Pirate captains and their crews were violent, even ruthless. Part of this was a necessity. But some captains went beyond the normal, creating an art out of atrocity. Captain Blackbeard and Charles ...

Shudder. In 1718, Blackbeard had a boozy knees-up over several days with pirates Jack Rackham and Charles Vane on Ocracoke Island. On 22 November 1718 the Governor of Virginia (Alexander Spotswood ...