On this day in the year 1722, the last of the "big league" pirates lost his life - marking the end of the "Golden Age of Piracy" . Captain Bartholomew Roberts or "The Great Pirate Roberts", then age 39, was standing on the deck of his ship Royal Fortune attempting to evade the pursuing British warship HMS Swallow, when he was struck in the throat by flying grapeshot. This final action occurred at Ouidah harbor (modern Benin/formerly the African Kingdom of Whydah) off the Gold Coast of Africa.
"Roberts himself made a gallant figure, at the time of the engagement, being dressed in a rich crimson damask waistcoat and breeches, a red feather in his hat, a gold chain round his neck, with a diamond cross hanging to it, a sword in his hand, and two pairs of pistols slung over his shoulders..."
His brave crew fought on for two more hours before losing their mainmast and striking their colors. Their casualties were light. However most of the pirates were still drunk from celebrating the capture of the merchant ship Neptune the day before. With their great captain gone, morale had been shattered.
In an interesting social observation, the fate of the majority of the crew sheds some light onto why piracy existed in the first place. Out of the 272 men captured, the 75 black sailors were sold into slavery, 52 crewmen were hanged, another 20 became indentured servants, 17 more were sent to prison in London, and the rest of the crew was acquitted - many likely immediately pressed into naval service.
Robert's illustrious pirate career spanned four years which can be considered long for a pirate of those times. His hunting grounds were widespread, spanning the Atlantic from Nova Scotia to the Caribbean, the coast of Brazil to the coasts of West Africa. Well known for his time in the Caribbean and hatred of Barbados and Martinique, his exploits alone nearly brought West Indian commerce to a standstill. However, the majority of his time was spent off African waters, and his greatest score was taken off Brazil.
Roberts brazenly captured two prizes from a fleet of forty-two Portuguese ships at Todos os Santos Bay. One of these ships had 40,000 gold moidores aboard along with jewelry intended for the King of Portugal.
Roberts was known to be a both a fair and honorable man and has been widely quoted - and the subject of many stories and legends since the time of his death. His life has inspired much great fiction and fictitious characters (including the unflappable Jack Sparrow). However, the man is well deserving of his legend and those that consider themselves in the least bit "pirate aficionados", should take the time necessary to learn about this fascinating icon. So let us pause to remember the Great Pirate Roberts. MK
Read more at Wikipeadia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartholomew_Roberts
