WEBVTT - SYMHC Classics: Libertalia 0:00:02.400 --> 0:00:05.880 Happy Saturday. Since we had a pirate episode this week, 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:08.920 we are returning to that theme for today's Saturday Classic. 0:00:09.320 --> 0:00:12.880 It is about the pirate utopia of Libertalia, which may 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:16.040 or may not have been a real place. This originally 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:22.919 came out on July eleventh, twenty eighteen. Enjoy Welcome to 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:33.280 Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. Hello, 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:36.320 and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly Frye and I'm 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:40.000 Tracy V. Wilson. And today I thought we were due 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:44.720 for a little bit of fun summer pirate time. This 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:47.560 one is kind of a fun story. It's a little kooky. 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:51.040 This is a subject that goes by two names depending 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:53.279 on the source you're looking at. Sometimes you will hear 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:56.640 it as Libertatia with a tia ending. Some of it 0:00:56.760 --> 0:01:00.560 is Libertalia with an la ending. That's what those things 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:04.000 that even in different printings of the same book, you 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:07.760 will see it both ways, depending on the printer's decision. 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:10.880 I presume. The other part that's fun is that this 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:13.479 may or may not have been a real thing. Yep, 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:17.400 but it is an interesting thing to examine. The primary 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:20.600 account that we have of Libertalia is from a general 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:23.840 History of the robberies and Murders of the most Notorious Pirates. 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:25.920 This is in volume two, so if you go looking 0:01:26.000 --> 0:01:28.319 online and you only get volume one, you will not 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:30.080 find this and be like what you said, this was 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:33.720 in here volume two. That one published in seventeen twenty eight. 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:37.440 The writing lists its author as Captain Charles Johnson, and 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:40.600 we're going to circle back to more specifics about its 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:42.319 authorship at the end. We've talked about it on the 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:45.039 show before as well, but we will revisit it. And 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:48.320 the idea that a bunch of pirates wanted to create 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:51.600 a utopia of equality, which is what this story is, 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:54.880 might seem a little bit far fetched, but it does 0:01:54.960 --> 0:01:58.040 sound a lot like other utopian experiments we've talked about 0:01:58.560 --> 0:02:00.760 just said earlier on the timeline, and with a high 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:03.960 seas theme. And there are also some instances we know 0:02:04.000 --> 0:02:06.560 about of pirates kind of trying to do that, which 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:08.400 we'll talk about at the end. And it's also in 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:10.840 a place in the world that there were definitely a 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:13.480 lot of pirates, Yes, we talk about that at the 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:17.200 end as well. And Libertalia, which in truth, as we said, 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:21.680 might be completely fictional, would have been settled sometime probably 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:25.320 in the late seventeenth century, and that's just based kind 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:28.600 of on backdating from when the book was published, because 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:31.680 we don't have much in terms of specific dates beyond that. 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:34.640 So we're going to go through this whole story of 0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:38.920 this unique pirate settlement as laid out in the General 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:41.600 History by Johnson, and then we will talk about the 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:44.160 other author who usually gets credit for writing a story 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:49.920 and whether that history has roots in reality. The story 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:53.639 of Libertalia begins with a man named Mysol who was 0:02:53.680 --> 0:02:56.360 a Frenchman born in Provence to a good family. The 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:59.360 true name of the family is purposefully left out of 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:02.440 the general histy street of pirates to safeguard their reputation. 0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:06.679 While Meisson's father did pretty well, there were so many 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:09.440 children in the family that he knew he needed to 0:03:09.480 --> 0:03:11.760 go make his own way in the world rather than 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:17.400 depending on any inheritance, which is a popular pirate origin story. Yes, indeed, 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:20.160 this one kind of as we go through you'll find 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:23.680 checks kind of all the boxes of popular pirate stories, 0:03:24.080 --> 0:03:26.679 but it also has the fun one of we're not pirates. 0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:32.240 So Missoul was educated in humanity, logic, and mathematics and 0:03:32.280 --> 0:03:35.520 then at age fifteen, was sent to Angier in western 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:39.080 France for a year of military training, and per Charles 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:42.720 Johnson's account, which he claims is sourced from Meisson's own 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:46.200 writing about his life, Misson's father had a life as 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:49.720 a musketeer in mind for his son, but Misson had 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:53.119 decided on a life at sea. So Meissan's father set 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:55.920 him up with letters of recommendation all of the items 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:58.920 he might need, and then arranged for a volunteer stent 0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:01.720 aboard the Victoire, which was a ship commanded by a 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:06.680 relative named Monsieur forbat The young Misson aboard the Victoire 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:10.640 departed the port at Marseille and ventured into the Mediterranean. 0:04:11.320 --> 0:04:14.320 Misson learned about navigation and life at sea, and he 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:17.039 spent his early time on the Victoire learning all that 0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:21.040 he could from the more experienced men aboard. According to 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:24.400 the story, he just was constantly asking them questions uh. 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:26.680 And he loved being a sailor, and he was well 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:30.880 regarded because of his really well mannered demeanor. But when 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:35.480 the Victoires set into port in Naples, Nisson's life course changed. 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:38.839 He got permission from the captain to go ashore and 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:41.760 to travel inland. To Rome, but what he found there 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:45.000 was really disheartening. He was really chagrined at all the 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:48.960 licentiousness and the indulgence of the papal court. He really 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:52.320 lost his faith, deciding that quote all religion was no 0:04:52.440 --> 0:04:55.279 more than a curb upon the minds of the weaker, 0:04:55.800 --> 0:05:01.239 which the wiser sort yielded to in appearance only in Rome, Misson, 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:05.000 who was pretty devout at that point, went to confession, 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:08.239 and in doing so he meant a quote. Lewde priest 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:11.800 by the name of Carraccioli, who was Dominican, and while 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:13.960 making the acquaintance of a man of the church who 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:18.520 was not exactly a pillar of piety, solidified Misson's perceptions 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:22.120 that the Church was corrupt. He and Karaccioli became friends, 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:24.680 and they actually would remain companions for the rest of 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:28.000 their lives. Carraccioli told Misson that a life in the 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:30.920 church was a pretty good gig. It came with friends 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:34.599 and opportunities, and quote the ecclesiastical state was governed with 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:39.039 the same policy as were secular principalities and kingdoms, that 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:43.120 what was beneficial, not what was meritorious and virtuous, would 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:47.680 be alone regarded. He likened the papacy to a monarchy 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:51.400 to explain the situation to Misson, and he explained his 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:54.880 own contempt at the whole structure, saying, quote, for my part, 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:57.719 I am quite tired of the farce and will lay 0:05:57.760 --> 0:06:00.760 hold on the first opportunity to throw oh off this 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:04.359 masquerading habit. The priest went on to say that he 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:06.280 was worried that by the time he stayed in the 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:08.560 church long enough to make a tidy living so that 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:11.000 he could leave, that he would be too old to 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:14.320 enjoy any of it. So Missoul proposed that the priest 0:06:14.560 --> 0:06:17.719 join him on the seas. So the two men traveled 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:20.839 together to Livorno, Italy to meet back up with the Victoire, 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:25.479 and with Missol's recommendation, Carraccioli was welcomed onto the crew. 0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:29.360 Almost immediately, Caraccioli got a taste of the dangers of 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:33.040 sailing life. The Victoire was engaged in a long and 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:37.039 brutal battle with two other ships. Caraccioli was shot in 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:40.280 the leg in this conflict, and it was a massive struggle, 0:06:40.360 --> 0:06:44.160 but ultimately the Victoir won. There wasn't much of value 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:47.400 to take from the best at opponents, but an estimated 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:51.960 fifteen Christian slaves were freed in the process. After the battle, 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:55.040 the battle damage to Victoire headed back in some Marseilles 0:06:55.080 --> 0:06:58.640 for repair, and Masson used the downtime to visit his family, 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:02.719 bringing Caraccioli along with him. He also brought with him 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:07.240 word from the captain that Misson had conducted himself admirably 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:09.760 at sea. He had a nice little letter to show 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:13.400 his parents that he was doing a good job. After 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:16.320 a month of rest, the captain of the Victoire sent 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:18.640 word to Misson and his friend that they were to 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:21.960 set sail again, leaving from Marseilles to go to Rochelle 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:25.000 to pick up merchantmen and saale for the West Indies. 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:27.720 And as the crew waited at Rochelle for the next 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:30.160 phase of the journey, the merchant ships that they were 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:33.080 to join with weren't ready to set sail. Misson and 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:36.080 Caraccioli decided to take work on another vessel in the 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:39.040 meantime because he did not like to be idle at all. 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:42.000 They got into some adventures along the way, but the 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:44.920 more important part of their escapades, as related in the 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:48.600 General History, was their ongoing discussion of religion and God. 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:53.720 Through these discussions, Misson was adopting a deist philosophy and 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:57.840 continuing to just turn away from all organized religion. There's 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:01.120 a chunk of texts that several paragraph long in which 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:03.840 the writer seems to be sorting out his own thoughts 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:08.040 on the matter of God and the soul. Craciole continued 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:10.680 to speak on religion both with Misson and with the 0:08:10.720 --> 0:08:13.840 other sailors on their journeys, and as such he became 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:18.920 something of a religious leader simultaneously. Because both Carraccioli and 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:22.040 Misson had become a highly skilled sailors, a lot of 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:24.040 the men they traveled with were really looking up to 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:27.960 both of them. Yeah, there's a sort of wonderful irony 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:31.080 that Carracciole wants to leave the church because he thinks 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:33.800 organized religion is not for him either, and then he 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:37.040 sort of becomes a religious leader after that. That's kind 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:42.640 of a fascinating twist. So on a cruise to Martinique, 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:45.400 the Victoire was engaged in battle by an english man 0:08:45.440 --> 0:08:49.160 of war with forty guns called the Winchelsea. The early 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:52.559 battle took a serious toll on the leadership of the Victoire. 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:56.720 The captain, second captain, and three lieutenants were all killed 0:08:57.240 --> 0:09:01.400 very early on. So short on officers Misson and Caraccioli, 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:03.960 who had always been quick to step up when needed, 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:08.679 began giving orders and leading the remaining Victoire crew. They 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:11.840 were victorious, but this was actually by accident, because for 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:15.920 reasons unknown, the wind Chelsea exploded, killing all of its 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:19.400 crew save one lieutenant, who died two days later. Aboard 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:22.680 the Victoire, and after the conflict with the wind Chelsea, 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:26.520 Caraccioli saluted Misson as captain and told him that he 0:09:26.600 --> 0:09:29.240 must make a choice to return to port and be 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:32.160 at the mercy of other men's decisions, or to take 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:36.040 the Victoire as his own and make his fortune. Misson 0:09:36.160 --> 0:09:39.320 opted for freedom, but stated to the assembled crew that 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:42.559 quote a great number of them had resolved with him 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:45.040 upon a life of liberty, and had done him the 0:09:45.120 --> 0:09:48.559 honor to create him chief. That he designed to force 0:09:48.679 --> 0:09:51.360 no man, and be guilty of that injustice he blamed 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:55.160 in others. Therefore, if any were reverse to the following 0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:57.720 his fortune, which he promised should be the same to 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:00.960 all he desired, they would declare them, and he would 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:05.160 set them ashore, whence they might return with conveniency. They 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:08.360 could basically opt out of this sort of life of piracy. 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:12.080 But his offer was instead met with shouts of vive 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:17.520 le capitan nisson, which is also the origin story of 0:10:17.640 --> 0:10:21.240 most pirate crews. Yes, I'm gonna be cool, you guys. 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:23.040 You don't have to come with me, but if you 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:28.920 want to, let's go. Let's all go. Yeah, we're going 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:31.680 to talk about Misson's life and leadership, but first we 0:10:31.720 --> 0:10:44.600 will pause for a quick sponsor break. So Missul immediately 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:47.240 set the tone of his leadership by giving the crew 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:50.720 the power to select their own officers. Then their next 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:54.440 destination was agreed upon as a group. Misol suggested the 0:10:54.440 --> 0:10:56.920 coast of Spain. All of the men were in accord 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:59.960 with that course. Then they had to decide on their color, 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:03.440 and at this point Carraccioli was quick to clarify that 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:06.480 they were in fact not pirates quote, but men who 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:09.920 were resolved to assert that liberty which God and Nature 0:11:09.960 --> 0:11:13.439 gave them, and own no subjection to any farther than 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:16.440 was for the common good of all. So he advised 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:19.640 that they fly under a white flag quote, with liberty 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:23.200 painted on the fly. Next, the belongings of all the 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:25.199 officers who were slain in the fight with the wind 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:27.520 Chelsea were brought on the deck and the money on 0:11:27.600 --> 0:11:29.800 board was put into a chest which was declared to 0:11:29.840 --> 0:11:33.559 belong equally to all the men. The lieutenants were asked 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:35.520 to make an assessment of the men on board and 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:38.040 determine who had immediate need of clothes that they could 0:11:38.080 --> 0:11:41.600 be prioritized to receive the clothes of the deceased men. 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:45.280 Misson followed this up with a speech that the men 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:48.439 should all show one another brotherly love and cast aside 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:50.880 any grudges they had, and that they should see one 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:56.599 another as equals. Quote for when equity was trodden underfoot, misery, confusion, 0:11:56.720 --> 0:12:02.360 and mutual distrust naturally followed. It sounds so idyllic. Everybody 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:05.680 loved one another. We're all in this together. Uh. But 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:08.880 it was not all hippie love from Misson, as he 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:11.920 also declared war on any ports that would deny them 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:14.880 entry and any who would not give them what they needed. 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:18.040 He was basically saying, so, we know we're not pirates, 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:20.000 but other people might not get that, and if they 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:23.720 treat us like we're pirates, we're gonna have to get piratical. Uh. 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:27.959 He did also admonish his men to always treat prisoners 0:12:28.240 --> 0:12:32.080 humanly and generously for the sakes of their immortal souls. 0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:35.520 The Victoire and its crew then did some plundering in 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:39.040 the most polite way possible. They took sugar and run 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:41.400 from a ship without violence, and then let it go. 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:44.760 They made fake runs at privateers with no intent to 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:47.080 actually engage them, betting that the ship would try to 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:49.839 take them, which meant that they could then defend themselves. 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:53.240 At one point, Missam told a privateer captain that he 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:56.200 would plunder nothing from the captured ship, but that they 0:12:56.200 --> 0:12:58.400 would strip it of guns, and the privateers had to 0:12:58.400 --> 0:13:01.959 promise not to engage in racy for six months. They 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:04.240 made their way around the globe for a while, and 0:13:04.280 --> 0:13:07.679 eventually Misson had two ships under his command. He had 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:10.760 taken a ship whose crew was so charmed that they 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:13.520 all opted to join with him, and at this point 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:16.480 Caraccioli was named captain of the second ship, which was 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:19.240 named the Biju, and the two vessels made their way 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:22.480 around the Cape of Good Hope and then on to Madagascar. 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:26.160 Mis allied himself to the royal family of an island 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:29.960 near Madagascar in a conflict with a neighboring kingdom. He 0:13:30.040 --> 0:13:33.239 also married into the royal family, and so did Caraccioli. 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:36.320 Men of the crew married non royal women of the 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:40.280 island of Johanna, which is modern day Anjuan, and Misson 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:43.040 and his men helped to defend people off the island 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:47.040 against invaders. Yeah, there was actually an invasion by the 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:51.000 queen's brother that they defended against. Uh and they were 0:13:51.200 --> 0:13:54.080 always the good guys in this story. So not long 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:57.400 after those events, Misson made his way to nearby northern 0:13:57.440 --> 0:14:00.200 Madagascar and he scoped out an area of land that 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:02.920 appealed to him, and then he went ashore and he 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:06.280 found good soil there and available fresh water, and he 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:09.840 decided that he wanted to settle a town there in 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:12.400 this place that he envisioned would have docks, and it 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:15.079 would be an asylum, a place for aging men of 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:17.400 the sea to live out the remainder of their lives 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:21.760 in peace, and he would call it Libertelia. Messaul waited 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:24.280 for his entire crew to agree to his plans before 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:27.200 he actually began the project. All of the men agreed 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:29.800 to the plan, and they immediately set to work on 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:32.520 his designs, and within ten days they had cleared one 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:36.400 hundred and fifty large trees from the area. He requested 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:40.040 that the royal family of Johanna loan him three hundred 0:14:40.040 --> 0:14:42.920 men to help with the project and return for the 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:45.720 assistance that had been provided in their defense. And after 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:49.080 a great deal of debate among the leaders of that island, 0:14:49.160 --> 0:14:52.480 some of whom feared that enabling the settlement could lead 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:55.600 to their own enslavement down the road, the three hundred 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:59.120 men were loaned for labor. Yeah, a lot of that 0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:02.800 discussion said around, Wait, we're gonna help them build a 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:07.840 place from which they could actually come after us. Uh. 0:15:07.880 --> 0:15:11.560 And it was like, well, maybe, but that's better than 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:14.600 saying no to them and having them come after us now, right, Like, 0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:16.960 this way we at least have a chance that we'll 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:21.120 still all be friends. And Libertelia was set on a harbor, 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:23.920 and the first structures that were built were armed forts 0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:27.200 on either side of it, and then homes and shops 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:30.320 were built, and the town slowly began to take shape. 0:15:30.480 --> 0:15:33.040 Efforts were made to make friends with the native peoples 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:36.000 of Madagascar. Of course, that is one of those things 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:39.400 that is also always framed from a very European perspective, 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:41.800 So take that as a note if you go looking 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:44.880 for this story. And Libertelia was on its way to 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:48.080 becoming the peaceful settlement that Misson had envisioned when he 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:52.440 first ventured onto the land. Libertelia was anti slavery. This 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:55.440 is something that comes up throughout this account. Misson and 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:58.440 his men liberated slave ships whenever they came across them, 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:01.960 and on occasions when slaves were offered to them as barter, 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:05.920 they would always accept them and then immediately set them free. 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:09.080 Misson wanted the people who chose to settle in Libertalia 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:11.760 to be called Liberi. The idea was that it was 0:16:11.800 --> 0:16:15.160 open to all and that it transcended any prior nationality 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:19.640 and signalled a community of equals. Libertalia wasn't Misson's only 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:22.920 focus during this formative time, though. He still took the 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:26.560 Victoire out to challenge ships and take their goods, and 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:28.520 he met with a mix of good and bad luck 0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:31.680 on the sea, and one skirmish with a Portuguese ship. 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:33.680 He was able to take a large sum of money, 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:36.560 which is about two hundred thousand pounds, but he also 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:39.160 lost fifty six men in the process, making it the 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:41.800 greatest loss of life that he experienced in this kind 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:45.280 of conflict. But he made his way home to the 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:50.160 developing town of Libertilia, and from its rudimentary beginnings, the 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:52.880 land was worked to grow food, and the town was 0:16:52.920 --> 0:16:55.400 able to barter with other villages. They ended up with 0:16:55.480 --> 0:16:58.680 several hundred head of cattle. But in addition to growing 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:02.400 its footprint and its own crops, Libertelia also grew in 0:17:02.520 --> 0:17:06.639 population because other people came to live there, including the 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:11.440 English privateer Captain Thomas Two. Missol had first encountered too. 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:14.080 When the latter sloop appeared in the waters off the 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:16.879 coast of Madagascar, it appeared there might have been a 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:20.520 potential idea that they were going to take this new town, 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:24.160 but eventually things led to Two and his men joining 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:27.840 the colony at Libertelia. If his name sounds familiar, he 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:31.119 was part of our episode about Henry every and the 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:34.560 raid on the Mughall Fleet. He pops up in a 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:36.960 lot of places. He was a very busy world traveler. 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:40.520 He was Misson and Two didn't always see things in 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:44.440 the same light though. Even when Two first arrived in Libertalia, 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.240 Missan was also coming in with a Portuguese ship that 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:50.320 he had taken. Missong quickly realized that if they were 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:52.640 going to keep the prisoners, they had taken, they would 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:55.120 need men to be on guard against an uprising, which 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:57.000 meant he wouldn't have enough men to go back out 0:17:57.000 --> 0:18:00.240 to sea. And while he had established the settle meant 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:02.120 as a home base and as a place where any 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:05.119 marin er could call home, he wanted to continue his 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:07.960 voyages as long as he could. He was still building 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:11.040 his settlement and was to be clear getting supplies and 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:14.639 fortifications and wealth by taking them from ships that he bested, 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:19.480 even if he was being polite about it. Yeah, I 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:21.479 don't want to lose sight of the fact that he 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:25.399 was stealing from people, even if he seems like a 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:28.240 great magnanimous dude. Yeah, I'm going to build a pirate 0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:33.119 utopia funded by piracy, but I'm not calling at that. 0:18:33.520 --> 0:18:36.160 You guys, we are not pirates unless people treat us 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:38.000 like pirates, and then we kind of got to be 0:18:38.040 --> 0:18:41.320 pirates a little bit. It's there's a moral flexibility in 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:44.399 the mix of this whole story. So he had planned 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:46.560 to just let the ship, the Portuguese ship that he 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:50.040 had taken and its prisoners go. He also just didn't 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:52.200 want to take on the load of having to see 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:54.520 to the needs of all those captured men, like to him, 0:18:54.600 --> 0:18:56.840 this was just way too great a burden for any 0:18:56.920 --> 0:18:58.679 value they were going to get out of it. But 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:02.080 two and even Raccioli, we're not fans of this idea 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:04.760 of letting everybody go. They knew that if they set 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:07.840 those prisoners free, all of Europe would soon know about 0:19:07.840 --> 0:19:11.760 Libertilia and would invade. My Song called a council and 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:15.080 explained his position, and the men of the council agreed 0:19:15.119 --> 0:19:18.080 with him. All the prisoners were brought before my Song. 0:19:18.640 --> 0:19:20.800 He told them that he knew that they would cause 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:24.440 his demise, but that he could cause their deaths if 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:27.960 he wished, and that he needed them each to swear 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:30.800 an oath not to work against him. Then he gave 0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:33.040 each of them back any belongings that had been taken 0:19:33.080 --> 0:19:36.439 from them and set them to sail on a ship 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:38.520 that was stripped of all of its guns. Yeah. I 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:40.600 feel like so much of his leadership is based on 0:19:40.640 --> 0:19:45.920 the like we cool, Like that's his whole approach or 0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:49.679 are we cool? Uh? The next move for Libertilia was 0:19:49.720 --> 0:19:52.639 actually away from this everybody be cool freedom and no 0:19:52.760 --> 0:19:55.720 rules approach that it began with. But we will talk 0:19:55.760 --> 0:20:06.119 about that after we first hear from one of our sponsors. 0:20:07.240 --> 0:20:11.520 While the idea of a utopia always sounds great in theory, 0:20:11.560 --> 0:20:14.240 in practice it is really hard to throw a bunch 0:20:14.280 --> 0:20:17.320 of humans together, tell them they all equally share in 0:20:17.359 --> 0:20:19.400 the land, in the work, and have the whole thing 0:20:19.520 --> 0:20:22.879 chug along without any conflict. They are humans, after all. 0:20:23.359 --> 0:20:26.480 And while things seemed to work with Miisson's original group, 0:20:26.840 --> 0:20:30.560 after two and his men became part of Libertilia, conflicts 0:20:30.560 --> 0:20:34.560 started to arise. On one occasion, Libertalia was invaded by 0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:38.640 Portuguese sloops. The battle played out and Nissan's men were victorious, 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:42.080 and they treated the defeated men who survived with kindness 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:45.199 and hospitality until they saw two of the men who 0:20:45.280 --> 0:20:47.880 had been set free under oath not to bring any 0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:51.320 trouble into the settlement. These two men were tried for perjury, 0:20:51.480 --> 0:20:54.760 found guilty, and executed, and this caused some men to 0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:59.840 question Maissan's leadership. While Meisson and Caraccioli saw this execution 0:21:00.119 --> 0:21:02.800 as a matter of self preservation of their way of life, 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:05.520 some of the men saw it as a contradiction of 0:21:05.560 --> 0:21:10.159 everything they'd been told about Libertalia and about its values. Eventually, 0:21:10.280 --> 0:21:13.280 Karaccioli was able to convince everyone of the necessity of 0:21:13.320 --> 0:21:17.840 the execution, but it took a lot of effort and rhetoric. Yeah, 0:21:17.880 --> 0:21:21.320 he sounds, based on this account like he was really 0:21:21.400 --> 0:21:25.159 quite a good public speaker. But he was often convincing 0:21:25.320 --> 0:21:28.880 all of the men of what should be done. But then, 0:21:29.080 --> 0:21:31.720 not long after this, there was an argument between Two's 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:34.600 men and Misson's The nature of this argument is a 0:21:34.640 --> 0:21:38.280 little unclear, although the account says that Two's men started it. 0:21:39.240 --> 0:21:41.720 Two thought that the matter should be solved with swords, 0:21:41.800 --> 0:21:45.680 but Misson and Karraccioli wanted to negotiate some sort of accord. 0:21:46.040 --> 0:21:48.480 They did not want to set up their new little 0:21:48.560 --> 0:21:51.640 utopia as a place where you settled your disagreements by 0:21:51.680 --> 0:21:54.679 potentially killing each other. And while they sorted out the 0:21:54.720 --> 0:21:56.720 matter at hand, and they figured out how to settle 0:21:56.760 --> 0:21:59.720 this particular argument, all three of the captains came to 0:21:59.760 --> 0:22:03.679 the inclusion that it was actually time for Libertilia to 0:22:03.760 --> 0:22:09.000 have some actual laws. So everyone the entire colony was 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:12.080 gathered so that the three commanders could explain this plan. 0:22:12.800 --> 0:22:15.880 They had to have some sort of government, and Misson 0:22:16.119 --> 0:22:20.399 Caraccioli into proposed a democratic system with laws made by 0:22:20.440 --> 0:22:23.919 the people. The men were to divide themselves into groups 0:22:23.920 --> 0:22:26.879 of ten, and from each group one representative was to 0:22:26.920 --> 0:22:29.240 be chosen who would assist in setting up the laws 0:22:29.280 --> 0:22:32.640 and the government of the settlement. Property and land were 0:22:32.640 --> 0:22:35.479