Today, we’re talking about pirates of the Caribbean. The one’s who would hunt for Treasure Island and make their victims walk the plank if they didn’t hand over all their pieces of eight! Well, I mean we are talking about a pirate, the scariest, most notorious pirate in history. He did indeed go to the Caribbean, but he most likely never found Treasure Island and no pirate made their victims walk the plank! It was all made up by the guy who wrote Peter Pan. Real pirates, didn’t do the dramatics, no, they just threw the captives overboard! But, alas ye’ landlovers! Hoist the colours high, scrub the deck and get yourself a nice bottle of rum, because today were reading about Blackbeard; the most famous pirate to ever live (apart from Jack Sparrow and Captain Hook)! We have all heard the stories of the most notorious pirate to sail the seven seas. There is no dispute that Blackbeard was indeed a bad man, but was he really as bad as we think?
Blackbeard was born in around 1680, in Bristol, England with the name Edward Teach. Not an awful lot is known about the early life of Teach and many people are left guessing. Reports say that Blackbeard came from a middle-class family and he was an educated man, which is pretty impressive for those days. In the years Blackbeard was growing up, Bristol was renowned for its role in the slave trade and was one of the busiest ports (the second largest port for slave trade next to London), due to its role in trade of not only slaves, but cotton, rum and various imports. We know that Blackbeard was most likely a privateer with the British during the War of the Spanish Succession, that lasted from 1701 – 1713.
In the early 1700’s the British were still on their quest to try and colonize the entire world. The Brits were renowned for their Navy, and their brutal methods on the sea and on land. Privateers were pretty common in this era, and Blackbeard being from Bristol, it only made sense for him to join the navy. Privateers were the “good” pirates, they did everything that pirates do, apart from the fact that they were more or less mercenaries for the army and because the army refused to pay for them, the deal was that they were legally allowed to steal whatever they found on a destroyed ship, as long as they were protecting the nation.
The first reports of Blackbeard being a pirate are in the year 1716, the war had ended and Blackbeard no longer had income. He joined a privateer Captain called Benjamin Hornigold, who let Blackbeard join his crew. Only a year after he had joined the pirate’s life, Blackbeard managed to steal a French merchantman that was used to transport slaves around the world, and Teach changed the ship into a 40-gun warship “The Queen Anne’s Revenge” [Que Pirates of the Caribbean theme]. The main reason he was able to rise through the ranks of piracy this quickly was most probably because of his ability to read, write and read maps. You weren’t going to become a Captain unless you had basic knowledge of the English language.
As soon as he got his own ship, Blackbeard started his famous legacy of piracy along the Carolina and Virginia coast. Blackbeard might not have been as nasty as we think however. Yes, murder, torture and rum were all the fun of a pirate’s life, but, Blackbeard tended to use more scare-tactic’s than violence, often times hoisting the Jolly-Rodger and setting his beard alight, rather than just cannonballing the enemies ship. Blackbeard looked terrifying. His beard was rumored to cover most of his lower-face, which of course went against every social-norm of the 1700’s and he would put a type of fuse in his beard, then cover his beard in wax (so his hair wouldn’t burn, that too dangerous even for a pirate) and set it alight. Most of the time, Blackbeard would recruit members from the ships he was looting, to join his crew. He was a pretty good businessman. During this time, he managed to rack his crew up to over 100 men!
In 1718, Blackbeard put a blockade up at the port of Charles Town, South Carolina for medical equipment. This was one of his most notorious acts in his short career. Here, he held the town for ransom, captured ships, cargo and more sailors until he got the medicine he needed.
Blackbeard was also infamous for his parties and drunken days. He was known for spending days on shore, drinking with his pirate friends. He was also a devoted married man… devoted to his 14 wives. Rumor has it that Blackbeard had a wife in every port, and the reason for this might be in case he got arrested for his crimes, he would have a witness to stand up in a court of law stating how “innocent and cuddly” Blackbeard was instead of a merciless pirate; another reason may be that he was just a hopeless romantic and secretly loved being in love. [that’s quite a sweet analogy of a pirate isn’t it?]. 14 wives came with a price though, and we can assume that Blackbeard more than likely had syphilis, that’s why he put a blockade up in Charles Town for medicine.
In the middle of 1718, the British navy were cracking down on piracy and wanted Blackbeard. The deal that the navy were making with pirates was basically “hand yourself in and you get off free”. Blackbeard took this deal for a minute… or two, and was then back to his old ways. Teach’s actions ended up landing him with a bounty on his head, placed there by the governor of Virginia and the governor of North Carolina. A British naval force, commanded by Lieutenant Robert Maynard was going after Blackbeard, and this time… well, I suppose you can say dead men tell no tales.
On November 22nd 1718, Blackbeard was ambushed on his new ship, called the Adventurer by Maynard and his men. Maynard and his men were spotted by Blackbeard’s men and attacked, leading to the brutal battle that eventually killed Blackbeard.
“he stood his Ground, and fought with great Fury, till he received five and twenty Wounds, and five of them by Shot. At length, as he was cocking another Pistol (famously carrying three pairs slung across his shoulders), having fired several before, he fell down dead”.
Leeds Royal Armories
The worst thing about Blackbeard’s death is that after he was killed his head was still sailing. It was tied to the bowspirit of the adventurer! One legend says that his skull was covered in silver and used for those good ol’ American beers.
The wreck of “The Queen Anne’s Revenge” was rediscovered on November 21st 1996 off the coast of Beaufort in North Carolina.
After only 2 years of being the most fearsome Captain on the seas, Blackbeard was dead. Mind you, still doesn’t stop me wanting to be a pirate!
Return Of The Famous Dead 