historical
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Eustace the Monk
Eustace the Monk (c. 1170–1217) was a nobleman from the county of Boulogne who abandoned a Benedictine monastery for a career as an outlaw and, by 1205, a mercenary sea captain based in the English Channel. He served King John of England for several years, raiding the Norman coast and holding fortified bases in the…
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John Martel
John Martel was a pirate captain active in the Caribbean from about 1713 to 1717, whose growing squadron was broken up by the Royal Navy off St. Croix in 1717.
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Blackbeard
Edward Teach, known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated in the Caribbean and along the American East Coast. He commanded a flotilla including the captured French slave ship he renamed Queen Anne’s Revenge and famously blockaded Charleston harbor in 1718. He cultivated a fearsome image, reportedly weaving lit slow matches into his beard…
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Calico Jack Rackham
John ‘Calico Jack’ Rackham was an English pirate active in the Bahamas and Caribbean, known for his colorful calico clothing. He is most remembered for his crew, which included the female pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read. Rackham briefly accepted a royal pardon before returning to piracy. He was captured by pirate hunter Jonathan Barnet…
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Anne Bonny
Anne Bonny was an Irish-born pirate who sailed with Calico Jack Rackham in the Caribbean, alongside fellow female pirate Mary Read. Contemporary accounts describe her as an active fighter during boarding actions. She was captured with Rackham’s crew near Jamaica in 1720 and convicted of piracy, but escaped execution by ‘pleading her belly’ (pregnancy). No…
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Mary Read
Mary Read was an English pirate who, according to contemporary accounts, spent parts of her early life disguised as a man, including service in the military, before joining piracy in the Caribbean. She served aboard Jack Rackham’s Revenge alongside Anne Bonny. Captured in 1720, she was convicted of piracy but avoided immediate execution due to…
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Bartholomew Roberts
Bartholomew Roberts, born John Roberts in Wales, is considered the most successful pirate of the Golden Age by number of ships captured, taking an estimated 400-plus vessels. He rose to command after the death of pirate captain Howell Davis in 1719. Known for strict discipline aboard his ships and a personal code of conduct, he…
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Charles Vane
Charles Vane was an English pirate active around New Providence, Bahamas, notorious for refusing the 1718 royal pardon offered by Governor Woodes Rogers and for openly defying Rogers’s fleet as it arrived at Nassau. He was deposed as captain by his own crew, including Calico Jack Rackham, after refusing to engage a French warship. Later…
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Edward Low
Edward Low was an English-born pirate notorious for extreme brutality toward captives, operating primarily in the Atlantic and Caribbean in the early 1720s. He commanded a small fleet at times and reportedly took over 100 ships. Unlike many contemporaries, no reliable primary source firmly establishes the circumstances of his death, and several conflicting accounts exist.
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Stede Bonnet
Stede Bonnet was a wealthy Barbadian plantation owner who, unusually for a pirate captain, purchased his own ship, the Revenge, and turned to piracy in 1717 with no prior maritime background, reportedly to escape an unhappy marriage. He briefly sailed in consort with Blackbeard, who took over command of his ship for a time. Bonnet…