Buccaneers were bands of pirates who lived by plundering ships in the Caribbean in the second half of the 17th century. Most were of English and French origins and they preyed mostly on Spanish shipping and settlements.
These 17th century gangsters of the high seas were often hired by the French governours of Tortuga and the English of Jamaica. By 1670 they had become, under the leadership of Henry Morgan, a major problem for all countries with a presence or heeding interests in the area. Numerous treaties were signed in order to try to get them under control.
in 1685 the English Royal Navy started to hunt buccaneers and, after 1697, they were never again employed by a European country.