Golden Age Timeline, 1713–1726

Key events in the rise and fall of the pirate haven at Nassau, from the end of the war to the last great hangings.

Dates are as commonly given by historians. Where sources disagree or only a season is known, the entry gives the month or year alone.

• 1713 – The Peace of Utrecht ends the War of the Spanish Succession, leaving many Caribbean privateersmen without lawful work. More
• July 1715 – A hurricane wrecks the Spanish treasure fleet on the east coast of Florida. More
• Winter 1715–16 – Henry Jennings raids the Spanish salvage camp on the wreck coast; Charles Vane is among his men. More
• 1716 – Benjamin Hornigold is the senior captain at Nassau; Edward Teach serves under him, and Samuel Bellamy and Paulsgrave Williams sail in company. More
• Early 1717 – Bellamy captures the slave ship Whydah and makes her his flagship. More
• 26 April 1717 – The Whydah is wrecked in a storm off Cape Cod; Bellamy and most of his crew drown. More
• 5 September 1717 – King George I’s proclamation offers a pardon to pirates who surrender to a governor. More
• November 1717 – Teach captures the French slave ship La Concorde and renames her Queen Anne’s Revenge. More
• February 1718 – HMS Phoenix brings the pardon to Nassau; Hornigold and many others accept it. More
• May 1718 – Blackbeard blockades Charles Town, South Carolina, for about a week. More
• June 1718 – Queen Anne’s Revenge runs aground near Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina. More
• July 1718 – Woodes Rogers arrives as Royal Governor; Vane escapes Nassau behind a fire ship. More
• November 1718 – Vane’s crew votes him out and elects John Rackham captain. More
• 22 November 1718 – Blackbeard is killed at Ocracoke Inlet by a force under Lieutenant Robert Maynard. More
• December 1718 – Britain declares war on Spain; at Nassau, Rogers has convicted pirates hanged. More
• 1719 – Rackham accepts the pardon at Nassau. Hornigold dies when his ship is wrecked on a reef. More
• 1720 – A Spanish attack on Nassau is attempted and fails. More
• August 1720 – Rackham, Anne Bonny and Mary Read take the sloop William from Nassau harbour. More
• October–November 1720 – The William is captured off Negril Point; the crew are tried at Spanish Town and Rackham is hanged. More
• March 1721 – Charles Vane is hanged at Port Royal, Jamaica. More
• 1721 – Mary Read dies in prison in Jamaica. Woodes Rogers leaves the Bahamas for England. More
• 1722 – Bartholomew Roberts is killed in action off West Africa, and many of his crew are tried at Cape Coast Castle.
• 1724 – A General History of the Pyrates, by “Captain Charles Johnson,” is published in London. More
• 1726 – The hanging of William Fly in Boston is often taken as the end of the Golden Age of Piracy.

The wiki mixes real history with the invented world of Free Nassau. Historical figures and dates are noted as such; invented characters, places and events belong to the game’s setting.

More from the wiki

• Characters & Historical Figures – Pirate captains, Crown officials and the people of Nassau’s waterfront.
• Places & Sea Lanes – Nassau and New Providence, the Bahamas, and the wider Caribbean.
• Factions & Politics – The balance of power, Nassau’s pressures, and the history of 1716–18.
• Ships, Stores & Crew – Vessels, cargo, provisions and shipboard roles.
• Nassau City Ledger – Buildings, civic projects, resources and threats.
• World Threads – Historical pressures, expeditions and trade ventures.
• The Windward Passage – A naval briefing on the passage between Cuba and Hispaniola.
• Period Glossary – Over thirty period words for ships, ship work, officers, money, shot and pirate life.
• Charts – The New Providence harbour chart and the Bahamas & Florida Straits chart.
• Benjamin Hornigold – The founding captain of the Nassau pirate haven who became its hunter.
• Edward Teach (Blackbeard) – The most notorious captain of the age, from Hornigold’s sloop to Ocracoke.
• Charles Vane – The hard-liner who refused the pardon and fired his way out of Nassau.
• Calico Jack, Anne Bonny & Mary Read – Rackham’s short command and the two women tried for piracy in Jamaica in 1720.
• Woodes Rogers – Circumnavigator, privateer and the governor sent to end the pirate republic.
• The King’s Pardon of 1717 – The proclamation that split Nassau’s captains between a clean slate and the gallows.
• The 1715 Treasure Fleet – The hurricane that wrecked Spain’s silver fleet and filled Nassau with pirates.
• Ship Types of the Pirate Era – Periaguas, sloops, brigantines, snows and frigates: what pirates sailed and why.
• Pirate Articles & Life at Sea – Elected captains, written articles, shares of plunder and daily life aboard.
• Nassau’s Trade & Economy – How plunder became provisions: fences, smugglers, salt, wrecking and coin.
• Playing Blackbeard – Terror and boarding: thin the enemy crew, then take the ship.
• Playing Black Sam Bellamy – Crew and plunder: the toughest start and the richest voyages.
• Playing Charles Vane – Aggressive gunnery: the hardest-hitting and most fragile captain.
• Playing Anne Bonny & Mary Read – Hand-to-hand and duels: win the fight on the enemy deck.
• Playing Calico Jack Rackham – Speed and evasion: pick your fights and outsail the rest.

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