1N Privateering

Date:	24 June 2008
Time:	16:00 - 18:00
Location:

Papers

1N-01 'Ostentatious Banner and Banderoles Adornment Animates by the Winds' : Martime Power and the Vassals Journey. Salvador, Bahia of Brazil 1624-1625

This study develops the concept of maritime power as a support to the mercantilist expansion process, having the XVII century Brazil as a focus and the naval operations performed by the Dutch Western India Company and the Spanish Empire between 1624 and 1625. We will investigate how the conditions of exercising maritime power were carried out by both contenders, with the use of dozens of fleets with armies on board, in the most complex aspects in organizational terms, of this authentic world war. First, the paper points out that, in the long war embattled between Dutch and Spanish the city of Salvador in Bahia was an important stage for the maritime operations, playing the role of a jumping board to the capture of colonial assets in both limits of the South Atlantic. Second, we analyze how the Dutch fleet captured, almost without fight the prosperous Bahia in 1624, but was not successful to keep the navigation routes open, what made possible a well-succeeded Spanish reaction, quickly organized with an assisting armada which recaptured the city in 1625.This complex naval operation, denominated ‘Vassal’s Journey’, overcame the political, naval and above all economic hindrances, as well as in the imaginary aspect, leading Spanish and Portuguese to join their forces enthusiastically, organizing, in a very short period of time, an armada of galleons and a landing army to recapture their wealthy American possession. Third, we will see how the Iberian dominion of the sea made possible their victory because, while the Dutch assisting fleet was held by the adverse conditions of navigation in European waters, the Luso-Spanish arrived safe and sound, taking advantage of the propitious wind season.

Speaker:	Dr José Maurício Saldanha-Álvarez
Organization:	Fluminense Federal University
Biography:	José Maurício Saldanha Álvarez, PhD Professor of History and Cultural Policies in the Cultural Studies and Midia Department at the Fluminense Federal University, Brazil. His recent productions are the essays:.O pênis bifurcado de Satã. Arte, imagem e cinema. Um ensaio sobre o 11 de setembro. (2004) Rio de Janeiro, Booklink Editora,98 p. Séculos de Ferro e Fogo. Arte, ambiente, discursos e astúcias no Rio de Janeiro antigo. 1565-1713. (2007) Rio de Janeiro, Boolink Editora, 361 p.

1N-02 French Privateering on the Western Mediterranean Sea during the War of the Spanish Succession

J. S. Bromley took a deep interest in privateer ways in Marseille, armateurs and finances. By studying the G5 series of the Prizes Council at the “Archives Nationales” in an exhaustive way, it is possible to complete and enrich his research.
The private privateering in Marseille and the mixed privateering in Toulon changed quite a lot during this long war. As the Navy of Louis XIV was getting less and less important, the private and mixed privateering grew more and more powerful. By comparing these sources, we can define a geographic outline : the routes followed by the merchant ships, the harbours where the prizes were taken to, the nature of the naval engagements, what happened to the prisoners and the way the neutral ships were treated etc.
The appendixers will include the complete list of the prizes, the names of the captains as will as the places and dates of the captures.

Speaker:	Dr Philippe Hrodej
Organization:	Université De Bretagne-Sud (Lorient)
Biography:	Senior Lecturer, Université de Bretagne-Sud (Lorient) Formation maritime (naval formation) École des mousses (1976/1977), École de maistrance (1977/1978), Brevet élémentaire électricien d'armes (1978), Brevet d'aptitude technique électricien d'armes (1979), Brevet supérieur électricien d'armes (1983/1984). Chief petty officer (1987). Embarquements (entrainments) porte-avions Clémenceau (1978), corvette Georges Leygues (1979), frégate De Grasse (1980/1983), corvette Primauguet (1984/1986), aviso escorteur Doudart de Lagrée (1986/1988), aviso Commandant Bouan (1988/1989), État-Major de la marine, rue Royale (1990/1991), mission aux Émirats Arabes Unis (1991). Enseignement (pedagogy) - professeur de collège (1991) - maître de conférences à l’Université de Bretagne-Sud de Lorient (1998) Recherche (research) Thèse de Doctorat à la Sorbonne-Paris IV(novembre 1995). Directeur de thèse : M. Jean MEYER. Mention très honorable, à l'unanimité du jury avec les félicitations. Prix Georges Leygues 1996 de l'ACADÉMIE de MARINE. Colonisation, course et flibuste, économie de plantation, commerce à la fin du XVIIe et au début du XVIIIe siècle. Bibliographie simplifiée (simplified bibliography) L'Amiral Du Casse, l'élévation d'un Gascon sous Louis XIV, thèse de Doctorat Sorbonne-Paris IV, Librairie de l'Inde, Paris, 1999, 2 vol., 730 p. Jacques Cassard, corsaire et armateur du Roi (1679-1740), Presses Universitaires de Rennes, Rennes, 2002, 315 p. Techniques et Colonies, (dir.), Paris, Société Française d’Histoire d’Outre-Mer, 2005, 276 p

1N-03 Gibraltar Privateers 1793 to 1814

Gibraltar is situated on the coast of Spain and astride the routes that lead from the south of France to the Atlantic, it was therefore a a valuable base for privateers during the eighteenth century whenever Britain was at was with either of those two countries. This was particularly true during the period of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1793 to 1814. In the first few years privateer activity was limited but once Spain stopped being an ally of Britain and entered into the war against her in 1796 it increased considerably as much of Spanish coastal shipping was now within easy reach.
This posed problems, as O’Hara, the governor of Gibraltar wished to maintain good relations with his Spanish neighbours and continue receiving much-needed supplies from them. There were constant instructions against interfering with the market and fishing boats in the vicinity. These instructions were not always complied with. There was a further problem, in that some of the larger of the Gibraltar privateers tended to take doubtful captured to the Italian coast where they got them condemned with the connivance of dishonest vice consuls.
The privateers also escorted Spanish smugglers and protected them against capture by the Spanish revenue cutters and at times carried these contraband cargoes themselves. In 1808 Spain became an ally once again and the privateers found a new and lucrative trade in running contraband into the those parts of the south of Europe controlled by the French
The papers in the Gibraltar archives have a complete record of all letters of Marque ssued during the period as well as the all decrees of the Gibraltar Vice Admiralty Court concerning capturess by privateers.

Speaker:	Tito Benady
Organization:	Greenwich Maritime Institute
Biography:	Tito Benady has been working on the social history of Gibraltar for many years and in 2000 was awarded an MBE by the government of Gibraltar for his work. In 1993 he founded a history journal published for the Gibraltar Heritage Trust. His dissertation on ‘The role of Gibraltar as a base during the campaigns against the French and Spanish fleets 1796-1808’ was accepted by the Greenwich Maritime Institute in 2006 and graduated with an MA Maritime History in July 2007. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. His main publications are: The Royal Navy at Gibraltar (Maritime Press, Liskeard, 1992) The Streets of Gibraltar (Gibraltar Books, 1996) The Royal Gibraltar Police, with Cecilia Baldachino (Gibraltar Books, 2005) ‘The Settlement of Jews in Gibraltar, 1704 -1783’ Transactions, The Jewish Historical Society of England 26 (1979) ‘The Jewish Community of Gibraltar’ in Western Sephardim ed Dr R Barnett and W Schwab (Gibraltar Books, 1989) ‘Los menorquines en Gibraltar’ in Revista de Menorca (1992/2) The Convent at Gibraltar’ in Journal of the Society of Army Historical Research 77 (Summer 1999) ‘The Settee Cut: Mediterranean Passes issued at Gibraltar’ in The Mariner’s Mirror 87:3 (August 2001) ‘Trade and Contraband in Gibraltar in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries’, Anglo-Saxons in the Mediteranean, ed Carmel Vassallo and Michela D’Angelo (Malta University Press 2007)

1N-04 Pirates & Privateers in the Latin American Revolutions, 1808-1830

The revolutions for independence in Spanish America were sudden, violent and universal (Lynch, Spanish American Revolutions). Napoleon’s invasion of Iberian Peninsula in 1808 led to the creation of native juntas to preside over Latin American affairs until Ferdinand VII could be restored to the Spanish throne. Enjoying this temporary autonomy, Spanish American colonies became desirous of full independence and one by one declared themselves ‘free from the ignominious yoke of the despotic government of Spain’ (TNA, ADM 1/337, 17 Jan 1817). After the expulsion of the French army from her territory in 1814, Spain detached an expeditionary force under Pablo Morillo to save her long-standing imperial interests in the New World - thus began the Latin American Wars of Independence.
The conflict assumed a distinct maritime dimension. The Spaniards declared the whole coast of Spanish America in a state of blockade and ordered the navy to intercept vessels entering or leaving rebel ports. Given the dishevelled state of the Spanish navy after its defeat at Trafalgar, Ferdinand’s government commissioned privateers to bolster Spain’s presence at sea. Privateers were also the weapon of choice for the revolutionaries, who utilised them to disrupt Spain’s supply lines and attack her seaborne trade. Although these revolutionary predators were given a generic title - los corsarios insurgents - they were unleashed by several different authorities and considered by neutrals to act with varying degrees of legitimacy. In addition to the privately-owned, legally commissioned commerce raiders engaged in the independence conflict, a second form of private maritime assailant emerged in the period 1808-1830. Pirates, acting with no legal authority whatsoever, took advantage of the political turmoil to plunder indiscriminately merchant vessels. Such lawlessness was prevalent in the Caribbean, where many bays, creeks and inlets offered protection from the wrath of policing naval forces.
Although commerce raiding has generated a vast literature, encompassing studies of maritime predation in various national contexts and prompting debate regarding the motivation of participants to plunder seaborne trade, little is known about the private maritime violence in the nineteenth century (Starkey et al, eds, Pirates & Privateers). Works that have addressed piracy and privateering in the Latin American revolutions have tended to marginalise piracy, adopt narrow spatial approaches and use source material generated in only one or two countries (see Earle, The Pirate Wars). The significance of the upsurge in commerce-raiding activity between 1808 and 1830 therefore remains obscure - a gap in knowledge that this paper will help to rectify. By broadening the conventional temporal scope of the subject of maritime predation and investigating the roles of patriotism and economic opportunism in times of revolutionary upheaval, this paper will deploy sources in Spanish, British and American repositories to shed new light on the debate surrounding the motivation of individuals to plunder trade and shipping. Bringing together and going beyond the handful of studies addressing privateering under the insurgent flags of Latin America, this study will also offer important insights into the contribution of private forces to the outcome of the independence conflict.

Speaker:	Matthew McCarthy
Organization:	University Of Hull
Biography:	Matthew McCarthy was awarded a BA in History (1st Class) by the University of Hull in 2005. He was then granted an AHRC studentship to undertake an MA Maritime History at Hull, a degree he gained (with distinction) in 2006. He is currently engaged in an AHRC-sponsored PhD project under the supervision of Dr David J Starkey at the Maritime Historical Studies Centre, University of Hull. His doctoral programme builds upon the research into early 19th century commerce-raiding that he conducted for his MA dissertation. Matthew also contributes to Hull’s BA maritime history teaching provision.