François Le Clerc
François Le Clerc | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 1563 |
Piratical career | |
Nickname | "Jambe de Bois" "Pata de Palo" "Peg Leg" |
Type | Privateer |
Years active | ?–1563 |
Base of operations | Saint Lucia |
François or Francis Le Clerc (died 1563), also known as "Jambe de Bois" ("Peg Leg"), was a 16th-century French privateer, originally from Normandy. He is credited as the first pirate in the modern era to have a "peg leg".
He was often the first to board an enemy vessel during an attack or raid. It was this brazen style that eventually caused him to suffer the loss of a leg and severe damage to one arm while fighting the English at Guernsey in 1549. Although many pirates would have had their careers ended by such an injury, Le Clerc refused to retire and instead expanded the scope of his piracy by financing the voyages and attacks of other pirates as well.
Despite his wounds, Le Clerc led major raids against the Spanish, who nicknamed him "Pata de Palo" ("Peg Leg"). In 1553, he assumed overall command of seven pirate craft and three royal vessels, the latter commanded by himself, Jacques de Sores and Robert Blundel. This same year he attacked the port of Santa Cruz de La Palma, in the Canary Islands, which he looted and set on fire, destroying a large number of buildings.
This strong fleet raided
Richer booty was taken on the return voyage as the corsairs plundered
.He and his crew of 330 men were the first Europeans to settle the island of Saint Lucia, and used the nearby Pigeon Island to target Spanish treasure galleons.[2]
In 1560, while awaiting a Spanish treasure fleet carrying a cargo of bullion, he caused a great deal of damage to settlements along the coast of Panama.
In April 1562,
References
Further reading
- Maxwell, Kenneth. Naked Tropics: Essays on Empire and Other Rogues. London: Routledge (UK), 2003. ISBN 0-415-94576-3
- Mcgrath, John Terrence. The French in Early Florida: In the Eye of the Hurricane. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2000. ISBN 0-8130-1784-X
- de la Roncière, Charles. Histoire de la marine française (History of the French Navy). Paris, 1910. https://archive.org/details/histoiredelamari04larouoft
- de la Roncière, Charles. Henri II précurseur de Colbert. Paris, Bibliothèque de l'École des chartes, 1905 - page 639 https://www.persee.fr/doc/bec_0373-6237_1905_num_66_1_461347
- Mémoires de la Société nationale académique de Cherbourg, Vol. XXIII, Saint-Lo, 1942 - https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6561152f.r=.langFR.textePage
External links
- François Le Clerc, at Rob Ossian's Pirate Cove
- Famous Pirates