CHAPTER 2.


 PROTESTANT SEA ROVERS


 The bull of Rodrigo Borgia, Pope Alexander VI, of May
3, 1493, established the line of partition which divided that
part of the world not possessed by any Christian prince be-
tween Spain and Portugal by a meridian line 100 leagues west
of the Azores. But Francis I of France refused to accept the
division of the oceans between two nations, and he gave or-
ders to his privateer captains to pursue their advantage on
the seas until Spain and Portugal allowed freedom of move-
ment between the lands of Asia, Africa, and America. If
Spain and Portugal would rule the waves, France would
waive the rules. Thus he extended his high patronage to the
filibusters to achieve unhindered freedom of the seas and
make the Spaniards and Portuguese salute his flag.
 When Cortes was conquering Mexico, French corsairs
were already off Cuba and Hispaniola, and when he sent
Alonso de Avila with Montezuma's treasures in three caravels
to Charles the Fifth in 1523 they were seized near the Azores
by Jean Fleury, one of the captains of Jean Ango of Dieppe,
and as a result Alonso de Avila was kept three years a prisoner
in La Rochelle. Cortes in his correspondence with the em-
peror rightly laid the blame on the inadequate convoy sup-
plied by Seville. Jean Ango, father and son, owned, built,
and operated a whole fleet of trading vessels from Dieppe,
Le Havre, Fecamp, and Honfleur, of which every one was
a man of war and every captain a pirate. They were very
pious, contributed to charities, and gave stained glass win-
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