Libertatia (Libertalia): Pirate Utopia | The Pirates Port
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Captain Misson & Libertalia
By Cindy Vallar
We can be somewhat particular in the Life of this Gentleman, because, by very great Accident, we have got into our Hands a French Manuscript, in which he himself gives a Detail of his Actions. (Defoe, 383)
Thus begins chapter one in the second volume of Captain Charles Johnson’s The History of the Pyrates, which was published in 1728, four years after the release of his best selling A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates. Misson, whose first name is never revealed, “was born in Provence, of an ancient Family.” (Defoe, 383) For obvious reasons, the Frenchman never divulges his surname. After all, he is a pirate, which might reflect poorly on his wealthy family. Having too many siblings to ever hope for a large inheritance, he decides to make his own fortune with the use of his sword.
Provence, France (left) and Musketeers in 1663 (right) [Source: Wikipedia -- superbenjamin & artist unknown]
Unlike many pirates, Misson was an educated man. “After he passed his Humanity and Logick, and was a tolerable Mathematician, at the Age of Fifteen he was sent” to Anjou to study at the university.1(Ibid.) He only spent a year at his studies before returning home. He might have become a Musketeer of the Guard, but wanted to see the world; the best way to do that was to choose “the Sea as a Life which abounds with more Variety, and would afford him an Opportunity to gratify his Curiosity, by the Change of Countries.” (Ibid.) At Marseilles he boarded a ship bound for the Mediterranean – a journey that “gave him great Insight into the practical Part of Navigation.” (Ibid.) He enjoyed the voyage so much he decided to learn all he could about ships and sailing. [He was] always one of the first on a Yard Arm, either to Hand or Reef, and very inquisitive in the different Methods of working a Ship: His Discourse was turn’d on no other Subject, and he would often get the Boatswain and Carpenter to teach him in their Cabins the constituent Parts of a Ship’s Hull, and how to rig her, which he generously paid ’em for . . . .(Defoe, 384)
Furling sails, working ropes, and swabbing deck (Source: Dover,Nautical Illustrations)
After arriving in Naples, Italy, he secured permission to tour Rome and the Vatican, where he met Seignior Caraccioli, a Dominican priest disenchanted with the immorality of the Catholic Church and the people. For my Part, I am quite tir’d of the Farce, and will lay hold on the first Opportunity to throw off this masquerading Habit; . . . as I am an Enemy to Restraint, I am apprehensive I shall never act up to my Character, and carry thro’ the Hypocrite with Art enough to rise to any considerable Post in the Church. My Parents did not consult my Genius, or they would have given me a Sword instead of a Pair of Beads. (Defoe, 385)
On hearing this, Misson suggested he go to sea too. Caraccioli accepted, and Misson provided him with new clothes befitting a lay person. Once they reached Leghorn, where Misson’s ship was now berthed, he convinced Captain Fourbin to take on Caraccioli.2A week after the Victoire resumed her journey, they encountered Barbary pirates. [They]fell in with two Sally Men, the one of twenty, the other of twenty four Guns; the Victoire had but thirty mounted, tho’ she had Ports for forty. The Engagement was long and bloody, for the Sally Men hop’d to carry the Victoire; and, on the contrary, Captain Fourbin, so far from having any Thoughts of being taken, he was resolutely bent to make Prize of his Enemies, or sink his Ship. (Ibid.) A young and inexperienced Spanish renegado captain attempted to sail close enough to board Victoire, but his pirate ship was hit “by a Shot betwixt Wind and Water.” (Ibid.) To keep from sinking, he veered off to repair the damage. The ship heeled over too far and sank. No one survived.
Now facing only one enemy, a resolute Captain Fourbin ordered his men to board the remaining ship, and Misson and Caraccioli led them. The defrocked priest received a thigh wound and was taken to the surgeon. Glimpsing one Barbary pirate with a lighted match go below deck, Misson pursued and slew him just before he ignited the powder to blow up the ship. Thereafter the French won the battle, and the few remaining pirates were sold at auction, as was their ship.
Caraccioli and Misson often discussed religion. Caraccioli believed in “the Divine Being,” but saw religion as “no other than human Policy.” (Defoe, 388-389) He also believed each person “was born free, and had as much Right to what would support him, as to the Air he respired.” (Defoe, 389) Rather than a person being born poor, he argued that the avarice of some people made those who were weak poor. He believed people should take control of their own lives and make their own fortunes, rather than letting fate and others control what happened to them; many aboardVictoiresupported him in this belief. When an opportunity presented itself to seize their own destinies, Caraccioli took advantage of it.
Sailing the Caribbean Sea near Martinique, theVictoirehappened upon an English ship armed with forty guns. In the ensuing struggle, “the first Broadside killed the Captain, second Captain, and the three Lieutenants, on board the” the French ship. (Defoe, 390) The ship’s master wished to surrender, but Misson assumed command, named Caracccioli as his second, and fought for “six Glasses, when by some Accident the” enemy ship exploded. (Ibid.) One English officer was the lone survivor, but “he died in two days.” (Ibid.)
With the battle won and Captain Fourbin dead, Caraccioli proposed two alternatives as to what to do next. His friend could continue to commandVictoire, or they could return to Martinique and hand over the ship to the proper authority. [W]ith the Ship he had under Foot, and the brave Fellows under Command, [Misson could] bid Defiance to the Power ofEurope. . .and lawfully make War on all the World, since it wou’d deprive him of that Liberty to which he had a Right by the Laws of Nature: That he might in Time, become as great asAlexanderwas to thePersians; and by increasing his Forces by his Captures, he would every Day strengthen the Justice of his Cause, for who has Power is always in the Right.(Defoe, 391) The discourse did the trick, and Misson seized his future. He was elected captain, Caraccioli became his lieutenant, and the crew chose other officers to represent them on the council. The next order of business was to decide where to cruise. The Captain proposed the Spanish Coast as the most probable [course] to afford them rich Prizes . . . . The Boatswain asked what Colours they should fight under, and advised Black as most terrifying; but Caraccioli objected, that they were no Pyrates, but Men who were resolved to assert that Liberty which God and Nature gave them . . . .(Defoe, 392) They knew the rest of the world would disagree and “brand this generous Crew with the invidious Name of Pyrates, and think it meritorious, to be instrumental in their Destruction.” (Defoe, 394) Self-preservation, rather than “a cruel Disposition” forced them to declare war on “all European Ships and Vessels.” (Defoe, 395)
Thereafter, they evenly divvied up all property and cargo amongst them. Misson proposed stipulations as to how they would conduct this war: they needed to live in harmony and they must treat any captives with compassion. Two hundred able seamen and thirty-five who were wounded or sick agreed unanimously. While prowling the Caribbean, they captured several prey. From an English sloop they took “a couple of Puncheons of Rum, and a half dozen Hogsheads of Sugar,” but didn’t harm the crew or steal their belongings. (Defoe, 396) When the crew of another vessel had the audacity to board Misson’s ship late at night, his men quietly captured each boarder, “tumbled [him] down the Fore-Hatch, where they were received by others, and bound without Noise, not one of the Privateers killed, few hurt, and only one Frenchman wounded.” (Ibid.) Misson offered to return the men to their ship on two conditions. First, they needed to hand over all the ammunition and small arms on their vessel. Second, they had to swear not to go privateering again for six months. The prisoners agreed and were freed.
After a time, they sought richer hunting grounds and sailed to Africa where they engaged in a running battle with a Dutch ship off the Gold Coast. “The Nieuwstadt had some Gold-Dust on board, to the Value of about 2000l.Sterling, and a few Slaves to the Number of seventeen . . . .” (Defoe, 403) Misson gave these slaves clothing from the Dutch crew’s sea chests and then allowed them to join his crew. He also permitted others to join him, but never forced anyone. After capturing a second Dutch ship, Misson now had ninety captives, so he put them aboard the prize and allowed them to sail away.
Eventually the company numbered too many for one ship to hold. Misson acquired a second ship, divided the crew between the two vessels, and proposed Caraccioli to captain the consort. Together they sailed round the Cape of Good Hope. They anchored off Johanna Island and, during their stay, became involved in a war between two tribes.3Darts and arrows were no match against Misson’s guns, and a slaughter ensued. Allied with Johanna’s queen, Mission and Caraccioli participated in peace negotiations with the defeated king of Mwali, a neighboring island. Misson, Caraccioli, and some of their men dined with this man, but on the way back to their ship, “they were enclosed by, at least, 100 of the Mohillians, who set upon them with the utmost Fury, and, in the first Flight of Arrows, wounded both the Captains, and killed four of their Boat’s Crew of eight . . . they, in return, discharged their Pistols . . . and fell in with their Cutlasses . . . .” (Defoe, 411) Caraccioli sustained a severe stab wound to his side, but his attacker “paid for the Rashness of the Attempt on his Life, one of the Crew cleaving in his Skull.” (Ibid.) Outnumbered, Misson and his comrades faced certain death until the discharge of their weapons alerted the men still on the ships, who drove off the attackers. Seven of Misson’s men were dead; two more died from their wounds. Six others were wounded, including Misson and Caraccioli.
Cape of Good Hope (left) and Cape Point(right) [Sources: Wikipedia, Zaian & Thomas Bjorkan]
After six weeks of healing, the pirates returned to the Indian Ocean to hunt for more prey. They successfully tangled with a sixty-gun Portuguese ship carrying gold dust valued at £250,000. Thirty men, two-thirds of them English, died in the battle and, wounded again, Caraccioli lost a leg. While he regained his health, Misson added ten of the Portuguese’s guns to the thirty already mounted on Victoire. Then he sailed to Madagascar. He . . . coasted along this Island . . . as far as the most northerly Point, when turning back, he enter’d a Bay to the Northward of Diego Suares. He run ten Leagues up this Bay, and on the Larboard-Side found it afforded a large, and safe, Harbour, with plenty of fresh Water. He came here to an Anchor, went ashore and examined into the Nature of the Soil, which he found rich, the Air wholesome, and the Country level. . . . this was an excellent Place for an Asylum [haven] and . . . he determined here to fortify and raise a small Town, and make Docks for Shipping, that they might have some Place to call their own; and a Receptacle, when Age or Wounds had render’d them incapable of Hardship, where they might enjoy the Fruits of their Labour, and go to their Graves in Peace. (Defoe, 415)
The company agreed. “Misson designed his settlement, which he called Libertalia, and gave the Name of Liberito his People, desiring in that might be drown’d the distinguished Names of French, English, Dutch, Africans, & c. (Defoe, 417) The pirates built two forts on either side of the harbor and mounted forty guns in them. They also constructed a battery of ten guns, as well as houses and magazines. Peaceful relations with a nearby tribe were also forged.
With the founding of Libertalia, Captain Johnson ends his chapter on Misson, but not his story. This he continues in the next chapter, which concerns the Rhode Island pirate Thomas Tew, rather than make the reader read the same information twice. Johnson begins with an account of how these two pirates met. Returning from another successful venture, Misson and his men spotted a sloop.
[W]hen in Gun-Shot, [the sloop] threw out black Colours, and fired a Gun to Windward; Misson brought to, fired another to Leeward, and hoisted out his Boat, which the Sloop perceiving, lay by for.Misson’s Lieutenant went on board, and was received very civilly by Captain Tew, who was the Commander, to whom the Lieutenant gave a short Account of their Adventures and new Settlement, inviting him very kindly on board Captain Misson. Tew told him, he could not consent to go with him till he had the Opinion of his Men; in the mean while Misson, coming along Side, hal’d the Sloop, and invited the Captain on board, desiring his Lieutenant would stay as an Hostage, if they were in the least jealous of him . . . .(Defoe, 421) After this initial meeting, Tew went ashore where he “was received by Caraccioli and the rest, with great Civility and Respect, who did not a little admire his Courage, both in attacking the Prize he made, and afterwards in giving Chase to Misson.” (Defoe, 424)
At a council meeting on what to do with recently captured men, Misson favored releasing them. Tew and Caraccioli feared the released prisoners would divulge what they knew to authorities and European governments would attack Libertalia. In answer, Misson successfully swayed the council to his side by saying, “it was better [to] die once, than live in continual Apprehensions of Death.” (Defoe, 425) The prisoners were summoned, and he told them . . . that he knew the Consequence of giving them Liberty; that he expected to be attacked as soon as the Place of his Retreat was known, and had it in his Hands, by putting them to Death to avoid the doubtful Fate of War; but his Humanity would not suffer him to entertain a Thought so cruel . . . but he required an Oath of every one, that he should not serve against him: He then enquired into the Circumstances of every particular Man, and what they had lost, all which he return’d [from his own share of the plunder] . . . . The Prisoners were charm’d with this Mark of Generosity and Humanity, and wished he might never meet a Treatment unworthy of that he gave them.(Defoe, 425) In the ensuing months, Misson also freed more slaves, welcomed new prisoners into his community of pirates, and went cruising. After a bloody battle with another Portuguese ship, he discovered two men who “had sworn never to serve against [the pirates].” (Defoe, 430) They were “clapp’d in Irons, and publickly try’d for their Perjury . . . and they were condemned to be hanged at the Point of each Fort; which Execution was performed the next Morning . . . .” (Defoe, 430-431) A quarrel ensued between Tew’s men and Misson’s over this punishment – an event which led Misson to conclude that Libertalia needed laws and a government so they might live “in Unity among themselves, who had the whole World for Enemies . . . .” (Defoe, 432) [T]hey look’d upon a Democratical Form, where the People were themselves the Makers and Judges of their own Laws . . . they would divide themselves into Companies of ten Men, and every such Company choose one to assist in the settling a Form of Government and in making wholesome Laws for the Good of the whole: That the Treasure and Cattle they were Masters of should be equally divided, and such Lands as any particular Man would enclose, should, for the future, be deem’d his Property, which no other should lay any Claim to, if not alienated by a Sale.(Defoe, 433) Caraccioli suggested they needed one person to lead them. This leader “should have that of rewarding brave and virtuous Actions, and of punishing the vicious, according to the Laws which the State should make . . . .” (Defoe, 433) He also suggested this Lord Conservator could do so for only three years, after which either the pirates must reconfirm him as leader or select someone new. In this way, the office could never become a hereditary one like those of the European monarchies. Needless to say, Captain Misson became the first Lord Conservator, Captain Tew became Admiral, and Caraccioli was named Secretary of State.
Other laws were also enacted, and they decided a congregational meeting would meet once a year, although the Lord Conservator and his council could convene such assemblies more often. The council was composed of the best men, regardless of their nationality or color. A new language, comprised of elements from all the languages spoken in Libertalia, was also devised.
The Wreck by Knud Andreassen Baade, circa 1835 (Source: Stephen C. Dickson at Wikipedia)
As admiral, Tew left on a cruise and, while ashore visiting former comrades, a storm struck. The sea was too rough for a boat to pick him up, so he watched helplessly as his ship was driven ashore and wrecked, with all souls lost. With no way to return to Libertalia, he and his friends lit huge fires in hopes of attracting a passing ship’s attention.
One night, two sloops finally anchored and a boat came ashore. Among the seven on board was Captain Misson, and he brought sad news with him. All their propos’d Happiness was vanished; for without the least Provocation given, in the Dead of the Night, the Natives came down upon them in two great Bodies, and made a great Slaughter, without Distinction of Age or Sex, before they could put themselves in a Posture of Defence; thatCaraccioli(who died in the Action) and he got what Men together they could, to make a Stand; but finding all Resistance vain against such Numbers, he made a Shift to secure a considerable Quantity of rough Diamonds and Bar Gold, and to get on board the two Sloops with 45 Men.(Defoe, 437) Tew suggested they sail to America. Misson thought about going home to France “and privately visiting his family, if any were alive, and then to retire from the World.” (Defoe, 438)
He no longer wished to found any more settlements, and what treasure he had saved from the attack on Libertalia was divided among Tew and the survivors. Those who wished to go to America left aboard Tew’s new sloop, while Misson and the few who remained loyal to him sailed aboard another sloop. Off Cape Infantes, they were over-taken with a Storm, in which the unhappy Misson’s Sloop went down, within a Musquet Shot of Captain Tew, who could give him no Assistance. (Defoe, 438)
Tew returned to Rhode Island to retire, but was later enticed to go out on one last voyage. His vessel “attack’d a Ship belonging to the Great Mogul; in the Engagement, a Shot carry’d away the Rim of Tew’s Belly, who held his Bowels with his Hands some small Space; when he dropp’d, it struck such a Terror in his Men, that they suffered themselves to be taken, without making Resistance.” (Defoe, 439)
Thus endeth the intriguing tale of Captain Misson. There’s just one problem – it’s fiction. Our only source of information on this pirate and his utopia is Captain Johnson’s A History of the Pyrates. No historical document or other evidence exists to prove this man ever lived or that Libertalia ever existed outside the pages of this book. With the exception of Misson, every other pirate highlighted in the two volumes lived and breathed – a fact that can be proven through other contemporary documentation.
This doesn’t mean threads of truth aren’t woven into the story. Captain Johnson “knew what his readers wanted, and he gave it to them . . . [he] knew that facts in the right places make a story more believable.” (Little,Golden,218-219) Which elements are provable facts? Thomas Tew was a real person. According to John Dann’s 1696 deposition, Tew commanded theAmity, a sloop armed with six guns, and, for a time, he sailed in consort with Henry Every.4Adam Baldridge, who once operated a trading post for pirates on Île Sainte Marie, later testified that on 11 December 1695, “Amity, having no Captain, her former Captain Thomas Tew being killed by a great Shott from a Moors ship” arrived and stayed for eight days. (Privateering, 180)
Even though Tew existed, he never could have met up with Misson or visited Liberatalia. The time period in which the pirate haven might have existed and the point in time when Tew actually visited Madagascar are separated in time by a decade. According to one historian of Madagascar, another reason Tew couldn’t have visited the utopia was because “no pirate community ever settled in the Bay of Diego Suarez – the site of Misson’s Libertalia – because, despite the excellent harbor, the hinterland was too mountainous and too uninhabited to ensure a steady supply of provisions for a colony.” (Alam, 274)
Bay of Diego Suarez from Montagne des Français & physical map of Madagascar showing location of bay (Sources: Masindrano & Urutsegat Wikipedia)
Although the French manuscript mentioned in the quotation at the opening of this article never existed, some pirates did pen firsthand accounts of their buccaneering days. Most notable among these were Alexandre Exquemelin’s The Buccaneers of America and William Dampier’s A New Voyage around the World.
Pirates did frequent Madagascar; some even settled there, and traces of their existence remain on the island today. Its proximity to prime hunting grounds and the lack of a Western governing presence provided the pirates with the perfect place to rest and repair their ships when they weren’t out marauding. Aside from Baldridge’s outpost on Île Sainte Marie, pirates established other havens such as James Plantain’s Ranter Bay and Abraham Samuel’s Port Golfphin.5Among the pirates who spent time on Madagascar were William Kidd, Henry Every, and Christopher Condent.
Madagascar may have been a pirate haven, but it was never the utopia that Misson imagined “where they might enjoy the Fruits of their Labour, and go to their Graves in Peace.” (Defoe, 415) Rather than dying peacefully and wealthy, Edward England lived in penury until he died at Saint Augustine’s Bay in 1720. A 1711 report on Île Sainte Marie reported that many pirates were “very poor and despicable, even to the natives.” (Konstam, 113)
Early pirate histories treated Captain Misson as if he were as real as Stede Bonnet, Howell Davis, or Samuel Bellamy. Philip Gosse’s The Pirates’ Who’s Who included a nine-page account of him that ends with a quotation from Lord Byron: He was the mildest-manner’d man That ever scuttled ship or cut a throat.(218) Gosse admitted in The History of Piracy, “How much of the story is true cannot be known. Every other account of a pirate’s life written by Johnson is in the main true, but it must be confessed that no evidence so far has been found to corroborate his account of the amazing Misson.” (194)
Manuel Schonhorn, who prepared Dover Publication’s edition of A General History of the Pyratesin 1972, questions the authenticity of Mission and Libertalia. He also believes Captain Johnson was actually Daniel Defoe. Not all historians believe this is Johnson’s true identity, and some historians refuse to accept that the chapters on Misson are pure fiction. Peter Lamborn Wilson disagrees with Schonhorn’s dismissal of them simply because no documentary evidence exists to prove their existence. He suggests other possibilities for this lack of proof. First, both Misson and the French manuscript “existed, but contained misinformation about Capt. Tew (perhaps the name Tew was used to mask someone else), which Defoe uncritically accepted.” (Wilson, 197) A second alternative may be that there was a manuscript and events in it were real, “but Defoe himself invented the episodes concerning Tew.” (Ibid.) Or perhaps the manuscript, the captain, and his lieutenant are fictitious, but “some experiment like Libertatia actually occurred in Madagascar.”6(Ibid.) He concludes, None of these hypotheses can be proven or disproven on the basis of the Tew problem. Therefore the Revisionist Debunking Hypothesis– complete fictionalization– must also remain unproven.(Ibid.) Assuming that Defoe was Captain Johnson, the Misson chapters permitted him the opportunity to expound on societal ills. In this group’s reassertion of that liberty which God and Nature gave [the pirates of Libertalia], and in its withdrawal from a corrupt world order to the relative safety of unexplored Madagascar, Defoe presented his most radical questioning of the traditional bases of society. . . . Misson harshly criticizes the trading in slaves, abhors swearing and drunkenness, and supports his lieutenant’s condemnation of capital punishment.(Defoe, xxxviii) As Edward Fox explained in his doctoral thesis, “Johnson imbued the pirates with enlightened principles radically different from, and in stark contrast to, the implied tyranny of the Europeanancient régime.” (Fox, 19) Yet to speak openly against the norm could prove disastrous for the author. Samuel Diener pointed out that in a fiction about people understood to be criminals, whose actions are explicitly not endorsed, such imaginative play could be carried out without fear of censorship in an era in which open discussion of major social reorganization and reform was fraught with legal danger. TheGeneral Historyenabled its author to engage, without fear of criminal charges, in a kind of social speculation that imagined a better social order.(Diener, 40-41) Democracy may have been a key component of this utopian tale, but Maximillian Novak proposed that perhaps Defoe “thought that democracy was the ideal form of government [but] may have regarded it as impracticable.” (Novak, 347) He also believed Libertalia was “Defoe’s best expression of political and social ideas which he admired but considered unworkable.” (Turley, 107)
Once a “fire-breathing radical,” Defoe “had become a hack by the 1720’s, and a supporter of bourgeois property values.” (Wilson, 198) Historian Christopher Hill – whose specialty is the English Revolution and who doesn’t agree that Captain Misson is pure fiction – says, This is what makes the fairness of his description of Libertatia so remarkable. This would be surprising if he had invented the whole thing, less so if he had been listening to old sailors and saw the possibility of using Libertatia to criticize aspects of capitalist society which offended him.(Ibid.) In reading the Misson chapters, anyone familiar with pirate history is struck by several “anamolies” – elements that make Misson different from the majority of pirates during this time period. A case in point is his intolerance of slavery. While former slaves and blacks did become valuable members of some pirate crews, slaves were also a commodity and among the booty that was divvied up or sold.7For example, Exquemelin’s account included a list of compensation maimed buccaneers received:
Right arm = 600 pieces of eight or six slaves Left arm = 500 pieces of eight or five slaves Right leg = 500 pieces of eight or five slaves Left leg = 400 pieces of eight or four slaves Eye = 100 pieces of eight or one slave Finger = 100 pieces of eight or one slave Severe internal injury = 500 pieces of eight or five slaves (71)
When HMS Scarborough cornered John Martel at St. Croix, the pirate ordered his men to burn their galley. Forty slaves were on board at the time. Twenty died, eight were recaptured by British forces, and the remaining twelve escaped with the pirates. Among the plunder pirates sold to Gambo’s English governor were sixteen slaves. Henry Morgan owned 109 slaves when he died.
Misson overheard his men swearing and drinking like the Dutch prisoners at one point in the story. This angered him and he “gave theDutchNotice, that the first whom he catch’d either with an Oath in his Mouth or Liquor in his Head, should be . . . whipped and pickled, for an Example.” (Defoe, 405) Swearing and drinking were common practices among pirates. InThe Sea Rover’s Practice, Benerson Little recounted that “[o]ne group of French filibusters was so drunk that it failed in twenty attempts to board a Spanish vessel.” (202) Exquemelin wrote that buccaneers frequently spent their days in taverns drinking and wenching whenever they had money to spend.
So where did Johnson get his ideas for Captain Misson and Liberatalia? Benerson Little suggests several “sources” for his two primary characters. William Masson led a mutiny aboard William Kidd’s Blessed William in 1690. Masson did attack ships in the Indian Ocean; he also briefly put in at Madagascar. It’s possible he served as the model for the fictional Misson. Caraccioli may have been “pirated” from another book, Merry Tales, written in the 1500s. As for the origins of Libertialia, Marcus Rediker offers up “The Land of Cockaygne,” a peasant utopia, and medieval maritime practices as possible sources from which Johnson borrowed.
An engraving from Captain Charles Johnson’s A General History of Pirates. (Photo: Public Domain/WikiCommons)
FOR TWENTY-ODD YEARS DURING THE 17thcentury, on the coast of Madagascar, there was a democratic colony comprised of surprisingly noble pirates who lived together in peace and harmony. They bankrolled their colony with spoils stolen from evil slave ships traversing the Indian Ocean. This astonishing place, next to the sea “abounding with fish,” was called Libertatia. Like Camelot, it flourished briefly, before forces beyond its control swept it all away.
If it sounds too good to be true, the stuff that blockbuster movies and comic books are made of, it may be because it is. Our main source of information about Libertatia (also referred to as Libertalia) comes from two chapters in the 2ndedition of Captain Charles Johnson’s A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates, published in 1726.
Many scholars now believe that Johnson was in fact a pseudonym for the writer and political activist Daniel Defoe. However, many of the tales told in A General History have been proven to be based in historical truth, so there is a chance that Libertatia, or places like it, did exist.
Johnson’s account begins with an introduction to Libertatia’s founder, the highborn and handsome Captain James Misson:
We can be somewhat particular in the life of this gentleman Misson, because by a very great accident, we have got into our hands a French manuscript in which he himself gives a detail of his actions. He was born in Provence, of an ancient family; his father, whose true name he conceals, was master of a plentiful fortune, but having a great number of children, our rover had but little hopes of other fortune than what he could carve out for himself with his sword.
In search of his place in the world, Misson joined the crew of the French privateering ship Victoire. On his travels, he met a free thinking Dominican priest named Caraccioli. This “lewd” priest would become Misson’s right hand man, and the brains behind Libertatia. Caraccioli was a deist, who believed organized religion was used to control the masses. Soon, Misson adopted his views and “began to figure to himself that all religion was no more than a curb up the minds of the weaker, which the wiser sort yielded to in appearance only.” Caraccioli also believed slavery was inherently wrong and that all men were born free and equal in the eyes of God.
“Captain Charles Johnson” is believed to be a pseudonym for writer Daniel Defoe, pictured. (Photo: Public Domain/WikiCommons)
Soon, many of the ship’s crew had been converted to Caraccioli’s revolutionary ideas. When the ship’s captain was killed during a battle at sea, Misson was proclaimed the Victoire’s new leader. In a rousing speech, Caraccioli and Misson convinced the French, Dutch, English and African sailors to throw off their “official” French chains, and become pirates of no nation, devoted to a higher cause:
As we then do not proceed upon the same ground with pirates, who are men of dissolute lives and no principles, let us scorn to take their colors. Ours is a brave, a just, an innocent, and a noble cause; the cause of liberty…The cabin door was left open, and the bulk-head which was of canvas rolled up, the steerage being full of men, who lent an attentive ear, they cried, “Liberty! Liberty! We are free men! Vive, the brave Captain Misson and the noble Lieutenant Caraccioli.”
And so this new band of idealistic pirates took off for the southern coast of Africa. They traveled around the Cape of Good Hope, engaging merchant and slave ships in battles along the way. They rescued many slaves and mistreated sailors, declaring them free men and integrating them into their crew. They were also remarkably lenient and respectful in the way they handled the captains on these ships, since neither Misson nor Caraccioli believed in capital punishment or torture, except in extreme cases.
A beach on the east coast of Grande Comore, part of the Comoros Islands. (Photo: David Stanley/flickr)
Laden with booty from these encounters (which was shared equally), they made their way to the island of Johanna, now called Anjouan, in the Comoros Islands. Here, they offered their services to Queen Halina, and fought for her against her brother, who had challenged her throne. Some of the men took wives and stayed in Johanna, while the rest followed Captain Misson and Caraccioli (both of whom had also married native women) to the north coast of Madagascar, in search of a permanent home-base. They found it at a “bay to the northward of Diego- Suarez (now Antsiranana).” According to Johnson:
He [Misson] ran ten leagues up this Bay, and on the larboard side found it afforded a large and safe harbor with plenty of fresh water. He came here to an anchor, went ashore and examined the nature of the soil, which he found rich, the air wholesome and the country level. He told his men that this was an excellent place for an asylum, and that he determined to fortify and raise a small town, and make docks for shipping, that they might have some place to call their own, and a receptacle when age or wounds had rendered them incapable of hardship, where they might enjoy the fruits of their labor, and go to their graves in peace: that he would not, however, set about this, till he had the approbation of the whole company.”
The men named this new settlement Libertatia. They shed their old nationalities and called themselves “liberi.” They began to fashion their own language, a mixture of their various native tongues and local dialects. Around this time, they met up with the very real Englishman, Captain Thomas Tew, a privateer turned pirate, who joined Libertatia along with his men. The “liberi” began to construct a town out of the wilds of Madagascar. The men who had stayed in Johanna arrived with their wives and young children. As the colony grew, some men went out with Captain Tew and other leaders to continue hunting down merchant and slave ships in the Indian Ocean.
An illustration of the privateer turned pirate Captain Thomas Tew, relating his exploits to Governor Fletcher of New York. (Photo: Public Domain/WikiCommons)
Within a few years, Libertatia was flourishing. They had “cleared, sown and enclosed a good parcel of ground, and taken in a quantity of pasturage, where they had above 300 head of black cattle, bought from the locals. The dock was now finished, and the Victoire, growing old and unfit for a long voyage…she was pulled to pieces and rebuilt, keeping the same name.” Life was lived in a communal way, with every man sharing in both the work load and the spoils of the sea.
However, tensions grew between Tew and Misson’s men, leading to a proposal of a new form of governance for the pirate nation:
The whole colony was assembled and the three commanders [Misson, Caraccioli and Tew] proposed a form of government being taken up…that looked upon a democratical form, where the people were themselves the makers and judges of their own laws… they would divide themselves into companies of ten men, and every such company choose one to assist in the settling of a form of government and in making wholesome laws for the good of the whole.”
The men agreed to this system of government. Caraccioli also “spoke to the necessity of lodging a supreme power in the hands of one who should have that of rewarding brave and virtuous actions and of punishing the vicious, according to the laws which the state should make.” This would not be a hereditary position, but an elected one, determined by a public election every three years. Not surprisingly, he put Misson forward for the nomination, and he was duly elected.
However, this new style of government would not last for long. While Captain Tew was at sea, native peoples attacked Libertatia. Caraccioli was killed along with many other “liberis.” Captain Misson escaped with 40 odd men and a treasure trove of booty. He met up with Captain Tew, who tried to convince him to go to America and establish a colony there. The heartbroken Misson declined, “for his misfortunes had erased all thoughts of future settlements; that what riches they had saved he would distribute equally, nay, he would be content, if he had only a bare support left him.“
Soon after, Misson and the Victoire went down during a violent storm. The Libertatia experiment had officially come to an end.
So, is this amazing story true? Even if Libertatia was a figment of Defoe’s (or some other ghost writer’s) imagination, it is certainly rooted in some historical fact. There is no doubt that many pirates spent time in Madagascar and the Comoros Islands, and there is strong evidence to suggest that they made places like Johanna and Madagascar’s Ile Sainte- Marie their home base.
Madagascar had long been considered a kind of freeman’s paradise. As early as 1640, a man named Walter Hammond wrote a book entitled A Paradox Proving That the Inhabitants of the Isle Called Madagascar… Are the Happiest People in the World. There are also tales of documented pirates like Henry Every establishing idealistic colonies on sparsely populated islands.
The scholar Marcus Rediker believes that the values espoused in the tale of Captain Misson were similar to those held by many pirate crews. During the 16thand 17thcenturies, the common sailor’s life was very difficult. According to Rediker, one observer said, “being in a ship is being in jail with the chance of being drowned…a man in jail has more room, better food and commonly better company.”
Many sailors became pirates to escape these horrible conditions. Contrary to the stereotype of the tyrannical Captain Hook, heads of pirate ships often had very little real power. As one onlooker stated, “they permit him to be captain, on condition, that they may be captain over him.”
An engraving of a pirate custom: walking the plank. (Photo: Library of Congress)
Pirates were often multi-cultural crews, and many crews had members who had formerly been African slaves. They often drew up constitutions and cast off their original identities, claiming to be “from the seas.” According to Rediker, “the very first item in [pirate] Bartholomew Robert’s articles guaranteed every man a vote in affairs of movement and equal title to fresh provisions and strong liquors.”
This piratical way of life would no doubt have been appealing to Daniel Defoe. The author was a staunch reformist, who spent time in debtor’s prison. He had very progressive views regarding religion, commerce and liberty. As a British citizen with ties to the crown, it would have been dangerous for him to voice his support of a democratic nation. Perhaps, Captain Misson was created to speak for Defoe.
This possibility has not stopped many explorers from searching for proof of Libertatia’s existence. Journalist Kevin Rushby’s quest to find these pirate utopias took him on a journey though Mozambique, the Quirimbas Islands, the Comoros Islands and Madagascar. Along the way, he met many people who claimed to be descendants of pirates, a pirate grave, an old cauldron, a house reported to be the home where Misson met with Queen Halina–but little else.
If Libertalia ever existed, it seems the jungle and the sea have swallowed up the proof. But really, isn’t Libertatia just an ideal we are all still in search of? Who doesn’t want to believe in a seaside paradise where weary wanderers might, as Captain Charles Johnson wrote,“enjoy the fruits of their labor, and go to their graves in peace”?
Captain Misson, described by Johnson as founder of Libertalia
Libertatia(also known asLibertalia) was a purportedpiratecolony founded in the late 17th century inMadagascarunder the leadership of Captain James Misson (last name occasionally spelled "Mission", first name occasionally given as "Olivier"). The main source for Libertatia is Volume 2 ofA General History of the Pyrates, a 1724 book which describes Captain Misson and Libertatia. Little to no corroborating evidence for Libertatia beyond this account has been found, however. Whether Libertatia was real but somehow "lost" to history, a pirate legend that the author recorded based on interviews with sailors, or a concocted work ofutopian fictionby the author from the start is contested.
Libertalia was a legendary free colony founded bypiratesled by Captain Misson,[1]although most historians have expressed doubts over its existence outside of literature. Libertalia got its name from theLatinwordliberiwhich means "free". Misson's idea was to have his society be one in which people of all colours, creeds, and beliefs were to be free of any scrutiny. He wanted to give the people of Libertalia their owndemonym, not one of a past country of origin.[2]Historian and activistMarcus Redikerdescribes the pirates as follows:
These pirates who settled in Libertatia would be "vigilant Guardians of the People's Rights and Liberties"; they would stand as "Barriers against the Rich and Powerful" of their day. By waging war on behalf of "the Oppressed" against the "Oppressors," they would see that "Justice was equally distributed."[3]
The pirates were against the authoritarian institutions of their day, includingmonarchies,slavery,institutional religion, and the abuses associated with wealth. Like some historically documented pirates, they practiceddirect democracy, where the people as a whole held the authority to make laws and rules, and also used systems of councils composed of delegates who were supposed to think of themselves as "comrades" of the general population, not rulers. Theycreated a new languagefor their colony and operated a socialist economy.[4]
According to the account inA General History of the Pyrates,[2]Misson was French, born inProvence, and it was while he was inRomeon leave from the French warshipVictoirethat he lost his faith, disgusted by the decadence of the Papal Court. In Rome he ran into Caraccioli – a "lewd Priest" who over the course of long voyages with little to do but talk, gradually converted Misson and a sizeable portion of the rest of the crew to his way of thinking:
he fell upon Government, and shew'd, that every Man was born free, and had as much Right to what would support him, as to the Air he respired... that the vast Difference betwixt Man and Man, the one wallowing in Luxury, and the other in the most pinching Necessity, was owing only to Avarice and Ambition on the one Hand, and a pusillanimous Subjection on the other.[2]
Embarking on a career of piracy, the 200 strong crew of theVictoirecalled upon Misson to be their captain. They shared the wealth of the ship, deciding "all should be in common."[5]
Sigil of Thomas Tew, a significant figure in the purported growth of Libertatia
The consensus of modern scholarship is that Libertalia (or Libertatia) was not a real place, but a work of fiction.[6]Journalist Kevin Rushby toured the area seeking descendants of pirate inhabitants without success, noting “others have tried and failed many times”.[7]There were pirate settlements on and around Madagascar, on which Libertalia may have been based:Abraham SamuelatPort Dauphin,Adam BaldridgeatIle Ste.-Marie, andJames PlaintainatRanter Baywere all ex-pirates who founded trading posts and towns. These locations appear frequently in official accounts and letters from the period, while Libertatia appears only inJohnson'sGeneral History, Volume 2.[8]Johnson writes about the overall set up of Libertatia. The settlement was purported to have an elevated fort on each side of the harbor with 40 guns in each fort, from thePortuguese. Below the fort, under the protection of the forts, was where the living quarters along with the rest of the town was located. Libertatia was located roughly 13 miles east-south-east of the nearest town.[2]
Johnson's "Libertatia" has been treated as completely fictional,[9]as apocryphal,[10]or as a utopian commentary.[11]The inclusion of fictional accounts such as Misson's inA General Historyhas caused some modern scholars to discount the entire work as a reliable source, though other portions of it have been at least partially corroborated by various sources.[12]
At their peak, which city was more impressive? Rome or Constantinople?
May 1
Both Rome and Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) were incredibly impressive cities in their respective times, each with unique characteristics that made them stand out. Comparing the two cities at their peak is a fascinating exercise, as they were both centers of power, culture, and civilization in their own right.
Rome, as the capital of the Roman Empire, was a city of immense importance and grandeur. At its peak, during the height of the Roman Empire in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, Rome was the largest city in the world and a hub of political, military, and cultural activity. It was known for its monumental architecture, such as the Colosseum, the Pantheon, and the Roman Forum, as well as its impressive aqueducts, roads, and public baths. Rome was also a center of art, literature, and philosophy, with renowned figures such as Cicero, Virgil, and Seneca calling the city home.
Constantinople, on the other hand, was the capital of the Byzantine Empire and served as a bridge between the classical world of Rome and the medieval world of Europe and the Middle East. Founded by the Roman Emperor Constantine in 330 AD, Constantinople was strategically located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, making it a key center of trade, diplomacy, and culture. The city was known for its massive defensive walls, such as the Theodosian Walls, which protected it from numerous sieges over the centuries. Constantinople was also famous for its architectural marvels, such as the Hagia Sophia, the Hippodrome, and the Church of the Holy Apostles.
In terms of sheer size and population, Rome was likely more impressive at its peak, given its status as the largest city in the ancient world. However, Constantinople was known for its strategic location, wealth, and cultural richness, which made it a rival to Rome in many ways. Both cities had a profound impact on the course of history and left behind a rich legacy of art, architecture, and culture that continues to inspire people to this day.
Ultimately, the question of which city was more impressive at its peak is subjective and depends on what criteria one uses to evaluate them. Both Rome and Constantinople were remarkable cities that played crucial roles in shaping the history of the ancient world.
Several commenters were divided in their opinions on which Roman capital city was more impressive at their peak.
First commenter:
Rome not only had more forums, basilicas, pagan Greco Roman temples, circuses, amphitheaters, baths and other various pagan structures but all of them were were larger to their counterparts in Constantinople.
One criticism people also bring up about Rome was it’s mostly winding unorganized street plan in comparison to Constantinoples organized city planning which is was also just as impressive. What people don’t know is that Constantinople's planning was nothing new for the Roman’s and was another planned city in a long line of them that Rome built from the ground up. Another misconception is that Romes planning made it difficult to navigate and live in but most people fail to realize Rome had main streets and avenues in a similar way to Paris. This in my opinion makes Rome at lot more charming like most modern European city planning today.
It’s natural growth planning led to situations like the Roman forum. Where if you stood in the middle of it, it would be complete sensory overload being surrounded by temples, basilica’s, various state buildings, the capitoline and palatine hills with various temples and palaces on them as well. Now imagine this but times ten and that it Rome. The city of seven hills.
Second commenter:
I would say it’s Constantinople. Constantinople was called “New Rome”. It’s Location, architecture, culture, design was Superb. During the 4th Crusade in 1204, when Europeans occupied Constantinople, they were incredibly surprised by City’s achievements. Actually Europeans took most of the knowledge and wealth from Byzantium at that period. Hagia Sophia was pure masterpiece with it’s miraculous dome. During the consecration of this magnificent Church, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian uttered the historic words: "I have surpassed you, Solomon". He was refering to Solomon's temple in Jerusalem built for Almightly God. They even had a mechanical golden tree in the Imperial Palace in Constantinople that had fake birds on it and they actually chirped. They also had mechanical statues of lions, hydraulically operated, that roared.
Need to say/show more ?
P.S. Thanks for all the Upvotes guys ! I hope we’ll meet each other in the Constantinople, one day !
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