Tortuga

Tortuga lies off the northwestern coast of Hispaniola, separated from the mainland by a narrow channel. Its sheltered southern shore and position near routes through the Caribbean made the island a haven for sailors, traders and buccaneers in the seventeenth century.

French and English settlers occupied Tortuga in the early 1630s, despite Spanish attempts to expel them. In 1640 François Levasseur established French control and built a fort overlooking the harbor. Buccaneers used the island as a base for hunting, trade and attacks on Spanish shipping and settlements, selling their captured goods to merchants who visited the small island. Its importance was tied to the growth of French influence on western Hispaniola, which Spain recognized under the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697.