Roche Braziliano[a] (c. 1630 – disappeared c. 1671) was a Dutch pirate from in the town of Groningen. His piratical career lasted from 1654 until his disappearance c. 1671. He was first made famous in Alexandre Exquemelin's 1678 book The Buccaneers of America; Exquemelin did not know Braziliano's real name, but historians have argued his probable real name was Gerrit Gerritszoon and that he and his parents had moved to Dutch Brazil.[1] He is known as "Roche Braziliano", which in English translates to "Rock the Brazilian", due to his long exile in Brazil.[2][3]
Roche Braziliano was a notoriously cruel buccaneer who operated out of Port Royal, Jamaica. He was a privateer in Bahia, Brazil, before moving to Port Royal in 1654. He led a mutiny and adopted the life of a buccaneer. On his first adventure he captured a ship of immense value and brought it back safely to Jamaica. He eventually was caught and sent to Spain, but he escaped with threats of vengeance from his followers.[4] He soon resumed his criminal career, purchasing a new ship from fellow pirate François l'Olonnais and later sailing in company with Sir Henry Morgan and Joseph Bradley among others. Braziliano's first mate Yellows eventually became a captain in his own right, sailing with Braziliano, Morgan, and others in raids against the Spanish.[5]
Drunken and debauched, Braziliano would threaten to shoot anyone who did not drink with him. He roasted alive two Spanish farmers on wooden spits after they refused to hand over their pigs. He treated his Spanish prisoners barbarously, typically cutting off their limbs or roasting them alive over a fire.[6] The Spaniards feared him so much, that Spanish mothers used his name as a hush word for their children.[7]
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After 1671, Braziliano was never seen or heard from again. To this day, nobody knows what became of the Dutch pirate. Whether he (and his vessel and men) were lost at sea in a brutal storm, was secretly captured, or possibly retired and lived the rest of his life in anonymity is a matter of debate.