Search Results: Blackbeard

Blackbeard (d. 1718), otherwise known as Edward Teach (probably an assumed name), was an infamous English pirate who operated in the Caribbean and Atlantic during a surprisingly short career lasting just 15 months. With his long black beard...

A c. 1724 engraved print by Benjamin Cole of Blackbeard, aka Edward Teach (d. 1718). First appeared in an early edition of a 'General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates' by Charles Johnson (likely a pseudonym...

Captain Benjamin Hornigold was a British pirate active in the Caribbean and North Atlantic from 1716 to 1717. Hornigold’s greatest claim to fame (or infamy) is that he taught the pirating ropes to Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard (d. 1718). Giving...

A 1920 illustration showing the fight to the death between the pirate Blackbeard (aka Edward Teach) and Lieutenant Robert Maynard. In the battle at Ocracoke Inlet, North Carolina on 22 November 1718, Blackbeard was finally killed by five...

An illustration by Howard Pyle (1853-1911) showing the notorious pirate Blackbeard's fight to the death in 1718. From an original oil painting by Pyle. (The illustration first appeared in Pyle, Howard (1894), Jack Ballister's Fortunes, The...

Captain Stede Bonnet was a plantation owner in Barbados who turned to piracy and privateering in 1717. Known as the 'Gentleman Pirate', Bonnet embarked on a life of crime relatively late in life, reportedly in order to escape his nagging...

During the Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1730), pirates were first and foremost after gold, silver, and jewels, but if these could not be grabbed, then a ship’s cargo would be taken for resale at a pirate haven. Shared amongst the crew, the...

Pirates have gained a reputation for wearing bright and distinctive clothing and accessories during the Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1730) even if, in reality, most of what we think they wore comes from works of fiction like Robert Louis Stevenson’s...

Pirates in the Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1730) both dished out and received a wide range of imaginative punishments. Victims of piracy endured torture, floggings, and ceremonies of humiliation, but when brought to justice, the pirates were...

Pirates in the so-called Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1740) used all manner of weapons to attack ships and relieve them of their precious cargoes. Heavy cannons, muskets, pistols, cutlasses, and grenades were just some of the weapons pirates...