Amaro Rodríguez Felipe

Amaro Rodríguez Felipe y Tejera Machado

Born	3 May 1678 (or 1695 according to other sources) San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
Died	14 October 1747 (69 years) San Cristóbal de La Laguna
Piratical career
Nickname	Amaro Pargo
Rank	Captain
Base of operations	Atlantic

Amaro Rodríguez Felipe y Tejera Machado (3 May 1678 or 1695, in San Cristóbal de La Laguna – 14 October 1747, in San Cristóbal de La Laguna), more popularly known as Amaro Pargo, was a famous Spanish pirate.^[1] He was one of the most famous pirates of the Golden Age of Piracy, and one of the most important personalities of the 18th century of Spain.

Biography

Early life

Born in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, on the island of Tenerife (Canary Islands) on 3 May, 1678 (although other sources show his birth on the same day, but in the year 1695).^[2] Despite this, the first date is accepted as the more likely one.

He was baptized by the priest Manuel Hurtado Mendoza in the Iglesia de Los Remedios (Church of Our Lady of Los Remedios; currently a cathedral in the city). His godfather was Amaro Lopez. He was the son of Juan Rodríguez Felipe and Beatriz Tejera Machado. He had seven brothers.^[1]

In 1701, he boarded as second lieutenant on a ship, the Ave María, nicknamed "La Chata" ("The Barge"), which was boarded by pirates. He advised the captain to feign surrender in order to start a battle from which they emerged victorious. In gratitude, the captain would give Amaro his first boat. With it he began his business activities, including participation in the African slave trade in Latin America.

Trader and privateer

He conducted his affairs with a well-nourished fleet and also with many residences. Moreover, because of his beliefs as a fervent Catholic, he was responsible for important works of charity for churches, religious institutions, and the Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios (Parish Church of Our Lady of Los Remedios), now the Catedral de San Cristóbal de La Laguna (La Laguna Cathedral). He received a letter of marque from the King of Spain. He began a deep friendship with the nun Sister Mary of Jesus and became romantically involved with the Cuban Josefa María del Valdespino, with whom he had an illegitimate son, but did not come to marry. This son was named Manuel de la Trinidad Amaro. On January 25, 1725, he acceded to the nobility by being declared a hidalgo in Madrid. He founded a chaplaincy for the needy and allocated 3,000 reales for the poor in the prisons.

He used to take his own ships to America loaded with Malmsey wine from his own crops in Geneto, Tegueste and Valle Colino, and brandy from his distilleries with boilers which he had in his houses in El Agua street and La Miravala, in the localities of La Laguna and El Socorro (Tegueste), respectively, and used to sell these goods in Havana and Guyana. On his way he would attack any English and Dutch ships he encountered, bringing the booty back to Spain. Amaro Pargo fought against some of the most notorious pirates of his period, among them Blackbeard.^[1]

Pargo even came to be the richest man of the Canary Islands.^[3] Amaro Pargo was a character who in his day had the same reputation and popularity that Blackbeard and Francis Drake.^[4]

Death

Amaro Pargo tomb in the Church of Santo Domingo, which highlights the skull and crossbones.

Amaro died October 14, 1747 in his hometown. He was buried in the Santo Domingo de Guzmán Convent in La Laguna. On his death, his estate was substantial, and his natural son Manuel appeared in La Laguna demanding his part, but the rest of Pargo's heirs objected.^[1] Because of his relentless fight for the interests of the Spanish Crown against enemy powers, Amaro Pargo was considered a national hero in his time.

Treasury of Amaro Pargo

Pargo wrote in his will that has a box he kept in his cabin.^[5] This carved chest containing silver, gold jewelry, pearls and precious stones of great value, chinese porcelain, rich fabrics and paintings, adding that it had listed in a book wrapped in parchment and marked with the letter "D". This book their whereabouts are unknown.^[6]

In the long centuries of the popular mind has tried to clarify the place where a treasure is above. The house of Amaro Pargo in Machado (in the municipality of El Rosario) was sacked over the years by treasure hunters.^[7] It has also been speculated that the treasure is in the so-called Cave of San Mateo in Punta del Hidalgo northeast of Tenerife, cave that served to hide their loot.^[8]

Despite all these efforts, this treasure has not yet been located.^[9]

Exhumation

On 15 November 2013, the exhumation was carried out by a team of archaeologists and forensic scientists from the Autonomous University of Madrid, to carry out a study on the pirate, including DNA tests and the recreation of his face.

According to historic records, Pargo was buried alongside his parents and a black servant. It was discovered, however, that apart from these, there were six more people, as well as some incomplete remains of babies. It is believed that some of these people were nephews or great nephews of Amaro Pargo, although it is known that the babies were not related to the privateer. The fact that they are buried together with the corsair is possibly due to a custom that took root all over Spain and the Canary islands to bury unbaptized children next to an adult, in the belief that the adult would guide them to Heaven.

The exhumation was funded by the French video game company, Ubisoft, for the fourth instalment of the saga titled "Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag".^[4] According to a supervisor of the company that financed the exhumation, Pargo was "a character who in his time had the same reputation and popularity as Blackbeard or Francis Drake".

Bibliography

García Barbusano, Domingo (2004). El corsario Amaro Pargo. Excmo. Ayuntamiento de La Laguna. ISBN 978-84-88919-86-1.
Frers, Ernesto (2008). Más allá del Legado Pirata. Robinbooks. ISBN 978-84-7927963-9.
Reina Moreno, Pompeyo (2013). El Sarcófago de las tres llaves. La leyenda del tesoro del corsario Amaro Pargo. Idea. ISBN 978-84-9941-961-9.
Rivero, Balbina (2014). Amaro Pargo, el pirata de Tenerife. Colección Yorca. ISBN 978-92-10-08678-3.
Macías Martín, Francisco (2015). El corsario de Dios. Documentos sobre el corsario Amaro Rodríguez Felipe (1678-1747). Viceconsejería de Cultura y Deportes del Gobierno de Canarias. ISBN 978-84-7947-637-3.

References

External links

Piracy

Periods	Ancient Mediterranean Golden Age 21st century

Types of pirate	Pirates Privateers Buccaneers Corsairs Sindhi corsairs Timber pirate River pirate Brethren of the Coast Barbary pirates Moro pirates Wōkòu Vikings Ushkuiniks Narentines Cilician pirates Confederate privateer Baltic Slavic pirates Uskoks Cossack pirates Sea Beggars Sea Dogs Freebooters

Areas	Piracy in the Caribbean Piracy on Lake Nicaragua Piracy in the British Virgin Islands Piracy in the Strait of Malacca Piracy off the coast of Somalia Piracy in the Sulu Sea Piracy on Falcon Lake Anglo-Turkish piracy Port Royal Tortuga Saint-Malo Barbary Coast Lundy Lagos Salé Spanish Main Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea Piracy in Indonesia Barataria Bay Piracy in the Persian Gulf

Noted pirates	Bartholomew Roberts Hendrick Lucifer Hayreddin Barbarossa Blackbeard Stede Bonnet Anne Bonny Abshir Boyah Laurens de Graaf Michel de Grammont Calico Jack Alexandre Exquemelin William Kidd Edward Low Redbeard William Dampier Black Caesar Henri Caesar Roberto Cofresí Jean Lafitte Henry Morgan Lawrence Prince François l'Olonnais Henry Strangways Charles Gibbs Benito de Soto Diabolito Pedro Gilbert Mansel Alcantra Hippolyte Bouchard Samuel Hall Lord Nathaniel Gordon Albert W. Hicks Eli Boggs Bully Hayes Rahmah ibn Jabir al-Jalahimah Louis-Michel Aury Shirahama Kenki John Newland Maffitt Joseph Baker Joseph Barss Jørgen Jørgensen Vincenzo Gambi Dominique You Pierre Lafitte John Hawkins Peter Easton Nicholas van Hoorn Moses Cohen Henriques Piet Pieterszoon Hein Charlotte de Berry Samuel Bellamy Benjamin Hornigold Samuel Mason Henry Every Roche Braziliano Gan Ning Liang Daoming Wang Zhi Limahong Zheng Zhilong Zheng Jing Cai Qian Cheung Po Tsai Ching Shih Shap Ng-tsai Chui A-poo Lai Choi San Fūma Kotarō Olivier Levasseur

Categories	Piracy Pirates By nationality Barbary pirates Female pirates Years in piracy Fictional pirates

Pirate ships	Adventure Galley Fancy Ganj-i-Sawai Queen Anne's Revenge Quedagh Merchant Saladin Whydah Gally Marquis of Havana Ambrose Light York

Pirate hunters	Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Angelo Emo Richard Avery Hornsby Robert Maynard Chaloner Ogle Pompey Woodes Rogers David Porter James Brooke Miguel Enríquez (privateer)

Pirate battles and incidents	Jiajing wokou raids Turkish Abductions Chepo Expedition Battle of Mandab Strait Blockade of Charleston Battle of Cape Fear River Battle of Ocracoke Inlet Capture of the William Sack of Campeche Attack on Veracruz Raid on Cartagena Battle of Cape Lopez Capture of the Fancy Persian Gulf Campaign Battle of New Orleans Anti-Piracy in the Aegean Anti-piracy in the West Indies Capture of the Bravo Action of 9 November 1822 Capture of the El Mosquito Battle of Doro Passage Falklands Expedition Great Lakes Patrol Balanguingui Expedition Battle of Tysami Battle of Tonkin River Battle of Nam Quan Battle of Ty-ho Bay Battle of the Leotung Antelope incident North Star affair Battle off Mukah Salvador Pirates Battle of Boca Teacapan Capture of the Ambrose Light Irene incident 1985 Lahad Datu ambush Operation Enduring Freedom – HOA Action of 18 March 2006 Action of 3 June 2007 Action of 28 October 2007 Operation Atalanta Carré d'As IV incident Action of 11 November 2008 Action of 9 April 2009 Maersk Alabama hijacking Operation Ocean Shield Action of 23 March 2010 Action of 1 April 2010 Action of 30 March 2010 Action of 5 April 2010 MV Moscow University hijacking Operation Dawn of Gulf of Aden Operation Dawn 8: Gulf of Aden Beluga Nomination incident Battle off Minicoy Island Quest incident MT Zafirah hijacking MT Orkim Harmony hijacking

Slave trade	African slave trade Atlantic slave trade Arab slave trade Barbary slave trade Blockade of Africa African Slave Trade Patrol Capture of the Providentia Capture of the Presidente Capture of the El Almirante Capture of the Marinerito Capture of the Veloz Passagera Capture of the Brillante Amistad Incident Capture of the Emanuela

Fictional pirates	Tom Ayrton Barbe Rouge Hector Barbossa Captain Blood Captain Crook Captain Flint José Gaspar Captain Hook Don Karnage Monkey D. Luffy Roronoa Zoro One Piece Captain Nemo Captain Pugwash Red Rackham Captain Sabertooth Captain Stingaree Sandokan Long John Silver Jack Sparrow

Miscellaneous	Truce of Ratisbon Piracy Act 1698 Piracy Act 1717 Piracy Act 1837 Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law Child pirate Golden Age of Piracy Jolly Roger Walking the plank Treasure map Buried treasure Pirate booty No purchase, no pay Marooning Pirate code Pirate utopia Victual Brothers Pirate Round Libertatia Sack of Baltimore A General History of the Pyrates Mutiny Pegleg Eyepatch Letter of marque Davy Jones' Locker Air pirate Space pirate

Lists	Pirates Privateers Timeline of piracy Pirate films Women in piracy Fictional pirates Pirates in popular culture List of ships attacked by Somali pirates

Literature	Treasure Island Facing the Flag On Stranger Tides Castaways of the Flying Dutchman The Angel's Command Voyage of Slaves Pirate Latitudes

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, April 21, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.