The Unrepentant and Really Good Pirate, Charles Vane

name Charles Vane. So let's talk about Charles Vane and how he was a pirate through and through. We've talked about this one particular book in previous episode called A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates, and it was published in so this is contemporary to Charles Vain. Within the two volume set is a chapter about Charles Vane. He was not an insignificant pirate.

He was murderous, He parted with Blackbeard, and it's in this chapter where we find that he's also described as being cowardly at his execution and unrepentant of his life. As a pirate. Very little is actually known about Charles Vane's early life. We do know that he was born in sixteen eighty in England, but we do not know his place of birth. We don't know who his parents were, and we don't know what, if any, formal education he had.

We do know that in his adulthood he was living in Port Royal, Jamaica, and had relocated there sometime during the War of Spanish Succession, so likely sometime between seventeen o one and seventeen fourteen. Let's stop for a minute for a quick note on this war. A high level overview, which is always really difficult to do right, can put us all in the right time and place at least.

So this particular war comes up a lot in the pirate lives we talk about because it overlaps with the golden age of piracy, and sometimes pirates were pulled into it, either because of financial gain or because of the promise of plundering. The war arose out of the disputed succession to the throne of Spain following the death of King

Charles the Second. The king had died without an air that's a story we've heard before, and there was a disagreement whether the Spanish Empire should pass to the House of Bourbon or the House of Habsburg, both of which claimed rights. There was also disagreement as to whether or not land and control should be partitioned in an effort to keep the balance of power in Europe. Ultimately, when the war ended, Britain emerged as a rapidly growing colonial power.

Charles Vane's name becomes part of recorded history when he began his career as a private year paid to work on one of Lord Archibald Hamilton's ships during the war. Lord Hamilton's was born into a wealthy and influential Scottish noble family, and he was an officer of the Royal Navy. He was also a wig politician who sat in the

House of Commons at this part in this story. In seventeen eleven, Hamilton's was made governor of the British Colony of Jamaica by Queen Anne of Great Britain and Ireland. But there was something else bubbling that was not the War of Succession, and that was the Jacobite Rebellion. Here's what that was again in broad Strokes and why it

has to do with pirates. So when A died in seventeen fourteen, George the First assumed the throne, which meant that through some shady politics, James Francis Edward Stewart was passed over in the royal line of succession. James Francis Edward Stewart was the son of King James the Second

and seventh of England, Scotland and Ireland. His father was deposed and the family was exiled from England, but after his father's death, James Francis Edward made his move to regain the throne of England, Ireland and Scotland for the exiled Stewards. For more than roughly fifty years, he tried to protect his right to the throne and was not always the winner. In seventeen fifteen, James Francis Edwards attempt to regain the throne was known as the Jacobite Rising.

Lord Hamilton's family was closely connected to the Stewart family, and Hamilton's was a conspirator, as were several of his relatives in the Jacobite Rising meant to restore the House of Stuart to the throne. And here's what it had to do with pirates, specifically in secret Hamilton's was ordered to organize a large Jacobite friendly naval fleet to help restore the crown to James Francis Edward And so where do you go to meet that kind of criteria? You

turned to privateers. Previously, just before the turn of the eighteenth century, Hamilton's, as an officer in the Royal Navy, had been actively pursuing French privateers in the English Channel. But in order to put this fleet together, Hamilton's embraced privateering and issued letters of marked too many captains, including a man named Henry Jennings, and ordered each to raid

French and Spanish shipping lanes. It's written his privateer army was massive, with many future pirate captains we continue to note today, and those names included Blackbeard, Charles Vane. You know these are these are the golden age of piracy pirates. There is a belief we should mention among some modern scholars that many pirates considered themselves Jacobites, supporting James Francis Edward Stewart as the rightful King of England rather than

George the First. While they were ruthless, they were also vengeful, and Britain was a popular target. Author of the Republic of Pirates. Colin Woodard supports this idea. We've probably quoted it at least once. Quote. Most pirates at the time thought of them selves as in revolt against King George. We're going to take a break for a word from our sponsor, and when we're back we'll talk about when Charles Vane joined his first pirate crew. Welcome back to Criminalia.

Let's talk about Charles Vane's quick rise among pirates. By seventeen fifteen, Vane had joined the crew under pirate Captain Henry Jennings, who was based out of Nasa on the island of New Providence in the Bahamas. And yes, this is the same Henry Jennings who had been a privateer for Lord Hamilton's and his jacke Bite Friendly Armada. Jennings and his crew were fond of raiding ships and camps

off of the coast of Florida. When a Spanish treasure fleet was struck by a hurricane off the coast of Florida, spilling tons of Spanish gold and silver close to shore, Captain Jennings and his crew Vain included, were the first pirates to arrive at the wreckage. They plundered the vessels and the camp on shore, and a mass of booty, said to be valued at the time at eight seven

thousand pounds of gold and silver. There is no good way to translate dollar to dollar from sevree and we're also throwing literal pounds of money to US dollars on top of it. It's it's crazy way to do this. We have been in this position before, and this time Maria consulted pounds sterling two dollars historical conversions of currency, and according to that, we're looking at about eighteen million

US dollars today. But even that question marks we don't it's hard to do, so we're just going to leave it at this. Captain Jennings and his crew found Riches. Vain was active in piracy from seventeen sixteen until seventeen nineteen, but by seventeen seventeen he was the captain of his own ship and had more than one vessel, and he

quickly gained some notoriety as a pirate captain. He was based out of the West Indies, one of many pirate captains who operated out of the island of New Providence after the British had abandoned the Bahamian Colony during the War of Spanish Succession. Vane's primary hunting grounds were the waters of the Caribbean, where he ranged from the Bahamas north along the east coast of North America as far

as New York. They commanded ships, including the Ranger, which was his flagship vessel, as well as other ships called the Lark and the Catherine. You'll hear those, but he was really known to capture and sail many many ships. He was also known as a cruel and ruthless pirate who tortured and murdered his prisoners, and as a pirate captain, he preferred punishing his crew with extreme tortures, such as this thing called keel hauling, and this is particularly terrible.

I just want to put that out there before I say it. Keel Hauling was a torture technique where a person was literally dragged along or under the keel of the ship, and it was almost always a death sentence,

so to be clear, this was extraordinarily brutal. The punished person was often lacerated by barnacles that were on the ship's hull, and varying techniques sometimes included pulling the victim out of the water periodically to ensure he maintained consciousness, which would mean that he would feel the entire punishment. Vain himself has been described as brave but also unlucky in piracy. He's often spoken of as being one of

the most skilled pirate captains among his peers. Those friends and peers, to be clear, include the infamous Blackbeard, as well as Bartholemy Roberts known as Black Bart and John Calico Jack Rackham, among other famous names. From the Golden Age, pirates continued to be seen as the scourge of the seas. As we all know the phrase goes, they were growing

in number at this time. In an effort to rid the world, or at least rid his kingdom of pirates, King George the First declared that all privateers, remember those were pirates who were paid to do the job. We're from then on also to be considered pirates, no matter what paperwork they may or may not have to suggest legitimacy in their actions. Like pirates, they were to be captured and executed in retribution, though and for the deaths of their fellow pirates. Many pirates stopped trading to and

from the British colonies. Because of this, the King responded to that on September five, sev seventeen with the Proclamation for Suppressing Pirates. This proclamation granted full pardon of all crimes to any pirates who surrendered themselves to any governor in the colonies before September five, seventeen eighteen. And if you were a pirate, you had better have a calendar handy, because as soon as it was September six, any pirate who had neglected or refused to surrender would be captured

and charged with piracy. But I mean, who are we kidding, probably captured and executed. The King's deal was reissued in December of seventeen eighteen, and then it was called the King's Pardon. The King extended the deadline from September five, seen eighteen to July one, seventeen nineteen, because it said that he felt the pirates actually didn't have enough notice to surrender by the September date. Many of the outlaws, including Vain's former captain Henry Jennings, did request and receive

a full pardon. Others, though, including Charles Vane, really didn't want anything to do with it because there were rewards for capturing pirates. There were them pirate hunters. Earlier that same year, in February of seventeen eighteen, the royal frigate HMS Phoenix arrived in the waters of Nassau, sent in an attempt to convince pirates who had not taken the king's pardon to surrender. Vain, who had not and did not want to be pardoned, was taken into custody, as

were some of his crew. In what some of us would consider a surprise move. Vain was, it's reported, released as a goodwill gesture. Shortly after, in one bold and notorious power move against the crown, Vain welcomed the new governor of New Providence, a man named Woods Rogers, to the island with this legendary story. He set fire to a recently captured French vessel and set it straight toward the Governor's ships to make it difficult to save those

ships from burning. Vain then fired a few shots and then sailed away, it said, laughing, so as you might imagine Vain's welcome party anger Rogers, who in retaliation, sent former pirate turned pirate hunter Captain Benjamin Hornegle to capture him, but it wasn't Hornogold who would capture Pain. In the autumn of seventeen eighteen, Vain and the crew, said to be upwards of ninety men, went out in search of

black Beard, not to attack him. Rather, they were planning an attack on Nassau and they wanted to recruit him for the fight. What actually happened, though, was the men through a huge party on Ocracoke Island, where the crew had set up a campsite, and after days or even weeks, and some say a full month of debauchery, the men parted ways. Vain did not recruit black Beard, and it is said that they never crossed paths again. We're going to take a break for a word from our sponsor.

When we're back, we'll talk about how Charles Vane's lack of people skills got im booted off his own ship. Welcome back to Criminalia. This is it. This is the story of how Charles Vane was taken down by a British born plantation owner. John Rackham, also famously known as Calico Jack, spent time as part of Vain's crew. Right surprised. He was Vain's quartermaster actually, which meant he was second

in command. He was Vain's right hand guy, but it's widely reported that Van rarely got along with his crew, if at all, so you can probably tell what's coming up next. Vain's crew voted him out as their captain in late seventeen eighteen, accusing him of cowardice. Vain was known to plunder everything in sight well ish, however, he was also known to evade well armed ships, which left his crew kind of dissatisfied. His downfall began when he was trawling the windward passage between q but and his

Baniola and attacked a vessel expecting little resistance. He hadn't realized it was a powerful French warship, and after a few shots were fired in his direction, Vain decided to retreat from this fight. His crew, however, wanted that fight, so it was out with Vain and they voted in Calico Jack as their new captain. Vain, along with fifteen loyal members of his crew, was given a small sloop that had been captured, and at that point Rackam and

Vain parted ways. To remember, Vane's well known as a very skilled captain, probably because he had the sense to only attack weaker vessels or cruise, but also because he was a very skilled navigator, He was skilled at taking fights he knew he could win. Vain and his remaining crew quickly captured a few small ships to rebuild a fleet, and in less than about a month they had it said,

five ships five in a month. In the Day of Honduras, though, a hurricane struck, wrecking Vane's fleet and drowning most of his crew. They survived, but was shipwrecked on a small island. Some reports suggest it was South Carolina's governor, Robert Johnson, who, wanting to put an end to pirates threatening his coast, hired pirate hunters to take care of the problem. Others suggest it was the governor of North Carolina, or perhaps even the disrespected Woods Butler. All three of these men

had reason. If you have been listening this season, you may recognize this man's name. William Rhett. Colonel William Rhet was ordered to engage and capture pirate Steed Bonnet, but he really wanted to capture Charles Vane, like Hornegal, though this was not meant to be. During the hunt, Rhett and his crew encountered a ship that had recently been rated by Vane and the remaining crew there said that the pirates had headed south, but this was a typical

Vein maneuver, leaving deception in his wake. Vein's crew always gave contrary information to their prisoners. Vain instead went north and evaded Rhet. Rhet did, however, fulfill his order, as we know, to capture Bonnet, who he found nearby in an inlet on the Cape Fear River. Van may have been a good pirate, but he wasn't a lucky pirate. His rescue came in the form of a British ship under the command of Captain Holford, a former buccaneer and

a former acquaintance of Vain. Vain was recognized, but probably by Holford, but some accounts actually do recall that it was a captain of another vessel in Holford's fleet, and really that was that Holford had Vain plates in chains, and he was extradited to Spanish Town, Jamaica, where authorities imprisoned him, and that's where he stayed until his trial in March of sevente even without the long line of witnesses who testified against him, most of whom were his victims.

The outcome of this trial came as no surprise. Vain is remembered today as one of the most remorseless and shameless pirates who sailed the seas during the golden age of piracy, and he was found, surprise, guilty of piracy. And we didn't even really scratch the surface of his piraty indiscretions because there are just so many. He was sentenced to death by hanging, and his corpse was hung from the gallows near the entrance of the harbor in Port Royal as a warning to other pirates. That's quite

a warning. So on that note, you want to have a drink always um in thinking about Charles Vane, I went in a direction that might actually surprise you because this drink isn't really about Charles Vain. Isn't everything about Charles Vain. Well, to Charles Vain, I bet it was. But this particular libation is called the King's Pardon because

that is another character that's come up a lot this season. Yes, and whether or not someone takes the King's pardon and then just ignores the fact that they took it, that comes up a lot, right, So, I mean, the King's Pardon is one of those things that you could enter into. But there was no guarantee really that either side of the equation was going to behave in the way they promised. So for this one, please know that when you choose to drink the King's Pardon, it may not be kind

to you, but it will be tasty. This is for people that like a very fruity drink that doesn't taste like alcohol. This is not your beverage. There's no lying about how much alcohol is in this, because it is all alcohol. Don't worry. There is a mocktail version at the end as well. Vain would be proud like The King's Pardon starts with an ounce and a half of rum. Then you're gonna add an ounce of ginger liqueur, and I added two dashes of angistorra bitters. I also included

three drops of Sri racha. So I imagine you're in your kitchen. You're like, drop by drop, Yes, it's exactly what it's like. So you're gonna put this in your shaker. You're gonna shake it really hard. The Sree Racha is not going to fully incorporate. You'll still see little flecks of red when you're done, and that's fine. You wanted to bite you a little, because that's what the King's pardon sometimes did. So you will shake all this, You're gonna pour it into a chilled coupe no ice, and

then you top it with three ounces of champagne. Because the idea here is that, you know, theoretically, it was like, hooray, we've entered into a contract. Let's celebrate. But there's a snaky bite in that's the champagne is actually what drives the bus on this one. That offers the most obvious note in the beverage. But then the more you drink it, the more you start feeling out that heat. It's a little bit cumulative. But as the heat forms, you also

start to notice the other flavors. So like on your third sip you go, oh, I do taste something gingery in here. Also, at least that was the case for me. Also, the sub the sub name for this is called hello You're drunk. Hello, you've been partying with black Beard for a month, right, It's like, uh, listen, this is not when you make several of For sure, I didn't. I couldn't get through one. Now, to be fair, I was doing this experiment like at lunchtime in a work day,

which is often how we we end up. The timing works out for when I'm work shopping drinks and so I don't always finish one because I have to actually function. But this one was like, whoa, I really can't finish. I will not be able to do any of my work after this. If I do, the King's pardon will bite you. Now the mocktail version, which you could have any time and it will not bite you. It's very different because of course this whole thing is alcohol, so

we have to go in a very different direction. So what I did was I brewed a cup of chi with a teaspoon of minced ginger in it, and I did that. I boiled it on the stove. I used to chai tea bag. But if you do your loose just whatever proportion you like, you're only going to use three ounces of it. But I would brew enough for a whole cup to get the proportions right. Then you'll want it to cool down. You'll put the three ounces

in your shaker. Add this free racha. If you don't drink at all, you may not want to use bidders because they do have a very low alcoholic content, so that's optional. And then you'll similarly shake that with ice to make sure it's good and cold and the three ratch is involved, and then you're gonna put it into your chilled coupe and top it with three ounces of ginger ale. It won't bite you in the same way, but it has a very similar flavor profile, but it's

a little more refreshing and less of a slap. But oh my goodness, yeah, the King's partner, and I will say, as I say hello, you're drunk. I should point out that I am one of those people that can drink spirits to um, probably a greater volume than some other folks. My tolerance is decent. But champagne gets involved and everything gets that's a whole different story. Champagne is a vehicle for other spirits is a very very tricky thing for

a lot of people. It can really kind of deliver the goods in a way that you may not be used to. If you're used to, like, oh, I can drink, you know, three cocktails, and I'm okay obviously drink responsibly at all times. But I couldn't drink three of these and be anything but a wreck. I would be like Stumblina. I would be slurry, it would it would not be pretty, that would not be drinking responsibly. So um, if you

make the King's Pardon, please do and care. And the mocktail version is actually quite fun and yummy, and I really do like the combination of that hot sauce with ginger ailed us something really cool and it's quite quite tasty. So uh, the King's Pardon, Thank you so much for first spending this time with us and Charles Vane and King's Pardon. Glad we got to touch on sort of the the ongoing recurrent characters of the season in one episode, and we will be right back here next week with

a little more piracy. We're getting real close to a new season and we'll talk about that next week. Yeah. H Criminalia is a production of Shonda land Audio in partnership with I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from Shonda land Audio, please visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.