Jean Bontemps (died 1572) was a French privateer. In 1559, sailing with Jean-Martin Cotes, he attacked the towns of

Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta ("Touristic, Cultural and Historic District of Santa Marta"), is a city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena ...

and

Cartagena de Indias Cartagena ( , also ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, bordering the Caribbean sea. Cartagena's past role as a link ...

, in modern-day Colombia. Bontemps and his men ransacked both towns and extorted a 4,000-peso ransom from Cartagena. In 1567, Bontemps cooperated with John Lovell's semi-piratical trading expedition to

Margarita A margarita is a cocktail consisting of Tequila, triple sec, and lime juice often served with salt on the rim of the glass. The drink is served shaken with ice (on the rocks), blended with ice (frozen margarita), or without ice (straight up). T ...

, in modern

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. A show of force provided the local Spanish, who desperately needed supplies, with the necessary pretext to violate the royal prohibition on trading with foreign powers. Bontemps then attacked

Rio de la Hacha Riohacha (; Wayuu: ) is a city in the Riohacha Municipality in the northern Caribbean Region of Colombia by the mouth of the Ranchería River and the Caribbean Sea. It is the capital city of the La Guajira Department. It has a sandy beach waterfr ...

without success, and does not appear to have taken part in Lovell's voyage there a few days later. Bontemps attempted a raid on

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

in 1572, and was killed by a Spanish arrow or crossbow bolt through the throat. The Spanish took his head to

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 ...

as a prize.Cawthorne, p. 21.

References

French privateers 1572 deaths French pirates Year of birth unknown Deaths by projectile weapons 16th-century French people {{France-bio-stub