Editing Hernando de Soto (section)

== Return to Spain ==
De Soto returned to Spain in 1536,<ref name=Leon />{{rp|135}} with wealth gathered from plunder in the [[Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire]]. He was admitted into the prestigious [[Order of Santiago]] and "granted the right to conquer Florida".<ref name=Leon />{{rp|135}} His share was awarded to him by the King of Spain, and he received 724 marks of gold, and 17,740 pesos.<ref name=Hagen2>Von Hagen, Victor W., 1955, "De Soto and the Golden Road", ''American Heritage'', August 1955, ''Vol. VI, No. 5'', American Heritage Publishing, New York, pp. 102–103.</ref> He married [[Isabel de Bobadilla]], daughter of [[Pedrarias Dávila]] and a relative of a confidante of [[Isabella I of Castile|Queen Isabella]].

De Soto petitioned [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|King Charles]] to lead the government of [[Guatemala]], with "permission to create discovery in the South Sea." He was granted the governorship of [[Cuba]] instead. De Soto was expected to colonize the North American continent for Spain within 4 years, for which his family would be given a sizable piece of land.

Fascinated by the stories of [[Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca|Cabeza de Vaca]], who had survived years in North America after becoming a castaway and had just returned to Spain, de Soto selected 620 [[Spanish people|Spanish]] and [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] volunteers, including some of mixed-race [[Ethnic groups of Africa|African]] descent known as Atlantic Creoles, to accompany him to govern Cuba and colonize North America. Averaging 24 years of age, the men embarked from [[Havana]] on seven of the King's [[Galleon|ships]] and two [[caravel]]s of de Soto's. With tons of heavy [[armor]] and equipment, they also carried more than 500 head of livestock, including 237 horses and 200 pigs, for their planned four-year continental expedition.

De Soto wrote a new will upon arriving in what is now the Tampa Bay area of Florida. On 10 May 1539, he wrote in his will:

<blockquote>That a chapel be erected within the Church of San Miguel in Jerez de Los Caballeros, Spain, where De Soto grew up, at a cost of 2,000 ducats, with an altarpiece featuring the Virgin Mary, [[Our Lady of the Conception]], that his tomb be covered in a fine black broadcloth topped by a red cross of the [[Order of Santiago|Order of the Knights of Santiago]], and on special occasions a pall of black velvet with the De Soto coat of arms be placed on the altar; that a chaplain be hired at the salary of 12,000 maravedis to perform five masses every week for the souls of De Soto, his parents, and wife; that thirty masses be said for him the day his body was interred, and twenty for our Lady of the Conception, ten for the [[Holy Ghost]], sixty for souls in [[purgatory]] and masses for many others as well; that 150000 [[maravedi]]s be given annually to his wife Isabel for her needs and an equal amount used yearly to marry off three orphan damsels...the poorest that can be found," to assist his wife and also serve to burnish the memory of De Soto as a man of charity and substance.<ref>Davidson, James West. ''After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection'' Volume 1. [[McGraw Hill]], New York (2010), Chapter 1, pp. 1, 3.</ref></blockquote>