Pánfilo de Narváez

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Pánfilo de Narváez (1470 – 1528) was a Spanish conqueror and soldier in the Americas.

Narváez was born in Castile (in either Cuéllar or Valladolid) in 1470. In 1512 he went to Cuba to participate in the conquest of that island under the command of Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar. He led expeditions to the eastern end of that island in the company of Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas and Juan de Grijalva. After living on Hispaniola and Cuba, as well as taking part in the 1509 conquest of Jamaica, Narváez was sent to Mexico as Velázquez's agent to undermine Hernán Cortés' ambitions there. Suspected of insubordination, Hernán Cortés imprisoned him in Veracruz or Cempoala during the early 1520s. After his release he returned to Spain.

Narváez was subsequently appointed adelantado (governor) of Florida by King Charles V. His expedition to the New World was a notorious disaster culminating in the death of almost all its members, including Narváez, but notably sparing Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca.