Most of the information we have available to us about the infamous and mysterious pirate known as Blackbeard is somewhat unreliable. Due to his estimated age when he met his death of between 35 and 40 years old, it is believed he was born circa 1680. What is certain is the date died – 22 November 1718. He was commonly known as Edward Teach or Thatch, but other spellings of his name include Thach, Thack, Tack, and Theach, but all these names might have been pseudonyms he used in order to protect the family name. The name Teach was mentioned in the Boston News-Letter of the time, but it may have been a spelling error. Other sources use the name Thatch, especially those who knew him personally. He was described by Henry Bostock, captain of the merchant sloop Margaret, which was taken off Crab Island near Anguilla, as being tall and thin and possessed of an immense black beard.…
Author: savage
Blood in the Snow
A book by the same author under a different name with an original cover image done in pastels by my wife Mona.
As invading Germanic tribes cross the frozen Rhine frontier in the bitter winter of 406AD, Calidus, a low-ranking officer leading a patrol of Roman cavalrymen, is caught unprepared by the ferocious onslaught. Forced to lead his men on an arduous journey to perceived safety, his world is no longer one of the glorious legions of old, but a harsh reality in which Roman traditions are in decline, a world in which the influence of the so-called uncivilized barbarians is developing an ever increasing hold on the long-established, but crumbling Empire. The escalating crisis causes Calidus to question his once firmly held beliefs, as he unwillingly finds himself embroiled in the political intrigues in a struggling border town on the Rhine frontier. His loyalties are torn as a struggle to find a balance between duty, honour and self-preservation ensues.…
Honour and Betrayal
The second book in the End of Empire series by the same author under a different name with an original cover image done in pastels by my wife Mona.
After miraculously surviving the Vandal attack on Bonna and the treachery of his commanding officer, Calidus makes the difficult decision to rejoin the Army of Gaul, now led by the usurper Constantinus of Britannia. The decurion decides he is honour-bound to find the army and, in the sweltering summer of 407AD, sets out on a perilous journey to seek it out. Reaching the newly reorganized army proves no easy task in a land plagued by enemy warriors and bandits. On rejoining his unit, his troubles are not over. Once there he is confronted by some unsettling news, which causes him to once more fear for his life. In addition to these dangers, there are still battles to be fought to reclaim the ravaged region and re-establish control for the Empire in the lands once conquered by Julius Caesar.…
Pirate ships
Pirates made use of many types of ships, in particular smaller versatile vessels which could navigate the shallow waters and shoals characteristic of the Caribbean. Bigger was not necessarily better as larger ships with their complex rigging and large area of canvas were more difficult to sail. Although the term ‘ship’ strictly applied to three-masted, fully rigged vessels, the word was often applied to sloops and brigantines at the time. The names applied to seafaring vessels have changed over time, but here the terms here are those used during the Golden Age of Piracy. During this period, ships were often defined by their type of rigging rather than the shape of their hull or number of masts. A lot of ships possessed at least some oars in the early 18th century, whether brigantines, sloops, or frigate-built ships, allowing for more versatility, especially when there was no wind. At the time, the term man-o’-war could be applied to any vessel of any size fitted for war.
The War of Spanish Succession
The War of Spanish Succession was fought in Europe and the colonies between 1701 and 1714. The theatre of war in the Americas was known as Queen Anne’s War and involved a series of smaller wars fought by British colonists against the French and their native American allies.
In 1700 King Charles II, the last Spanish King of the House of Habsburg, died with no direct heir to take over the throne of Spain. Before he died, he had named his half sister’s grandson, the Duke of Anjou, Phillip of Bourbon, as his successor to the Spanish crown under the name Felipe V. Felipe was also in the line of succession to the French throne. A Bourbon monarch on the throne of France and Spain would greatly shift the balance of power in Europe and quash the ambitions of Britain and the Dutch Republic.
Although Felipe V’s sovereignty was grudgingly accepted at first, it was when the Bourbon’s cut off England and the Dutch Republic from Spanish trade that war broke out between the two main factions in Europe – the conflict being known as the War of the Spanish Succession.…