Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun

Hernando de Soto and the South's Ancient Chiefdoms

By: Charles Hudson, Robbie Ethridge - foreword

Narrated by: Gary Tiedemann

Between 1539 and 1542, the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto led a small army on an expedition of almost four thousand miles across Southeastern America. De Soto's path had been one of history's most intriguing mysteries until the publication of Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun. Using a new route reconstruction, anthropologist Charles Hudson maps the story of the de Soto expedition, tying the route to a number of specific archaeological sites.

De Soto's journey cut a bloody and indelible swath across both the landscape and native cultures in a quest for gold and glory. The desperate Spanish army followed the sunset from Florida to Texas before abandoning its mission. De Soto's one triumph was that he was the first European to explore the vast region that would be the American South. But in 1542, he died a broken man on the banks of the Mississippi River.

In this classic text, Hudson masterfully chronicles both De Soto's expedition and the native societies he visited. The narrative unfolds against the exotic backdrop of a now extinct social and geographic landscape. A blending of archaeology, history, and historical geography, this is a monumental study of the sixteenth century Southeast.

©1997 Charles Hudson; additional materials copyright 2018 by The University of Georgia Press (P)2022 Tantor

Comparison to Coronado

I have been following Deni Seymour‘s recent discoveries of Coronado’s entry into the United States. Her revolutionary work have relocated Coronado‘s path west of what was originally and excepted previously. I hope Deni does as good a job documenting her recent work as you have done in this book.

Well, done research!

I really enjoyed getting to learn a little bit more about my areas history. I had no idea despite growing up with all the history that I learned at school. This took it even deeper. Well done.