Bartholomew Roberts
John Roberts (Casnewydd Bach, Wales, 1682-Cabo López, Gabon, February 10, 1722), better known as Bartholomew Roberts, was a Welsh pirate. Due to the number of his robberies, estimated at at least four hundred, he has been considered one of the most successful in history. After working as a sailor from a very young age, at the age of thirty-seven he decided to be part of Howell Davis's crew, beginning their forays into piracy. He managed to put together a squadron of sufficient proportion to destabilize the British fleet, at a time when this power was struggling to maintain its possessions in North America and the Caribbean. He is known for the regulations imposed on his crew and also for his peculiar personality that was characterized —among other particularities— in the good treatment of women, abstinence from liquor and their education. His death closed the stage of the greatest boom in piracy in America.
Beginnings in piracy
It is probable that Bartholomew Roberts started his seamanship at the age of thirteen. It is also estimated that he may have been part of the British Royal Navy between 1702 and 1713, participating in the War of the Spanish Succession. After this conflict ended, he worked on ships that transported slaves as one of the many unemployed who left the war. In 1718, his name was mentioned by a pirate named John Plantain who wrote an account of a certain voyage made from Rhode Island to Africa. This testimony describes a disagreement between the Welshman and Edward England, also part of the group, while a separation of the sailors was being decided, which is a possible indication that he was involved in piracy earlier than estimated.
Until 1719, John Roberts, was a subject who could be described as honest due to his lifestyle. At that stage he was part of the crew of Captain Abraham Plumb as first mate or helmsman on the ship Princess of London who was en route from London to the British Gold Coast, in the Gulf of Guinea, to trade slaves. It was at this time that he decided to change his name to Bartholomew. Once in place, and along with two other ships, the merchants were assaulted without offering resistance by pirates under the command of Howell Davis who later sold the captured ships.
Lastly, as usual practice in a captive crew, Davis ended up issuing the invitation to those who wanted to accompany him. Roberts, —who at that time was about 37 years old and without a promising future, as he barely earned about three pounds a month— decided to join the criminals along with 34 other companions.
In his new situation, it is presumed that he could have achieved trust with the captain due to his skills as a good navigator. In addition, the relationship was favored because both were Welsh and could speak their native language. Almost a month after Upon arrival, Davis, who captained the ship Royal Rover, decided to careen the ship on Príncipe Island, a Portuguese enclave near Guinea. On the mainland, he presented himself to the locals as an officer of an English ship searching for pirates, but the local governor questioned the visitor's identity.
On the day of departure, the captain, along with some companions, tried to visit the governor to say goodbye. Not finding him, they decided to return, but on the way they were ambushed and almost all of them ended up dead. Faced with the murder, and without someone in command, the group of surviving pirates chose Roberts as their new boss, his first performance being to avenge the death of Davis. These words are attributed to him when he was elected captain of the Royal Rover in 1720:
Since I have already plunged my hands into the turbid water, but fascinating of piracy, I accept the charge because it is always more fun to be commander of pirates than a simple vulgar man.
Relevant assaults
Roberts assembled a party of thirty men under the command of Walter Kennedy in his first assault as pirate leader on the Portuguese colony. A first victory was achieved on the first defensive line, and once consummated, they wanted to wipe out the entire population. The new captain, on the contrary, frustrated his desire, arguing that the destruction of the town would be a very risky undertaking. This determination was taken by Kennedy as an insult to the person he would harbor for the rest of the march.
On another occasion, the pirates sighted a Portuguese flotilla made up of 42 ships bound for Europe that had departed from Bahia, Brazil. Apparently, this convoy was unguarded, as only two warships were in custody. Both were far from the group, since —due to the proximity of the coast— they considered that the situation was safe. A pirate ship, with its weapons properly hidden so as not to arouse suspicion, approached a flotilla vessel and managed to convince your captain to board the ship. The guest, treated with respect, was notified that his own ship and crew were in danger, unless he revealed which ship held the most wealth.
The indicated ship was the Clemente de Artigo, which had much more weapons than the pirates. Regardless of this circumstance, they attacked the dam in the vicinity of Todos los Santos Bay, suffering the loss of two boats. The other ships in the convoy abandoned the site, with the exception of the warships, before which Roberts decided to confront them.. However, the Portuguese ships departed without a fight.
The extensive theft included leather, tobacco, sugar, and an estimated amount of £50,000. Also, within the looting was a gold cross encrusted with diamonds addressed to King John V of Portugal. According to one version, this valuable jewel was given by the pirates to the governor of Guinea to obtain support from him and let them sail as they pleased. Another source assures that Roberts used it as a personal garment. Be that as it may, the success of the operation was celebrated on Devil's Island.
Near the Suriname River, and still enjoying the large robbery, Roberts was informed about a brig coming from Rhode Island that would contain good provisions. The pirate ordered to chase him, but in the long run that decision would be wrong, since the prey was faster. In addition, during the march -and after eight days- the pirates were left adrift due to the cessation of the air current and with their own provisions about to run out. Given the urgency, they dispatched a boat to ask for help from the rest of the comrades left on standby, but the groceries were not enough for the crew. Two days later they put together an improvised canoe. At last, help arrived along with the bad news that Kennedy had stolen the Rover and the captured Portuguese ship with the treasure included.
Kennedy, a personality opposite to the refined Roberts and with a history of being a petty thief, had promised more riches to defectors. However, he ended up being executed in the City of London on July 19, 1721. It was at this point that the pirate captain wrote the well-known articles about him, forcing his crew to swear to him before a Bible.
En route to the Caribbean Sea, and near Barbados, the pirates assaulted an English ship, but another mistake would be made by letting it go with enough provisions to continue the trip. The captain of this vessel alerted the authorities of the neighboring island, whose governor Robert Lowther commissioned two ships, the Philippa and the Somerset, on February 19, 1720, to go in search of the bandits. Once found, they were on the verge of being annihilated having been taken by surprise. A short time later, while the thugs were finishing a stay in Hispaniola en route to Granada, the governor of this site alerted the authorities of Martinique to his presence, who in turn commissioned two sloops to bring down the pirates.
Attack in Newfoundland
In June 1720, while fleeing patrols from Martinique, Roberts and his crew headed for Trepassey in Newfoundland, where some 22 ships were massed. Once there, they resolved to attack the town. In the first attack they destroyed all the boats, with the exception of a Bristol galley. Later they disembarked in the town until it was reduced to ruins. According to Charles Johnson in his book General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Famous Pirates:
It is impossible to describe in detail the ravage and predation that caused here, burning and sinking all that they found... destroying fishery and jobs of the poor farmers without any remorse or compunction.
The pirates continued their misdeeds in neighboring towns. However, once they considered that the facts would be known in the surroundings, they headed south. In the course of the expedition they attacked a French fleet, leaving a ship safe, which Roberts took for himself and christened him Fortune. At this time, a newspaper reported that the pirate captain called himself the "Admiral of the Leeward Islands".
Declaration of war on Martinique and Barbados
After the attack on Newfoundland, the pirates headed for Guinea. However, because their provisions were running low, they returned to the West Indies. At this point the state of the crew was lamentable, so much so that they had to reduce the water ration to one drink per head every 24 hours.
On the way they ran into a ship from San Cristóbal Island whose captain joined the group and provided them with provisions. From this subject he learned the news that on the island of Tobago there were two ships from Martinique prowling to capture them. Enraged, the pirates declared war and raised a flag with the insignia ABH AMH, acronyms for A Barbadian's Head and A Martinican's Head, that is, the skulls of the governors of Barbados and Martinique, as a symbol to demonstrate his anger for both. However, and according to one opinion, raising these emblems was more a pretext to assault any ship that crossed the route.
In October 1720, near the island of Saint Lucia, a convoy of French and English ships docked and then left for Guadeloupe before heading to Guinea.
Defections and return to the African continent
En route to Africa, Roberts was involved in a brawl on his ship in which he was injured, and in which he killed crewman James Perry. This individual was a friend of another subject who was absent, named Richard Jones, who at the moment of learning of the murder of his partner pounced on the captain whom he ended up giving a "sovereign beating". Despite After all, most of the crew supported the pirate chief. A trial was organized against the aggressor, and it was decided to give him two lashes per crew member. Far from ending the matter, Jones allied himself with a subject named Anstis, who also resented the captain, because his ship was considered a simple auxiliary to the main ship commanded by Roberts. Both put together a plot and escaped to the African coast, taking part of the booty and about 70 men. The desertion bothered the remaining crew, but Roberts tried not to give importance to the matter as he thought a general mutiny would have been worse.In the rest they continued their misdeeds in the vicinity of the Senegal coast.
In April 1721 pirates attacked a frigate of the Royal Africa Company named Onslow, which they renamed The Royal Fortune and armed with forty guns. In June of that same year, Roberts was informed that two British warships - the Swallow and Weymouth - were prowling around looking for him. Their presence was due to the fact that, at this point, the pirates were causing serious problems for the British shipping companies. Despite the news, the outlaws spent time in Old Calabar where they "drank and abandoned all care.";.
When the trip began again, a deplorable event occurred in the following days. Near Port Nova, present-day Benin, pirates raided a flotilla that included a ship carrying slaves. A ransom for this vessel was demanded, but its captain refused the request. At this, Roberts ordered the captives emptied before setting the ship on fire. However, given the slowness of the operation - and despite the fact that there were still eighty individuals on board - the bandits set fire to the ship. Many unfortunate people died in the incident, and others jumped into the water, perishing in an area infested with sharks.
Death in combat
After the march resumed, Roberts was again informed about the two British ships. Given the warning, the criminals headed towards Cabo López with the ships The Royal Fortune, The Good Fortune and The Ranger, among others. For their part, the British tracking ships were not in good condition, so the only one that continued the search for the pirate was the Swallow. Chaloner Ogle, the captain in command, decided to attack as soon as possible, before Roberts escaped. On February 5, 1722, the Swallow was sighted by the pirate ships, but could not proceed further due to a sandbar, something that the bandits interpreted as cowardice. In this way, the Ranger, commanded by James Skyrme, began the charge.
The Swallow moved away with the intention that, in the event of a battle, its guns would not be heard on the coast. In the end the crews engaged in battle resulting in the Ranger i> severely damaged resulting in 10 men killed and 20 wounded. Ogle sent a boat to ask for surrender. However, before boarding the pirate ship, an explosion was heard caused by some of the same outlaws. Apparently this was because they preferred not to be taken alive.
Ogle headed for Cabo López on February 9. In this place was The Royal Fortune, commanded by Bartholomew, who undertook the offensive the next day. On the morning of February 10, the battle began. The pirates decided to engage the volleys of the Swallow, but the fight ended when Roberts died after being hit in the throat after a second salvo. According to Charles Johnson:
(Roberts) sat in the appearance of a cannon; a certain Stephenson who went to the helm ran in his help; and when he did not see the wound, he released an oath, and commanded him to stand up and fight like a man. But when he realized his mistake, and that the captain was indefectably dead, he burst into tears, asking that the next shot be for him.
It is assumed that the body was thrown overboard, as was his wish, which was dressed in the best of his clothing: purple and adorned with lace.
According to one source, of the captured flotilla and after a trial in Cape Coast, 74 pirates were acquitted, 70 former slaves returned to their former status, 54 were hanged, and 37 received lesser sentences. Another states that 162 were courts, of which 52 were sentenced to death by hanging, an execution carried out at Cape Coast Castle in Ghana. Be that as it may, due to the number of defendants it is considered the largest judicial process in the history of piracy. The death of Bartholomew Roberts marks the end of the great American piracy.
The articles by Bartholomew Roberts
The Bartholomew Roberts articles are provided by author Charles Johnson, along with standards by John Phillips and Edward Low. There are eleven in total and they are intended to regulate the conduct of the crew on board. They were written in 1721 due to a mass defection led by Walter Kennedy:
- I. Every man has a vote in the affairs of the moment, he has the same right to fresh supplies or strong liquors at any moment after their confiscation and can make use of them to pleasure, except that the scarcity makes necessary, for the good of all, their rationing.
- II. Every man will be called equally by shifts, according to the list, to the casting of the spoil (over and above his own participation), he will be allowed to change his clothes for the occasion, but if any one disappoints the company for a dollar of silver, jewelry or money, he will be abandoned to his fate at sea as punishment. If theft were among crew members, it will be content to cut off the ears and nose to the culprit and land it, not in place uninhabited, but somewhere where it is taken for granted that you will find adversities.
- III. No one will play cards or given for money.
- IV. The lights and candles will turn off at 8 o'clock at night; if after that hour a crew member is inclined to continue drinking, he can do so on deck.
- V. Keep your guns, guns and sables clean and ready for service.
- VI. No children or women are allowed. If any man were found seducing any of the opposite sex, and taking it to the disguised sea, he will suffer death.
- VII. In battle, the desertion of the ship or its cabins will be punished with death or abandonment to its fate at sea.
- VIII. Fights are not allowed on board, but any man's disputes will be resolved on land, sword and guns.
- IX. No man will speak of leaving his way of life until he has contributed 1000 pounds. If, to do so, lose a limb or become disabled for the service, you will be given $800 extracted from the common inventory and minor wounds, in proportion to its severity.
- X. The captain and his second will receive two parts of the spoil; the master, counter-master and gunman a part and a half, and the rest of the officers, a part and a quarter.
- XI. The musicians will have rest on Saturday, but not the other six days and nights, except for extraordinary concession.
However, Johnson himself suggests that the previous precepts were only a part of the complete code:
These are, they have assured us, some of Roberts' articles; but as they had the caution of throwing away the original they had signed and sworn there is reason to suspect that the rest of the content was too horrible to reveal it to anyone.
Appearance and peculiarity of Bartholomew Roberts
According to descriptions, Roberts was an organized, well-read, smart, forgiving and complex-minded man, but he was nonetheless daring. He was even compared more to an authoritarian officer of the Royal Navy than to a traditional anarchic pirate. Likewise, among his peculiarities it is mentioned that he drank only tea and never liquor - nor did he allow his crew to do so. on board—, who treated women with delicacy and dressed neatly and adorned his head with a feathered hat. Precisely, Johnson points out that on the day of the final combat he had presented himself "very gallant during the combat". As one opinion points out:
It was difficult to reconcile his puritan rigourism with that desire of ostentation, of luxury, of splendor, which dominated him. He loved the expensive fabrics, the stonework, the flowers, the feathers and the silks, the richly reclaimed weapons, all, in sum, as long as the sign of opulence and art took place.
According to Philip Gosse in his book History of Piracy, Black Bart, as he was also known, was a tall, dark-haired individual who had a disgust for the game and granted rest to the musicians on the seventh day to respect "the sanctity of the Lord's day". Johnson mentions that in his time as captain he was feted daily "with music and drink and merry and entertainment" by his own companions, and that no one was forced to enter into the criminal life that the pirates led and, on the contrary, many "facilitated their estrangement". Bartholomew Roberts was in a situation of "Matelotage& #34;, his matelot or companion was the pirate Jhon Walden, nicknamed "Miss Nanney". The death of Roberts ended up dejecting the crew, being him who "had been the life and soul of the band".
Bartholomew Roberts in popular culture
Bartholomew Roberts is one of the four royal pirates mentioned in the book Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (Chapter XI), along with William Kidd, Howell Davis, and Edward England. More Specifically, John Silver talks about the fate of the survivors of his crew: they all died by hanging and their corpses were exposed for days in Corso Castle, as an example. He also appears in Philip Shea's The Devil's Captain (1992), Nicholas Griffin's The Requiem Shark (2000) and The Princess Bride by William Goldman (2000).
In the world of videogames it is represented in the franchise Sid Meier's Pirates! (since 1987) and in the world of tabletop role-playing games, for example, in Pirates! (1994).
In the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End he is mentioned as one of the creators of the pirate code, a copy of which is kept in Shipwreck Bay, where the fourth court meets pirate.
Roberts also appears in the game Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag as one of the main antagonists.
On the other hand, Bartholomew Kuma and Dracule Mihawk, two characters from the One Piece manga, are based on their persona and appearance respectively.
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