The Pirates of Nicaragua

Throughout the history of Nicaragua, pirates have played an extremely unsavory role. Most of Nicaragua's towns and villages were savagely plundered by the pirates, leaving Nicaraguans to rebuild their towns and lives, many times over. Even though the role of the pirates in Nicaragua was negative during its day, the folklore left behind many legends, stories and myths that are still told today.

Because of the negativity surrounding pirates, people did not realize how many famous and legendary pirates made their way to shores of Nicaragua. The Corn Islands, located approximately 40 miles to the northeast of Cayo Frenchman, were extremely popular in the days of pirates who navigated their ships through the entire Caribbean. It is still believed that many of those pirate ships and their precious cargoes lie buried under the bottom of the clear waters surrounding the islands off of Nicaragua's Caribbean coast, including Cayo Frenchman.

The western city of Granada was an unfortunate casualty of the pirate incursions. The city fell victim to pirates such as Jean David, the famous Jamaican pirate, who attacked on 29 June 1665. Another legendary pirate that plundered Granada in 1670 was Gallardillo- a pirate from Indian descent that took on the Spanish forces in spectacular fashion.

There are other examples that follow: On 8 April 1685, William Dampier arrived in Granada and burnt down the entire city. Granada also suffered at the hands of John Morris, David Marteen, Captain Jackman, Captain Freeman and Sir Henry Morgan. In a joint mission, bands of marauding pirates raided Honduras and then Granada in the 1660's.

On a much more local note, one famous sailor, Dutchman Abraham Blauvelt lived in Bluefields in Nicaragua, in the early 1600's and was a legal commander and sailor until the Dutch decided that they no longer needed his services. He departed Bluefields for New Amsterdam (now New York City) and, ultimately, settled in Newport, Rhode Island in 1649. Fights amongst the crew over their loot started as soon as they reached Rhode Island. The colonial governor seized one of Blauvelt's prizes and with his crew arguing over their shares, the local colonists, fearing that Rhode Island acquire a reputation of trading with pirates, forced Blauvelt to leave the colony. For the next several years Blauvelt commanded a French ship called La Garse, later living among the natives of Cape Gracias a Dios near the border of Honduras and Nicaragua, until the early 1660s when he was recruited for Christopher Myngs' raid on the Spanish colony of Campeche Bay in 1663. However, nothing more is known about his activities after this time.

With so many famous pirates making the rounds in Nicaragua, mainly to plunder the villages and settlements, one has to wonder how many lost their vessels in battles against the English and Spanish. And are some of those vessels still filled with precious jewels, gold and artifacts? Maybe we will never know but one thing is for certain: together with violence and destruction, the pirates brought mystery and wonder.