A Pirate’s Life for Me

authority have graced pages and screens for generations. Well, reality says you shouldn't believe everything you read. Pirates never made anyone walk the plank, and they were often ruthless killers who didn't follow a code of honor. Pirates harmed anyone and everyone who got in their way, especially in pursuit of gold or jewels. They weren't endearing swashbucklers wearing too much eyeshadow. However, one thing Hollywood and publishing got right

was the pirates need for freedom. They rebelled because they felt they were being controlled by governments that weren't working for them, high taxes and high poverty, left many people in dire straits, and piracy was their only way out of squalor. These men and women set out on the high seas to take control of their destinies and forge

their own paths. Much like one pirate, Captain James Missan in the late sixteen hundreds, Massan had an idea for a land where pirates could truly be free, free from the tyranny of oppressive regimes and military interference. An oasis meant, as he described it, for vigilante guardians of the people's rights and liberties. Captain Mason had come from Provence, France, serving aboard the Worship Victois. His father had been a wealthy man, but Missan himself had little as he had

numerous links to contend with. While on leave in Rome, he met a priest named Karachioli who accompanied him aboard the ship. Massan had lost faith in his religion as well as the papacy, and it seemed his new friend had too. The priest was a deist. He despised organized religion, believing it was being used as a tool to keep the classes in line. He often talked to me San and the crew about how man was born to be free and should always remain free. Massan agreed wholeheartedly, and

eventually the crew did too. After the Victois captain was killed in action, the men of the ship declared Missan their new captain. His first order of business to abandon the military and begin a new chapter in their lives. They became pirates, calling no country home. Fighting for themselves and the family they'd created, they sailed to South Africa, where they freed slaves and invited them to join the

crew as equals. The men also gained a reputation for how well they treated the captains of the ships they pie. It did unlike their more vicious counterparts, Misson and his men almost never killed anyone unless absolutely necessary. It would have been uncivilized. After a brief stay on an island off the East African coast, Captain and crew headed for Madagascar.

It was there where Misan found his calling. He decided to establish a new colony, one where each man would have a little slice for himself and their joint efforts would go towards the betterment of the community. They called it Libertalia, sometimes known as Libertatia. They disowned their countries of birth, choosing to call themselves liberty Instead. A new language was born as well, piece together from the various languages and dialects of the incoming settlers, and it didn't

take long for the town to grow. There was livestock, farmland, docks were built to conduct shipping business with other lands, and some pirates continued to do what they did best, plunder the fortunes of other ships. Everyone contributed, and everyone enjoyed the fruits of their labor Quali. Eventually, Massan and another leader, a privateer turned pirate named Thomas Too, attempted to shift their socialist government to a more democratic method,

one where a leader would be chosen by the men. Unsurprisingly, Missan was elected without question, but his victory was short lived. Libertalia suffered an attack from the native people on the island, who killed a large portion of the settlers, including Carracioli. Missan and forty men fled with a fraction of their treasure. To suggested that he go to America to try again, but Massan had had enough. He couldn't bear to go through the trouble of starting yet another colony, and he

never got the chance either. A captain and his remaining crew got caught in a bad storm. After the attack, the ship was lost, and with it one man's dream of a pirate utopia. There are some who say, Libertally it was a fictional land, one concocted from the mind of a British writer too scared to voice his progressive views in public instead, and it is said he wrote them in the form of a story about pirates and a fable land where they lived as free men. Still

it hasn't stopped people for hunting for the proof. It's possible that somewhere out there is a remnant from James Messan's failed experiment, like a sign or a plaque, or the ruins of a Libertalian home. But even if there isn't, even if it was all just fiction, the dream of a place where people take care of one another lives on today. Inspiring for sure, and also more than a

little curious. All life eventually ends. We hope we live long enough to see our children grow up start families of their own, before we pass away peacefully to a better place. As for our bodies, we have several choices. We can be buried in a cemetery or cremated and have our ashes preserve for our loved ones to cherish. There are even services out there that let us turn our ashes into diamonds, so the ones we love can keep us close wherever they are. But what about those

who don't have people to care for them. Where do they go when they die? There was a question posed by one particular group for many years until someone came up with a solution in the eighteenth century, when one island became the final resting place for some of history's most colorful characters. The spot was located on Yel Santa Marie, a small island off the eastern coast of Madagascar in Africa. Il Santa Marie had it all, rich flora, interesting culture,

and beautiful ocean views. It was the perfect place for pirates to kick back and relax as a kind of vacation spots. There were even a number of coves and bays where they could stash their ships out of view of merchant and military vessels going by. But Il Santa Marie was also an unavoidable spot along the trade routes, so pirates had plenty of targets who were flushed with valuable cargo to take advantage of as they passed by. The area was known as the Island of Pirates, and

it was started by one man named Adam Baldridge. In Baldridge had been charged with murder in Jamaica and escaped prosecution to Yell Santa Marie. He didn't just start a new chapter of his life there, though, he began writing a whole new book. Within a year, Baldridge had become the head of his own organization, controlling commerce to and from the island and mediating conflicts between the local tribes,

all for a price. And because other pirates found the island to be quite welcoming to their kind, Baldridge often rented them out to merchants willing to pay their high fees for their services. He didn't stay too long on the island, though, after it was discovered that he'd been selling the indigenous people as slaves. He fled to the American colonies, leaving his paradise behind. But despite the loss

of its founder, Eel Santa Marie flourished. Almost a thousand pirates descended upon its shores over the next hundred years. Of course, that's a long time, and most pirates don't live to a ripe age. Those who died had to be put somewhere, and that's when it was decided a cemetery had to be erected to handle the deceased. A graveyard was established on a hilltop set off from the wooden huts of the village. It overlooked the water, providing the dead with a final resting place near their one

true home. The open ocean. Headstones were erected as well, many of which had been etched with a skull and crossbones like the flags flown atop their ships when they

were still alive. It said that William Kidd, the Scottish pirate captain who buried treasure all over the world, made e l Santa Marie his home for a time, and despite being executed in England in seventeen o one, with his body put on display over the River Thames for three years, Captain Kidd eventually made it back to Pirate Island. He was laid to rest in a cemetery inside a giant black tomb, but he was not made comfortable. Kid was oriented upright rather than lying down as punishment for

his actions while he was still alive. Between the late seventeen hundreds and the early eighteen hundreds, any remaining pirates were forcibly removed from the El Santa Marie by the French, who reclaimed the island and turned it into a penal colony. Today, only about thirty headstones remain. However, despite its shrunken size, the graveyard at El Santa Marie represents the only pirate cemetery in the world and a grim reminder of a time when pirates ruled the high seas. I hope you've

enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can learn all about it over at the World of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.