Stede Bonnet

Stede Bonnets flag

Stede Bonnet (* 1688 ; † December 10, 1718 ), the so-called "gentleman pirate", was a wealthy and educated landowner before he turned to piracy .

Life

Bonnet sailed for some time with Blackbeard , who quickly realized that Bonnet was not a good leader and an incompetent seaman. Blackbeard appointed a different pirate as captain on Bonnet's ship. Bonnet himself now spent a long time as a "guest" on Blackbeard's ship, which probably meant that he was something of a prisoner. During the years 1717/18 the two pirate ships attacked numerous merchant ships in the Caribbean .

Eventually Bonnet regained his freedom - whether through escape or release on the part of Blackbeard is controversial - and rescued a group of pirates that Blackbeard had abandoned on a sandbar. With these he practiced the pirate trade for a few months.

In October 1718, Bonnet's ship was hijacked near Wilmington , North Carolina, and the crew and their captain were tried. All but four pirates were finally executed in November of that year.

literature

• Captain Charles Johnson : A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates . London 1724/1728. Reprint: The Lyons Press 2002, ISBN 1-585-74558-8 .
  German edition: Comprehensive history of the robberies and murders of the notorious pirates. Robinson, Frankfurt am Main 1982, ISBN 3-88592-009-3 .
• Robert Bohn : The pirates. 2nd Edition. Beck, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-406-48027-6 .