Kilde 3A: Brev fra Alonso Davila til Kejser Karl V.
’ BREV FRA ALONSO DAVILA TIL KEJSER KARL V ANGÅENDE OPBRINGNINGEN AF SKATTEN FRA MEXICO SENDT AF CORTES.
MEGET HØJE OG MEGET MAGTFULDE KATOLSKE HERRE OG KONGE:
Kaptajn Domingo Alonso, som var kommandør på de tre karaveller [1], der sejlede som kystvagt ved Andalusien, gav et cedula [2] til Antonio Quinones og mig ved øen Azores, hvori det behagede Deres Majestæt at meddele os, efter nyheden om vores frygt for franskmændene, der sagdes at sejle langs kysten, at vi havde handlet ret ved at blive på øen Santa Maria indtil Deres Højhed beordrede, hvad der skulle gøres i den kongelige tjeneste; at de tre karaveller og deres kaptajn var sendt os for at sikre guldet og de varer vi havde medbragt; og vi blev pålagt at gå om bord på dem og straks bringe alle ting til byen Sevilla, til Casa de la Contratacion, og de kongelige officerer, der residerer der, for hvilken tjeneste vi kysser Deres fødder og hænder.
Karavellerne ankom den 15. maj, og vi udførte straks vores ordre og gik ombord, sejlede mod den portugisiske kyst, som styrmændene mente var den sikreste kurs, og da vi var indenfor 50 km fra Kap St. Vincent kom seks bevæbnede franske skibe imod os. Vi kæmpede imod dem fra to karaveller indtil vi blev overmandede, og alt hvad der var af særlig værdi på vej til Deres Majestæt gik tabt; den anden karavel var ikke kampdygtig og lykkedes at slippe afsted med nyhederne; men alligevel skulle kaptajnen måske hellere være blevet med sine ekstra styrker for at hjælpe os i vort forsvar i stedet for at vende hjem med så dårlige nyheder. Quinones døde og jeg er fange ved Rochelle i Frankrig.
Jeg ønsker inderligt, hvis de bare ville lade mig gå, at komme for at kysse Deres kongelige fødder og give en fuldstændig forklaring på det hele; for jeg mistede alt hvad jeg ejede i Deres Majestæts tjeneste, og har ønsket at det samme gjaldt for mit liv. Jeg beder indtrængende om at der skænkes privilegier til beboerne og indbyggerne i Ny Spanien og at De vil taget de tjenester, der er ydet, i betragtning, eftersom disse folk loyalt har opfyldt deres pligt helt frem til nu og vil fortsætte med at gøre det som sande vasaller.
Jeg bønfalder om at det vil behage Deres Majestæt at beordre god beskyttelse langs Andalusiens kyst for skibene, der kommer fra Vestindien; som det er nu ønsker franskmændene, overmodige som de er, at indtage positioner overalt hvor de kan forvolde skade. Lad det være en kampstyrke, der kan operere offensivt, og som ikke vil flygte, men opsøge fjenden.
Jeg bønfalder, fanget og fortabt som jeg er, men stadigvæk håbende på at dø i kongelig tjeneste, om at Deres Højhed vil gøre mig den tjeneste, at der, hvis noget skib skulle sendes til Ny Spanien, bliver sendt en ordre til Hernando Cortes om at de indianere, jeg der har opbevaret i Deres Majestæts navn, ikke skal tages, men at de bliver overdraget mig så længe det behager Dem.
Må Vor Herre forøge Deres Kongelige Majestæts imperiale stat til den udstrækning som Deres kongelige person måtte ønske. Fra Rochela i Frankrig, den 16. dag i juni i året M. d. XXIII.
Fra Y.C.Ca. Ma. den loyale vasal som kysser Deres kongelige fødder og hænder,
ALONSO DAVILA.
- [ 1 ] En type skibe
- [ 2 ] Cedula = dokument. Oversætterens anmærkning
Kilde 3B: Baggrundstekster til afsnittet Plyndring til lands (afsnit 3.3.)
- Uddrag 1: Uddraget er taget fra Konstam, Angus & Kean, Michael Roger: Pirates. Predators of the seas. A Guide to Real-Life Scallywags and Pillages of the High Seas, from Blackbeard to Captain Kidd. Skyhorse publishing, 2016. (Thalamus Publishing, 2007). Side 77-78
‘ (...) Before the flota system, a continuous stream of ships moved wealth across the Atlantic, but a vast convoy could only make the crossing approximately once in a year. In consequence, land-based treasure houses had to be built to hold the incoming goods ready for the annual flota. With less frequent shipping to attack, the french turned to raiding ports on the Spanish Main. Lack of fortifications at this time made the treasure houses vulnerable, and French privateers began causing mayhem in the Caribbean. Puerto Rico was attacked, as were the pearl beds off the island of margarita, near the Venezuelan coast. Spanish experts were soon called in to begin the design and construction of massive defenses for the major cities. The French upped the ante. The earlier pinprick raids escalated into ambitious assaults launched by French pirate fleets in the 1540s and 1550s. Havana was caught napping and raided. An attack on heavily fortified Cartagena in 1544 used information supplied by a Spanish traitor to find a hidden route into the city. It was plundered and razed to the ground, while the French raiders made off with a fortune in booty. A peace treaty between France and Spain in 1544 failed to end these raids, Charles V of Spain lost patience with Henry II (1547-59), and the two countries were back at war again by 1552. (...)’
- Uddrag 2: Uddraget er taget fra Konstam, Angus: Pirates. The complete history from 1300bc to the present day. Lyons press. Guilford, Connecticut. 2008. Side 47
‘ (...) The most successful of these French privateers was Francois le Clerc, a corsair known as “Pegleg” (Jambe de Bois). After making landfall in the Leeward Islands his force of ten ships cruised westwards, attacking several small coastal settlements on Puerto Rico and Hispaniola as he went. In early 1554 he fell on Santiago de Cuba, capturing the town, then holding it for a month. Although le Clerc returned home with his plunder - sacking Las Palmas in the Canary Islands on the way - one of his captains, Jacques de Sores, remained in the Caribbean, where he commanded a small force of three privateers. After cruising and raiding off the coast of Venezuela he headed back north, and in July 1555 de Sores descended on Havana. The settlement was still poorly protected, and after a siege lasting two days the Cuban governor was forced to yield the city to the corsairs. A botched attempt at a surprise attack led de Sores to slaughter his Spanish prisoners, and after plundering what he could from the town, he burned it to the ground.
It was de Sores who introduced a new sectarian element to these attacks. Although it took some two decades for the Protestant Reformation to make its mark in France, when it did arrive it was in a stronger, more virulent form than the brand of Protestantism that had swept Germany. This second wave of reformation was symbolized by the beliefs of John Calvin (1509-64), the French-born reformer who refused to compromise on his beliefs. The result was a new breed of Calvinists who viewed the Spanish as their sworn religious enemies, and therefore privateering expeditions to the Spanish Main inevitably took on a religious element. As a Calvinist, de Sores made sure he desecrated the Catholic churches in Havana before putting them to the flame. The devastation of Havana was so efficient that another corsair band that arrived off the city the following winter could find nothing left to plunder. (...)’
