1640

• Antonio Vieira
  António Vieira
  Father António Vieira was a Portuguese Jesuit and writer, the "prince" of Catholic pulpit-orators of his time.-Life:Vieira was born in Lisbon to Cristóvão Vieira Ravasco, the son of a mulatto woman, and Maria de Azevedo. Accompanying his parents to Brazil in 1614, he received his education at the...
  
  , a Portuguese Jesuit, publishes a document denouncing the actions of the WIC which employed privateers to attack Spanish and Portuguese shipping in the West Indies. Between 1623 and 1637, 609 ships were captured by privateering activities on the WIC.
• A group of fifty French Calvinists led by engineer Francois le Vasseur leave St. Kitts and eventually arrive in Tortuga. Driving out the local Spanish inhabitants, the colonists begin the construction of a fort on the southeast end of the island overlooking the harbor. Cutting steps into the rock cliff and used an iron ladder to reach the top of the cliff when the angle of the steps became to steep to climb. Building a near impregnable fortress called the Dove-cote, the fort was built to be inaccessible save for the steps cut into the rock cliff and an iron ladder to reach the top of the cliff when the angle of the steps became to steep to climb. The Calvinists successfully defended the island as the Spanish returned later that year sinking several ships before retreating.
• Spanish colonial authorities in Hispanola launch a campaign to drive out the pirates gathered in Tortuga, of whom were predominantly English and French, in an attempt to put a stop to the constant attacks on Spanish shipping in the West Indies. Although initially successful, the island would become a major haven for pirates later known as buccaneers throughout the late-1650s when Col. Edward Doyley invited the inhabitants to operate from Jamaica.
• May - A second attempt by the Spanish to capture the English colony at Providence Island
  Providence Island
  Providence Island may refer to:*Providencia Island, part of the Archipelago of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina in Colombia, which was settled by the Providence Island Company*Providence Island is an island*Providence Atoll in Seychelles...
  
  , a joint Spanish/Portuguese fleet consisting of 700 men and thirteen ships including the Black Robin (the former HMS Robert, the captured flagship of the Earl of Warwick), is led by Sergeant Major Don Antonio Maldonado de Texeda. Although founded by Puritans who had left the Massachusetts Bay Colony
  Massachusetts Bay Colony
  The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
  
  , the island was regarded as a "den of thievery" by Captain General of Cartegena Don Melchor de Aguilera and was used as a stopping point by privateers due to its natural harbors and close proximity to Cartagena
  Cartagena, Colombia
  Cartagena de Indias , is a large Caribbean beach resort city on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region and capital of Bolívar Department...
  
   and Portobello
  Portobelo, Panama
  Portobelo is a port city in Colón Province, Panama. It is located on the northern part of the Isthmus of Panama and has a deep natural harbor. Today, Portobelo is a sleepy city with a population of fewer than 3,000...
  
  . English privateer William Jackson
  William Jackson (pirate)
  William Jackson was an English privateer who, based in Guanaja and Roatan , was in the service of the Providence Island Company from 1639 until around 1641. During that year, he captured a Spanish slave ship at the port of and received a ransom of 8,000 pounds of indigo as well as 2,000...
  
   had visited the island earlier that year before returning to England by the end of winter.

1640

• Francis Knight's A Relation of Seven Yeares Slaverie Under the Turkes of Argeire, suffered by an English Captive Merchant is published.

1640

• John Narborough
  John Narborough
  Rear-Admiral Sir John Narborough or Narbrough was an English naval commander of the 17th century. He served with distinction during the Anglo-Dutch Wars and against the Barbary Coast pirates.-Early life:...
  
  , English navigator and admiral who took part in a privateering expedition against the Spanish in the South Seas between 1669 and 1671.