Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is the fourth and most recently released Assassin's Creed game. It follows the life of Desmond Miles' ancestor Edward Kenway, a privateer turned pirate in the Caribbean who goes off in search of wealth to bring home to his wife. During his mission to find a legendary location known as the Observatory, he comes into contact with the Assassins, and has to choose between working with them and the Templars, or making his own path. In the end, he forms an alliance with the Assassins.
Among the characters are a few well known pirates: Anne Bonny, Mary Read, John Rackham, Stede Bonnet, Charles Vane, Benjamin Hornigold, Bartholomew Roberts, and Edward Thatch. These were most likely not involved with the Assassins, seeing as that was a different part of the world and a different era. A famous location in pirate history, Nassau, is mentioned in the game as well.
Among the characters are a few well known pirates: Anne Bonny, Mary Read, John Rackham, Stede Bonnet, Charles Vane, Benjamin Hornigold, Bartholomew Roberts, and Edward Thatch. These were most likely not involved with the Assassins, seeing as that was a different part of the world and a different era. A famous location in pirate history, Nassau, is mentioned in the game as well.
Nassau: The Evolution
1684: Burned down by the Spanish, known at the time as Charles Town
1695: Rebuilt and renamed Nassau
1703: Occupied by French and Spanish forces
1713: Known as a pirate republic and governed by Benjamin Hornigold and Thomas Barrow. They were joined by Mary Read, Anne Bonny, Calico Jack Rackham, Charles Vane, and Edward Thatch.
1718: Captain Woodes Rogers appointed royal governor and removed piracy from Nassau.
1720: Spanish fail in their efforts to take control of Nassau.
1695: Rebuilt and renamed Nassau
1703: Occupied by French and Spanish forces
1713: Known as a pirate republic and governed by Benjamin Hornigold and Thomas Barrow. They were joined by Mary Read, Anne Bonny, Calico Jack Rackham, Charles Vane, and Edward Thatch.
1718: Captain Woodes Rogers appointed royal governor and removed piracy from Nassau.
1720: Spanish fail in their efforts to take control of Nassau.
Mary Read
Mary Read was an English pirate born in the late 17th century who began disguising herself as a boy since her early years, and did so to join the British military. She married a solider, but upon his early death boarded a ship to the West Indies. Her ship, however, was boarded by pirates who forced her to join them. She took a pardon and joined a group of privateers, but it ended in mutiny. In 1720 she joined Anne Bonny and "Calico Jack" otherwise known as John Rackham. She continued wearing a man's dress most likely for several reasons. One, there was an old superstition that a woman aboard a ship would bring it bad luck, and many men refused to let a woman aboard their ships. Two, women would not be taken seriously among a crew predominantly made up of men. She was also in direct contradiction of the pirate's creed, which stated a woman, even disguised, was not considered welcome aboard most ships. Not even Bonny or Rackham knew she was a woman until Bonny began developing a liking for Read, which was when Read told Bonny of her true identity. Rackham, who was Bonny's lover, began to be suspicious of Read and Bonny, and was let in on the secret.
Rackham and his crew were arrested and brought to trial in what is modernly known as Spanish Town, Jamaica, where they were sentenced to hang for acts of piracy, as were Read and Bonny. They received a temporary stay of execution when they revealed they were both pregnant. Read died in prison, in April 1721, but the fate of her child is unknown.
Rackham and his crew were arrested and brought to trial in what is modernly known as Spanish Town, Jamaica, where they were sentenced to hang for acts of piracy, as were Read and Bonny. They received a temporary stay of execution when they revealed they were both pregnant. Read died in prison, in April 1721, but the fate of her child is unknown.
Anne Bonny
Anne Bonny was an Irish female pirate born in the early 18th century. Her family moved around a lot in her childhood and her mother died early on in her life. Bonny was said to have had quite a temper, it is rumored she stabbed a servant girl with a knife and set fire to her father's plantation, yet there is a stunning lack of evidence to prove the latter.
In the Bahamas she met John Rackham and soon became his mistress. Not long after she divorced her husband and married Rackham, rejoining him aboard his vessel, Revenge. She gave birth to a son in Cuba who went by the name of Cunningham. In 1720, Rackham was imprisoned, due to be hanged. Bonny's last words to him were "sorry to see him there, but if he had fought like a man, he need not have been hang'd like a dog." She and Read were also doomed to be hanged, but pleaded mercy upon revealing they were pregnant. Her father managed to get her out of prison, and after that she gave birth to Rackham's second child. In 1721 she married Joseph Burleigh in Charles Town, South Carolina and gave birth to 10 children. She died at 80 years old in South Carolina on April 22, 1782, and was buried two days later.
In the Bahamas she met John Rackham and soon became his mistress. Not long after she divorced her husband and married Rackham, rejoining him aboard his vessel, Revenge. She gave birth to a son in Cuba who went by the name of Cunningham. In 1720, Rackham was imprisoned, due to be hanged. Bonny's last words to him were "sorry to see him there, but if he had fought like a man, he need not have been hang'd like a dog." She and Read were also doomed to be hanged, but pleaded mercy upon revealing they were pregnant. Her father managed to get her out of prison, and after that she gave birth to Rackham's second child. In 1721 she married Joseph Burleigh in Charles Town, South Carolina and gave birth to 10 children. She died at 80 years old in South Carolina on April 22, 1782, and was buried two days later.
'Calico Jack' Rackham
John Rackham was born in the late 17th century, around the year 1682. He started as a quartermaster for Charles Vane on his pirate sloop, the Revenge, before Vane accepted the governor's privacy pardon. Vane was replaced by Rackham in 1718, who became the new Captain of the Revenge. He met Anne Bonny in the Bahamas and had an affair with her, with or without knowing she was the wife of James Bonny, the sailor. James Bonny, who worked for Governor Woodes Rogers, brought her to him and ordered her whipped on account of adultery. Rackham offered to purchase Bonny on account of divorce by purchase, but she refused to be bought, and the two escaped to sea. Bonny gave birth to his first child in Cuba, and it's been speculated that the child was either left with other family members or simply abandoned.
Mary Read, who was using a male alias at the time, joined his crew. When Bonny began developing feelings for her, Rackham threatened to throw her overboard, and was told later by Bonny of Read's actual identity. Rackham and the Revenge were attacked by an armed sloop, and he and the crew were brought to Jamaica and put on trial for acts of piracy. Rackham was hanged in November 1720. After his death, he was hanged on an islet near Port Royal's main entrance. It is now known as Rackham's Cay.
Fun fact: His corpse is seen hanging near the port of Port Royal as a warning to pirates in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.
Mary Read, who was using a male alias at the time, joined his crew. When Bonny began developing feelings for her, Rackham threatened to throw her overboard, and was told later by Bonny of Read's actual identity. Rackham and the Revenge were attacked by an armed sloop, and he and the crew were brought to Jamaica and put on trial for acts of piracy. Rackham was hanged in November 1720. After his death, he was hanged on an islet near Port Royal's main entrance. It is now known as Rackham's Cay.
Fun fact: His corpse is seen hanging near the port of Port Royal as a warning to pirates in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.
Charles Vane
Charles Vane, born 1680, started his career as a privateer, but began serving under the famous pirate Henry Jennings in 1716. Jennings and Vane made off with the recovered loot of a hurricane wreckage, estimated to be approximately £87,000 gold and silver. In 1718, when there was a chance to accept a piracy pardon, Jennings accepted, while Vane 'scoffed at the idea' of it. He and the others who'd not accepted the pardon boarded a small pirate sloop, Lark.
Vane survived a terrible storm in February of 1719 and was shipwrecked on an island until a ship finally found him. Unfortunately for Vane, former buccaneer Captain Holford locked him in the hold until they made port, where he then handed him over to the authorities. He was put in jail and sentenced to a hanging. He was hanged at Gallows Point on March 29, 1721 in Port Royal. He was gibbeted at Gun Cay as a warning to pirates.
Fun fact: In the game, Vane and Edward (Kenway, not Thatch) are marooned on an island by Rackham, and Edward manages to escape without Vane. The next time Vane is shown in the game is in a Jamaican prison, driven mad due to isolation and the heat.
Vane survived a terrible storm in February of 1719 and was shipwrecked on an island until a ship finally found him. Unfortunately for Vane, former buccaneer Captain Holford locked him in the hold until they made port, where he then handed him over to the authorities. He was put in jail and sentenced to a hanging. He was hanged at Gallows Point on March 29, 1721 in Port Royal. He was gibbeted at Gun Cay as a warning to pirates.
Fun fact: In the game, Vane and Edward (Kenway, not Thatch) are marooned on an island by Rackham, and Edward manages to escape without Vane. The next time Vane is shown in the game is in a Jamaican prison, driven mad due to isolation and the heat.
'Blackbeard' Edward Thatch
Edward Thatch, more commonly known as Captain Blackbeard, was born in 1680, presumably in Bristol. There are many versions of his last name, Thatch, Teach, Thach, Thache, Thack, Tack, Thatche and Theach. Thatch and Teach are the most commonly used versions today.
He served as a privateer in the Queen Anne's war before joining Benjamin Hornigold as a pirate around 1716. The same year, Hornigold made Thatch the captain of a small sloop he'd captured. In September of that year, they met Stede Bonnet, a man who'd become a pirate with an unsatisfied crew. His ship, the Revenge, ended up being captained by Thatch.
In November of 1717, he took control of a French slave frigate, La Concord. He renamed it Queen Anne's Revenge, one of the most (if not the most) famous pirate ships in history. He accepted a royal pardon open to all pirates who could escape the hangman's noose by surrendering their lifestyle.
Thatch eventually died at the hands of Lieutenant Robert Maynard in November 1718. One account says: "[Thatch] rallied his men and the two groups fought across the deck, which was already slick with blood from those killed or injured by [Thatch's] broadside. Maynard and [Thatch] fired their flintlocks at each other, then threw them away. [Thatch] drew his cutlass and managed to break Maynard's sword. Against superior training and a slight advantage in numbers, the pirates were pushed back toward the bow, allowing the Jane's crew to surround Maynard and [Thatch], who was by then completely isolated. As Maynard drew back to fire once again, [Thatch] moved in to attack him, but was slashed across the neck by one of Maynard's men. Badly wounded, he was then attacked and killed by several more of Maynard's crew." It's been said that he "had been shot no fewer than five times and cut about twenty."
Thatch's body was thrown overboard and his head hung from the bowsprit, as there was a bounty on it.
He served as a privateer in the Queen Anne's war before joining Benjamin Hornigold as a pirate around 1716. The same year, Hornigold made Thatch the captain of a small sloop he'd captured. In September of that year, they met Stede Bonnet, a man who'd become a pirate with an unsatisfied crew. His ship, the Revenge, ended up being captained by Thatch.
In November of 1717, he took control of a French slave frigate, La Concord. He renamed it Queen Anne's Revenge, one of the most (if not the most) famous pirate ships in history. He accepted a royal pardon open to all pirates who could escape the hangman's noose by surrendering their lifestyle.
Thatch eventually died at the hands of Lieutenant Robert Maynard in November 1718. One account says: "[Thatch] rallied his men and the two groups fought across the deck, which was already slick with blood from those killed or injured by [Thatch's] broadside. Maynard and [Thatch] fired their flintlocks at each other, then threw them away. [Thatch] drew his cutlass and managed to break Maynard's sword. Against superior training and a slight advantage in numbers, the pirates were pushed back toward the bow, allowing the Jane's crew to surround Maynard and [Thatch], who was by then completely isolated. As Maynard drew back to fire once again, [Thatch] moved in to attack him, but was slashed across the neck by one of Maynard's men. Badly wounded, he was then attacked and killed by several more of Maynard's crew." It's been said that he "had been shot no fewer than five times and cut about twenty."
Thatch's body was thrown overboard and his head hung from the bowsprit, as there was a bounty on it.
Benjamin Hornigold
Benjamin Hornigold was born in the 17th century, the exact date and place of his birth is unknown. Around 1717 he became the captain of a sloop known as the Ranger, and his second in command was Edward Thatch. One act of piracy he and his crew committed was rather humorous. As cited in The Pirate Wars by Peter Earle, p. 179, one man says: "They did us no further injury than the taking most of our hats from us, having got drunk the night before, as they told us, and toss'd theirs overboard."
Hornigold avoided attacking ships with British flags, as many were under the impression that he was serving as a privateer. This was during the war of the Spanish Succession, and therefore it's assumed he mainly attacked Spanish ships, as well as various merchants of sorts. In the year 1718 he accepted Woodes Rogers' piracy pardon and became a pirate hunter.
In 1719, Hornigold was killed at sea during a hurricane. A General History of the Pyrates says, "in one of which voyages ... Captain Hornigold, another of the famous pirates, was cast away upon rocks, a great way from land, and perished, but five of his men got into a canoe and were saved." The location of the reef is still unknown.
Hornigold avoided attacking ships with British flags, as many were under the impression that he was serving as a privateer. This was during the war of the Spanish Succession, and therefore it's assumed he mainly attacked Spanish ships, as well as various merchants of sorts. In the year 1718 he accepted Woodes Rogers' piracy pardon and became a pirate hunter.
In 1719, Hornigold was killed at sea during a hurricane. A General History of the Pyrates says, "in one of which voyages ... Captain Hornigold, another of the famous pirates, was cast away upon rocks, a great way from land, and perished, but five of his men got into a canoe and were saved." The location of the reef is still unknown.
Bartholomew Roberts
"It's better to be a commander than a common man."
Bartholomew Roberts (born John Roberts) was born 1682 in Wales, and grew up to become a pirate sailing around West Africa and the Americas. He was considered the most successful pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy, having commandeered over 470 ships while he was alive. He was a third mate aboard the slave ship Princess, a captain aboard his sloop Fortune, and captain aboard a French ship he called Good Fortune. He died in battle on 5 February 1722, shot in the throat by someone aboard the HMS Swallow with a grapeshot. The captain of the ship had wanted Roberts' body for a reward of some kind, but as per Roberts' request to be buried at sea, they tossed it into the ocean. No one has found it. Bartholomew Roberts also created the pirate code while he was using the alias Bartolomeu Portugues.
Bartholomew Roberts (born John Roberts) was born 1682 in Wales, and grew up to become a pirate sailing around West Africa and the Americas. He was considered the most successful pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy, having commandeered over 470 ships while he was alive. He was a third mate aboard the slave ship Princess, a captain aboard his sloop Fortune, and captain aboard a French ship he called Good Fortune. He died in battle on 5 February 1722, shot in the throat by someone aboard the HMS Swallow with a grapeshot. The captain of the ship had wanted Roberts' body for a reward of some kind, but as per Roberts' request to be buried at sea, they tossed it into the ocean. No one has found it. Bartholomew Roberts also created the pirate code while he was using the alias Bartolomeu Portugues.
Stede Bonnet
Stede Bonnet was a born to a wealthy family in 1688, and inherited his father's estate after his death in 1694. He married Mary Allamby in 1709 before becoming a pirate in 1717. He purchased a vessel, naming it Revenge. After he arrived in Nassau, he met Edward Thatch. It was to Thatch that Bonnet lost the faithfulness of his crew after a failed attempt to take control of another ship. Bonnet joined Thatch's crew and did not captain another ship until he became a privateer under the privacy pardon in 1718. After changing his name to Captain Thomas and the ship's name to Royal James, he resumed pirating and was consequently hanged in Charleston in December.
Woodes Rogers
Woodes Rogers was born in 1679 in Poole, Dorset, England. Though he himself was not a pirate, he was heavily involved in their removal from the West Indies in the 18th century. His father was a sea merchant and made a number of contacts, including royal navy admiral Sir William Whetstone who commanded the West India fleet during the War of the Spanish Succession. Rogers married Whetstone's daughter Sarah in 1704, earning him a higher rank in society. After his slave ship Whetstone's Galley was captured by French privateers in 1708, he and a few merchants began a career in privateering against Spanish ships in the Pacific. At one point he was involved in trafficking human cargo. Rogers, who had formed a hatred of pirates, developed a plan to rid the seas of them: Offer them a royal pardon that would excuse them of piracy charges if they stopped the act, penniless but free men, and arrest and execute those who refused. King George sent him a royal commission to act as Governor of the Bahamas if he would carry out his plan to remove all piracy as promised. In 1718, he managed to convince Benjamin Hornigold to accept the pardon, and after a difficult year was able to remove piracy from Nassau completely. Several years later, in 1722, he was relieved of his duties as Governor and put in debtors prison for personal loans. He was, however, given back his governorship status in 1728, and allowed to resume his normal life and duties as Governor. He died on July 15, 1732 in Nassau. Read a few of his diary entries here.
Fun fact: in the game, Rogers has a large scar on his cheek. The real Woodes Rogers sustained a musketball injury to the face on an expedition that circumnavigated the globe sometime in 1708-11.
Fun fact: in the game, Rogers has a large scar on his cheek. The real Woodes Rogers sustained a musketball injury to the face on an expedition that circumnavigated the globe sometime in 1708-11.
The Pirate's Creed
The pirate code, created by pirate Bartholomew Roberts some time between 1719 and 1720, was a creed made mandatory to all his crewmen, and they swore on a bible to uphold it.
1. Every man shall have an equal vote in affairs of moment. He shall have an equal title to the fresh provisions or strong liquors at any time seized, and shall use them at pleasure unless a scarcity may make it necessary for the common good that a retrenchment may be voted.
2. Every man shall be called fairly in turn by the list on board of prizes, because over and above their proper share, they are allowed a shift of clothes. But if they defraud the company to the value of even one dollar in plate, jewels or money, they shall be marooned. If any man rob another he shall have his nose and ears slit, and be put ashore where he shall be sure to encounter hardships.
3. None shall game for money either with dice or cards.
4. The lights and candles should be put out at eight at night, and if any of the crew desire to drink after that hour they shall sit upon the open deck without lights.
5. Each man shall keep his piece, cutlass and pistols at all times clean and ready for action.
6. No boy or woman to be allowed amongst them. If any man shall be found seducing any of the latter sex and carrying her to sea in disguise he shall
suffer death.
7. He that shall desert the ship or his quarters in time of battle shall be punished by death or marooning.
8. None shall strike another on board the ship, but every man's quarrel shall be ended on shore by sword or pistol in this manner. At the word of command from the quartermaster, each man being previously placed back to back, shall turn and fire immediately. If any man do not, the quartermaster shall knock the piece out of his hand. If both miss their aim they shall take to their cutlasses, and he that draw the first blood shall be declared the victor.
9. No man shall talk of breaking up their way of living till each has a share of 1,000. Every man who shall become a cripple or lose a limb in the service shall have 800 pieces of eight from the common stock and for lesser hurts proportionately.
10. The captain and the quartermaster shall each receive two shares of a prize, the master gunner and boatswain, one and one half shares, all other
officers one and one quarter, and private gentlemen of fortune one share each.
11. The musicians shall have rest on the Sabbath Day only by right. On all other days by favor only.
Fun facts:
The term 'Parlay' used in Pirates of the Caribbean is based off of the pirate code and is included in the series' fictional code.
In Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Roberts tells Edward Kenway about his 'creed' in Jamaica.
1. Every man shall have an equal vote in affairs of moment. He shall have an equal title to the fresh provisions or strong liquors at any time seized, and shall use them at pleasure unless a scarcity may make it necessary for the common good that a retrenchment may be voted.
2. Every man shall be called fairly in turn by the list on board of prizes, because over and above their proper share, they are allowed a shift of clothes. But if they defraud the company to the value of even one dollar in plate, jewels or money, they shall be marooned. If any man rob another he shall have his nose and ears slit, and be put ashore where he shall be sure to encounter hardships.
3. None shall game for money either with dice or cards.
4. The lights and candles should be put out at eight at night, and if any of the crew desire to drink after that hour they shall sit upon the open deck without lights.
5. Each man shall keep his piece, cutlass and pistols at all times clean and ready for action.
6. No boy or woman to be allowed amongst them. If any man shall be found seducing any of the latter sex and carrying her to sea in disguise he shall
suffer death.
7. He that shall desert the ship or his quarters in time of battle shall be punished by death or marooning.
8. None shall strike another on board the ship, but every man's quarrel shall be ended on shore by sword or pistol in this manner. At the word of command from the quartermaster, each man being previously placed back to back, shall turn and fire immediately. If any man do not, the quartermaster shall knock the piece out of his hand. If both miss their aim they shall take to their cutlasses, and he that draw the first blood shall be declared the victor.
9. No man shall talk of breaking up their way of living till each has a share of 1,000. Every man who shall become a cripple or lose a limb in the service shall have 800 pieces of eight from the common stock and for lesser hurts proportionately.
10. The captain and the quartermaster shall each receive two shares of a prize, the master gunner and boatswain, one and one half shares, all other
officers one and one quarter, and private gentlemen of fortune one share each.
11. The musicians shall have rest on the Sabbath Day only by right. On all other days by favor only.
Fun facts:
The term 'Parlay' used in Pirates of the Caribbean is based off of the pirate code and is included in the series' fictional code.
In Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Roberts tells Edward Kenway about his 'creed' in Jamaica.