Sir Henry Morgan leads buccaneers in sack of Panama

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 4.1.3: Hispanic Writing and Culture of Central America and the Caribbean.
Vol. editors: Ben Bollig (University of Oxford), Ceire Broderick (University College Cork), Nuala Finnegan (University College Cork), Anna Forné (Gothenburg University), Cara Levey (University College Cork), Lori Oxford (Western Carolina University), Ailsa Peate (University of Westminster)

Domains

Navy

Dates

Date of occurrence 1671-01-18

Places

Panama (Location)
United Kingdom (Involved)

Resources

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The Welshman Sir Heny Morgan (c. 1635-1688) was a notoriously cruel pirate or privateer who attacked Spanish possessions in the Caribbean from 1667 to 1672. He arrived in Jamaica in 1658, three years after it had been captured by the English Commonwealth. He distinguished himself by his bravery, cunning and violence, acting as a freebooter under the orders of Sir Thomas Modyford, governer of Jamaica, who denied all prior knowledge and responsibility for his actions. He became much feared for his habit of torturing his captives to extract information about hidden gold and jewels. He ravaged the coast of Cuba (Hispaniola) and Venezuela, sacking Maracaibo in March 1669. His sacking and entire destruction of Panama City in January 1671, and the torturing of its citizens, was made…

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182 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Sir Henry Morgan leads buccaneers in sack of Panama". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 May 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=2622, accessed 06 May 2024.]

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