Modern Mysteries

Was infamous pirate Blackbeard a good guy ?

By T.K. Randall
August 26, 2016 ·  11 comments

Was Blackbeard really as bloodthirsty as he was made out to be ? Image Credit: Jean Leon Gerome Ferris Born in 1680 as Edward Thatch, Blackbeard was originally a privateer during the War of the Spanish Succession before turning to piracy after the confict had ended in 1713.

Sailing aboard his ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, his bloodthirsty reputation was cemented by stories of his merciless brutality and his fearsome appearance. He was even known to place lit canon fuses underneath his hat in an effort to intimidate his enemies.

But is this version of the infamous pirate actually accurate ? According to historian and researcher Colin Woodward, Blackbeard was nowhere near as bad as he was generally made out to be."Despite his infamous reputation, Blackbeard was remarkably judicious in his use of force," he said.

"In the dozens of eyewitness accounts of his victims, there is not a single instance in which he killed anyone prior to his final, fatal battle with the Royal Navy."

It turns out that reports of the infamous pirate's bloodthirsty nature may have simply been made up by the authorities in an effort to legitimise efforts to bring him to justice.

Source: Mail Online | Comments (11)

Tags: Blackbeard, Pirate