Juan Ponce de León

Juan Ponce de León
Biographical information
Gender	Male
Ethnic group	Spanish
Born	1474, Santervás de Campos, Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain
Died	c. 1523, aboard the Santiago on an island
Family	Leonore (wife) Two daughters One son
Title(s)	Conquistador Captain Don Governor
Also known as	Juan Ponce de León y Figueroa
Statistics
Ship(s) captained or crewed	Santiago
Affiliation	Conquistador Fountain of Youth Spanish Royal Navy
Behind the scenes
First appearance	On Stranger Tides
Last appearance	On Stranger Tides
Cause	Skeleton remains in the bed aboard the Santiago, examining the map of San Miguel for all eternity.

"No, I told you! Ponce de León died two hundred years ago."
"Aye, but he died searching for something, didn't he?"
"...The Fountain of Youth."

―Captain, Fisherman and King Ferdinand

Juan Ponce de León, born Juan Ponce de León y Figueroa, was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in the early 1500s. Born to a noble Spanish family in the late 15th century, he became the first Governor of Puerto Rico by appointment of the Spanish crown, and also led the first European expedition to Florida, which he named.

Ponce de León was mostly associated with the Fountain of Youth, a legendary spring which was said to grant eternal life. While the fabled Fountain was reputed to be in Florida, from a route shown on navigational charts, Ponce de León discovered the Fountain on an unchartered island. He captained the Santiago during his search for the Fountain until his death.

Biography

Early life

Juan Ponce de León y Figueroa was born to a noble Spanish family in the late 15th century. Despite this, Ponce de León was poor, and like many in similar situations, he sought fame and fortune as a soldier. He received an education in fighting skills, manners and religion while serving a knight named Pedro Nunez de Guzman, later helping in the ten-year conquest of the Muslim kingdom of Granada in southern Spain.

Exploration in the New World

Juan Ponce de León accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World, and later helped conquer eastern Hispaniola, being appointed governor of the province of Higuey. He conquered Puerto Rico and was appointed it's first governor. In 1512 he was removed from office and started an expedition to the lands north of Cuba.

The Fountain of Youth

First discovery

In 1513, Ponce de León, a Spanish explorer and conquistador, discovered Florida during his search for the Fountain of Youth, but legends say that he never found it. He returned to Spain, later he tried to conquer Guadeloupe and was re-appointed Governor of Puerto Rico. In 1521 he organized another expedition to Florida, during which he was supposedly wounded with a poisoned arrow. He aborted the expedition and returned to Havana.

Second search

"The Santiago. Famously captained by Ponce de León."

―Jack Sparrow

Two years later, Ponce de León led another expedition to discover the marvels of the New World. But his ship, the Santiago, was caught in a storm, and ended up on the edge of a cliff on an unchartered island. Through mysterious circumstances, almost all of the crew members, including Ponce de León himself, were soon dead. Holding a personal map of San Miguel in his hand, Ponce de León's corpse remained in a bed found in the captain's quarters aboard the Santiago. Only one Spanish sailor survived, ending up lost at sea for two centuries, carrying the logbook that chronicled every detail of Ponce de León's journey to the Fountain. Sometime after 1523, the route taken by Ponce de León was depicted on Mao Kun Map, the navigational charts that led to otherworldly realms. When rumors floated of Ponce de León's search, many men sought after the Fountain for the next two centuries. However, the official history recorded that Ponce de León died of a poisoned arrow, and many believed that he never searched for the Fountain at all, and that the entire tale was a bit of apocrypha designed to add color to local legends.

Ponce de León's skeletal remains in the captain's quarters of the Santiago.

In 1750, the quest for the Fountain of Youth began after de León's last surviving crew member, now over two hundred years old, brought the ship's log to the Spanish King Ferdinand VI. By that time, Ponce de León's now-skeletal corpse remained in the bed in the captain's quarters of the Santiago, being found by Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa, who were searching for the silver Chalices of Cartagena. When Jack attempted to grab the map that the skeletal corpse held, Ponce's head turned towards him. Barbossa silently told Jack to not touch the map, and Jack let go, causing the skeleton's head to turn back to the map. Ponce de León's body would remain aboard the Santiago, examining the map of San Miguel for all eternity.

Behind the scenes

Imagineer John Horny created a map with the name "Ponce de Leon" seen close to the west coast of Florida.

"Some say the Fountain be not more than legend false a mermaid's kiss. Others whisper of a curse that leave ya as dead as old Ponce here. What be the truth of it? I'll show ya."

―Hector Barbossa

• The name "Ponce de Leon" first appeared on a map by Imagineer John Horny, created in 1987 as original artwork for the "Pirates of the Caribbean" attraction at EuroDisneyland.
• Ponce de León was portrayed by a skeleton prop in On Stranger Tides.
• Before working on On Stranger Tides, the film crew had no idea how to introduce Ponce de León into the story. They later decided to use the skeleton in the bed from the "Captain's Quarters" tableau from the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, inserting Ponce de León as the skeletal corpse looking at a map with a magnifying glass, surrounded by mounds of treasure. This overt link to the original attraction resulted from director Rob Marshall's research of the ride before he began filming On Stranger Tides. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer stated, "The Ponce de León cabin set symbolizes what we've tried to do in all of the films, which is to reference the original ride but re-invent in fresh and exciting ways."
• In real-world history, Juan Ponce de León died in 1521 on Cuba due to a wound from the poisoned arrow.
• In the first screenplay draft of At World's End, Hector Barbossa starts to search for the Fountain of Youth, using the captain's journal of Juan Ponce de León that he took from Tia Dalma who in turn received it from a mermaid.
• It is implied in Legends of the Brethren Court: Day of the Shadow that Ponce de León is related to the Spanish stable boy Diego de Leon.
• In LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game, Ponce de León's portrait hangs on the wall of his cabin on the Santiago. The portrait shows him holding the Chalices of Cartagena.
• Juan Ponce de León is a minor character in Tim Powers' novel On Stranger Tides, which was used as the basis for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. In the novel, he found the Fountain on his first expedition, and prolonged his life for the next two centuries. By 1718, he was known as Governor Sawney, an old drunkard on New Providence.

Appearances

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Six Sea Shanties (Mentioned only)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Name first appears on map)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (junior novelization) (Name appears on map) (Special Edition)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (First appearance) (Appears as a corpse)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (junior novelization) (As a skeleton) (International versions only)
• LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance) (Appears as a corpse)

Sources

• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: The Visual Guide
• The Captain Jack Sparrow Handbook
• Legends of the Brethren Court: Day of the Shadow

See also

• Fountain of Youth

External links

• Juan Ponce de León on Wikipedia