Laurens Prins

"Capital and resources. That's where money is made. And, sir, let me tell you... honor bought is more enjoyable than honor won, if a touch less permanent."

―Laurens Prins to Laureano Torres, on why he became a businessman, 1717.^[src]^-[m]

Laurens Prins (1630s – 1717), often anglicized as Laurence Prince, was a Dutch buccaneer and an officer under Captain Henry Morgan. Following Morgan's death, Prins became a successful slaver and an associate of the Templar Order in the Caribbean, allowing him to accumulate a large amount of wealth.

In 1717, Prins was tasked with transporting an artifact known as the Fragment of Eden for the Templars, though the relic ended up being stolen by the Assassin Samuel Bellamy and his pirate associates, Olivier Levasseur and Alonzo Batilla. Later that same year, Prins employed the Sage Bartholomew Roberts, but secretly planned to turn him over to the Templars in exchange for a reward.

While meeting with Grand Master Laureano de Torres y Ayala in Kingston to discuss details of the transaction, Prins realized the former had been followed by the Assassins and reneged on their deal. He subsequently fled back to his estate, where he was soon killed by the pirate Edward Kenway, who sought to acquire Roberts for his own ends.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Laurens Prins was born in Amsterdam in the 1630s and spent most of his life operating out of Port Royal, Jamaica. In the early days of the Golden Age of Piracy, he sailed as a privateer and developed a reputation for courage fighting against the Spanish Navy on behalf of the British crown, notably taking part in Sir Henry Morgan's infamous raid on Panama in 1671.^[1]

After retiring from privateering, Prins settled in Kingston and entered the slave trade, seeing it as a more profitable venture than military service.^[1] This turned him into a target of the local Assassin Brotherhood.^[2]

Working with the Templars[]

Torres: "There is no true profit to be gained by the practice of slavery. In the short term it makes us money, si (yes), but in the long term it will render us the victims of our own success."

Prins: "Ah, but you and I, sir—old as we are—will not live to see that unfortunate day. So why bother?"

Torres: "For virtue, if nothing else."

—Prins discussing the practice of slavery with Laureano Torres, 1717.^[src]^-[m]

In November 1715, after the Sage Bartholomew Roberts escaped from the grasp of Laureano de Torres y Ayala, Grand Master of the Caribbean Templars, Prins and Torres met briefly to discuss Roberts.^[2]

Overrun and Outnumbered 6 — Prins' ship docked at Tulum

In 1716, with the approval of Jamaican governor Archibald Hamilton, Prins expanded his slave operations to Mexico, receiving a number of British soldiers as bodyguards. After learning about the Assassins' stronghold in Tulum, Prins launched a surprise assault, capturing several Assassins, as well as the pirate crew of the Jackdaw, who were stationed nearby. However, the Jackdaw's captain Edward Kenway and the Assassin Mary Read freed Prins' prisoners and killed the soldiers serving under his command, forcing the slaver to flee.^[3]

In January 1717, word reached Prins that Torres was still actively seeking Roberts, who had recently begun working under Prins' employ in Kingston. Seeing a possibility for financial gain, Prins contacted Torres and offered to sell Roberts to him for a hefty ransom.^[4]

The following month, while transporting the Fragment of Eden on the Templars' behalf, Prins' slave galley, the Whydah, came under attack by the pirate and Assassin Samuel Bellamy and his two associates, Olivier Levasseur and Alonzo Batilla. The trio stole the Piece of Eden in Prins' possession,^[5] but the slaver himself survived the encounter and resumed his operations in Kingston.^[1]

Death[]

Prins: "You absurd cutthroats and your precious philosophy. You live in the world, but you cannot make it move."

Edward: "You mistake my motive, old man. I'm only after a bit of coin..."

Prins: "As was I, lad. As was I."

—Prins' final words, to Edward Kenway, 1717.^[src]^-[m]

In April 1717, Prins met Torres at the Kingston docks and led the Templar through the city to a safe place to make the exchange. Along the way, they were tailed by Edward and Mary, who both sought to claim Roberts for themselves. After discussing slavery, religion, politics, and Prins' past, the two men finally reached a secluded area.^[2]

There, Torres offered part of Roberts' ransom to the slaver, but Prins refused, having noticed that they had been followed by Edward and Mary. He then called a group of guards and made his escape, narrowly avoiding death at the hands of a furious Mary.^[2]

Frightened by the attack, Prins secluded himself inside his mansion, under heavy guard. That night, however, as he stood in his mansion's gardens, Prins was assassinated by Edward, who had infiltrated the grounds to free Roberts. With his last breath, Prins dismissed Edward's notions about his motivations, claiming that, just like the pirate, he too had only ever sought wealth.^[6]

Behind the scenes[]

Laurens Prins is a historical character introduced in the 2013 video game Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, where he was voiced by the English actor Christian Rodska. Historically, Prins' true fate is unknown, as there are no records of his activities following the Whydah's capture by Samuel Bellamy.^[7]

Portraits depicting Prins as he appeared in early concept art can be found in the Port-au-Prince brothel La Dame en Rose in Freedom Cry,^[8] and in the New York City house owned by Barry and Cassidy Finnegan in Assassin's Creed: Rogue.^[9]