The Pirate History Podcast

William Kidd spent the summer of 1695 kicking his heels in London, waiting for word about his application for a Captaincy in the Royal Navy. In August he met with two old friends that led him to an inner circle of influential Londoners who planned to use Kidd for their own ends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We've been following Henry Every in the Indian Ocean for some time now. While we were away a lot has been happening in the world at large. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The shock wave from the capture of Ganj-i-Sawai was immediate and emanated from the port city of Surat. The pirates had to move fast to sell their cargo and get away from the authorities that were after them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After their successful capture of Ganj-i-Sawai, the pirates embarked on a night of barbarity that saw men tortured and killed in cold blood and nearly every woman on board raped. These actions would have consequences that changed the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The real story of what happened on September 5, 1695 is a lot bloodier, and darker, than those old histories would have us believe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Henry Every and the pirates sail out to engage in the greatest pirate raid yet seen in history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pirate armada under Henry Every chased the Mughal Fleet toward the coast of India. And they caught up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the beginning of June to mid August 1695, the the fleet of Henry Every and Thomas Tew waited for the arrival of the Mughal Treasure Fleet. It was a tense 10 weeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A fleet of pirates was gathering at the gate of tears, but on the way Thomas Tew had a few misadventures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Henry Every and Fancy were roaming the waters surrounding Madagascar and South Africa in summer 1695. They were searching for other pirates to join the fleet, but they found something much worse. Those other pirates were coming though. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In London, issues surrounding James Houblon, the sailors of The Spanish Expedition and their wives, and even William Dampier were coming to a head. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Henry Every, and the crew of Fancy, make their way down the coast of Africa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every Muslim is expected to make a pilgrimage to Mecca once in their life. For the Grand Mughal of India that was a very important tradition. And Aurangzeb was not the kind of man to take it lightly when a pilgrimage was interrupted by a host of pirates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we talk about European alcohol in the Middle Ages, and the rise of spirits. Finally, we talk about an act passed by William & Mary that would change the world of the pirates forever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Second only to their ships, pirates are associated with nothing as strongly as alcohol. Rum, in particular, but ale and wine almost as much. Today we begin our look at the history of alcohol. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Admiral John Benbow was an English national hero. His exploits and victories were legendary. Today we discuss his story as it intersects with John Narborough, Francis Wheeler, and even Henry Every. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thomas Tew was recruiting a fleet to sail for Madagascar, but his companions first had to collect privateer commissions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The summer of 1694, immediately following the mutiny aboard Charles II, saw several dozen Privateering commissions handed to ships' captains from Colonial New England. Today we discuss the governors who did so, and two of the Captains who received them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In his first act of piracy Henry Every strove to prove that while he might be a bad guy, he wasn't such a bad guy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the 8th of May, 1694, Henry Every called the crew of Charles II to a council before the mast. They discussed the voyage, the captain, and the name of their ship. Nine months later, after a stop at the Cape Verde, the Fancy stopped at Cape Town where Henry Every wrote the world a letter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A few weeks after Henry Every captured the Charles II, a ballad began to filter into the world detailing the life and crimes of the new Captain. Reportedly, they were written by Every himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Henry Every took command of the Charles II but before the crew could depart they had to deal with those who would not turn pirate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 7th, 1694. Henry Every & a cabal of sailors hatch their plot to steal the Charles II. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The sailors of The Spanish Expedition set sail from London in August 1693. By January 1694 they made it all the way to the coast of Spain. The voyage wasn't going well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thomas Tew was far from the first pirate to call New York home but his time in the colony caused such a stir that everyone in the English speaking world took notice. Everyone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I unironically use the word unbeknownst. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our last episode before we reach 200 concerns the last voyages of two long time pirates - two Old Guard Buccaneers - Pierre le Picard & Thomas Paine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the story of two pairs of people, two real and two imaginary. A real author used a fake name to write the story of a fake pirate intertwined with a real pirate. Does that make sense? It will. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The frigate Charles II was among the best ships in English waters circa 1693. The Houblon Brothers commissioned her for The Spanish Expedition, and hired the very best mariners money - and food - could buy. Including Henry Every. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Nine Years War almost halted the piratical career of Henry Every before the Spanish Expedition even left port. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

William III, William Phips, and William Dampier. And Henry Every. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Carolina Colony is one of the most iconic locales in all of pirate mythology. Today we look at the founding of Carolina, her pirate roots, and the ties to Pirates of the Round and St. Mary's. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before the Pirates of the Round turned to piracy some of them served as illegal slavers in a global criminal conspiracy. It was dirty business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mongols and Mughals and Pirates. Oh my! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The early years of the Nine Years War saw dozens of Privateering Commissions handed out to ships intended to raid West African slaver outposts. One of those ships, Amity under Captain Thomas Tew, chose to ignore that commission and sail instead for Adam Baldridge's pirate haven at St. Mary's. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In July 1690 the English fought a pitched naval engagement against France that would define the future of the Nine Years War and turn hundreds of Royal Navy men and privateers away from service and toward a life of piracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Captain Kidd y'all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam Baldridge. Bachelor's Delight. Madagascar. St. Mary's. Cygnet. Libertalia. Flintlock pistols & pirate cutlasses. It's all coming together. We'll get to tricorn hats & parrots next time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This Halloween we finish the story of the Salem Witch Trials. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The end of March, 1692, was a dark and terrifying time in Salem, Massachusetts. More and more girls came forward to accuse ever more people of witchcraft. We can't begin to cover all of them, but these are the events that typify the atmosphere in New England when witches - and the Devil - roamed free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

William Phips returned from the Battle of Port Royal in triumph. He leveraged that into political clout, and finally into the governorship of Massachusetts. His first days as governor though, were consumed by dark forces. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the aftermath of the 1689 French raid on Maine, the people of Massachusetts planned a counterattack. That operation included a number of pirates, privateers, and puritans we have met before. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we're discussing pirate politics, and the claims commonly made about pirate ideology. With a brief foray into all of world history from 1776 to the modern day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Battle of Bantry Bay was the first sea battle between England & France since 1545 and the first major sea battle of the Nine Years War. It also includes a ton of people who are important to our story before they were important. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pay no attention to the title behind the curtain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Edward Davis and Bachelor's Delight ran into a number of complications upon returning to the English colonial world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The single most important person in the story of the Pirates of the Round wasn't a pirate at all, but a rich, Dutch, New York Merchant. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a story about legends, myths, and lies. This is a story about a pirate who captured the attention of the whole world. This is the story of the early life of Henry Every. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

William Phips didn't know how much money he had. But he did know how many pounds of money he had. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

William Phips was a Massachusetts shipwright with a silver tongue and big dreams. His plots led him from Boston to New Providence Island all the way to London and the court of King Charles and finally the deck of H.M.S. Rose. A King's Royal Navy Frigate in the hands of a crew of scurrilous buccaneers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices