The golden age of piracy was an extraordinarily interesting era, full of unusual characters such as the gentleman pirate Stede Bonnet, the newlyweds Anne Bonnet and Calico Jack or the best friend of death aka Bartholomew Roberts. But when it comes to pirates, the most natural name is the fury of the seas, Blackbeard . We all know how brutal and ferocious he was in his assaults but what distinguished him from other pirates? What allowed him to make his enemies surrender simply by showing himself? Well ... his face.
Of course, thanks to the hundreds of film and non-film transpositions, we have become accustomed to seeing Blackbeard as a fury with an unsheathed saber as he makes his way across the enemy deck, slashing and tearing flesh. Which is not that far from reality but not quite true either, life as a pirate always included fighting but Blackbeard was also a strategist.
The Queen's Anne Revenge (his ship) spotted enemies miles away and approached with relentless fury and as the poor merchant's captains watched on the enemy deck, what they saw was: a tall man with a long black beard , with a hat from which dangling fuses that spit smoke in shovelfuls and sparks as if that was not a human being but a devil who managed to climb the circles of hell.
This intimidation mixed with his ability as an actor managed in many cases to lead to an adversary surrender in which no sailor was injured (among pirates or merchants) and filled his chest. Thanks to his advanced planning and rumors about him, his fame spread out of control with unfounded rumors that reinforced his image as a supernatural creature.
In reality Blackbeard was not that monstrous, he was known for the attacks on slave ships and for the amount of freed slaves who joined his crew in recognition by increasing the armed arms available to him. Even more interesting is the fact that historically speaking and with data in hand there is no real murder in his name as the ships claiming to be robbed by him arrived empty but with the crew intact.
This myth of the seas will die out in the Battle of Ocracoke Island where after showing Governor Maynard how truthful the rumor representing him as a furious beast was he lost his life and his head was attached to the figurehead of the governor banner.
The death of the body, however, allowed the rebirth of the myth with the various sightings of the inexplicable lights in the sea that will be called "Lights of Tatch" (from the surname of the pirate), and by far the most macabre that wants his ghost to still navigate today. seas in search of his head in order to be recognized by his best friend, the devil.
Source:https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/17001