Amaro Pargo | |
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| Born | Amaro Rodríguez-Felipe y Tejera Machado (1678-05-03)3 May 1678 |
| Died | 4 October 1747(1747-10-04) (aged 69) San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife, Crown of Castile |
| Piratical career | |
| Nickname | Amaro Pargo |
| Years active | 1712–1729 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Base of operations | Atlantic West Indies |
| Commands | El Bravo,Ave María,El Clavel,Fortuna, etc |
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Amaro Rodríguez-Felipe y Tejera Machado (3 May 1678 – 4 October 1747), also known asAmaro Pargo, was a Spanishprivateer and merchant.[1] He was one of the most well-known Spanish privateers during theGolden Age of Piracy. Pargo was noted for his commercial activities and for his frequent religious donations and aid to the poor.[2] As a privateer, he targeted trade routes betweenCádiz and theCaribbean, on several occasions attackingBritish andDutch merchant ships,[3] earning recognition in his time as ahero and coming to be regarded as "the Spanish equivalent ofFrancis Drake".[4][5][6] He was declared aCaballero hidalgo in 1725 and obtained certification of nobility and royal arms in 1727.[7]
For years there has been speculation as to the reason behind Rodríguez Felipe's nickname ofPargo. Traditionally, it has been believed that this pseudonym means that the raider was "fast", "elusive in battle" and "moving in the sea as the aforementioned fish", thered porgy (also calledPargo).[8] More recent theories rooted in popular tradition have also attributed the nickname to the facial features of a corsair.[9]
More recently, other theories have emerged; Professor Manuel de Paz at theUniversity of La Laguna and librarian Daniel García Pulido view Rodríguez Felipe's nickname as not having to do with his face resembling a fish, but with the nickname of his family's clan.[9]
Rodríguez Felipe was born in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, on the island ofTenerife in theCanary Islands on 3 May 1678.[10]
He was baptized by the priest Manuel Hurtado Mendoza in theIglesia de Los Remedios (Church of Our Lady of Los Remedios, today acathedral in the city). His godfather was Amaro López. He was the son of Juan Rodríguez Felipe and Beatriz Tejera Machado. He had seven brothers.[1] Three of his sisters entered the Convent of Santa Catalina de Siena in the city. His family was affluent, possessing property both in and around the city.[11]
Amaro lived with his family in thePlaza de San Cristóbal in La Laguna (also called "Plaza Tanque de Abajo"). The family had several possessions and houses, most of them located close to the political, economic, and religious center of the city, around the current Plaza del Adelantado (then called "Plaza de Abajo").[11]
In 1701 he boarded as second lieutenant on a ship, theAve María, nicknamedLa Chata ("The Barge"), which was boarded by pirates. This ship was a galley of theKing of Spain then on the route between the Caribbean and Cadiz.[12] He advised the captain to feign surrender in order to start a battle from which they emerged victorious. In gratitude, the captain gave Amaro his first ship. With it he began his business activities, including participation in theAtlantic slave trade inSpanish America. For this, Amaro Pargo obtained aletter of marque from KingPhilip V of Spain.[6]
Amaro Pargo's participation in theSpanish treasure fleet had to have started between 1703 and 1705, and at this time he is mentioned as "captain" and "master" of the frigateAve María y Las Ánimas. He is mentioned sailing between theport of Santa Cruz de Tenerife andHavana, and other vessels of their possession are cited;Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios,Santo Domingo andSanta Águeda (this last nicknamedEl Gavilán).[11] In 1737, he is mentioned as the owner ofEl Mercader de Canarias, captained by John Plunket, and as sharing ownership with another merchant vessel of La Laguna,Don Pedro Dujardin.
He conducted his affairs with a well-maintained fleet and also with many residences. Amaro Pargo led his own ships to America laden with wine from Malvasía (from his own vineyards) and brandy (also his), which he sold inHavana andGuyana. On the way, he attacked all ships belonging to nations at war with Spain, most of whom wereBritish andDutch, making off with booty which he later brought back to Spain. Pargo also fought against some of the best known pirates of his day, includingBlackbeard.[13] He also traded in other products such as various textiles and nuts. These products were brought from the Canary Islands to theIndies.
In 1712, Pargo captured the British-flagged merchant shipSaint Joseph, which operated out ofDublin and was commanded by Captain Alexander Westher.[14] Pargo was later accused of not having acted with rigor at the time of exercising his rights as a privateer. This was because Pargo looted the ship's cargo and forced Westher to sail with Pargo's ship to theport of Santa Cruz de Tenerife on pain of sinkingSaint Joseph if Westher refused to do so. Nevertheless, the capture ofSaint Joseph was considered legitimate because Britain wasat war with Spain.[14]
The Spanish monarchFelipe V, in aRoyal Decree dated 24 October 1719 inSan Lorenzo de El Escorial, authorized Amaro Pargo to build a ship inCampeche.[14] This ship was a merchant vessel armed with 58 guns and 64 cubits long and 56 keel, with more than 16 manga. According to current studies, said ship became part of the Navy in 1723, but just a year before it had captured and looted the Dutch merchant shipDuyvelant, when it was believed to have been captained by Pargo.[14]
This systematic looting of enemy ships sometimes escalated into battle; it is documented that once Amaro Pargo boarded a great ship fromJamaica, triggering a clash between the privateer Snapper and the captain of the ship with sabers and pistols, which ended with the captain seriously wounded and Pargo with only a cut on his fingers. He also fought againstBarbary pirates in waters off the Canary Islands.[12]
Pargo became romantically involved with theCuban Josefa María del Valdespino, with whom he had an illegitimate son, but did not marry. This son was named Manuel de la Trinidad Rodríguez. Another illegitimate son was Juan Rodríguez Felipe, born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and eventually buried in the parish of St. Mark inTegueste. According to the documents of the time, Juan Rodríguez's mother was a married woman who had known Amaro's family since childhood. This offspring would, however, be raised by the mother of Amaro Pargo, Mrs. Beatriz Tejera.[14]
Amaro Pargo founded a chaplaincy for the needy and allocated 3,000reales for the poor in the prisons. Pargo eventually came to be the richest man in the Canary Islands.[15] He was a character who in his day had the same reputation and popularity as that ofBlackbeard andFrancis Drake.[16]
On 25 January 1725 Amaro Pargo was declaredCaballero hijodalgo. In addition, Pargo obtained the actual certification of Nobility and Arms also given inMadrid on 9 January 1727 by Juan Antonio de Hoces Sarmiento, who was chronicler and king of arms ofFelipe V of Spain.[7]
Because of his ferventCatholic beliefs, Amaro made large donations to churches, religious institutions, and theParroquia de Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios (Parish Church of Our Lady of Los Remedios), now theCatedral de San Cristóbal de La Laguna (La Laguna Cathedral). He developed a deep friendship with Dominican nunMaría de León Bello y Delgado, the famed "Sister Mary of Jesus", who gave the privateer spiritual advice. After her 1731 death, Amaro paid for the extravagant sarcophagus in which the uncorrupted mystic now rests. Amaro's initials are inscribed in the sarcophagus.[17]
The privateer attributed many of his exploits to the miraculous intervention of the nun, including an episode in which the nun reportedly saved his life inCuba, without her body leaving the convent; that is, by the phenomenon ofbilocation.[18]
Those searching for romance have over the centuries wanted to see deeper meaning in the friendship between the privateer and the nun who was 25 years his elder. Balbina Rivero, author ofAmaro Pargo, el pirata de Tenerife, suggests that interpretation in his book.[8] Others reject it, including the author ofEl Sarcófago de las tres llaves, Pompeyo Reina Moreno, saying their friendship was based on devotional reasons.[19]
Amaro died 4 October 1747 in his hometown.[20] According to chronicles, his funeral was "very solemn" and the funeral procession transferring his body to his burial site made eight stops on the street, slowed down by the crowd that accompanied the procession.[12]
He was buried in the family tomb in theSanto Domingo de Guzmán Convent in La Laguna.[14] The family shield is engraved in the marble headstone, and under it a skull with two crossbones winks his right eye.
His estate at his death was substantial, and his natural son Manuel de la Trinidad Rodríguez appeared in La Laguna demanding his part, but the rest of his heirs rejected his claims.[12]
Pargo wrote in his will that he had a box that he kept in his cabin.[12] This carved chest containedsilver,gold jewelry,pearls andprecious stones of great value,chinese porcelain, richfabrics andpaintings, adding that they were itemised in a book wrapped inparchment and marked with the letter "D". The whereabouts of this book are unknown.[12]
In the centuries since, people have speculated as to the whereabouts of the treasure. The house of Amaro Pargo inMachado (in the municipality ofEl Rosario) was sacked over the years by treasure hunters.[12] It has also been suggested that the treasure is in the so-called Cave of San Mateo inPunta del Hidalgo northeast of Tenerife, a cave that served to hide their loot.[12] Despite many search efforts, the treasure has not yet been located.[12]
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In November 2013, an exhumation was carried out by a team of archaeologists and forensic scientists from theAutonomous University of Madrid to facilitate a study on the pirate, includingDNA tests and the recreation of his face.[21]
According to historical records, Pargo was buried alongside his parents and a black servant. The tomb was found, however, to also contain 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, while the babies were found to not be related to the privateer. They may have been buried together with Pargo due to a custom all overSpain and the Canary Islands to bury unbaptized children next to an adult, in the belief that the adult would guide them to Heaven.[22]
The exhumation was funded by theFrench video game companyUbisoft to promote the sixth installment of theirAssassin's Creed video game series,Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, andNaughty Dog's popular gaming franchiseUncharted.[16] According to a supervisor of the company, Pargo was "a character who in his time had the same reputation and popularity asBlackbeard orFrancis Drake".[5]
Pargo's mercantile and piratical activities have attracted the interest of several novelists and historians.El corsario Amaro Pargo by Domingo Barbuzano is noted for its historical accuracy,[23][24] as Barbuzano spent five years to investigating Pargo in historical archives of theIndies inSeville, where all documentation of travel betweenSpain andAmerica was kept. Amaro Pargo was a main character in Alexander De Chastelaine's novelBlack Sam, where the benevolent privateer Pargo offeredSamuel Bellamy and his pirate crew refuge at his home shores on the Canary Islands.[25]
Among the novels inspired by him areAmaro Pargo, el pirata de Tenerife by Balbina Rivero, andEl Sarcófago de las Tres Llaves by Pompeyo Reina,[26] and theArgentine writer Ernesto Frers makes reference to Amaro Pargo in his workMás allá del legado pirata.[27]
In 1989,Televisión Española en Canarias broadcast a television series calledLa historia en persona. This series consisted of thirteen episodes, one of which was dedicated to the figure of Amaro Pargo.[28][23]
More recently in 2017, the first documentary film that analyzes different vital aspects of this historical character was filmed, which is entitledAmaro Pargo: entre la leyenda y la historia. This documentary was broadcast directly on television in August 2017 throughTelevisión Canaria.[23][29][30]
In 2023, theAmerican television seriesExpedition Unknown dedicated a chapter to the figure of Amaro Pargo with the title "Riches of Spain's Pirate King".[31]
The musical groupRincón de La Mareta dedicated a song to Pargo in 2016.[32] In it, composed by Raquel Álvarez, the story of Amaro Pargo, his fortune and his passage throughCuba is narrated.
In the theatrical playLa Conquista más pirata of Timaginas Teatro, Amaro Pargo shares the limelight with Rear AdmiralHoracio Nelson, theCatholic Monarchs andAlonso Fernández de Lugo.[33]
In the year 2022, in the month of May, coinciding with Amaro's birth anniversary, an album dedicated entirely to his figure calledEl Corsario de Aguere is released, under the direction and musical production of Raquel Álvarez.
In 2017, theRuta Gastronómica de Amaro Pargo was presented in the city of La Laguna, a gastronomic route set in 18th-century cuisine and inspired by the figure of Pargo.[34]
The City Council of San Cristóbal de La Laguna launched in 2021 an interactive video game entitledEl tesoro de Amaro Pargo, which allows you to discover the main historical-artistic values of this city, declared aWorld Heritage Site byUNESCO in 1999.[35]
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