Jeremy II (c. 1639–1729) was King of the
Miskitu Kingdom. Little is known about his reign, though he engaged in formal diplomatic agreements with the British
colony of Jamaica
The Crown Colony of Jamaica and Dependencies was a British colony from 1655, when it was captured by the English Protectorate from the Spanish Empire. Jamaica became a British colony from 1707 and a Crown colony in 1866. The Colony was prima ...
.
Life
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, Can ...
sources refer to the king of the
Miskitu Kingdom during this period as Bernabé. Historians have noted that it remains unclear if the king called Jeremy in the famous account of the pirate "M. W." ruled from 1687 when Jeremy was reported in
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 ...
to 1729 or whether there were two kings named Jeremy. According to Michael Olien, given the age of
Jeremy I in 1699 (age 60) it seems unlikely that he was the same Jeremy who was ruling in 1720 as this would make him 80.
The Spanish colonial governor of
Guatemala dispatched ships loaded with expensive gifts for Jeremy; these were intended to persuade the
Miskitu Kingdom to recognize
Spanish suzerainty. However, the ships were intercepted and captured by British
sloops and taken to Jamaica instead. On 25 June 1720,
Nicholas Lawes
Sir Nicholas Lawes (1652 – 18 June 1731) (sometimes "'Laws'" in contemporary documents) was Governor of Jamaica from 1718 to 1722.
Early life
Nicholas Lawes was born in 1652 to Nicholas and Amy Lawes.
Knighthood
He was a British kni ...
, the
governor of Jamaica, signed a formal agreement with Jeremy in which the latter agreed to supply fifty men to track down
maroons
Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas who escaped from slavery and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into separate creole cultures such as the Garifuna and the Mascogos.
...
(former
slaves) in the
Blue Mountains.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeremy Ii
1639 births
1729 deaths
Miskito people