Hey everyone! Sorry I’ve taken so long to update this. I’m still reading through The Republic of Pirates, mostly because I’ve been stopping every five seconds to take notes. (I’ve decided to just read it through now and take notes later.) But I’ve found out some interesting things so far.
First of all – for anyone who watches Black Sails – the Urca de Lima did exist, and it did run afoul of a storm and become shipwrecked. It wasn’t, however, carrying the gold and silver. But it was still part of the shipwrecked Spanish fleet that became the origin story for some pirates.
What followed is an array of domino incidents. The years 1715-1716 shaped the pirate republic and alliances/rivalries. There were three main pirate pairs of captains and partners or captains and mentees:
Sam Bellamy and Paulsgrave Williams (Partners)
Benjamin Hornigold and Edward Teach (Teach was Hornigold’s protegee)
Henry Jennings and Charles Vane (Jennings mentored Vane)
Jennings considered himself still a privateer, despite the fact that privateers weren’t really a thing anymore. His belief caused him to look down on Hornigold, causing friction between the two.
The three pairs crossed paths while chasing down French prizes. Jennings partnered with Bellamy to capture a ship. But when Hornigold arrived, Jennings sailed off the meet him, and Bellamy took that opportunity to steal Jennings’ prize and then team up with Hornigold.
Now, Hornigold considered himself a British patriot and refused to attack English ships. He would only attack Spanish and French ships. Bellamy, on the other hand, was fighting against the British and the system that left him poor.
Eventually, Hornigold’s crew grew angry over his unwillingness to attack English ships. So they deposed him and joined Bellamy’s crew.
And that’s where I left off. Hornigold is in New Providence Island, trying to rebuild Nassau’s fort. And Bellamy is on his way to capturing the Whydah, a ship he wants to use to destroy the British man-of-war Scarborough.
Under the Black 