XVII Century

1685 On the morning on July 6th 1685 the city of Campeche was attacked by pirates lead by the French pirate Laurent de Graff. From the start, the town's new occupiers relentlessly ransacked the city, house by house, business by business and above all, church by church. Campeche was a favorite with pirates. It had grown wealthy from the export of dyewood and other precious woods and the cultivation of tobacco on nearby plantations. The streets were lined with churches and fine houses built by prosperous merchants, making the city a worthwhile prize for any pirate. As an added bonus, the port's defenses were weak. Pirate ship captains were often fully paid-up members of the sailing club, seamen with skill and experience in ocean navigation and warlike tendencies. They were usually organized by countries that were enemies of Spain and the Papal Bull, a decree which had granted Spain almost the entire Americas, leaving out other great powers like England, France and Holland. England, in particular, gave tacit royal approval to pirate attacks, for a share of the booty. The incursion of the pirates forced the government to take action and, after approval from Spain, the construction of the fortification of "Villa de San Francisco de Campeche" began.

1686 On January 3, the governor Juan Bruno Tello de Guzmán, supervised the first stage of the laying of the foundations of the wall that would surround the Spanish establishment. The government received many proposals for the project. Finally, it was the plan presented by a military engineer called Jaime Frank that was selected, although several parts of the wall that went around the "Villa de Campeche" were actually constructed by Pedro Osorio de Cervantes.