We look into the history of Black Sails with a look at the real Blackbeard the pirate.
Black Sailsseason 3 introduces Ray Stevenson as Blackbeard.
In honor of this, we give you some insight into the real history behind the show.
It may contain spoilers for the upcoming season, though, so read on with caution.
His look is iconic.
The standard for what every pirate ought to be.
Yes, yes, say people in the know.
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His name probably wasnt even Teach.
His early life remains a mystery.
Scholars believe he may have been born in the English port city of Bristol in about 1680.
His ability to read and write suggests a wealthy or at least middle-class background, unusual in a pirate.
Blackbeard had been sailing with Hornigold for a while.
One intriguing idea is that Blackbeards black beard hid a secret African ancestry.
We may never know for sure, but certain pieces of circumstantial evidence support this.
One is the fact that the pirates swarthy skin is often mentioned in his descriptions.
Another is the fact that his hair and beard were always described as being braided.
Pirates, however, were a different matter.
Ability counted with pirates above all, and Blackbeard was about to show himself a captain of rare ability.
Further proof that Blackbeard came from an educated background?
She was one of the largest pirate ships of the era.
Over her deck, Thatch flew a black flag featuring a picture of the Devil in skeleton form.
Going into battle, he was said to carry a leather bandolier with six pistols.
This however, was not quite such a distinguishing feature.
Blackbeard, in this respect, is notable only for his choice of sturdy leather.
Did he really stick lighted fuses under his hat when going into battle?
But pirates tell tall tales.
My thought is thatsomebodyhad to have come up with the idea, and Blackbeard himself seems a likely candidate.
Blackbeard liked to identify with the Devil, and he knew the importance of reputation.
Fox six days the harbor was bottled up by the pirates, and Teach captured nine vessels in all.
Whatever their reason for wanting the medicine, the pirates were adamant.
Representatives of the captives were sent ashore, under guard of two pirates, to retrieve the medicine.
When they did not return on time, Blackbeard extended their time limit by two days.
The representatives finally returned.
They had faced no difficulty in gathering the required medicine.
To this end, he first ran the Queen Annes Revenge aground on a sandbar.
Bonnet came back several days later with good news… All the pirates crimes were being pardoned.
But he did not find Blackbeard.
Blackbeard obtained his pardon and used his riches to move into a home close to Governor Edens place.
His remaining crew took up residence nearby, and spent their days drinking in the local taverns.
Blackbeard gave every appearance of going straight.
The location enabled him to keep an eye on local shipping.
He captured a French ship, and found another vessel that was abandoned or in distress.
Blackbeard began partying harder at his island refuge, entertaining the likes of pirates Charles Vane andCalico Jack Rackham.
Lieutenant Robert Maynard scrounged up two ships and several dozen men, and approached Oracoke early in the morning.
Blackbeard was not surprised.
Upon sighting the navy vessels, theAdventurelet fly a broadside that completely disabled the smaller of Maynards ships.
Maynards own vessel then ran aground on a sandbar.
Blackbeard launched his own ship into the inlet and met Maynard yardarm to yardarm.
The battle was epic.
Men shot and stabbed each other on a deck already red with blood from theAdventures first broadside.
Blackbeard was shot five times and received over twenty other wounds before he fell to the deck, dying.
Blackbeard had died as epically as he had lived.
But he would have his revenge.
He faded into obscurity, while Blackbeard remains the most famous pirate to have ever lived.
TS Rhodes is the author ofThe Pirate Empireseries.
She blogs about pirates atthepirateempire.blogspot.com
