Michel le Basque facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Michel le Basque
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Michael Le Basque, Each Man with a Prisoner, from the Pirates of the Spanish Main series (N19) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes MET DP835015
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| Born |
Michel Etchegorria
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| Nationality | Kingdom of Navarre |
| Occupation | Pirate and flibustier |
| Years active | 1666-1668 |
| Known for | Companion of François L'Olonnais |
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Notable work
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Sacked Maracaibo and Gibraltar |
| Piratical career | |
Michel le Basque (born Michel Etchegorria) was a famous pirate and flibustier. A flibustier was a French buccaneer, which was a type of pirate. He came from the Kingdom of Navarre in what is now southwest France. Michel le Basque is best known for working with another famous pirate, François L'Olonnais. Together, they attacked and took over the cities of Maracaibo and Gibraltar.
Contents
A Pirate's Life: Michel le Basque's Adventures
Michel le Basque started his career as an early buccaneer around 1657. He hunted wild oxen and pigs on Santo Domingo and nearby islands. This was a common way for buccaneers to make a living. He was very successful and later retired to Santo Domingo. There, he even became a district official for Governor Bertrand D’Ogeron.
Capturing the Margarita
In 1666, Michel le Basque returned to his pirate life. He helped capture a Spanish ship called the Margarita near Portobelo. This ship was part of a Spanish fleet and carried a huge treasure. The capture brought in over a million piastres, which was a lot of money back then! After this big win, he joined forces with the well-known corsair L’Olonnais. Michel used his own ship to help move their ground troops during attacks.
The Great Expedition to Maracaibo
Later in 1666, Michel le Basque and L’Olonnais planned a huge pirate trip. They gathered eight boats and about 650 men for an attack on the South American continent. On their way to Maracaibo, they captured several Spanish ships. One large ship was full of cocoa and 300,000 talers of silver.
Attacking Maracaibo
Maracaibo was a city located at the end of a lake. It was connected to the sea by a narrow channel. This channel was protected by a fort with 16 cannons called Castillo de San Carlos. L’Olonnais and le Basque landed their troops where the fort's cannons couldn't reach them. They fought for three hours on land and captured the fort. After taking the fort, they sailed up the channel and attacked the city itself. Maracaibo had about 4,000 people and a group of 250 soldiers with 14 cannons who fought hard to defend it.
Battle near Gibraltar
While the pirates were still fighting in Maracaibo, they heard that Spanish soldiers were coming to help the city. L’Olonnais quickly marched with 380 men to meet them. They set up an ambush near a small town called Gibraltar. The Spanish lost 500 men in the fight, while the pirates only lost 40 men and had 30 wounded. L'Olonnais stayed in Gibraltar for six weeks. He searched the city and collected a huge amount of cattle, gold, jewels, silver, and valuable silks.
Leaving Maracaibo
After collecting their treasures, the pirates faced a problem: many of them became sick. Because of this, they decided to set fire to Gibraltar and return to Maracaibo. They searched Maracaibo very carefully. The city was mostly empty, as many people had left. L’Olonnais questioned the people they had captured to find out where they had hidden their valuable items. The pirates ended up with a treasure of 260,000 pieces of eight. They also took many religious objects and pieces of jewelry.
Later Years and Fate
After the capture of Maracaibo, Michel le Basque continued being a pirate for a few more years. The Spanish government sent two ships to capture him. But Michel, using only two small boats, managed to board the larger Spanish ships and capture them instead! He even sent a letter to the Governor of Cartagena, thanking him for giving him such good ships.
In 1667, le Basque attacked Maracaibo again, this time with only forty men. He took some of the richest people hostage to get money from them. Some stories say he eventually returned to his home in the Basque Country. There, he was reportedly welcomed and praised by the French king, Louis XIV of France. Other stories say he went back to the Caribbean. They say he captured a Spanish ship near Portobello in 1668 and was killed later that year while leading a raiding party up a river.
See also
In Spanish: Michel le basque para niños
- Pierre Francois and Alexandre Bras-de-Fer - Two other French buccaneers who were supposedly friends of L'Olonnais.
