Presuming all the tales of his exploits are true, Edward Lowe, also Low or Loe, was probably the most cruel and bloodthirsty pirate of the Golden Age, possibly second only to François l’Olonnais. He is reported to have been prone to violence from an early age. The legend of his savagery spread far and wide. With a fearsome reputation and a small fleet of ships, Lowe and his crew captured at least a hundred ships during his short career, burning most of them.
Early life
According to Charles Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates, Edward Lowe was born in 1690 in Westminster, London. He was born into poverty and was active as a petty criminal like the rest of his family from an early age. His brother Richard was hanged for burglary in 1707 when Ned was only 17. He fled to Boston, Massachusetts in circa 1710 where he continued his life of crime.…
At the time the war broke out, Sweden was one of the most powerful countries in Europe. The French writer Voltaire (1694-1778) called it the ‘Famous War of the North.’ From 1560 and 1700, the Swedes had built up a Baltic Empire under great leaders such as Gustavus Adolphus with their small but professional army, including occupying the provinces of Karelia, Ingria, Estonia, and Livonia in the east and Western Pomerania, Wismar, the Duchy of Bremen, and Verden, as well as parts of Denmark and Norway in the west. 
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.…
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.