Stede Bonnet

Rare card · No. 54477

Stede Bonnet (c. 1688 – 10 December 1718), known as the Gentleman Pirate, was an English pirate and landowner. Bonnet was born into a wealthy English family on the island of Barbados, and inherited the family estate after his father's death in 1694. Despite his lack of sailing experience, Bonnet decided he should turn to piracy and crime in the spring of 1717. He bought a sailing vessel, the Revenge, and travelled with his paid crew along the Eastern Seaboard of what is now the Eastern United States, capturing other vessels and burning other Barbadian ships. Bonnet set sail for Nassau in the Bahamas, to the haven for pirates known as the "Republic of Pirates", but he was seriously wounded en route during an encounter with a Spanish warship. After arriving in Nassau, Bonnet met the infamous pirate Blackbeard, with whom he developed a close union despite initially being enemies. Incapable of leading his crew, Bonnet temporarily ceded his ship's command to Blackbeard. Before separating in...

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