Speaker 1: Rome was on the move. With multiple territories already under
Speaker 1: their rule, the Empire set out in the third century
Speaker 1: to conquer lands further north and east. Their reputation preceded them,
Speaker 1: sparking fear in the hearts of their rivals, and for
Speaker 1: the most part they had gone unchallenged. But an unusual
Speaker 1: rival was about to step forward and test Rome's dominance.
Speaker 1: King Agron was a mighty ruler in his own rights,
Speaker 1: and his kingdom stretched far and wide, from the Danube
Speaker 1: River in the north and the mountains towards the east,
Speaker 1: to the Adriatic Sea to his south. The vibrant water
Speaker 1: and enchanting landscape were home to many Illyrian tribes, including
Speaker 1: the rd I. Although the king ruled well, he knew
Speaker 1: the political landscape was shifting. To prepare for the inevitable,
Speaker 1: he built great naval forces in the Mediterranean Sea and
Speaker 1: expanded his influence along the coast, and with this military might,
Speaker 1: he focused on his kingdom's growth, challenging a Greek kingdom
Speaker 1: of Aetolia during his campaign. Toyota, his second wife, stayed
Speaker 1: behind as regent in place of Agron's infant son from
Speaker 1: his first marriage, and the king didn't worry about his
Speaker 1: kingdom and his absence. For his queen was strong willed
Speaker 1: and a powerful force in her own right. King Agron
Speaker 1: fought bravely alongside his men, and they were victorious. The
Speaker 1: kingdom celebrated with great feasts, lots of dancing, and plenty
Speaker 1: of drinking contests. The festivities came to a close, though,
Speaker 1: when Agron fell ill with pleurisy and died in two
Speaker 1: thirty BC. With such political upheaval, this might have been
Speaker 1: his kingdom's end, except Queen Toyota had ambitions of her own.
Speaker 1: She continued her attacks, relying heavily on one strategy, in
Speaker 1: particular piracy. So when she captured the capital of Epirus,
Speaker 1: a politically important Greek city, Rome noticed Toyota's pirates robbed
Speaker 1: Rome's merchant ships and trade vessels, and to the Romans,
Speaker 1: no one messed with their finances. Gaius and Lucius corn Cannius,
Speaker 1: Roman diplomats and brothers met with Toyota, hoping to persuade
Speaker 1: the queen to ban piracy, well, to ban her piracy,
Speaker 1: but not theirs. Rome had no intentions to stop using pirates,
Speaker 1: and the queen declined the diplomat's request. Piracy was a
Speaker 1: longstanding Illyrian tradition, and theirs had become some of the
Speaker 1: most feared in the Mediterranean. Her ships and crew had
Speaker 1: her respect and their free reign. Gaius and Lucius sail
Speaker 1: for home, although they would never make it. Toyota ordered
Speaker 1: their ship raided and the brothers killed. In response, Rome
Speaker 1: assembled an army of twenty thousand men and two hundred ships,
Speaker 1: which set sail for Toyota's navy. The queen entrusted her adviser,
Speaker 1: Demitrius Aferos, to their defense, but that would prove a
Speaker 1: fatal mistake. He betrayed her, surrendering without a fight and
Speaker 1: aligning with the Romans. Unprepared for such treachery and left
Speaker 1: with little choice, Toyota agreed to the peace Treaty, forceing
Speaker 1: the once mighty Illyrians to become a client state and
Speaker 1: pay Rome tribute. A year later, Rome forced from the throne.
Speaker 1: According to legend, Toyota threw herself off a cliff in
Speaker 1: the Bay of Kotor, placing a curse on the town.
Speaker 1: But although she'd lost her land and her throne, her
Speaker 1: defiance set the stage for centuries of rebellion, and at
Speaker 1: the hearts of those uprisings, with something any rebel could
Speaker 1: relate to piracy. I'm Aaron Manky and welcome two pirates.
Speaker 1: Pirates appeared to be the ultimate rebel. Their legendary greed
Speaker 1: for treasure and their cutthroat nature made them the nonconformist
Speaker 1: Mavericks of the sea. And yet that's not the full picture,
Speaker 1: because pirates actually played an important part in the matters
Speaker 1: of kingdoms and governments. For a lot of pirates, it
Speaker 1: was right there from the beginning. It wasn't uncommon for
Speaker 1: sailors to sign on as privateers, choosing to harass, pillage,
Speaker 1: and plunder for their kingdom or country. Yes, pirates had
Speaker 1: far better freedoms than privateers, but some chose the unsanctioned
Speaker 1: version of their career path only after having a falling
Speaker 1: out with the powers that be in their homeland. Now,
Speaker 1: war had long been a way of life in Europe
Speaker 1: as new nations fought for territory. In doing so, alliances
Speaker 1: were constantly forged and broken, and when Europeans began arriving
Speaker 1: in America, everyone wanted to stake their claim. Spain, France, England,
Speaker 1: and Portugal all took a strong interest. At the time,
Speaker 1: England had less of a military presence, making their ships
Speaker 1: heading to the New World subject to more attacks, but
Speaker 1: none of that stopped them from wanting to stake a
Speaker 1: territorial claim. When Queen Anne's War broke out in seventeen
Speaker 1: o one, it saw England, Spain, and France fight for
Speaker 1: control of North America, and although the British were underpowered,
Speaker 1: they still managed to do something extraordinary. An English fleet
Speaker 1: trapped a dozen French vessels plus most of the Spanish
Speaker 1: navy in an inlet off of Spain's northern coast. Miraculously,
Speaker 1: the British managed to destroy or capture most of their
Speaker 1: opponent's ships. In retaliation, the French hired one hundred privateers
Speaker 1: to operate out of Dunkirk. These joined other privateering vessels
Speaker 1: from other French cities. Throughout the war. They targeted English
Speaker 1: and Dutch ships, rating about five hundred each year, and
Speaker 1: the Spanish hired their own as well. With their adversaries
Speaker 1: teaming up against them, the British responded in kind with
Speaker 1: their own privateers. British colonies in Jamaica quickly outfitted thirty ships,
Speaker 1: and men began to line up for their privateering licenses.
Speaker 1: For many of these privateers they wouldn't be stealing from
Speaker 1: their adversaries so much as taking it back for a fee.
Speaker 1: Of course, some of them, men like Woods Rogers, had
Speaker 1: previously worked on merchant vessels, while others like Henry Jennings
Speaker 1: and Benjamin Hornegal had been sailors on a variety of
Speaker 1: different ships. Before long, England's fleet rivaled their adversaries, they
Speaker 1: set up headquarters and turned the tables, hunting down French
Speaker 1: merchants and Spanish treasure fleets as the war raged on.
Speaker 1: The privateers earned considerable wealth from their efforts. Year after year,
Speaker 1: the money rolled in, that is, right up to the
Speaker 1: seventeen thirteen Treaty of Utrecht. The treaty meant some of
Speaker 1: the privateers had to return to their former jobs, but
Speaker 1: many of them had no intention of giving up their
Speaker 1: better pay and freedom. Besides, France and Spain hadn't exactly
Speaker 1: stuck to the treaty, going back to raids almost immediately.
Speaker 1: The British privateers faced another problem as well. When Queen
Speaker 1: Anne died and her line of errors had been removed
Speaker 1: from the throne, the new government changed the Empire's agreement
Speaker 1: with those privateers. Those who had served well under the
Speaker 1: Queen now found their portion of the bounties had been
Speaker 1: significantly reduced, so privateers turned to piracy instead, and the
Speaker 1: British pirates weren't alone in voicing their displeasure with their
Speaker 1: government the way back in fourteen nine to Spain expelled
Speaker 1: Jewish settlers who had lived among them for centuries, forcing
Speaker 1: them to find new homes in places like Brazil, Jamaica,
Speaker 1: and even New York. But those who settled among the
Speaker 1: pirate communities soon took up piracy. Spanish treasure ships quickly
Speaker 1: became a primary target, not only for the riches aboard,
Speaker 1: but as revenge for how poorly their people had been treated,
Speaker 1: particularly during the Inquisition. For example, in six pirate captain
Speaker 1: Moses Cohen and Riquez came across a Spanish treasure ship
Speaker 1: off Cuba's Bay of Matanzas. The gold he captured that
Speaker 1: day would be worth over one billion dollars in modern
Speaker 1: American currency. In Riquez went on to settle in Brazil,
Speaker 1: establishing his own pirate kingdom. Twenty years later, he worked
Speaker 1: closely with Henry Morgan, continuing to wreak havoc on the Spanish.
Speaker 1: So there you have it. Some pirates sought to change
Speaker 1: their governments, while others sought revenge. But the Irish pirates
Speaker 1: they saw something even more valuable and elusive independence. Long
Speaker 1: before England became a sovereign nation or even flexed their
Speaker 1: imperialistic ambitions, Irish pirates were roaming the sea in search
Speaker 1: of treasure. In fact, some of Ireland's largest settlements once
Speaker 1: served as home to one fierce seafaring group of people,
Speaker 1: in particular, the Vikings. They found the area agreeable, staying
Speaker 1: and becoming intermingled with Irish communities, and over time they
Speaker 1: passed along their techniques of hunting ships and conducting raids
Speaker 1: to the locals. Piracy flourished in West Cork, eclipsing even
Speaker 1: the pirate capital later established in Nassau. It seems that
Speaker 1: hundreds of years before the dawn of the Golden Age
Speaker 1: of piracy, Irish pirates reigned supreme, and there many raids
Speaker 1: bolstered the local economy. Pirates brought in goods from all
Speaker 1: over the world, selling it for a fraction of the cost.
Speaker 1: Towns flourished from all the money pirates would spend when
Speaker 1: they returned from sea. In the towns of Kelly, Bags,
Speaker 1: Donegal and Baltimore, and Cork pirates walked the streets freely.
Speaker 1: Everyone from lawyers to jurymen collaborated with them, helping to
Speaker 1: plot their attacks and businesses. With lure pirates into port
Speaker 1: with the promise of feasts, dancing and women. Others were
Speaker 1: equally as welcoming, although less friendly to them. Local chieftain
Speaker 1: Michael Cormick of brad Haven saw a different opportunity. He
Speaker 1: and his band of men robbed pirates of whatever they
Speaker 1: had on them. Entire families often took on the pirate life.
Speaker 1: For example, the O'Malley clan ruled a stretch of land
Speaker 1: near Clue Bay on Ireland's western coast. They held their
Speaker 1: power longer than most, too, beginning in the thirt hundreds
Speaker 1: and spanning nearly three centuries. Rows of their castles dotted
Speaker 1: the seashore. Thanks to piracy, the clan had acquired considerable wealth,
Speaker 1: but they also dabbled in protection, rackets and mercenary work.
Speaker 1: Their legitimate business trade with Spain and France further padded
Speaker 1: their pockets. In fifteen thirty, chieftain Own, a descendant of
Speaker 1: a king and a member of one of the oldest
Speaker 1: seafaring families in Ireland, waited while handmaids tended to his wife, Margaret,
Speaker 1: expectantly waiting for the birth of their first child. All
Speaker 1: went well, and they named her Granny. They say she
Speaker 1: grew to be as intelligent and fierce as her parents,
Speaker 1: and although she was an only child, she did have
Speaker 1: a half brother born to her father and another woman.
Speaker 1: Unlike other clans who favored illegitimate heirs over legitimate female heirs,
Speaker 1: Own favored Granja over his son Donald. Perhaps she became
Speaker 1: his favorite for her spirit, her intelligence, and her fiery
Speaker 1: red hair, or perhaps he favored her because she hung
Speaker 1: on his every word and took a strong interest in
Speaker 1: the family business. She became fluent in several languages, could
Speaker 1: read and write, and was even taught mathematics. All told,
Speaker 1: she lived a privileged life. The trade business was brisk
Speaker 1: in the sixteenth century, and her father spent much of
Speaker 1: his time traveling. Grannie pleaded for him to take her
Speaker 1: with him. Own left, teasing his daughter that her hair
Speaker 1: would become tangled in the ropes. Neither he nor his
Speaker 1: wife was amused when Grannia cut off that hair and
Speaker 1: dressed as a boy. In the end, her father relented,
Speaker 1: teaching her everything he knew about commanding and running a ship.
Speaker 1: Grannia paid close attention to navigating through the sandbars, the islands,
Speaker 1: and the rocks that made Clube Bay treacherous. Eventually, Owned
Speaker 1: took Grannie with him on a few trading ventures. But
Speaker 1: childhood doesn't last forever, and soon enough her parents began
Speaker 1: to prepare their daughter for marriage and for his daughter's
Speaker 1: future husband. Owned chose a member of the Auflty clan,
Speaker 1: landowners and allies of Theirs to the south. Both clans
Speaker 1: thought the match was a smart one. Donald at Chogi
Speaker 1: was not only a warlord but also the elected heir
Speaker 1: for the Aflty clan, and so in fifteen forty six,
Speaker 1: young Granna became his wife. They had three children together, Owen, Margaret,
Speaker 1: and Murray. The Auflertes and the neighboring clan, the Joyces,
Speaker 1: spent much of their time warring. Donald spent much of
Speaker 1: his time away, leaving Grania to parents alone. One day,
Speaker 1: while out on a hunt in the hills, Donald was killed.
Speaker 1: His death was no accident, though he had been ambushed.
Speaker 1: With both the Joyces and the English determined to take
Speaker 1: over the kingdom. Grannie returned home, leaving her children behind
Speaker 1: they were a flirty after all, and she was O'Malley.
Speaker 1: She didn't return empty handed, though, Many of the Auflerty
Speaker 1: mercenary warriors chose to leave with her, and as she
Speaker 1: left the Auflerty castle, Grania took one last thing, her
Speaker 1: husband's favorite motto, Fortune favors the brave. Her husband's men
Speaker 1: had followed her for a good reason. While Grannie had
Speaker 1: been busy running a household and raising children, she had
Speaker 1: also started her own trade operation. Those mercenaries had been
Speaker 1: her employees, and she had earned their loyalty. It's unclear when,
Speaker 1: but sometime after returning to O'Malley Land's, gran also found love.
Speaker 1: Her family had enemies, though, and her new lover, Hugh,
Speaker 1: met an unpleasant end at the hands of another clan,
Speaker 1: the McMahon's of blacks in Bay. The trouble started when
Speaker 1: Grannie's men took tribute from the McMahon's, and act her
Speaker 1: family had done many times over the years. Suffice to say,
Speaker 1: Grannie didn't take to Hugh's murder and planned her revenge.
Speaker 1: She waited until the McMahon's set out on a journey
Speaker 1: to call her island. Her men followed and attacked, killing
Speaker 1: everyone on board involved with Hugh's death to drive home
Speaker 1: the retribution. Though, Grania and her men also captured the
Speaker 1: family castle, Douna, earning her the nickname the Dark Lady
Speaker 1: of Douna. She married again in fifteen fifty six to
Speaker 1: Richard Burke, who came from a very powerful and affluent clan.
Speaker 1: But Grannie had grown her own power and wealth, accumulating
Speaker 1: more ships and hundreds of men under her command, men
Speaker 1: who had either left or been ousted from their own clans,
Speaker 1: making them suitable pirate material. When her father died, Grannie
Speaker 1: broke tradition. Technically, her half brother, being the only male heir,
Speaker 1: should have taken over the clan, but with her husband's
Speaker 1: and her men's support, the clan voted her into power.
Speaker 1: No other woman in Irish lore had managed to become
Speaker 1: a pirate queen, much less a clan chief. As her
Speaker 1: power and reputation grew, she kept an eye on England.
Speaker 1: Queen Elizabeth the First had named a new Lord Deputy
Speaker 1: of Ireland, Sir Henry Sidney, whose job it was to
Speaker 1: take down the Irish chiefs, especially those the Queen determined
Speaker 1: were troublesome. Meanwhile, Grannie had something else on her mind.
Speaker 1: She was pregnant, although being with child hardly prevented her
Speaker 1: from taking part in pirating. Legend has it that she
Speaker 1: even accompanied her men on a hunting journey at this time,
Speaker 1: somewhere off the Iberian Peninsula in the Middle East. She
Speaker 1: had gone to bed when a crew of Barbary pirates
Speaker 1: attacked her ship. Hearing the fighting above deck, she grabbed
Speaker 1: a firearm and joined her men in battle. Instead of
Speaker 1: being plundered, Grani and her men turned the tables and
Speaker 1: captured the Turkish pirate vessel. When she gave birth to
Speaker 1: her son, Tibbett, she and Richard gave him everything he needed,
Speaker 1: including the best education, and when he grew older, they
Speaker 1: sent him to live with a noble family to further
Speaker 1: his learning as well as his sword fighting skills. Grannia
Speaker 1: continued to rule her pirate kingdom, taking great pleasure from
Speaker 1: raiding English ships. Aside from the financial benefits, looting the
Speaker 1: ships became an act of protest against Britain. England had
Speaker 1: recently sent an execution squad to Ireland, and although he
Speaker 1: had failed, Sir Henry Sydney had also tried to force
Speaker 1: a new tax system on her people. At one point,
Speaker 1: Sidney demanded to meet with the Irish lords. During the meeting,
Speaker 1: Grannia strode in announcing herself as chief and captain. Sir
Speaker 1: Sidney was stunned not only with her command and power,
Speaker 1: but that she offered him her service, her men, and
Speaker 1: her ships. Now plenty of Irish captains had offered similar
Speaker 1: deals in the past, only to later raid the ship
Speaker 1: they had been hired to protect, But in fifteen seventy eight,
Speaker 1: Grannia took it a step further. Within weeks of the deal,
Speaker 1: she planned her attack and set sail with her men.
Speaker 1: Her target was the Earl of Desmond, who had pledged
Speaker 1: to abandon Irish customs. Unfortunately for Grannie, she was captured
Speaker 1: and imprisoned for months. The Earl, hoping to gain favor
Speaker 1: with Queen Elizabeth, informed her spy master that he had
Speaker 1: captured the pirate. Queen Grannie was transferred to Dublin Castle,
Speaker 1: where she was kept in chains until her release in
Speaker 1: fifteen seventy nine. Four years later, her husband, Richard died
Speaker 1: of natural causes, and a year after that, the English
Speaker 1: appointed Sir Richard Bingham as the Provincial President of Conduct
Speaker 1: Bingham set out to destroy gran He killed her oldest son, Owen,
Speaker 1: and also captured an imprisoned Tibbett, flouting his horrific and
Speaker 1: cruel treatment of her younger son. And finally Bingham took
Speaker 1: one of her best strongholds. But if he thought he
Speaker 1: had broken her, he was sorely mistaken. Granny asked to
Speaker 1: meet directly with Queen Elizabeth, Queen to Queen, so to speak,
Speaker 1: and that meeting took place in Greenwich in fifteen ninety three.
Speaker 1: Legend says that Grannya carried a dagger and refused to bow.
Speaker 1: Whatever else may have been said or done, Grannya got
Speaker 1: everything she asked for that day, justice for Owen's death
Speaker 1: and freedom for Tibbet. In exchange, she gave up piracy
Speaker 1: for men, however, carried on. Although the golden age of
Speaker 1: piracy has long passed and the likes of Edward Teach
Speaker 1: and Grannye O'Malley are no longer an influence or rebel
Speaker 1: against political powers, there's still a little pirates in our
Speaker 1: government that exists. In a single word, the filibuster. The
Speaker 1: definition means using delaying tactics to stall or prevent an action,
Speaker 1: generally in a legislative assembly. We're familiar with long winded
Speaker 1: political speeches and delays when it comes to voting on
Speaker 1: certain bills, but filibuster has salad roots. In the Piratine world.
Speaker 1: The word was first used sometime around fifteen ninety one
Speaker 1: and meant flea booters or more commonly free booters. The
Speaker 1: origin of the word filibuster is probably Dutch, although it's
Speaker 1: likely there's some French and Spanish influence in there as well.
Speaker 1: Filibusters as people, had a surly reputation and were usually
Speaker 1: relegated to describing buccaneers who had a hold on American
Speaker 1: and Caribbean countries between eighteen thirty and eighteen sixty. Venezuelan
Speaker 1: filibuster Narcisco Lopez, for example, devoted himself to not only
Speaker 1: cashing in on treasure ships, but taking his part in
Speaker 1: overthrowing governments. Lopez helped free both Cuba and Venezuela from
Speaker 1: Spanish rule. By the eighteen hundreds, filibusters became a term
Speaker 1: used to describe individuals who ignored neutrality laws and engaged
Speaker 1: in acts of war by taking control of another country's
Speaker 1: land and people. In the US, filibustering became popular among
Speaker 1: people living in the Southern States, whose sympathy eyes with
Speaker 1: men like Lopez, occasionally even funding their attacks. Countries like Cuba, Honduras,
Speaker 1: and Mexico often found themselves the targets of such movements.
Speaker 1: Americans who engaged in filibustering caused international tensions, especially with England,
Speaker 1: where some encounters nearly led to war, and Lopez wasn't alone.
Speaker 1: Tennessee native William Walker annexed a part of Mexico, declaring
Speaker 1: himself president. He claimed that Mexico wasn't making the best
Speaker 1: use of the land, giving him and his men the
Speaker 1: right to take the ownership. His excuse didn't go over
Speaker 1: very well with Mexico or the US, straining diplomatic relations
Speaker 1: between both sides. Walker eventually gave into the pressure from
Speaker 1: both countries and left, and although the US arrested and
Speaker 1: tried him, he was acquitted. Having found little pushback or consequence,
Speaker 1: and with the rising popularity of the filibuster movement, he
Speaker 1: tried the tactic again, this time in Nicaragua. He and
Speaker 1: twenty five hundred of his men forcibly took over and
Speaker 1: ruled the area until British and American troops stepped in
Speaker 1: to stop him. Filibustering faded from popularity after the start
Speaker 1: of the Civil War. Some historians wonder if the South's
Speaker 1: moved to secede from the Union had been due in
Speaker 1: part to the filibuster movement. But by the eighteen nineties,
Speaker 1: any politician who talked for an excessive amount of time
Speaker 1: while attempting to delay or obstruct senate business was said
Speaker 1: to be a filibuster. Today, after almost a century and
Speaker 1: a half of hearing that specific connotation, we associate the
Speaker 1: word with politics rather than it's pirate roots. Many of
Speaker 1: us might say the long delays and lengthy speeches that
Speaker 1: filibusters use are nothing more than sheer madness. And all
Speaker 1: I can say to that is that's politics. Piracy and
Speaker 1: politics have been intertwined for centuries, so I hope today's
Speaker 1: adventure on the High Seas helped make that story clear.
Speaker 1: It's a chapter of the pirate story that certainly has
Speaker 1: a powerful cast of characters, from those who ruled to
Speaker 1: the ones who sought to change that. But we're not
Speaker 1: done just yet. My shipmate Alie Steed has one more
Speaker 1: tale of politics, power and deadly piracy. And if you
Speaker 1: stick around through this brief sponsor break, She'll tell you
Speaker 1: all about it. Jean de Baville's life had been planned
Speaker 1: from the moment of her birth. Such was the life
Speaker 1: of girls born in thirteenth century France. From infancy to adolescence,
Speaker 1: Jean and her brethren spent years being groomed for marriage
Speaker 1: and motherhood. When she turned twelve, her nobleman father married
Speaker 1: her off to Joffely de Chateaubrian at just seventeen. He'd
Speaker 1: been married once before, and for the next fourteen years,
Speaker 1: Jean played dutiful wife and mother, giving birth to Chauffelin Neuf,
Speaker 1: born when Jean turned fourteen, and Louise, born two years later.
Speaker 1: When her husband died in thirty six, Jean, like most
Speaker 1: women of the time, quickly remarried. Her new husband, guille
Speaker 1: du Ponteviller, was the son of the Duke of Brittany.
Speaker 1: Her new in laws, however, disapproved of the union, going
Speaker 1: so far as to complain to the bishops. In February
Speaker 1: of thirty the complaint had reached the Pope Hope John
Speaker 1: the annulled the marriage, bring Gee up to marry King
Speaker 1: Philip the sixth Niece. Undaunted, Jean married husband number three,
Speaker 1: wealthy Olivier Comte de Clisson. They made for more than
Speaker 1: just a smart financial and political match. The couple complimented
Speaker 1: each other in every way. Together. They had five children, Isabelle, Mollice, Olivier, Sants,
Speaker 1: Guion and Jean. Life wasn't all sunshine and roses, though
Speaker 1: England and France were in the middle of the hundred
Speaker 1: years more, making things worse. When the Duke of Brittany died,
Speaker 1: he had no male heir, King Edward of England Francis.
Speaker 1: King Philip the sixth badly wanted that strategic territory. Olivier
Speaker 1: went off to battle at the bequest of Brittany's new
Speaker 1: Duke saw Dublei. Though the French had the upper hand,
Speaker 1: the Duke began to believe that Olivier had turned trader.
Speaker 1: His suspicion stemmed from Olivier's recent capture and ransoming the
Speaker 1: amount Dublions believed was too low. Upon his return, the
Speaker 1: Duke had him taken before King Philip the sixth and
Speaker 1: tried for treason. Jean tried everything within her power to
Speaker 1: free her husband, though it seems the court's mind had
Speaker 1: already been made up. The King had Olivier beheaded and
Speaker 1: ordered his head to be displayed on a spike. The
Speaker 1: execution shocked the local nobility. While Olivier's testimony hadn't been
Speaker 1: good enough to prove his innocence, the prosecution had no
Speaker 1: proof of his guilt either, and until now nobility had
Speaker 1: never been put on display after they were executed. Next,
Speaker 1: the courts ordered Joan's banishment. She had no husband, no home,
Speaker 1: and no political clout. Instead of finding another husband or
Speaker 1: submitting to the court's demands, she vowed revenge against the
Speaker 1: king and Dubleis. She sold her valuables, her jewelry, furniture,
Speaker 1: and fine clothing. The money she made allowed her to
Speaker 1: hire four hundred mercenaries. Then Joan went to war. First,
Speaker 1: she attacked a garrison at Chateau d'i beaux. Then she
Speaker 1: set her sights on the sea and piracy. She had
Speaker 1: her warships painted black and their sails died blood red.
Speaker 1: She named her ships the Black Fleet and her flagship
Speaker 1: My Revenge. In retaliation, France refused her any future claims
Speaker 1: to her former lands. The pirate queen, now referred to
Speaker 1: as the Lioness of Brittany, remained unfazed. She had allied
Speaker 1: with the English King Edward the Third, who provided her
Speaker 1: with income from English owned lands in Brittany. Joe's fleet
Speaker 1: hunted down French ships, plundering them and massacring everyone on
Speaker 1: board except for a few witnesses. Those survivors were sent
Speaker 1: to deliver a message back to King Philip. She terrorized
Speaker 1: the channel for thirteen years, raiding ships and stealing supplies,
Speaker 1: giving them to the English forces her hereditary enemies. Under
Speaker 1: protection from King Edward, English vessels left Jean's fleet well alone,
Speaker 1: though it isn't clear if all of her sons always
Speaker 1: sailed with her. She had sown hatred of France into
Speaker 1: their hearts for killing their father. King Philip the sixth
Speaker 1: died in thirteen fifty, but Jean continued her pirate ways
Speaker 1: and hunted French vessels. In thirteen fifty six, however, My
Speaker 1: Revenge took on water and sank at sea. Jean and
Speaker 1: two of her sons survived in a small boat, and
Speaker 1: they rode towards shore for days. Sadly, Dillon died from exposure,
Speaker 1: but Jean and her surviving son, Olivier Sant, were eventually
Speaker 1: rescued and taken to Morley to recover she retired from piracy.
Speaker 1: Not long afterwards, Joan fell in love once more later
Speaker 1: that year with Walter Bentley, a military deputy for King Edward.
Speaker 1: The couple settled down at the Castle of Imbol on
Speaker 1: Brittany's coast, and when Jan died a few years later,
Speaker 1: she died a legend. Pirates was executive produced by Aaron
Speaker 1: Manky and narrated by Aaron Manky and Alexander Steide. Writing
Speaker 1: for this season was provided by Michelle Mudo, with research
Speaker 1: by Alexander Steide and Sam Alberty. Production assistance was provided
Speaker 1: by Josh Than, Jesse Funk, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick.
Speaker 1: To learn more about this and other shows from Grimm
Speaker 1: and Mild and I Heart Radio, visit grim and Mild
Speaker 1: dot com.