The most successful pirate of the Golden Age was a teetotaler who hated gambling.
In short: Bartholomew Roberts captured over 400 ships, yet he was a far cry from the drunken, chaotic stereotype. He enforced a strict pirate code, banned gambling, and mandated lights-out at eight. His career ended in a final, flamboyant stand that many historians believe closed the Golden Age of Piracy forever.
Born John Roberts in 1682 in Pembrokeshire, Wales, the man who became 'Black Bart' began his maritime life as a merchant sailor. In 1719, while serving as second mate on a slave ship, he was captured by pirates led by Howell Davis. Roberts was initially reluctant to join, but he soon realized that the merchant navy offered only low wages and no hope of promotion. He famously concluded that a merry, short life was preferable to the misery of honest service.
Roberts’ rise was meteoric. Within six weeks of his capture, he was elected captain, valued by his crew for his navigational skill and opinionated personality. He proved remarkably effective, capturing hundreds of vessels across the Atlantic, from Brazil to Newfoundland and West Africa. His success was bolstered by a rigid, democratic pirate code that ensured equal shares of provisions and prohibited gambling. He even adopted an early version of the Skull and Crossbones flag, cementing his status as the era's most prolific raider.
His end came in February 1722 off the coast of Cape Lopez. When the Royal Navy's HMS Swallow engaged his fleet, Roberts dressed in his finest crimson damask waistcoat, gold chain, and diamond cross for the battle. He was killed by grapeshot to the throat. True to his wishes, his crew wrapped his body in his ship's sail and buried him at sea, ensuring he would never be captured. His death and the subsequent eradication of his fleet marked a definitive turning point in the history of piracy and the Atlantic slave trade.
While popular culture often paints him as a villain, historical accounts—some of which are likely embellished—reveal a complex figure who operated with a strange sense of order. His defeat by Captain Chaloner Ogle, who was later knighted for the victory, effectively signaled the decline of the Golden Age. Roberts remains a singular, if controversial, figure whose life and death reshaped the maritime world.
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