Simon Mascarino (

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 ...

1701–1721) was a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

pirate active in the

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. He was also a

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

in service of the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

History

Spanish ''guarda costa'' privateers had captured the

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 ...

''Revenge'' from the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, and in early 1721 it was captained by Simon Mascarino, a “noted villain in these parts where he has been privatier and pirate above 20 years.” He had a commission from the Governor of St. Jago to cruise against English ships and settlements of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. After looting a Jamaican

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

, Mascarino’s ''Revenge'' was caught by the Royal Navy’s Captain Vernon of Jamaica. Vernon wrote that Mascarino had been augmenting his crew with anyone he could find: “His crew was made up of all nations and colours.” The

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of his crew were sent to the French Governor at

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

, who executed them. Black and

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members of his crew were sold into slavery unless they could prove their status as freedmen, which some did. Vernon also took aboard several Englishmen which the Spanish had been holding prisoner at

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

for use at hard labor. He was also able to show that the ''Revenge'' itself had been captured when Spain and England were at peace, proving that Mascarino had been using his privateering commission as a pretense for piracy.

References

Year of birth missing 18th-century pirates Portuguese pirates Portuguese slave traders People executed for piracy 1721 deaths Caribbean pirates 18th-century Portuguese people {{Pirate-stub 18th-century slave traders

History

See also

References