested in the chief. The chief's power derived from their paramount place in the Calusa religious system as well as their ability to control and distribute trade goods. William McGoun writes that the Calusa represented a highly stratified

, and may have been emerging as a

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

. This interpretation is based on Carlos' succession controversy, which suggests that power was at least partly vested in the institution of the throne rather than a hereditary line. Carlos inherited the chiefdom from his father and predecessor, whose name was given as Senquene by shipwreck survivor

Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda ( – after 1575, dates uncertain) was a Spanish shipwreck survivor who lived among the Native Americans of Florida for 17 years. His ''circa'' 1575 memoir, ''Memoria de las cosas y costa y indios de la Florida'', ...

, a prisoner of the Calusa from about 1549 to 1566. Senquene is known in other Spanish sources as Carlos, leading scholars sometimes to call his son Carlos II.McGoun, p. 16 and note. In 1568, Jesuit missionary

Juan Rogel The Diocese of Venice in Florida () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory–or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southwest Florida in the United States. It was founded on June 16, 1984. Frank Dewane has been bishop since 2007. The Diocese ...

wrote an account of the contentious succession of the recent kings, based on Calusa informants, which scholars have parsed to develop a model of the succession leading up to Carlos.The Calusa succession is charted in Goggin and Sturtevant 1964:193–194; Lewis 1978:32–33; Marquardt 1987:104-106; Widmer 1988:6; and McGoun 1993:12–16 and note. Senquene was originally the chief priest, serving under his brother, the king. Their sister was married to the war chief (a position known to the Spanish as "captain general") with whom she had a son, who was eventually known to the Spanish as Felipe. The king had no sons of his own. As the Calusa, unusually among Southeastern peoples, apparently practiced

patrilineal succession Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

, the king named Felipe his heir. He formally adopted Felipe and married him to his daughter. However, the king died while Felipe was still too young to rule. Senquene and Felipe's father agreed that Senquene should rule temporarily until Felipe came of age. After Senquene took the kingship, Carlos was born. Senquene reneged on his vow to step down; he named Carlos his successor and had the previous king's daughter divorced from Felipe and remarried to Carlos. He placated Felipe's enraged family by naming Felipe the next captain general and arranging a marriage to one of his own daughters. This development caused unease for many Calusa, who saw it as a usurpation.Widmer 1988:6. Carlos II had an older sister, later baptized Antonia, whom he loved greatly. By the time of contact with the Spanish, Antonia was one of Carlos' wives (according to Spanish reports Calusa chiefs were expected to take their sister as one of their wives). His queen or principal wife, whose name is unknown, was the sister of Felipe. Carlos had several other wives, many of whom were daughters of his vassal chiefs.

Kingship

Carlos likely rose to the kingship in the 1550s; William Marquart suggests 1556 based on events that happened that year. Carlos' succession evidently inspired challenges from other powerful chiefdoms. In 1556, the daughter of Oathchaqua, chief of the Ais of

, set out for Calusa to cement an alliance between their peoples by marrying Carlos. During the journey, she was captured by the chief of the

Surruque The Surruque people lived along the middle Atlantic coast of Florida during the 16th and 17th centuries. They may have spoken a dialect of the Timucua language, but were allied with the Ais. The Surruque became clients of the Spanish government ...

or Serrope, who took her as his own wife. In doing so, Chief Surruque challenged Carlos' authority, disrupted the key alliance and trading route between the Calusa and Ais, and positioned himself as a significant power. A few years later, the

asserted themselves by capturing twelve Calusa nobles, including the sister of Carlos' wife. Beset with problems, Carlos struggled to respond. Carlos reigned at the time of contact with the Spanish under

. Menéndez arrived in the Calusa region in 1566, five months after establishing the settlement of

St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

in northeast Florida and ejecting the French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

s from their settlement of

Fort Caroline Fort Caroline was an attempted French colonial settlement in Florida, located on the banks of the St. Johns River in present-day Duval County. It was established under the leadership of René Goulaine de Laudonnière on 22 June 1564, follow ...

. The Spanish landed at Carlos' capital, Calos, probably on

Mound Key Mound Key Archaeological State Park is a Florida State Park, located in Estero Bay, near the mouth of the Estero River. One hundred and thirteen of the island's one hundred and twenty-five acres are managed by the park system. It is a comple ...

. Menéndez' primary goal in the voyage was to secure the release of Spanish shipwreck survivors living among the Calusa, including his son Juan. Carlos jumped at the chance for an alliance with the powerful foreigners. He hoped such an alliance would help against his people's enemies, in particular the Tocabaga. He also may have hoped it would give him the upper hand in his rivalry with Felipe, whom the Spanish chronicler Gonzalo Solís de Merás wrote was even more feared by his people than Carlos himself. According to historian Stephen Edward Reilly, this power struggle was the primary reason Carlos pursued an alliance with the Spanish. Carlos attempted to solidify the alliance with the Spanish by offering to wed his sister Antonia to Menéndez, who very reluctantly accepted. He allowed the Spanish to establish a small outpost and a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

mission,

San Antón de Carlos San Antonio de Carlos, established in 1567, was the first Jesuit mission in the New World. The site is located in what is now Mound Key Archaeological State Park off Estero Bay in Florida and what was the cultural center of the Calusa or Calos pe ...

, near the main town of Calos.McGoun, p. 14. He also sent several prominent Calusa, including Felipe, a certain Sebastian, and Sebastian's son Pedro (relatives of Carlos), on a trip to

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. Felipe proved a stronger king than Carlos, and therefore a greater danger to the Spanish. Though he appeased the Spanish by ostensibly converting to Christianity, he did not abandon the traditional religious practice or the power it afforded him. In 1569, the Calusa attacked the landing party of

Pedro Menéndez Márquez Pedro Menéndez Márquez (c.1537 – 1600) was a Spanish military officer, conquistador, and governor of Spanish Florida. He was a nephew of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, who had been appointed ''adelantado'' (an elite military and administrative po ...

. Menéndez Márquez repelled the attack and had Felipe and twenty of his supporters killed. Pedro, whom Spanish sources call Carlos' "first cousin", succeeded Felipe as chief of the Calusa. Pedro was no more compliant than his predecessors had been, and the Spanish abandoned the region.McGoun, pp. 15–16 and note.

Notes

References

* * * * * *{{cite book , last= Widmer , first= Randolph J. , year=1988 , title= The Evolution of the Calusa: A Non-Agricultural Chiefdom on the Southwest Florida Coast, url= https://books.google.com/books?id=doMp9LtdZiAC&q=The+Evolution+of+the+Calusa%3A+A+Non-Agricultural+Chiefdom+on+the+Southwest+Florida+Coast, publisher= University of Alabama Press , isbn= 0817303588 1567 deaths 16th-century births 16th-century Native American people Calusa Native American leaders People from Spanish Florida