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The Golden Age of Piracy: Everything You Wanted To Know
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The Golden Age of Piracy: Everything You Wanted To Know
A pirate ship flying the Jolly Roger closes in on another vessel during a storm
Stuart

The golden age of piracy: when pirates ruled the waves

Captain Edward Teach, better known as 'Blackbeard', a pirate who plundered the coasts of the West Indies, North Carolina and Virginia. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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The most famous and despicable pirates from history

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The capture of the pirate Blackbeard, 1718. Painting by JLG Ferris. One of history’s most notorious pirates, Edward ‘Blackbeard’ Teach almost certainly had a West Country twang because he was born in Bristol in around 1680. (Photo by Bettmann via Getty Images)
Stuart

Q&A Did most English pirates really talk with a West Country accent?

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Stuart

Q&A Did all pirates fly the Jolly Roger?

A pirate uses his cutlass to force a bound and blindfolded man to walk the plank
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Q&A X marks the spot: did pirates bury their treasure?

A 17th century sketch of a peg-legged pirate walking with the aid of crutches
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Q&A Did any real pirates wear eyepatches or have peg legs?

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