The Pirate History Podcast

The summer of 1682 was a busy season for the pirates of the West Indies. Today we follow the cruises of Captain Jean Hamiln who defined that summer. We also take some time here at the end of the year to catch up with all the major pirates operating in 1682. Sharp, Dampier, Davis, de Graaf, Grammont, Coxon, & even Henry Morgan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The French & Dutch defined West Indian piracy in the early 1680s. Three names in particular - Laurens de Graaf, Michel de Grammont, & Nicholas van Hoorn - were the titans of the era. Today we introduce them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we return to a very different Jamaica to catch up with Sir Henry Morgan, Jamaican politics, and get a taste of what's been happening while we've been following the pirates in the Pacific. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we follow almost a year in the life of William Dampier, John Cooke, & the fleet of pirates off the coast of Darien. They face storms, Spanish warships, hostile Indians, princesses, romance, arrest, uncooperative governors, and rank betrayal. They travel to nearly every island in the West Indies, and are faced with specters of the past. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adc...

We continue on our journey across the isthmus alongside William Dampier, John Cook, & Edward Davis. They meet with an old companion, and somehow I wander into questions of identity, heroism, villainy, and ideals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're back in the Pacific this week with William Dampier, Lionel Wafer, John Cook, & Edward Davis. The 'mutineers' are on their way back to the isthmus and the Caribbean beyond when they encounter several setbacks that see their company tested and broken. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The fleet of Bartholomew Sharp faced the worst challenges to date. They were thirsty, hungry, cold, and some men began to show signs of scurvy. Plus, they hadn't been paid in months. The men were growing ever more angry and their Admiral needed to find them fresh fruit, water, and plunder. If not, he was in danger of losing command. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pirate life wasn't all swashbuckling adventure and rum. Sometimes it meant days spent working on their vessels, or weeks at sea. Or even losing the wind and being forced to sit idle while your enemies prepare. Frustration and boredom and hard work could be as much a part of pirate life as sea shanties and nautical robbery. Today we take a look at just that on the Pacific Adventure. Learn more abou...

The aftermath of the battle at Panama saw the pirates on the verge of internal conflict. They were brought together by the threat of Spanish warships and the death of a comrade. Their unity was short lived however, and a schism opens within their fleet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The fleet of Captains Coxon, Sharp, & Sawkins makes their entrance into the Gulf of San Miguel. They engage in the vilest sorts of piracy, quarrel amongst each other, and finally make their way to Panama. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the sack of Santa Maria the Buccaneers make way down river toward the Southern Ocean. The crew of one unlucky canoe suffers three grueling days of trials and suffering. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pirate fleet under John Coxon makes landfall in Darien to assault the Spanish Main. There they meet the Kuna people & King Goldencap, struggle across the isthmus of America and help the Kuna in their quest for justice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two new pirate captains - Richard Sawkins & Peter Harris - join with the fleet of John Coxon & Bartholomew Sharpe, but only after a series of trials and tribulations. And we explore a 300 year old conspiracy theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After years of relative quiet a secret gathering of the West Indies' most notorious pirates convened at Negril Bay, Jamaica. The Captains and crew met to embark on a daring and dangerous voyage that would make them wanted men from Port Royal to Portobelo, and from the East Indies to London. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sir Henry Morgan returns to Port Royal. It is a very different time, with very different people confronting very different challenges, yet Morgan navigates them all with the same daring he's trusted for years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

June, 1674, Jamaica. An unassuming merchant vessel arrives in Port Royal bearing an unknown young man who will become one of the most famous Buccaneers, explorers, & naturalists ever to live. Today we introduce William Dampier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Dutch were the dominant sea power in the 1660s, and today we discuss the three most notorious Dutch pirates of the Buccaneer era. History has left their names behind, but in their day they were as feared as Morgan. The end of their story marks the end of the first wave of Buccaneers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we begin our multi-part look at the real pirates that were on the ground at Panama with Diego Lucifer, Captain Francis Witherborne, and Jan Lucas. We talk about their origins as best we know them, and their fates in the days following Morgan's raid. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Admiral Henry Morgan returns to Port Royal to find himself enmeshed in international relations. He returns to England and - though his freedom and life are at stake - becomes an essential cog in the high stakes world of courtly politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The fate of Admiral Morgan, Governor Modyford, and the Jamaica colony was uncertain following the sacking of Panama, and it fell to King Charles II of England to make a judgement. Today we look at who he was, his religious affiliation, and the plans that Morgan put in peril. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore Henry Morgan's last great raid. Shipwrecks, dangerous jungle rivers, guerilla tactics, Indian attacks, beautiful maidens in distress, victory and betrayal. Blood and fire and plunder. Panama. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the wake of the Spanish attack on Jamaica Captain Morgan is given command of all the forces Port Royal, Tortuga, and The Brethren of the Coast can muster. They came from every corner of the West Indies to join the greatest Buccaneer raid the world had ever seen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Captain Morgan returns to Jamaica and attempts to settle down and live a life of peace. The monarchs of England and Spain had other ideas and Morgan was forced to make a choice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don Alonso del Campo y Espinosa, an agent of the King of Spain, arrives in the Caribbean on the hunt for Captain Henry Morgan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Captain Morgan returned home to Port Royal a hero. His home city welcomed his men with open arms, but international politics and the threat of Spain pushed him back out to sea. Disaster awaited him there. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices