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Introduction
All the pirates described here were extraordinarily colourful men, whose greed and bravery were used by Elizabeth I to increase the prestige of her kingdom and fill her treasury. While playing their parts as pawns in the queen's dangerous diplomatic games, they indulged their enthusiasms for exploration and gold and opened North America to colonisation. Only one of these licensed pirates died in bed. Two died of disease and one died of wounds, all while trying to capture the Spanish treasure fleet. Another was killed during a siege in France, and one drowned as he returned home from a voyage of discovery. And the most colourful of all was beheaded for treason. |
