Francois l'Olonais, The Bane of Spain
Some pirates have a reputation for malevolence and savagery, but none have warranted the reputation more than the legendary scallywag known as Francois l'Olonnais, the Scourge of the Spanish! Much of Arrr Information about l'Olonnais (Pronounced Low-Low-Nay) is gathered from Alexander Exquemlin's Accounts n' can be taken with a hefty grain of salt, yet there is such detail!
For much of his life, l'Olonnais was an indentured servant when he arrived in the Caribbean sometime in the 1650's. Indentured Servants were one step above slaves in the New World, being bound to harsh working conditions by a binding contract. People in Europe could be kidnapped and sold into Indentured Servitude. The major difference would be that there was a theoretical end to the contract with a reward upon conclusion. It was banned by the United Nations alongside Slavery in 1948.
l'Olonais completed his contract by 1660 n' promptly made way to Haiti where he became a Buccaneer. A few years into his career he and his mates shipwrecked off the coast of Campeche, Mexico where they were massacred by the Spanish Army. l'Olonnais only survived by hiding among the dead. With the help of Spanish slaves he escaped to Tortuga, only to return later with a thirst for vengeance.
He and his crew promptly took settlements hostage, to which the Spanish responded with military force. l'Ollonais beheaded all but one of the men sentagainst him, whom he told to spread a message, "I shall never henceforward give quarter to any Spaniard whatsoever."
In 1666, he sailed toMaracaibo, Venezuela with a crew of 440 Pirates to sack the city with great success. To gather information about hidden valuables, l'Olonais flayed his victims, burned them alive, or squeezed them to death by strapping them tightly to a mast.
After several years of increasingly larger feats of piracy, l'Olonais wrecked his ship on an expedition to Honduras, only to allegedly be devoured by cannibalistic natives! http://bit.ly/2lRL7nb
