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Blackbeard. Mungo Herdman beards piracy

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Charles Vane, Stede Bonnet, William Kidd, Henry Avery: Alex Isabelle Ravanau de Lusan, John Rackham, Howell Davis, Samuel Bellamy: Laura Beltrami Emmanuel Wynne, Edward England, George Lowther, John Quelch, Edward Teach: Luca Orlandini Francis Spriggs, Bartholomew Roberts, John Taylor, Thomas Tew: Andrea Benassi It is Howell Davis who kicks off the Golden Age of Piracy. We are in the late seventeenth century and we are in seas still marked by the struggles between the European states and their colonies, populated by hundreds of mavericks ready to get rich at any cost. Seas crossed by merchant ships loaded with spices, slaves and other amenities of the modern era. Davis, a Welsh pirate of great skill and charisma, finds himself with his crew of criminals off the coast of present-day Panama, looking for this kind of ships. After weeks of searching he decides to attack a freighter loaded with silver from Portobello and bound for Spain. The news is sufficiently destabilizing to activate th...

Blackbeard. Syphilis strikes back

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Edward Low, Edward Teach, Howell Davis, Walter Kennedy, Edward England: Alex Isabelle Samuel Bellamy, François l'Ollonais, Thomas Tew, Raveneau de Lussan, Bartholomew Roberts: Laura Beltrami We are in the second half of the 17th century. With the full maturation of the colonies the international market flourishes: the seas are populated by merchant ships, which fly the flags of the most important European countries. These, sympathetic but suspended in a state of perennial military and economic tension, do not turn their attention to the colonies, considering them as sources of income perfectly capable of self-administration. However, this move turns out to be wrong: soon mercenaries short of wages, rebel soldiers, leftovers, rebel slaves, pseudo-anarchists notice the fat merchant ships that sail the seven seas. They are extremely interesting targets, real stray loot waiting to be plundered. From there to the establishment of entire crews dedicated to banditry, the step is short. Th...