In 1586, the privateer Sir Francis Drake captured the city of Santo Domingo, collecting a ransom for its return to Spanish rule. A third of the city lay in ruins after the capture and almost all of its civic, military and religious buildings had been either damaged or destroyed. During his occupation of Santo Domingo, Drake sent a young Black messenger to the governor. A Hidalgo who was standing by considered this an insult and ran the boy through with his sword. Drake, infuriated, proceeded to the spot where the murder had been committed and had two friars hanged. He told the Spanish governor that he would hang two more friars every day until the murderer had been executed. The murderer was hanged by his own countrymen.