Posted by Under The Black Flag on 11:47 π.μ.
John Smith was born in Cathness in Northern Scotland, but had been raised by relations in Carisston in the Orkneys. On reaching maturity he sailed on several ships until signing on as mate on the George Galley, formerly known as the Princess Carolina. The ship sailed for Sancta Cruz on the Barbary Coast. Having been scrimped on by the peevish captain Ferneau during the month long trip, Smith and James Williams conspired to take the ship and turn to piracy. During the return trip from Sancta Cruz, Smith and his confederates seized the ship, killing all the officers that stood in their way.After some...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 10:44 π.μ.
John Evans started upon his pirate career in September of 1722. Up to that time he had been legitimately involved in a variety of sailing jobs from master of a sloop belonging to Nevis to work as a mate sailing from Jamaica. Due to a lack of berths on ships at the time he and a band of three or four others rowed out of Port Royal in a canoe. Their first ilegal acts were simple rabbery of houses near the shore, but this was not entirely to their liking and they greatly desired to secure a true ship and move their work out to sea.They made good their plans when they encountered a sloop, belonging...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 9:47 π.μ.
John Bowen was a Welsh pirate. He operated in the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf before he died 1704. Born in Bermuda, Bowen moved to South Carolina and became captain of a ship trading in the West Indies. After some years, he was captured by French pirates. The French brigands crossed the Atlantic, pillaged along the African coast, and wrecked their ship on Madagascar's southwestern coast. About 18 months later, Bowen and the other survivors were picked up by a Captain Read. The pirates took over a larger Arab ship (but little hooty) in the Persian Gulf. At this time...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 12:44 μ.μ.
James Kelley was aboard a slave ship when he was captured off West Africa by John Williams in 1680. Kelley joined Williams and was with him when Williams rescued John Cook as well as other pirates in the Caribbean in early 1681. Kelley left Williams and joined Cook after Williams and Cook had argued after capturing a Spanish prize. Kelley in the company of Cook aboard the ship Bachelor's Delight plundered along the South American Pacific coast from 1684 to 1688. Cook died during this time and Edward Davis came into command of the ship. While the ship was at Jamaica, Kelley left...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 3:29 μ.μ.
For centuries, historians have debated the significance of one of the most stirring episodes in the history of Britain’s Muslim minority. Men such as Captain John Ward of Kent astounded their compatriots by proudly adopting Islam to fight the Inquisition and the expansionist powers of Europe. Contemporaries called such men ‘corsairs’; they themselves considered themselves mujahidin. Some were among the most pious Muslims this country has yet produced. Others were famous drunkards and lechers. Ward and his likes were described by the adventurer John Smith. Later to be...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 8:16 μ.μ.
Anthony Sherley was a roguein the strictest sense of the word. He was born into a wealthy but was forcedto find his own way after his families property went into bankruptcy. He had anOxford education, but had to take to soldiering, forgoing his education.In 1591 he went to Normandyas one of the Earl of Essex's soldiers. While there he was knighted by theFrench. In 1593 he was imprisoned until he renounced his foreign title.Striving to rise in stature, he married a cousin of the earl, but soon foundhis wife intolerable. Seeing nothing for him to gain by staying in England, heleft to seek his fortune elsewhere. Sherley used his relation to the...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 10:21 π.μ.
Born in southeastern Wales, Callice moved to London as a youth, became a retailer and sailor, and joined the navy in about 1571. In early 1574, while commanding a royal ship, he seized an Italian merchantman and sold her cargo in Cardiff and Bristol. For the next four years, Callice plundered mercilessly, and other captains sailed under his leadership. Arrested in May 1577, Callice was imprisoned in London and charged with six major cases of piracy and many minor ones. He was sentenced to hang for the six important crimes, which occurred near Cornwall, off France and Denmark, and as far south as...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 1:18 μ.μ.
Guillaume Le Testu was born at Le Havre in Normandy. Nationality being French and was active between 1551-1572 in the Caribbean. His exact birthdate is unknown, but is believed to be circa 1509. At Dieppe he studied navigation and was pilot of a French ship during an exploration mission of Brazil in 1551. Le Testu participated in an expedition which founded a colony near Rio de Janeiro in 1555 and in 1556 he was appointed royal pilot and presented to King Henry II a world atlas which consisted of 56 maps, which he drew. Le Testu's atlas included a southern continent which didn't...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 12:10 μ.μ.
Elizabeth Shirland was born around 1577 in Devonshire, England. Elizabeth and some of her family joined a group of settlers to live on a colony founded by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1585. Elizabeth was known as a very beautiful yet vigorous and energetic girl, and maybe that is the reason for her career after the mysterious happenings on Roanoke Island. Some chapters of Elizabeth Shirland's life are suspected to be fictional, especially when it comes to the mystery of her lost booty. Hidden treasures always inspired the fantasies of story tellers who passed on the legends of secret wealths.Historical background:Although John Cabot (ca. 1450-1499)...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 5:24 μ.μ.
Hiram Breakes was a Dutch pirate, second son to the Councillor of the Island of Saba. As pirates go, Breakes was notoriously violent, believing in the adage that "dead men tell no tales". In 1764, Breakes was nineteen years old, tall and handsome. He was appointed to a Dutch trading vessel that sailed between Sabo and Amsterdam. He performed well in his services and eventually took command of a trading ship which operated between Schiedham, Holland and Lisbon, Portugal It was around this time he fell in love with a married woman named Mrs. Snyde. A little later, Mr. Snyde was poisoned....
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 8:36 π.μ.
Eustace the Monk, sometimes known as the Black Monk, was a younger son of a lesser noble family in Boulogne. As a young man he spent some time in a Benedictine monastery, hence the 'monk' part of his name. Given his period of activity, he was probably born in the late 12th century. Initially, he served the Count of Boulogne, but was eventually outlawed and turned to piracy. He and those he attracted soon came to control the Straits of Dover. Like many early pirates he turned mercenary and sold the services of his squadrons to the highest bidder. From 1205-1212, he served King John...
Posted by Under The Black Flag on 12:47 μ.μ.
From the first days of European enterprisein the East, the coasts of India were regarded as a favourable field forfilibusters [=freebooters], the earliest we hear of being Vincente Sodre,a companion of Vasco da Gama in his second voyage. Intercourse with heathensand idolaters was regulated according to a different code of ethics fromthat applied to intercourse with Christians. The authority of the Old Testamentupheld slavery, and Africans were regarded more as cattle than human beings;while Asiatics were classed higher, but still as immeasurably inferiorto Europeans. To prey upon Mahommedan ships was simply to pursue in otherwaters the chronic...
