16th century Spanish shipwrecks found off Cape Canaveral filled with stolen French treasure

16th century Spanish shipwrecks found off Cape Canaveral filled with stolen French treasure:

In 1565, a vicious storm sank three Spanish ships bound for Havana, Cuba, banishing their stolen treasures to the bottom of the sea.

Centuries later, marine archaeologists have stumbled across the shipwreck remains off the coast of Cape Canaveral, nestled among debris from failed space launches.

Cannons, anchors and symbols of the fleur-de-lis and a French coat of arms are among the Spanish booty found in the depths that originally belonged to early French settlers.

Global Marine Exploration (GME) discovery includes 22 cannons, a marble monument, anchors, a stone grinding wheel and scattered ballast and ammunition.

However, the team reveals that the artifacts were uncovered in May, but due to security reasons, they did not share the findings to the public .

What GME is most excited about are three bronze ornate cannons, two of which measure 10 feet long and one 7 feet and the monument.

The monument appears to be hand carved marble and could have possibly been connected to the first French attempts at new world colonization, the Protestant Huguenots and the founding of Spanish Florida at St. Augustine.

It is shaped like the coat of arms on top of a pillar and is about 3 feet high and 2 feet wide, ‘exactly the way it is described in the original records,’ Robert Prichett, GME CEO, told LiveScience.

The marble is decorated with fleur-de-lis symbols, which is a stylized flower used in heraldry by French royalty,  and the crown of the king of France.

All of these artifacts have been identified from the manifest of a 1562 journey to Florida by the French navigator and colonialist Jean Ribault.

H/t reader kevin a.

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