![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Yet all these precautions couldn’t stop Piet Heyn, a Dutch privateer, from capturing 31 bullion-laden ships off the coast of Cuba in 1628.Īs wars raged between European nations in the 17th century, deserters, shipwrecked sailors and escaped slaves formed runaway communities in the Caribbean. He and others attacked shipping and towns throughout the Caribbean and Central America, forcing the Spanish to build expensive fortifications and reinforce the fleets that carried gold and silver from South America back to Europe. Soon they were sponsored by their rulers at home (and known as privateers rather than pirates), with Queen Elizabeth I of England a staunch supporter of Sir Francis Drake. The first pirates were independent operators, mixing attacks on Caribbean shipping and harbours with smuggling and slave-trading. Tolerated and even supported by European governments hostile to Spain, they were eventually banished by those same governments after they had outlived their usefulness. For the most part, they were driven by a mixture of religious hatred and greed as they wreaked havoc among the Spanish treasure fleets, earning notoriety for their spectacular brutality. For almost 200 years, from the 16th century, pirates, privateers and buccaneers terrorised the Caribbean with spectacular brutality.įiction has been kind to pirates, painting them as dashing desperadoes, but the truth was rather different. ![]()
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