Was infamous pirate Blackbeard a good guy?

Via dailymail.co.uk by Shivali Best

Blackbeard - the world's most infamous pirate - wasn't a bloodthirsty villain after all but a good guy who never killed anyone, it has been claimed.

Historian Colin Woodward says for three centuries Blackbeard has also been given the wrong name - he was called Edward Thatch, not Edward Teach.

The leading authority and writer on the golden age of piracy, has quashed the myth in a book after travelling to Blackbeard's hometown of Bristol.

The New York-based researcher, who was historical adviser on NBC drama Crossbones and the game Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, says all the guidebooks, plaques, posters and history books have been getting his name wrong all this time.

And he says Blackbeard's fearsome reputation as a violent cut-throat was made up by authorities to legitimise the hunt for him.

Mr Woodward said his research shows there is no evidence he killed or hurt anyone, apart from in the final battle where he himself was beheaded.

He said: 'Despite his infamous reputation, Blackbeard was remarkably judicious in his use of force.

'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.'


According to Colin's book, Republic of Pirates, a newspaper report in the Boston News-Letter incorrectly named Blackbeard as Edward Teach and the false name stuck.

Mr Woodward said: 'Of his life before, we still know very little.

'He went by Edward Thatch - not 'Teach' as many historians have said, apparently repeating an error made by the Boston News-Letter.

'He may have been from the English port of Bristol, where the name Thatch appears in early 18th century census rolls that I scrutinised in that city while researching Republic of Pirates.'

Blackbeard was the captain of the Queen Anne's Revenge, whose flag depicted a skeleton spearing a heart and toasting the devil to intimidate his enemies into surrender without harming anyone.

Mr Woodward added: 'In battle, he cultivated a terrifying image.

'Under his hat he tied lit fuses, dangling some of them down the sides of his face so as to surround it with a halo of smoke and fire, making him "look more frightful" than "a fury from Hell".

'Merchant crews would take one look at this apparition and the army of wild men around him bearing cutlasses, muskets and primitive hand grenades and invariably surrender without firing a shot.'

Blackbeard formed an alliance of pirates which preyed on shipping and ports in the West Indies and off the coast of the US eastern seaboard.

He died on Nov 22, 1718, aged 38 during an attempt by the Governor of Virginia to capture him.

Source