During my research for my historical fiction novel Calusa Gold, I frequently see the name “Felipe” associated with the Calusas and their contact with the Spaniards. Felipe did become king of the tribe after the more well-known Callos, or Calus, or Carlos, as the Spaniards called him.
The story of Felipe’s move to the throne is full of enough betrayal, jealousy, and faith to match any fiction Shakespeare ever created. The real drama between cousins Carlos and Felipe heated up when Menendez arrived in Estero Bay and he visited the Calusa King on Mound Key.
Menendez convinced Carlos to allow his men to build a fort on a large made-made mound on the island, today known as “Mound 2”. The Spaniards built a wooden wall around the fort, which eventually contained 36 buildings, and most notably, a church and a large wooden cross. The fort was named Ft. San Anton de Carlos.
Father Juan Rogel led the church at the fort, and he welcomed the Calusa people into the fort to worship at the cross. King Carlos never accepted the Christian faith, and openly mocked the church, while Felipe accepted the new faith and even prayed at the cross.
Relations worsened between Carlos and the Spaniards in the fort. Eventually Felipe helped lure Carlos to an ambush outside the fort and he and two other Calusans were killed.
Felipe took over as king, but his reign was not exactly successful, nor did it last very long. Soon after taking the throne in 1567, he accepted the Christian faith, but then faced a serious dilemma in having to rely on the Spaniards for support, while the majority of Calusa warriors mistrusted and rejected the Spaniards and their religion. Felipe was also unable to get the Spaniards to support him in conflicts with neighboring tribes like the Tequesta and Tocobaga. Another source of trouble that wasn’t Felipe’s fault, but was still a big problem for him, was that many Calusa women were attracted to the Spanish soldiers in the fort.
Ultimately, the Spaniards turned against Felipe, and they killed him in 1569, just as they had done with Carlos. Soon after, the Calusans burned the buildings on the island and abandoned it.
Years later they returned to Mound key and reestablished contact with the Spaniards, who once again occupied the fort. And once again, the Calusans rejected the Spaniards and their faith and eventually stripped the priests of their clothing and kicked them off the island.
Looking back a few years ago, when I first read about how the Calusans resisted and never accepted domination of the Conquistadors, this got me interested in learning more about them. They never did give in, and I admire that.
Finally, please consider helping me out if you like what I’m doing here. I’m not charging for subscriptions, but I wouldn’t turn down a coffee! Click below, thanks.
Felipe: King, Christian, or Traitor?
Thank you for this, Will. I had thought that the Calusas always turned away the Spanish. Now I know better. One story I heard, perhaps from the latter days of the Spanish presence: Three young Calusa boys (teenagers, I’m sure), stripped a priest naked, put him in a canoe, and pushed it into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. In a final gesture, the three of them mooned the poor guy — “showed him their bare buttocks,” read the report. Love that story.