Jean Tristan (died 1693) was a French corsair (

buccaneer Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from Stuart Restoration, the Restoration in 16 ...

) and pirate active in the Caribbean and against Spanish holdings in Central and South America.

History

Tristan was part of a large buccaneer flotilla (including John Coxon,

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...

, Jan Willems, and others) which attacked the Pacific coast of Costa Rica in early 1681 after raiding off Colombia with Laurens de Graff the previous year. That May he took aboard a party of English sailors under John Cook which had split with Bartholomew Sharp's raiders. Among Cook's crew were

William Dampier William Dampier (baptised 5 September 1651; died March 1715) was an English explorer, pirate, privateer, navigator, and naturalist who became the first Englishman to explore parts of what is today Australia, and the first person to circumnav ...

and Edward Davis; they left Sharp's camp with the help of native guides, whom they paid using trinkets bought from Tristan's men. Tristan rejoined the larger fleet after transferring the Englishmen to another ship, but became separated from them and was forced to flee after encountering several Spanish warships near

Bocas del Toro Bocas del Toro (; meaning "Mouth of the Bull") is a province of Panama. Its area is 4,643.9 square kilometers, comprising the mainland and nine main islands. The province consists of the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Bahía Almirante (Almirante Bay ...

. In late 1682 he was back in the Caribbean where he met again with Jan Willems off of Ile a Vache. Among Willems’ crew were Cook and his sailors, who rejoined Tristan after their own ship had been confiscated. Soon afterwards Cook and the English sailors stole Tristan's ship while he and his French crew were ashore. Tristan eventually met

Nicholas van Hoorn Nicholas van Hoorn (c. 1635 in Vlissingen – buried 24 June 1683, in Isla Mujeres) was a merchant sailor, privateer and pirate. He was born in the Netherlands and died near Veracruz after being wounded on the Isla de Sacrificios. ''Nikolaas'' or ...

, who in 1683 gave him a replacement vessel for a combined assault on Veracruz alongside

Michel de Grammont Michel de Grammont (c. 1645 – 1686?) was a French privateer. He was born in Paris, Kingdom of France and was lost at sea in the north-east Caribbean, April 1686. His privateer career lasted from around 1670 to 1686 during which he commanded th ...

. Tristan sailed with Grammont through 1685, raiding

Campeche Campeche (; yua, Kaampech ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Campeche), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by ...

and other targets before leaving late that year for

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

. In 1688 Tristan sailed to Jamaica; as a French Protestant (

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

) he was no longer welcome in Catholic France and so he became a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

British subject. He was commanding a merchant vessel on trading (possibly smuggling) voyage to Panama in 1693 when the Spanish seized his vessel and hanged Tristan with all his crew. Jamaican Governor

William Beeston William Beeston (1606? – 1682) was an English actor and theatre manager, the son and successor to the more famous Christopher Beeston. Early phase William was brought up in the theatrical world of his father; he became an actor, and also his ...

traded angry letters with Spanish officials, condemning their harsh treatment of British citizens; the Spanish '' Audiencia'' President responded that Tristan was “known to be one of the greatest pirates in America. Had he been brought in alive, I should have punished him.”

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tristan, Jean 17th-century pirates Year of birth missing French pirates People executed for piracy 1693 deaths Piracy in the Caribbean

History

See also

Notes

References