Montigny La Palisse (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1720–1721) was a French pirate best known for his association with

Bartholomew Roberts ) , type=Pirate , birth_place = Casnewydd Bach, near Puncheston, Pembrokeshire, Wales, Kingdom of England , death_place = At sea off of Cape Lopez, Gabon , allegiance= , serviceyears=1719–1722 , base of operations= Off the coast of the Americas ...

History

There is little information on La Palisse’s activities before he joined Roberts in February 1720. Roberts had been active across the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. Near

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

on February 19, 1720, Roberts in the ''Fortune'' spotted a

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

, hoisted his black flag, and gave chase. The sloop responded with a black flag of its own: it was the 6-gun, 63-man ''Sea King'' under

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...

’s Montigny La Palisse, and so ''Fortune'' and ''Sea King'' sailed in concert. Authorities in Barbados equipped two ships to attack Roberts. La Palisse fled in the ''Sea King'' after its rigging was damaged, leaving Roberts to face the warships alone. Roberts escaped but ''Fortune'' was heavily damaged, and narrowly avoided capture again when two additional ships from

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

pursued him. That July Roberts took several French prize ships, transferring to the largest and renaming it ''Good Fortune''. Sailing near

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, La Palisse and ''Sea King'' rejoined Roberts, apologizing for their retreat, and together they headed back to the

. Roberts had taken a number of ships, renaming them ''Good Fortune'' and ''Royal Fortune'' in succession. He was off the coast of

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

in August, anchored outside Charles Town. La Palisse had become separated from Roberts by bad weather in the meantime, but a month later he rejoined Roberts to plunder

Basseterre Basseterre (; Saint Kitts Creole: ''Basterre'') is the capital and largest city of Saint Kitts and Nevis with an estimated population of 14,000 in 2018. Geographically, the Basseterre port is located at , on the south western coast of Saint Kitt ...

. In September and October the pair took dozens of vessels in quick order. By January 1721 La Palisse (in a renamed prize ship),

Thomas Anstis Thomas Anstis (died April 1723) was an early 18th-century pirate, who served under Captain Howell Davis and Captain Bartholomew Roberts, before setting up on his own account, raiding shipping on the eastern coast of the American colonies and in th ...

in the ''Good Fortune'', and Roberts in the ''Royal Fortune'' (La Palisse’s former ''Sea King'') were sailing together. In April 1721 Anstis took ''Good Fortune'' and slipped away in the night; his first mate was

Brigstock Weaver Brigstock Weaver (born 1686 – died 1767) ( fl. 1720–1725, first name occasionally Bridstock) was an English pirate active in the Caribbean. He is best known for his association with fellow pirates Thomas Anstis and Bartholomew Roberts. Hi ...

, who had been captured by Roberts and La Palisse and forced into joining the pirates. Roberts meanwhile stopped at the

Cape Verde Islands , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

to repair his ships. He chased two merchant vessels but La Palisse refused to engage when confronted by their two warship escorts. Shortly afterwards La Palisse severed his ties with Roberts; there are few records of his activities afterwards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:La Palisse, Montigny French pirates 18th-century pirates Caribbean pirates Year of birth missing Year of death missing

History

See also

References