Tortuga Island (, ; ; , , 'Turtle Island') is a

West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED''), the term ''West Indian'' in 1597 described the indigenous inhabitants of the West In ...

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

that forms part of

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

, off the northwest coast of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

. It constitutes the ''commune'' of Île de la Tortue in the

Port-de-Paix arrondissement Port-de-Paix () is an arrondissement in the Nord-Ouest department of Haiti. As of 2015, the population was 336,650 inhabitants. Postal codes in the Port-de-Paix Arrondissement start with the number 31. The arrondissement consists of the followi ...

of the Nord-Ouest department of Haiti. Tortuga is in size and had a population of 25,936 at the 2003 census. In the 17th century, Tortuga was a major center and

haven Haven or The Haven may refer to: * Harbor or haven, a sheltered body of water where ships can be docked Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Haven (Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter), from the novel series * Haven (comics), from the ''X-Men ...

of Caribbean piracy. Its tourism industry and references in many works have made it one of the most recognized regions of Haiti.

History

The first Europeans to land on Tortuga were the Spanish in 1492 during the first voyage of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

into the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

. On December 6, 1492, three Spanish ships entered the

Windward Passage Windward Passage (; ) is a strait in the Caribbean Sea, between the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola. The strait specifically lies between the easternmost region of Cuba and the northwest of Haiti. wide, the Windward Passage has a threshold depth ...

that separates

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

and

. At sunrise, Columbus noticed an island whose contours emerged from the morning mist. Because the shape reminded him of a

turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

's shell, he chose the name of Tortuga. Tortuga was originally settled by a few

Spanish colonists Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance-speaking ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern nation-state of Spain. Genetically and ethnolinguistically, Spaniards belong to the broader Southern and ...

under the

Captaincy General of Santo Domingo The Captaincy General of Santo Domingo ( ) was the first Captaincy in the New World, established by Spain in 1492 on the island of Hispaniola. The Captaincy, under the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo, was granted administra ...

. In 1625,

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and

English colonists The colonial history of the United States covers the period of European colonization of North America from the late 15th century until the unifying of the Thirteen British Colonies and creation of the United States in 1776, during the Re ...

from

Saint Kitts Saint Kitts, officially Saint Christopher, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis constitute one ...

arrived on the island of Tortuga after initially planning to settle on mainland

. They were attacked in 1629 by Spanish forces commanded by Don Fadrique de Toledo, who expelled them before building a fort on the island and garrisoning it. As most of the garrison eventually left for Hispaniola to expel French colonists residing there, other French settlers returned in 1630, occupying and expanding the fort. From 1630 onward, the island of Tortuga was divided into French and English colonies, allowing

buccaneer Buccaneers were a kind of privateer or free sailors, and pirates particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 u ...

s to use the island as their main base of operations. In 1633, the first

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

s were imported from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

to aid in the plantations. However, by 1635 the use of slaves had ended. The slaves were said to be out of control on the island, while at the same time there had been continuous disagreements and fighting between French and English colonists on Tortuga. In 1635, the Spanish expelled the French and English colonists from Tortuga before leaving. As more English and French settlers soon returned, the Spanish returned to expel them again, only to leave because the island was too small to be of major importance. This allowed the return of both French and English colonists. In 1638, the Spanish returned for a third time to secure their claim to the island and expel the French and Dutch settlers on Tortuga. They occupied the island, but were eventually expelled by the French and Dutch colonists in 1640, at which time the French built

Fort de Rocher Fort de Rocher (sometimes called Fort de la Roche or Dovecote) was a seventeenth-century fortress on the Caribbean island of Tortuga, northwest of Haiti. It was built and utilized by buccaneers as the primary defense of the island to prevent en ...

in a natural

harbour A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...

; the fort enabled the French to defeat a Spanish invasion force the following year. Tortuga17thcentury

By 1640, the buccaneers of Tortuga were calling themselves the ''

Brethren of the Coast The Brethren or Brethren of the Coast were a loose coalition of pirates and buccaneers that were active in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. They mostly operated in two locations, ...

''. The buccaneers population was mostly made up of French and Englishmen, along with a small number of Dutchmen. In 1654, the Spanish attacked the island for the fourth and last time, defeating a Franco-English force. In 1655, Tortuga was settled again by English and French colonists under Elias Watts, who secured a commission from Col. William Brayne, the

governor of Jamaica This is a list of viceroys in Jamaica from its initial occupation by Spain in 1509, to its independence from the United Kingdom in 1962. For a list of viceroys after independence, see Governor-General of Jamaica. For context, see History of Jama ...

, to serve as governor of Tortuga. In 1664, French buccaneer Jeremie Dechamps sold the island for 15,000

livres Livre may refer to: Currency * French livre, one of a number of obsolete units of currency of France * Livre tournois, one particular obsolete unit of currency of France * Livre parisis, another particular obsolete unit of currency of France * F ...

to the

French West India Company The French West India Company () was a trading company of the Kingdom of France founded in May 1664 and eventually closed in late 1674. The brainchild of King Louis XIV's First Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the company was part of an ambitious ...

after having tried to sell it to the English for 6,000 pounds following an initial offer of 10,000 pounds by the French. In the same year, 400 French colonists came to Tortuga from

Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France *County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France ** Du ...

, and they established Hispaniola's first

sugar plantations Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tobac ...

since the

first wave of European colonization The first wave of European colonization began with Spanish and Portuguese conquests and explorations, and primarily involved the European colonization of the Americas, though it also included the establishment of European colonies in India ...

. This group of colonists spread to the coast of the mainland and became the nexus of the French colony of

Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colonization of the Americas, French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1803. The name derives from the Spanish main city on the isl ...

. By 1670, the buccaneer era was in decline, and many of the pirates turned to log cutting and wood trading as a new income source. At this time, Welsh privateer

Henry Morgan Sir Henry Morgan (; – 25 August 1688) was a Welsh privateer, plantation owner, and, later, the lieutenant governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he and those under his command raided settlements and shipping ports o ...

started to promote himself and invited the pirates on the island of Tortuga to set sail under him. Morgan and some 2,000 privateers then attacked and sacked Panama the following year. They were hired by the French as a striking force that allowed France to have a much stronger hold on the Caribbean region. Consequently, the pirates never really controlled the island and kept Tortuga as a neutral hideout for pirate booty. In 1680, the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the Great Council of England, great council of Lords Spi ...

forbade English subjects to sail under foreign flags (in opposition to former practice). This was a major legal blow to the

Caribbean pirates The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America to the west, an ...

. Settlements were made in the

Treaty of Ratisbon The Truce of Ratisbon, or Truce of Regensburg, concluded the War of the Reunions, fought by France against Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. The Truce was signed on 15 August 1684 at the Dominican convent in Ratisbon (now in Bavaria) between Louis X ...

of 1684, signed by the European powers, that put an end to piracy. Most of the pirates after this time were hired by European powers to suppress their former buccaneer allies. The capital of Saint-Domingue was moved from Tortuga to

Port-de-Paix Port-de-Paix (; or ; meaning "Port of Peace") is a List of communes of Haiti, commune and the capital of the Nord-Ouest (department), Nord-Ouest Departments of Haiti, department of Haiti on the Atlantic coast. It has a population of 462,000 (201 ...

on the mainland of Hispaniola in 1676.

Geography

The island of Tortuga stands off the northern coast of Haiti. It is very mountainous and rocky; the rocks are especially abundant on the northern part of the island. At the beginning of the 17th century, the population lived on the southern coast of the island, where there was a port for ships to enter. The northern shore was described as inaccessible via both land and sea. The inhabited area was divided into four parts; the first of these was called "Low Land" or "Low Country". This region contained the island's port and was therefore considered the most important. The town was called Cayona, and the richest planters of the island lived there. The second region was called the "Middle Plantation"; the farmers of this region were unfamiliar with the soil and it was only used to grow

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

. The third part was named "La Ringot", and was positioned on the western portion of the island. The fourth region was called the "La Montagne" (the Mountain); it is there that the first cultivated plantations were established upon the island. This 17th century geography is known largely from Alexandre-Olivier Exquemelin's detailed description in his book ''Zeerovers'', where he describes a 1666 journey to the island.

In popular culture

Tortuga has been portrayed in many works depicting piracy in the Caribbean in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Films

Tortuga has been featured in numerous films, including *'' Safe in Hell'' (1931) *'' Captain Blood'' (1935) *'' The Black Swan'' (1942) *''

The Spanish Main ''The Spanish Main'' is a 1945 American adventure film starring Paul Henreid, Maureen O'Hara, Walter Slezak and Binnie Barnes, and directed by Frank Borzage. It was RKO's first all-Technicolor film since '' Becky Sharp'' ten years before. ...

'' (1945) *''

Double Crossbones ''Double Crossbones'' is a 1951 American comedy adventure film distributed by Universal International, produced by Leonard Goldstein, directed by Charles Barton, and stars Donald O'Connor and Helena Carter. It was shot in Technicolor and was rele ...

'' (1950) *''

Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd ''Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd'' is a 1952 American comedy film directed by Charles Lamont and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, along with Charles Laughton, who reprised his role as the infamous pirate from the 1945 fi ...

'' (1952) *''

Pirates of Tortuga ''Pirates of Tortuga'' is a 1961 American swashbuckler film which invented an alternate history for the actual Welsh privateer Henry Morgan. It was released in October 1961 in the United States in CinemaScope. Plot In the 17th century, a Welsh c ...

'' (1961) * ''

Pirates of the Caribbean ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park rides, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with Wa ...

'' films :

Literature

Books featuring the island include: * ''Deadmen Walking: A Deadman's Cross Novel'' (2017) by

Sherrilyn Kenyon Sherrilyn Kenyon (born December 11, 1965) is a US writer. Under her former married name, she wrote both urban fantasy and paranormal romance. She is best known for her Dark-Hunter, Dark Hunter series. Under the pseudonym Kinley MacGregor she wr ...

* ''Tortuga'' by

Valerio Evangelisti Valerio Evangelisti (20 June 1952 – 18 April 2022) was an Italian writer of science fiction, fantasy, historical novels, and horror. He is known mainly for his series of novels featuring the inquisitor Nicolas Eymerich and for the Nostradamu ...

* ''Lovesong'' by Valerie Sherwood * ''

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

'' (1989) by

James Michener James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations, set in particular geographic locales ...

* ''The Black Swan'' (1932) by

Rafael Sabatini Rafael Sabatini (29 April 1875 – 13 February 1950) was an Italian people, Italian-born British writer of novels, writer of romance novel, romance and adventure novel, adventure novels. He is best known for his worldwide bestsellers: ''The Sea ...

The Black Corsair ''The Black Corsair'' is an 1898 adventure novel written by Italian novelist Emilio Salgari. Set in the Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy, the novel narrates the exploits of Emilio Roccanera, Lord of Ventimiglia and his attempts ...

series of novels by

Emilio Salgari Emilio Salgari (, but often erroneously ; 21 August 1862 – 25 April 1911) was an Italian writer of action adventure swashbucklers and a pioneer of science fiction. In Italy, his extensive body of work was more widely read than that of Dante ...

(1898-1908) * ''The Black Avenger of the Spanish Main'' (1847) by

Ned Buntline Edward Zane Carroll Judson Sr. (March 20, 1821 – July 16, 1886), known by his pen name Ned Buntline, was an American publisher, journalist, and writer. Early life and military service Judson was born on March 20, 1821 in Harpersfield, New York ...

* ''The Dark Secret of Josephine'' (1955) by

Dennis Wheatley Dennis Yates Wheatley (8 January 1897 – 10 November 1977) was an English writer whose prolific output of thrillers and occult novels made him one of the world's best-selling authors from the 1930s through to the 1960s. Early life Wheatley w ...

* '' 1637: No Peace Beyond the Line'' (November 2020) by

Eric Flint Eric Flint (February 6, 1947 – July 17, 2022) was an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his works are alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures. His works have been listed on ' ...

and Charles E. Gannon

Music

Tortuga is mentioned in multiple songs, including: * "Jonas Psalter" (1973) by the rock band

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; ; lit. "Shuddering"), also called the River Styx, is a goddess and one of the rivers of the Greek Underworld. Her parents were the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, and she was the wife of the Titan Pallas and the moth ...

* "Night in Tortuga" (1986) by Norman Dozier * "Tortuga Bay" (1989) by German heavy metal band Running Wild * "Tortuga" (2006) by Italian Ska band

Talco The Tajik Aluminium Company (; ), abbreviated as TALCO ( Tajik/ Russian: ТАЛКО) headquartered in Tursunzoda, Tajikistan, runs the largest aluminium manufacturing plant in Central Asia, and is Tajikistan's chief industrial asset. The Presi ...

* "

Jack Sparrow Captain Jack Sparrow is a fictional character and the main protagonist of Disney's '' Pirates of the Caribbean'' franchise. An early iteration of the character was created by screenwriter Jay Wolpert, with later drafts by Stuart Beattie and w ...

" by

The Lonely Island The Lonely Island is an American comedy trio, formed by Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer in Berkeley, California, in 2001. They have written for and starred in the American TV program ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). The th ...

featuring

Michael Bolton Michael Bolotin (born February 26, 1953), known professionally as Michael Bolton, is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton performed in the hard rock and heavy metal music genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, both on his early solo a ...

* "Tortuga" (2011) by

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

band

Catfish and the Bottlemen Catfish and the Bottlemen are a British indie rock band formed in Llandudno, Conwy, Wales, in 2007. The band currently consists of Van McCann (lead vocals, guitars) and Benji Blakeway (bass guitar, backing vocals). Their debut album, '' The Bal ...

* "Welcome to Tortuga" (2012) by Swedish pirate folk band

Ye Banished Privateers Ye Banished Privateers are a folk rock band from Umeå, Sweden. Their songs are inspired by traditional Irish and Scandinavian folk music and their lyrics are mostly based on sea and piracy history from the 17th and 18th century. During their sho ...

* "Tortuga" (2014) by the

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

band

Earthling Society Earthling Society were an English space/psychedelic rock band formed in Fleetwood, England in January 2004 by vocalist/guitarist Fred Laird and drummer Jon Blacow with bassist, David Fyall. The band's debut album ''Albion'' was self-recorded by ...

* "Tortuga" and "Gute Nacht Tortuga", both from the album "Tortuga" (2017) by German pirate folk band * "Tortuga" (2020) and "Return to Tortuga" (2022) by the Scottish Pirate Metal Band

Alestorm Alestorm are a Scottish heavy metal band formed in Perth in 2004. Their music is characterised by a pirate theme, and as a result, they have been dubbed a "pirate metal" band by many critics and their fanbase. The group currently consists of ...

* "Turtle Island" (2002) by

Mike Oldfield Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English retired musician, songwriter and producer best known for his debut studio album ''Tubular Bells'' (1973), which became an unexpected critical and commercial success. Though primarily a gu ...

Video games

* '' Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag'' (2014) * '' Pirates of the Caribbean Online'' (2007) * '' Tortuga: Two Treasures'' (2007)

Rafael Sabatini's works

''Captain Blood''

Tortuga is featured in

's '' Captain Blood'' series and the movies based on it; the most famous is '' Captain Blood'' (1935) starring

Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian and American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Oliv ...

. It is the place where Blood and his crew find refuge after their escape from

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

in 1685. Blood receives a

Letter of Marque A letter of marque and reprisal () was a Sovereign state, government license in the Age of Sail that authorized a private person, known as a privateer or French corsairs, corsair, to attack and capture vessels of a foreign state at war with t ...

from Tortuga's governor, D'Ogeron, and the island becomes his main base for the next four years. He starts his raids from Cayona, and several events in the books take place on Tortuga itself or on ships anchoring in the harbour of Cayona. Sabatini used

Exquemelin Alexandre Olivier Exquemelin (also spelled ''Esquemeling'', ''Exquemeling'', or ''Oexmelin'') (c. 1645–1707) was a French, Dutch, or Flemish writer best known as the author of one of the most important sourcebooks of 17th-century piracy, first p ...

's ''History of the Bouccaneers of America'' as a main source for his description of Tortuga, and therefore the island is portrayed as a place where many buccaneers,

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

s, and other dubious professions operate, but the

, which rules Tortuga, makes profit off of those affairs.

''The Black Swan''

Tortuga also features in Sabatini's novel ''The Black Swan'' and the 1942 movie based on it.

Notable people

* Gabard Fénélon, professional football player *

Hugues Gentillon Hugues Gentillon (born December 17, 1974) is a Haitian film director, screenwriter, producer, and scientist. He is the founder of Yugy Pictures Entertainment, a film production company based in the United States.Dawid Budny. (2014) Medical Unive ...

, film director, and founder of Yugy Pictures Entertainment

References

*(2003) Pancorbo, Luis: "El Canal de la Tortuga" en "Río de América". pp. 321–333. Laertes, Barcelona.

External links

*
"Method of Securing the Ports and Populations of All the Coasts of the Indies"
from 1694, discusses Tortuga's history with piracy. {{Authority control , additional=Q61269422 1625 establishments in the French colonial empire Communes of Haiti Geography of Hispaniola Islands of Haiti Pirate dens and locations Piracy in the Caribbean Lighthouses in Haiti Nord-Ouest (department) Island countries