Pirates 10: Brethren

maritime trade and helped to safeguardships against pirates. By hundred nineteen major ports had joined. Some countries, like Denmark, were against Hansa and the mercantile monopoly the League had become the opposing country. Solution was to create smaller brethren organizations. One such group of free booters, the Vitalin Brewder or Victual Brothers, consisting of mercenaries and pirates, had been hired to bring food visions to Stockholm in the thirteen nineties.

The Danes had waged an assault on the city in an attempt to capture and control it. In response to Hanseatic cities in Mecklenburg put out a call for free booters at their own expense. The Victual Brothers would harass and plunder ships from Denmark and Norway. Thus began the privateers War, But seeing as the applicants lining up for a license had seed reputations, the conflict seemore like pirates versus pirates. The Victual Brothers frequently targeted ports outside of

Mecklenburg that belonged to the Hansa. Lubeck became a favorite target, although the Brothers attacked any ship in the Baltic they pleased. While they might have government allies, their actions showed that they were first and foremost pirates by nature. One of the Brothers vessels made the mistake of attacking a German ship in Thirte. The German sailors bested the pirates and stuffed them into barrels with just their heads sticking out of the top. Once the ship reached the port in Strawson,

the men were carted off and beheaded. Other Victual brother pirates pressed on, eventually becoming so successful that trading in the Baltic nearly came to a standstill. Finally, a treaty was signed in May of and the victual brothers were ordered to leave the Baltic by that July. It won't surprise you to learn that the brothers had no intention of giving up piracy, though, They just split into smaller groups and operated from their new capital on the island

of Helgoland. The location provided easy access to passing ships. Local chieftains along the eastern coast of Frieseland hired the pirates for their conflicts and campaigns. From this new brotherhood, Klaus stora Becker became legendary in German folklore. Sometime around fourteen o one, the hands has set out a fleet of ships to capture and destroy Claus's base. For three days, the battle reached on. Men took to crossbows, axes, swords,

and hand to hand combat. At last, Klaus's ship Sea Tiger was captured by the captain aboard the d Bunta Coup, which oddly translates to the colorful Cow. Klaus and seventy two of his crew were taken to Hamburg, where he negotiated pardon not for himself, but for any of his crewmen that he could walk past after the executioner cut off his head. The legend says that headless, Klaus stumbled

past eleven men. If there's any truth to Klaus's end or not, it makes us wonder why we have always envisioned pirates as the lone, rogue wolves of the sea. After all, most wolves hunt impacts. I'm Aaron Manky and welcome two pirates. Pirate legends. We glorify them, massive ships with brave captains, traveling the seas in search of fortune. The Golden Age of Piracy even sounds somewhat romantic, but peel back the legends and the history underneath is a

lot more brutal. Historians often debate just how long the Golden Age of Piracy lasted. Some argue it lasted only ten years, from seventeen fifteen to seventeen. Others claim it occurred between seventeen fourteen and seventeen thirty, while still more say that the exact start and end date is rather subjective, since pirates roamed the seas hundreds of years before the Golden Age of piracy. The definition is generally traced back to the use of privateers during conflicts in the Caribbean

throughout the late sixteen hundreds and early seventeen hundreds. The Treaty of You treked in seventeen thirteen ended the livelihoods of many seamen who had come to places like Port Royal, Jamaica to earn a profitable living as what was essentially a sanctioned pirate for higher upwards of six thousand privateers previously working with the government found themselves either out of work or in a position where they had to return to their former employment aboard slave, merchant or navy ships

with low pay and often deplorable conditions. Seaports in British and colonial territories teamed with unemployed seamen. Others chose to continue their line of work, officially making them pirates instead of privateers. Many attacked only the French or Spanish vessels, while others were less discerning and contributing to that rise where government without a means to enforce anti piracy laws. Most Caribbean pirates hailed from England, but not all of them.

Pirates came from Africa, Scotland, Ireland and other places around the world. Regardless of their heritage, they formed a common bond, even working together. Many even came to another pirate's aid. We might think of them as lawless, but pirate crews formed highly democratic communities and hierarchies. Their captains were not tyrants. Crewmen could and did vote them out of power. Plunder was divided fairly, and the crew had to say in

the captain's decision process. Democracy at sea granted them far better protection than their employers or governments offered on land. Some pirates from the Bahamas even provided disability benefits to crew members. Something more than booze, adventure and treasure attracted sailors to life as a pirate. It certainly wasn't the picture governments painted for them, bloodthirsty murderers, rapists and thieves out there only for themselves, who also relished in torturing

women and children just for fun. While some individuals certainly did fit that description, other stories were simply exaggerated. Yet no matter what government officials said, the public regarded pirates as a form of folk hero even during the Golden age of piracy. So Aside from the money, the booze, the adventure, and the escape from poor working condition, there's another reason rebellion pirates took a social and political stand

against injustices. When Queen Anne died, for example, and her brother was refused the throne because he was Catholic pirates like Benjamin Hornegald and Edward Teach remained loyal to the House of Stuart and rebelled against King George. It's important to remember that most pirates came from poor families, working jobs that had little chance of paying off. These men and women had nothing to lose and everything to gain, Although there were pirates who valued the lifestyle above all else.

In seventeen twenty two, for example, pirate Joseph Mansfield once said that he loved drinking and a lazy life more than he valued any pure The men and women who were active during the Golden Age of piracy left an indelible mark on history, many becoming larger than life legends. When we think of pirates today, popular names like Edward Teach, Sam Bellamy, and Steve Bonnet come to mind, as well as the trio of Calico, Jack and Bonnie and Mary Read.

And each of these pirates was powerful in their own right. They captained or served aboard flagships that could hold their own against any man of war, and with so many of them commanding what amounted to entire naval fleets, it seems as though they would see each other as direct competition. Yet, as it turns out, these very capable individuals and crews came to form a tighter bond. Not only did they know each other, but they also created a community referred

to as the Pirate Republic. Pirates rated ships for more than just gold. Honestly, they would plunder anything of value. Of course, stolen goods required buyers who didn't ask a lot of questions. Port Royal and Martinique had once been prime locations to sell, but by the Golden Age the ports began to crack down on pirates and their buyers. Small colonies short on supplies sometimes looked the other way, but larger colonial ports prohibited and enforced laws preventing the

sale of stolen goods. This forced the buyers and pirates to meet at prearranged locations to do their business. The easiest solution for the pirates was to find a port city they operated. They found the perfect spot in Nassau on the island of New Providence. In the late seventeenth century, England and Spain engaged in a conflict over salvaging wrecked ships in the area. Spain raided the then British controlled Bahamas. Naturally,

the British retaliated with their own privateers against Spain. The hostilities resulted in burning the settlement to the ground, but mostly abandoned area attracted new settlers willing to rebuild, including English privateers. By the colonists established Nasa as the capital. As we learned earlier privateers found themselves without a job

after the Treaty of Utrecht was signed. Afterward, both the Spanish and French ignored the treaty and rated Nassau in the early eighteenth century, and the settlement was abandoned once more. In seventeen fifteen, though, a fleet of Spanish treasure ships made their way home after a lengthy time at sea. On June thirty, as they sailed through the channel between

Florida and the Grand Bahamas, they encountered a hurricane. The one hundred mile per hour winds tore the sails, and the fifty foot waves slammed the ships into the jagged reefs off the Florida coast. Only one ship survived. Ten others sank, along with an immense treasure of silk, coins, ingots, and jewels. When the hurricanes subsided, nearly a thousand corpses washed ashore approximately seven million pesos worth of treasure lay in shallow water. Everyone from the Spanish, to the navy

to the pirates converged on the area. Port Royal's governor hired privateer Henry Jennings to bring back whatever he could. Jennings and his men attacked a Spanish garrison and seized nearly sixty thousand pieces of eight. Spain left the area in seventeen sixteen, leaving behind a significant amount of treasure. Jennings and his men packed up their treasure and left. While the pirates raked in considerable sums. Spending them proved a bit more difficult. They couldn't spend them in Port Royal,

but Nasaw, a new providence, provided the perfect alternative. Benjamin Hornegald and Edward Teach had already established themselves in the settlement. Hornegald had a hundred men and a well armed sloop in the harbor, asserting an unchecked, if not temporary, authority over the settlement. Pirates nearly outnumbered other settlers, and they walked freely through the streets as though the town belonged

to them. As more pirates converged, their dominance in Nasa increased the pirates began to refer to themselves as the Flying Gang. Those who didn't want to join left for Jamaica, fresh office treasure hunt in Florida, Jennings and his men arrived in Nasa. He stole a small Spanish sloop belonging to Hornegal, challenging the status quo. As it turned out

the two men had a long history of rivalry. Hornegal had to do something to prove his worth or risk losing control, so he took Edward Teach and two hundred men on his ten guns sloop through the Florida Straits and around Cuba during the spring of seventeen sixteen, where the crew captured several valuable prizes. Hornegal recruited a few other pirate captains, including Sam Bellamy and an unlikely ally

French captain, Olivier Labouse. They returned to Nasa, only to discover that the pirate community had substantially increased the population there of pirates and illegal traders. Caught the attention of Virginia's governor, who complained to England that pirates had taken control of the Bahamas, and as time went on, streams of outcasts found their way to Nassau from farmers to runaway slaves. Life among the pirates provided them with freedoms and a sense of community that they didn't have back

in the colonies. By seventeen seventeen, most of the names that were familiar with called Nassa home, though not all of them belonged to the Flying Gang, and although Jennings and Hornegold remained enemies, the island provided room enough for both leaders. New providence had become a pirate's paradise. Sources indicate that they might have taken counsel with each other and may have formed an organized and structured community, living

what we might call governing by pirate code. But utopia is just an illusion, and all good things, as they say, must come to an end. Word reached England's King, George the First that the Caribbean had become so infested with pirates that the future of trading, even into the American colonies had become endangered. To deal with the pirates and those trading with them, the king signed a proclamation in September of seventeen seventeen. Pirates had until the following September

to surrender to authorities. However, instead of punishment. They would receive a pardon as long as they gave up piracy for good after one year. England would offer a bounty for the capture of pirate officers, and of course, military force would be used against all pirates. The proclamation reached New Providence in December. As you might imagine, the letter divided the pirates into two different camps, those who favored taking the pardon, like Jennings and Hornegal, and those who

were against it, like Charles Vane. Those who accepted flew the Union Jack on top of Fort Nassau to signify submission. Vain wasn't alone in his refusal to submit. Jack Rackham and Edward England, among others, didn't see themselves as outlaws. Although their individual reasons varied, they basically saw themselves as rebels. They removed the Union Jack, replacing it with a death's head flag. Both sides held counsel but were unable to

agree on the pardon. Those opposed mostly packed up and left, and when the HMS Phoenix arrived in February of seventeen eighteen, many of the pirates welcomed the ship, much to the captain's surprise. Regardless of where they stood on the King's offer. Hornegold had counseled them to take the pardon and buy some time. They could always return to piracy. Later, the Phoenix returned to New York with the names of over

two hundred pirates willing to take the pardon. But while the Phoenix had been there in Port, Charles Vane had been busy assembling a crew. Not long after the Phoenix left, his reign of terror began. Not only did he plunder ships, but he also brutalized their crews. In response, Britain named a new governor in the Bahamas to help bring the Golden Age of piracy to an end. Newly appointed Woods Rogers had once successfully keptained a privateering crew, providing them

with fair treatment, good food, and medical care. During his service, he also managed to capture a Manila galleon, a feat that only four other ships and three centuries had ever accomplished. Described as courageous and deeply devoted to king and country, Woods Rogers was eager to devote himself to the task. Three Navy warships escorted the British fleet to New Providence on the evening of July eighteen. The squadron anchored just outside the harbor. Even under the cloak of darkness, the

pirates knew the ships were there. The arrival took Charles Vane by surprise. Although he had added his name to the people on the pardon list, he had no desire to honor it. Over the last few days, he and his crew had prepared his ship to leave New Providence and set sail for Brazil. But now Roger's fleet blocked his exit. He couldn't fight his way out, but he did have a plan of escape. That night, the crew

took a French ship filled with combustibles. They rolled the guns to their gun holes and filled them with cannonballs and gunpowder. The men slathered the deck and rigging with tar, and then they set sail. Vain and the rest of the crew sailed out in a smaller sloop behind them. The crew aboard the French vest set their ship on fire. When they drew closer to the anchored British fleet, they jumped overboard, hoping their fiery ship would collide with one

of the Navy's vessels. The men aboard two of the British ships, the Rose and the Shark, scrambled to cut the anchor lines and raise their sails. The Navy ships moved just in time, nearly colliding with the French ships. As the cannons and gunpowder exploded, Charles Vane sailed straight out of the harbor, black flag flying in the wind. After outrunning roger ship, he set off a single cannon shot in defiance. The next day, the new governor took

control of New Providence. Later he hired Hornigal to hunt down vain In see Charles Vane was hanged for piracy. The remaining pirates, who had once served with each other, once more stood on two different and opposing sides, the hunted and the hunters. The golden age of piracy and the pirate community that had filled it had finally come to an end. The island of New Providence had provided the pirates with a distinct vantage point in which to

see arriving ships, and now it served Woods Rogers. He had the island fortified, including a barricade around the fort, and armed militia watched for surprise attacks. In a short time, he'd done more to curb piracy in the Caribbean than anyone else before, and he remained staunchly devoted to England. In a time where many British colony governors were lining their pockets. Instead, Rogers used some of his own money to fund the efforts, believing in the greater cause. Things

didn't run smoothly for him, though. The size of his crew, relatively small to start with, grew smaller still as the men succumbed to a variety of tropical diseases. Despite his hard work and his good results, England ignored his repeated requests for extra men and funding. Governors from the colonies wrote to England. Each stated their concern that without proper support, the pirates would overtake New Providence and set up camp once more. Even Vain sent Rogers a letter vowing to

return and take back the island. Determined and eternally loyal, Rogers carried on even without support from the Crown. But his devotion would be his downfall. He worked until his health suffered. Exhausted, ill and bankrupt, he finally returned to England, hoping to start over. In his place. The Crown sent George Fenny to govern the Bahamas. Back in England, Rogers received no thanks, no gratitude, and no assistance for his work. Instead,

he was thrown into debtor's prison. The new governor of the Bahamas, Fenny, didn't subscribe to his predecessor's honesty and became corrupt, and sometime in the late seventeen twenties, the Crown reappointed Woods Rogers to govern the Bahamas in his place. Once he returned, he eradicated the pervasive corruption in the colony. He continued his work to wipe away the pirate legacy and replace it with honest business and a booming economy.

And the best part of all, he accomplished all of that in part by hiring some of the very same people he'd been sent to get rid of pirates. The centerpiece of the Golden Age of piracy, in the minds of many people today, is their community at Nassau. It was where they lived out the freedoms they fought so hard to acquire, where they rested, and where they planned for the future. But it wasn't the only place for pirates.

In fact, my crewmates, Alie Steed has one more location to discuss with you, and if you stick around through this brief sponsor break, she'll tell you all about it. Well. The Pirate Republican New Providence is fairly well documented there's another pirate utopia nearly lost to history. Although there's much debate on exactly how much of the story happened, the

roots appear based on some facts. According to Captain Charles Johnson, the author of the seventeen twenty four book A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most Notorious Pirates, there was once a Captain James Mission. Mission was a restless soul by nature. When his father wanted him to join the Musketeers, he chose a life at sea instead. Hoping to satisfy his adventurous spirit, he found a spot

on a French privateering ship called the Victois. Life at sea proved to be even more than he dreamed of, and Mission devoted himself to learning everything about life aboard a ship. At some point in the journey, the ship docked at Naples. With the captain's permission, the pious Mission traveled to Rome. What he saw there disheartened him. The immoral behaviors of the local clergy deeply shook his faith.

A priest named Karaguli confirmed Mission's worst fears, telling the young traveler that organized religion served as a means to keep the public under control. Mission asked the priest to join him on the ship, and without hesitating, corrachially agreed. The two became fast friends and captured many treasures together. When the Victoria's captain died in battle, the crew voted

Mission as their captain and currachily for their lieutenant. During their travels, the crew converted to the former priest's ideals, namely that all men were equal, regardless of race, and that they had a right to absolute freedom from both the chains of religion and the secular government. There should be no social status and no slavery. In fact, they wouldn't even speak the word Courragili suggested that they sail in defiance of any government. From then on they would

have no grudges, only brotherly love and equality. The crew cheered and set sail across the sea, taking treasures from any merchant ship they found along the way. The men took great care to be as respectful as possible to the captains and crew of the ships they plundered. They rescued mistreated sailors and declared those aboard slave ships free, often taking on both his crew mates. Eventually they found their way to the northern tip of Madagascar and decided

to establish a camp. The island they chose had an excellent harbor, and the area provided plenty of fresh water and good soil for farming. The men set to work building a settlement they named Libertalia. While some of the men built forts and homes, others searched for food. These hunters encountered in native men they befriended and gifted with an axe. As time went on, Pirate Captain Thomas too came upon the settlement. He and his crew became so

impressed that they joined the establishment. As more time passed, the colony only grew. The men married local women and started families of their own. Every member in Libertalia equally shared in the work and the prizes taken from merchant ships they raided while at sea. Mission commanded ships with French crews, and two commanded those aboard English vessels. The colony eventually formed a government based on fairness and equity. They chose to elect a conservator who would serve for

no more than three years. The village, of course appointed Mission. Well, it's true that Thomas too was a real pirate, The legend's timeline may be a bit more fabrication than fact. Two died by the end of the seventeenth century, and by the author's own account, some of the story's timeline happened after his death. Fact or fiction. The utopian town did not survive while Too was away, Natives ambushed the colony in the middle of the night, killing many of

the settlers, including Karachili. Mission and some of the crew managed to escape and find Too. After hearing what had happened, Two suggested that Mission had to the Americus. Not long after the men parted ways, mission ships sank in a storm with no survivors, and while two ships arrived, he later died in battle. Skeptics point out that the story exists only in Johnson's book. They point to the striking resemblances to fictional pirate narratives, including the novel Robinson Crusoe.

Many experts believed that Captain Charles Johnson was actually a pseudonym for Daniel Defoe, than novels author, and yet there are some historically correct details. There was a settlement of pirates in Madagascar, and we know that because Woods Rogers provided the novelist with accurate details about the life of pirates. And although Libertalium may have been fiction. New Providence serves as a real life example that pirates once set up

their own community, work together and formed a government. Brothers, as they say to the Bitter End. Pirates was executive produced by Aaron Manky and narrated by Aaron Manky and Alexandra Steid. Writing for this season was provided by Michelle Mudo, with research by Alexander Steide and Sam Alberty. Production assistance was provided by Josh Thayne, Jesse Funk, Alex Williams, and

Matt Frederick. To learn more about this and other shows from Grimm and Mild and I Heart Radio, visit Grimm and Mild dot com.