Spain — pirates

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"And I hear the weather is lovely in Spain."

―Jack Sparrow^[src]

The Kingdom of Spain, or Spagna, was the European country that was in charge of the Spanish Royal Navy. Spain also owned many colonies on the North American mainland. Its capital city was Madrid.

History

Early history

"I've concluded that we must take action regarding these rogue pirates. If these blackguards continue to plunder and menace merchant shipping, it won't be long before England, France, Spain and probably Portugal will dispatch their navies to hunt down all pirate ships they find."

―Edward Teague to assembled pirates at Shipwreck Cove^[src]

In the era of exploration, discovery, and colonization, Spain amassed tremendous wealth and a vast colonial empire through the conquest of Mexico by Hernán Cortés (1519–1521), and Peru by Francisco Pizarro (1532–1533).^{[citation needed]} It also achieved an age of great discovery by Juan Ponce de León y Figueroa, born to a noble Spanish family in the late 15th century,^[7] who discovered Florida and an unchartered lands during his search for the Fountain of Youth.^[3]^[4]^[5]

The Spanish Habsburg monarchy became for a time the most powerful in the world. Portugal and the Kingdoms of Spain were united to create a single Spanish state in 1580 when King Philip II took the Portuguese throne. In 1588, Philip sent his invincible Armada to invade England, but its failure paved the way for England's colonization of America. Spain then sank to the status of a second-rate power under the rule of weak Hapsburg kings, and it never again played a major role in European politics. During the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) Spain allied itself with France, but the war resulted in Spain's loss of Belgium, Luxembourg, Milan, Sardinia, Naples, and Gibraltar. Some time after his accession to the throne of Spain in 1746, King Ferdinand VI made Cádiz his residence.^{[citation needed]}

Age of Piracy

In the days of the 1500s-1600s and a bit later, the Spanish treasure galleons used to go regularly from the Spanish Main, via Havana, back to Spain. So people like Sirs Henry Morgan and Francis Drake beforehand knew the treasure galleons' routes and would intercept them. Francis Drake was an English privateer who would never have seen himself as a pirate, but the Spanish did see him as a pirate. The reason was that Drake went out on a series of plundering expeditions on the Spanish Main and attacked Spanish ships and Spanish treasure ports. He later became a part of the English Navy, and he then becomes an English hero by attacking the Spanish Armada and attacks Cádiz.^[12]

Armando Salazar was born and raised in or near Andalusia, a region that gave Spain its finest sailors.^[1] Born in the family of his father and grandfather, who were both killed by pirates, Armando Salazar grew up to be "El Matador del Mar" in command of the Spanish Navy on a mission to rid the seas of piracy until he crossed paths with a young Jack Sparrow, which resulted in Salazar facing death, trapped in a curse as he rose from the depths of the Devil's Triangle.^[10]^[9]

At some point in time during the Age of Piracy, Angelica was born the daughter of an unknown female of Spanish descent and Captain Edward "Blackbeard" Teach, an Englishman and a legendary pirate of the Seven Seas.^[5] As a newborn baby, Angelica was brought to a nearby convent, presumably in or near Seville,^[13] by her father upon her mother's untimely passing, entrusted her to the nuns for a proper upbringing.^[7] Angelica lived in the Spanish convent as a child, and then as a young novitiate, and at an uncertain point in time met Jack Sparrow, who swore he mistook the Spanish convent for a brothel.^[5]

According to legends of the Brethren Court, one of the Nine Pieces of Eight was a small pewter brandy goblet used by outcast sisters in Spanish monastery or nunnery, forbidden to take the sacraments.^[14] They were outcast for a reason, and that reason was Ammand the Corsair, the Pirate Lord of the Black Sea.^[11]

Eduardo Villanueva of Spain, Lord of the Adriatic Sea, partnered with the Spanish government to allow him a fine retirement of nobility among the European aristocracy. He also crossed paths and swords with Capitaine Chevalle, who also plundered the bountiful Spanish treasure fleets returning from Mexico and points due South, they shared an animosity as heated as the one between their countries, Spain and France.^[11]

By the quest for the Shadow Gold the Spanish princess Carolina was next in line to the throne of Spain, engaged to a governor, prior to joining Jack Sparrow's crew aboard the Black Pearl.^[6]

Quest for the Fountain of Youth

Carriage riding to the Cádiz royal palace.

"I have a report. The Spanish have located the Fountain of Youth. I will not have some melancholy Spanish Monarch—a Catholic—gain eternal life!"

―King George II^[src]

In 1750, a Spanish captain and fisherman, found an ancient sailor caught in a fishing net off the coast of Spain.^[15] A gold-trimmed carriage raced from a harbor in Cádiz as it arrived to the royal palace, where the captain and fisherman present to King Ferdinand the sailor, who claimed to have found Ponce de León's ship. After examining an old logbook, Ferdinand realized that the legends of Ponce de León's search for the Fountain of Youth were true. Ferdinand immediately sent his most trusted agent, known only as "The Spaniard", to find the Fountain.^[5]

Spanish colonies

Map of the Spanish Empire in the 18th century.

Behind the scenes

Spain was first mentioned in the 2003 video game Pirates of the Caribbean.^{[citation needed]} It would be referenced throughout the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, notably in the "Inside the Brethren Court" bonus feature for the 2007 film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, where the name "Spagna" appeared on a map.^[11] Spain made its first appearance as the first European country to appear in the film series in media relating to the 2011 film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,^[5] including the film's visual guide and junior novelization.^[3]^[4]

For filming On Stranger Tides, a scene of a carriage arriving to the royal palace in Cádiz was filmed at Castillo San Cristobal in Old San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico.^[16] Castillo San Cristobal was one of the two great fortifications built by Spain to guard San Juan from land attack. Construction began in 1634 and was completed in 1783, making it absolutely period-correct for the film's mid-eighteenth-century setting.^[17]

In all Pirates of the Caribbean products, a modern Spanish flag is displayed on the Spanish ships, islands and forts, instead of the one from the early 18th century. This is most likely a mistake made by the developers, since the flag used was not flown by Spain until 1770, almost twenty years after the events of the POTC films.^{[citation needed]}

Penélope Cruz (Angelica), Astrid Bergès-Frisbey (Syrena), Óscar Jaenada (The Spaniard), Juan Carlos Vellido (Spanish Captain, Lieutenant Lesaro) and Javier Bardem (Armando Salazar) were all born in Spain.