Edward Mansvelt
Encyclopedia
Edward Mansvelt or Mansfield (fl.
Floruit
Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...

 1659-1666) was a 17th century Dutch
Dutch Empire
The Dutch Empire consisted of the overseas territories controlled by the Dutch Republic and later, the modern Netherlands from the 17th to the 20th century. The Dutch followed Portugal and Spain in establishing an overseas colonial empire, but based on military conquest of already-existing...

 corsair
Corsair
Corsairs were privateers, authorized to conduct raids on shipping of a nation at war with France, on behalf of the French Crown. Seized vessels and cargo were sold at auction, with the corsair captain entitled to a portion of the proceeds...

 and buccaneer
Buccaneer
The buccaneers were privateers who attacked Spanish shipping in the Caribbean Sea during the late 17th century.The term buccaneer is now used generally as a synonym for pirate...

 who, at one time, was acknowledged as an informal chieftain of the "Brethren of the Coast
Brethren of the Coast
The Brethren or Brethren of the Coast were a loose coalition of pirates and privateers commonly known as buccaneers and active in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico....

". He was the first to organise large scale raids against Spanish
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....

 settlements, tactics which would be utilised to attack Spanish strongholds by later buccaneers in future years, and held considerable influence in Tortuga and Port Royal
Port Royal
Port Royal was a city located at the end of the Palisadoes at the mouth of the Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1518, it was the centre of shipping commerce in the Caribbean Sea during the latter half of the 17th century...

. He was widely considered one of the finest buccaneers of his day and, following his death, his position was assumed by his protege and vice-admiral, Henry Morgan
Henry Morgan
Admiral Sir Henry Morgan was an Admiral of the Royal Navy, a privateer, and a pirate who made a name for himself during activities in the Caribbean, primarily raiding Spanish settlements...

.

Biography

His background is largely obscure, with conflicting accounts as a Dutchman from Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...

 or an Englishman
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

, and is usually referred to by the surnames Mansvelt or Mansfield. He is first recorded accepting a privateering commission
Letter of marque
In the days of fighting sail, a Letter of Marque and Reprisal was a government licence authorizing a person to attack and capture enemy vessels, and bring them before admiralty courts for condemnation and sale...

 from Governor Edward D'Oyley at Port Royal
Port Royal
Port Royal was a city located at the end of the Palisadoes at the mouth of the Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1518, it was the centre of shipping commerce in the Caribbean Sea during the latter half of the 17th century...

 in 1659. Based from Jamaica during the early-1660s, he began raiding Spanish shipping and coastal settlements, travelling overland as far as the Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 coast of South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

. In late 1665, he attacked a Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

n village with 200 buccaneers. Soon after this raid, he was offered a commission by the newly-appointed governor, Thomas Modyford
Thomas Modyford
Colonel Sir Thomas Modyford, 1st Baronet was a planter of Barbados and Governor of Jamaica, 1664-70.Modyford was the son of a mayor of Exeter with family connections to the Duke of Albemarle, who emigrated to Barbados as a young man with other family members in 1647, in the opening stages of the...

, at Port Royal, to sail against the Dutch at Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...

. His men refused to fight the Dutch however, some themselves being Dutchman, while others believed it would be far more lucrative to continue their raids against the Spanish.

In January 1666, Mansvelt and his crew left Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

. According to writer and historian, Alexandre Exquemelin
Alexandre Exquemelin
Alexandre Olivier Exquemelin was a French writer best known as the author of one of the most important sourcebooks of 17th century piracy, first published in Dutch as De Americaensche Zee-Roovers, in Amsterdam, by Jan ten Hoorn, in 1678.Born about 1645, it is likely that Exquemelin was a native of...

, Mansvelt led the fleet which captured and looted Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...

 and the Isle of St. Catherine, although this is disputed. He was, however, elected admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...

 of the fleet, consisting between 10-15 ships and an estimated 500 men. Sailing for Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

 in April, he intended to attack Cartago
Cartago, Costa Rica
- See also :* Cartago Agrarian Union Party* Provincial Integration Party Three* Cartago in Spanish...

 several miles inland but was turned back by heavy resistance from Spanish defenders near Turrialba. Several members chose to leave the expedition to return to Jamaica or Tortuga after this setback, however Mansvelt took what remained of the fleet successfully raiding the Isle of St. Catherine and capturing the island of Santa Catalina
Santa Catalina
Santa Catalina may refer to:*Argentina**Santa Catalina, Jujuy**Santa Catalina, Córdoba**Santa Catalina, Santiago del Estero*Colombia**Santa Catalina, Colombia**Archipelago of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina*Dominican Republic...

, also known as Providencia or Providence Island, a name given to it by English Puritans who had settled it in 1630. The island was controlled by Spain at the time Mansvelt arrived.

After occupying the St. Catharine, Mansvelt sent word to Port Royal for reinforcements in order to use the island as a base to attack the Spanish. The island may have been what is San Andres
San Andrés
San Andrés is the Spanish name of Saint Andrew. San Andrés may refer to:*Argentina**San Andrés, city located in General San Martín Partido, northern zone of Greater Buenos Aires.**San Andrés de Giles, Buenos Aires Province*Bolivia...

, located 100 miles off Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...

. He failed to persuade the governor in his request, as well as his attempts to use the island as a pirate haven, and died of a sudden illness. Another version, again according to Exquemelin, claims he sailed from the island to Tortuga where he was captured by the Spanish in Cuba and executed for piracy.

Regardless, his authority was assumed by another rising buccaneering captain, Henry Morgan
Henry Morgan
Admiral Sir Henry Morgan was an Admiral of the Royal Navy, a privateer, and a pirate who made a name for himself during activities in the Caribbean, primarily raiding Spanish settlements...

, following news of his death.

Further reading

  • Cruishank, E.A. The Life of Sir Henry Morgan. Toronto, 1935.
  • Haring, Clarence Henry. The Buccaneers in the West Indies in the XVIIth Century. New York: Metheun & Co., 1910.
  • Michael Pawson and David Buisseret. Port Royal, Jamaica. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975.

External links

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