François le Clerc

François Le Clerc, known as Jambe de Bois ( " wooden leg " ) or Spanish Pie de Palo (* Reville, Normandy, † 1563 off the Azores ), was a French Kaperkapitän of the 16th century.

Life

After Le Clerc had lost in a sea battle in 1549 against Guernsey leg, he was as Jambe de Bois ( " wooden leg " ) known. With a letter of marque of the French King Henry II Le Clerc in 1552 reached first Puerto Santo on the Portuguese island of Madeira, and was the first pirate with a wooden leg, which is mentioned in documents. In March 1553 Le Clerc began with eight ships, whose command he had to attack the Spanish merchant fleet and American settlements and attacked first San German Puerto Rico and then systematically the ports of the island of Hispaniola. Their headquarters had Le Clerc and his men on the island of St. Lucia. From there they attacked vorbeisegelnde Spanish ships. During an attack on Santiago de Cuba on July 1, 1554 destroyed Le Clerc and his followers the city so thoroughly that they are not long recovered from it. Until 1555, he endangered the Spanish ship traffic to the Canary Islands. As a Huguenot, he struggled with in the early days of the French Wars of Religion, but he soon died at sea.