Jan Erasmus Reyning

Who was Jan Erasmus Reyning?

Jan Erasmus Reyning was a Dutch pirate, privateer and naval officer.

Jan Erasmus Reyning was born in Flushing in 1640 as the son of a Danish mariner and a Zeeland woman. As a boy, he went to sea with his father and later started a seaman's career of his own. He was taken prisoner during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, and later served as an engagé on a French plantation on the island of Hispaniola. Around 1667 he became a buccaneer, i.e. a hunter in central Hispaniola, and around 1669 he started a career as a pirate or filibuster.

Although documentary evidence is limited, Reyning is believed to have fought as a privateer captain with French or English letters of marque between 1669 and 1672. His partner was one Jelle Lecat. Reyning must have co-operated with renowned pirates as Roche Braziliano and Henry Morgan. According to reliable Spanish documents, Reyning offered his services to his former Spanish enemies at Campeche around January 1672.