Dunkirkers

During and after the Dutch Revolt (1568–1648), the Dunkirkers or Dunkirk Privateers were commerce raiders in the service of the Spanish monarchy and later the Kingdom of France. They operated from the ports of the Flemish coast: Nieuwpoort, Ostend, and Dunkirk. Although their existence predated him, Dunkirkers were mainly organized under the rule of Spanish governor Alexander Farnese. The first Dunkirkers sailed a group of warships outfitted by the Spanish government, but non-government investment in privateering soon led to a more numerous fleet of privately owned and outfitted warships. They were part of the Dunkirk fleet, which consequently was a part of the Spanish monarchy's Flemish fleet, the Armada de Flandes, and worked in cooperation with admirals like Francisco de Ribera and Miguel de Horna. Throughout the Eighty Years' War, the fleet of the Dutch Republic repeatedly tried to destroy the Dunkirkers, but they remained active and prolific. Some Dutch people came to regard Dunkirk as the "Algiers and Tunis of the West", in reference to the predatory Barbary corsairs. Dunkirker activity declined with Spain's final loss of Dunkirk in 1658, although substantial privateering activity continued to operate out of other Flemish ports. Dunkirkers would later enter the service of France, until their suppression was agreed in the 1712 Peace of Utrecht.