Spanish Main

A map of one part of the Spanish Main.

"I love this song! Really bad eggs! When I get the Pearl back, I'm gonna teach it to the whole crew, and we'll sing it all the time."
"And you'll be positively the most fearsome pirate in the Spanish Main."
"Not just the Spanish Main, love. The entire ocean. The entire world."

―Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swann

The Spanish Main, also referred to as the Spanish Lake, was what sailors called the mainland area that surrounded the Caribbean Sea. During the Golden Age of Piracy, the Spanish Main was the collective term for the parts of the Spanish Empire that were on the mainland of the Americas and had coastlines enclosing the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. The term was used to distinguish those regions from the numerous islands that Spain controlled in the Caribbean, which were known as the Spanish West Indies.

History

"This is the Caribbean, aye, sir. The Spanish Main, they call it. Pirates on the prowl here."

―Roger Prescott to Jack Sparrow

Spanish Main was what sailors called the mainland areas that surrounded the Caribbean Sea.

From the 16th century through the 18th century, the Spanish Main was the point of departure for enormous wealth that was shipped back to Spain in the form of gold, silver, gems, spices, hardwoods, hides and other riches. Silver in the form of pieces of eight was brought to the Spanish Main by llama and mule train from Potosí via the Pacific coast, while wares from the Far East that had arrived at Acapulco on the Manila galleons were also then transported overland to the Spanish Main. From there they were shipped to Spain by Spanish galleons. Due to the tremendous riches which were shipped from it, the Spanish Main was ripe territory for pirates and privateers.

The Spanish Pirate Lord Eduardo Villanueva occasionally boasted that his galleon, the Centurion, was the best ship on the Spanish Main. While marooned on Rumrunner's Isle, Elizabeth Swann and Jack Sparrow talked about Jack being the most fearsome pirate in the Spanish Main, though Jack himself aimed for the ocean and the entire world. During the quest for the Fountain of Youth, the HMS Providence was among other ships sailing on course for the Spanish Main, rushing towards the tropical island where the fabled Fountain was purported to be situated.

Behind the scenes

"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates' loot on Treasure Island and at the bottom of the Spanish Main...and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life."

―Walt Disney

Walt Disney was quoted as saying "There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates' loot on Treasure Island and at the bottom of the Spanish Main...and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life." The Spanish Main first appeared in Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean, with the tagline "Sail with the wildest crew that ever sacked the Spanish Main" being used in one of the original ride's posters. It was first identified as "Spanish Lake" in the junior novelization of the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

Appearances

• Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean (First appearance) (First identified as Spanish Main)
• The Price of Freedom
• Legends of the Brethren Court: Day of the Shadow (Mentioned only)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003 junior novelization) (First identified as Spanish Lake)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2006 junior novelization)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (junior novelization)

Sources

• Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies
• The Pirates' Guidelines

External links

• Spanish Main on Wikipedia