Post by Hippolyta on Dec 4, 2009 13:59:11 GMT -5
Port Royal was a city located at the end of the Palisadoes at the mouth of the Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. It was the centre of shipping commerce in the Caribbean Sea during the latter half of the 17th century. It was one home port of the privateers employed to nip at superpower Habsburg Spain's empire when smaller European powers dared not directly make war on Spain. As a port city, it was notorious for its gaudy displays of wealth and loose morals, and was a popular place and base (homeport) for the English and Dutch sponsored privateers to bring and spend their treasure during the 17th century. When those governments abandoned the practice of issuing letters of marque against the Spanish treasure fleets and possessions in the later 16th century, many privateers turned pirate and used the city as their main base during the heyday of the Caribbean pirates in the 17th century. During the 16th century, the English and French actively encouraged and even paid buccaneers based at Port Royal to attack Spanish and French shipping. Pirates from around the world congregated at Port Royal coming from waters as far away as Madagascar on the far side of Africa.
Colonization of Port Royal
Situated at the western end of the Palisadoes sand spit that protects Kingston, Port Royal was well-positioned as a harbour. Its first visitors were the Arawak Indians, the native peoples of what is today called Haiti. The Arawak Indians used the land during their fishing expeditions, although it is not known whether they ever settled at the spit. They did, however, inhabit other parts of the Jamaican island.
The Spanish first landed in Jamaica under the leadership of Christopher Columbus in 1494. Permanent settlement occurred when Juan de Esquevil brought a group of settlers in 1509. The Spanish came to Jamaica in search of gold and silver, but found none. Instead they began what they saw as a viable alternative: enslaving Arawaks to farm the sugar cane that Esquevil had transported from England with him. Much like the Arawak peoples before them, the Spanish did not appear to have much use for Port Royal area. The area could not provide them with the precious metals they sought. Still, Spain kept control of the territory, mostly so that it could prevent other countries from accessing the island so strategically placed within the trade routes of the Caribbean. Spain maintained control over the island for 146 years, until the English invasion of 1655.
England acquired it in 1655. England never intended to take the island of Jamaica, but they did intend to take land from Spain. Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Realm, had sent an English fleet to capture Hispaniola. His goal was to give England a trading base in the middle of the Spanish New World. The fleet, however, failed miserably at its attempt and was disgracefully beaten in Santo Domingo. Facing defeat, and fearing the rage of Lord Cromwell, Commanders General William Penn and Admiral Robert Venables chose to capture Jamaica as a consolation prize. The fleet arrived in Jamaica on May 10, 1655, greatly outnumbering their Spanish opposition. They found it relatively easy to gain control of the island, but immediately realized that a larger Spanish force could easily take it back just as quickly. By 1659, two hundred houses, shops, and warehouses surrounded the fort, and by 1692 five forts defended the port.
For much of the period between the English conquest of Jamaica and the earthquake, Port Royal served as the capital of Jamaica; after the 1692 earthquake, Spanish Town overtook this role, later followed by Kingston, whose development was spurred through resettlement of quake-survivors.
Piracy in Port Royal
Port Royal provided a safe harbour initially for privateers and subsequently for pirates plying the shipping lanes to and from Spain and Panama. Buccaneers found Port Royal appealing for several reasons. Its proximity to trade routes allowed them easy access to prey, but the most important advantage was the port's proximity to several of the only safe passages or straights giving access to the Spanish main from the Atlantic. The harbour was large enough to accommodate their ships and provided a place to careen and repair these vessels. It was also ideally situated for launching raids on Spanish settlements. From Port Royal, Henry Morgan attacked Panama, Portobello, and Maracaibo. Roche Brasiliano, John Davis (buccaneer), and Edward Mansveldt (Mansfield) also came to Port Royal.
Since the English lacked sufficient troops to prevent either the Spanish or French from seizing it, the Jamaican governors eventually turned to the pirates to defend the city.
By the 1660s, the city had gained a reputation as the Sodom of the New World where most residents were pirates, cutthroats, or prostitutes. When Charles Leslie wrote his history of Jamaica, he included a description of the pirates of Port Royal:
(Taken from Wikipedia)
Colonization of Port Royal
Situated at the western end of the Palisadoes sand spit that protects Kingston, Port Royal was well-positioned as a harbour. Its first visitors were the Arawak Indians, the native peoples of what is today called Haiti. The Arawak Indians used the land during their fishing expeditions, although it is not known whether they ever settled at the spit. They did, however, inhabit other parts of the Jamaican island.
The Spanish first landed in Jamaica under the leadership of Christopher Columbus in 1494. Permanent settlement occurred when Juan de Esquevil brought a group of settlers in 1509. The Spanish came to Jamaica in search of gold and silver, but found none. Instead they began what they saw as a viable alternative: enslaving Arawaks to farm the sugar cane that Esquevil had transported from England with him. Much like the Arawak peoples before them, the Spanish did not appear to have much use for Port Royal area. The area could not provide them with the precious metals they sought. Still, Spain kept control of the territory, mostly so that it could prevent other countries from accessing the island so strategically placed within the trade routes of the Caribbean. Spain maintained control over the island for 146 years, until the English invasion of 1655.
England acquired it in 1655. England never intended to take the island of Jamaica, but they did intend to take land from Spain. Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Realm, had sent an English fleet to capture Hispaniola. His goal was to give England a trading base in the middle of the Spanish New World. The fleet, however, failed miserably at its attempt and was disgracefully beaten in Santo Domingo. Facing defeat, and fearing the rage of Lord Cromwell, Commanders General William Penn and Admiral Robert Venables chose to capture Jamaica as a consolation prize. The fleet arrived in Jamaica on May 10, 1655, greatly outnumbering their Spanish opposition. They found it relatively easy to gain control of the island, but immediately realized that a larger Spanish force could easily take it back just as quickly. By 1659, two hundred houses, shops, and warehouses surrounded the fort, and by 1692 five forts defended the port.
For much of the period between the English conquest of Jamaica and the earthquake, Port Royal served as the capital of Jamaica; after the 1692 earthquake, Spanish Town overtook this role, later followed by Kingston, whose development was spurred through resettlement of quake-survivors.
Piracy in Port Royal
Port Royal provided a safe harbour initially for privateers and subsequently for pirates plying the shipping lanes to and from Spain and Panama. Buccaneers found Port Royal appealing for several reasons. Its proximity to trade routes allowed them easy access to prey, but the most important advantage was the port's proximity to several of the only safe passages or straights giving access to the Spanish main from the Atlantic. The harbour was large enough to accommodate their ships and provided a place to careen and repair these vessels. It was also ideally situated for launching raids on Spanish settlements. From Port Royal, Henry Morgan attacked Panama, Portobello, and Maracaibo. Roche Brasiliano, John Davis (buccaneer), and Edward Mansveldt (Mansfield) also came to Port Royal.
Since the English lacked sufficient troops to prevent either the Spanish or French from seizing it, the Jamaican governors eventually turned to the pirates to defend the city.
By the 1660s, the city had gained a reputation as the Sodom of the New World where most residents were pirates, cutthroats, or prostitutes. When Charles Leslie wrote his history of Jamaica, he included a description of the pirates of Port Royal:
Wine and women drained their wealth to such a degree that… some of them became reduced to beggary. They have been known to spend 2 or 3,000 pieces of eight in one night; and one gave a strumpet 500 to see her naked. They used to buy a pipe of wine, place it in the street, and oblige everyone that passed to drink.
(Taken from Wikipedia)