1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menkey's Cabinet of Curiosity is a production 2 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world 3 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: is full of the unexplainable, and if history is an 4 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: open book, all of these amazing tales are right there 5 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:26,920 Speaker 1: on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to 6 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:38,360 Speaker 1: the Cabinet of Curiosities. The lives of seventeenth and eighteenth 7 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: century pirates have been glamorized by modern media. Hard drinking, 8 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 1: fun loving ne'er dwells who charmed the ladies and challenged 9 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 1: authority have graced pages and screens for generations. Well, reality 10 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 1: says you shouldn't believe everything you read. Pirates never made 11 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 1: anyone walk the plank, and they were often ruthless killers 12 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: who didn't follow a code of honor. Pirates harmed anyone 13 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: and everyone who got in their way, especially in pursuit 14 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:07,840 Speaker 1: of gold or jewels. They weren't endearing swashbucklers wearing too 15 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 1: much eyeshadow. However, one thing Hollywood and publishing got right 16 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:15,640 Speaker 1: was the pirates need for freedom. They rebelled because they 17 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: felt they were being controlled by governments that weren't working 18 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 1: for them, high taxes and high poverty, left many people 19 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: in dire straits, and piracy was their only way out 20 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:27,320 Speaker 1: of squalor. These men and women set out on the 21 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: high seas to take control of their destinies and forge 22 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:33,640 Speaker 1: their own paths. Much like one pirate, Captain James Missan 23 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 1: in the late sixteen hundreds, Massan had an idea for 24 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:39,479 Speaker 1: a land where pirates could truly be free, free from 25 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: the tyranny of oppressive regimes and military interference. An oasis meant, 26 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 1: as he described it, for vigilante guardians of the people's 27 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 1: rights and liberties. Captain Mason had come from Provence, France, 28 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 1: serving aboard the Worship Victois. His father had been a 29 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: wealthy man, but Missan himself had little as he had 30 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 1: numerous links to contend with. While on leave in Rome, 31 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: he met a priest named Karachioli who accompanied him aboard 32 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:09,639 Speaker 1: the ship. Massan had lost faith in his religion as 33 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 1: well as the papacy, and it seemed his new friend 34 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:17,320 Speaker 1: had too. The priest was a deist. He despised organized religion, 35 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:19,799 Speaker 1: believing it was being used as a tool to keep 36 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:22,440 Speaker 1: the classes in line. He often talked to me San 37 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: and the crew about how man was born to be 38 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 1: free and should always remain free. Massan agreed wholeheartedly, and 39 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: eventually the crew did too. After the Victois captain was 40 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:35,959 Speaker 1: killed in action, the men of the ship declared Missan 41 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:39,799 Speaker 1: their new captain. His first order of business to abandon 42 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: the military and begin a new chapter in their lives. 43 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:47,399 Speaker 1: They became pirates, calling no country home. Fighting for themselves 44 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: and the family they'd created, they sailed to South Africa, 45 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: where they freed slaves and invited them to join the 46 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 1: crew as equals. The men also gained a reputation for 47 00:02:57,560 --> 00:02:59,919 Speaker 1: how well they treated the captains of the ships they pie. 48 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,800 Speaker 1: It did unlike their more vicious counterparts, Misson and his 49 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:08,320 Speaker 1: men almost never killed anyone unless absolutely necessary. It would 50 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:11,960 Speaker 1: have been uncivilized. After a brief stay on an island 51 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 1: off the East African coast, Captain and crew headed for Madagascar. 52 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 1: It was there where Misan found his calling. He decided 53 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 1: to establish a new colony, one where each man would 54 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: have a little slice for himself and their joint efforts 55 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: would go towards the betterment of the community. They called 56 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 1: it Libertalia, sometimes known as Libertatia. They disowned their countries 57 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: of birth, choosing to call themselves liberty Instead. A new 58 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: language was born as well, piece together from the various 59 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 1: languages and dialects of the incoming settlers, and it didn't 60 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: take long for the town to grow. There was livestock, farmland, 61 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:50,760 Speaker 1: docks were built to conduct shipping business with other lands, 62 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: and some pirates continued to do what they did best, 63 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:58,080 Speaker 1: plunder the fortunes of other ships. Everyone contributed, and everyone 64 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: enjoyed the fruits of their labor Quali. Eventually, Massan and 65 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: another leader, a privateer turned pirate named Thomas Too, attempted 66 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: to shift their socialist government to a more democratic method, 67 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 1: one where a leader would be chosen by the men. Unsurprisingly, 68 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: Missan was elected without question, but his victory was short lived. 69 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:22,159 Speaker 1: Libertalia suffered an attack from the native people on the island, 70 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 1: who killed a large portion of the settlers, including Carracioli. 71 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:29,240 Speaker 1: Missan and forty men fled with a fraction of their treasure. 72 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:32,680 Speaker 1: To suggested that he go to America to try again, 73 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:35,280 Speaker 1: but Massan had had enough. He couldn't bear to go 74 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:38,560 Speaker 1: through the trouble of starting yet another colony, and he 75 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:41,760 Speaker 1: never got the chance either. A captain and his remaining 76 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:44,359 Speaker 1: crew got caught in a bad storm. After the attack, 77 00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:48,119 Speaker 1: the ship was lost, and with it one man's dream 78 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:52,600 Speaker 1: of a pirate utopia. There are some who say, Libertally 79 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:55,560 Speaker 1: it was a fictional land, one concocted from the mind 80 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 1: of a British writer too scared to voice his progressive 81 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:01,159 Speaker 1: views in public instead, and it is said he wrote 82 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: them in the form of a story about pirates and 83 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:06,880 Speaker 1: a fable land where they lived as free men. Still 84 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: it hasn't stopped people for hunting for the proof. It's 85 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: possible that somewhere out there is a remnant from James 86 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:16,520 Speaker 1: Messan's failed experiment, like a sign or a plaque, or 87 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,920 Speaker 1: the ruins of a Libertalian home. But even if there isn't, 88 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:22,680 Speaker 1: even if it was all just fiction, the dream of 89 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:25,360 Speaker 1: a place where people take care of one another lives 90 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:29,920 Speaker 1: on today. Inspiring for sure, and also more than a 91 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:47,280 Speaker 1: little curious. All life eventually ends. We hope we live 92 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:49,839 Speaker 1: long enough to see our children grow up start families 93 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:52,560 Speaker 1: of their own, before we pass away peacefully to a 94 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: better place. As for our bodies, we have several choices. 95 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 1: We can be buried in a cemetery or cremated and 96 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: have our ashes preserve for our loved ones to cherish. 97 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:04,320 Speaker 1: There are even services out there that let us turn 98 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 1: our ashes into diamonds, so the ones we love can 99 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: keep us close wherever they are. But what about those 100 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:12,680 Speaker 1: who don't have people to care for them. Where do 101 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 1: they go when they die? There was a question posed 102 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 1: by one particular group for many years until someone came 103 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 1: up with a solution in the eighteenth century, when one 104 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: island became the final resting place for some of history's 105 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:30,279 Speaker 1: most colorful characters. The spot was located on Yel Santa Marie, 106 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:33,600 Speaker 1: a small island off the eastern coast of Madagascar in Africa. 107 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 1: Il Santa Marie had it all, rich flora, interesting culture, 108 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,040 Speaker 1: and beautiful ocean views. It was the perfect place for 109 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:43,599 Speaker 1: pirates to kick back and relax as a kind of 110 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:46,680 Speaker 1: vacation spots. There were even a number of coves and 111 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:49,159 Speaker 1: bays where they could stash their ships out of view 112 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:53,240 Speaker 1: of merchant and military vessels going by. But Il Santa 113 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:56,520 Speaker 1: Marie was also an unavoidable spot along the trade routes, 114 00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: so pirates had plenty of targets who were flushed with 115 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:03,000 Speaker 1: valuable cargo to take advantage of as they passed by. 116 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:05,719 Speaker 1: The area was known as the Island of Pirates, and 117 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:08,240 Speaker 1: it was started by one man named Adam Baldridge. In 118 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:12,640 Speaker 1: Baldridge had been charged with murder in Jamaica and escaped 119 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:16,400 Speaker 1: prosecution to Yell Santa Marie. He didn't just start a 120 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 1: new chapter of his life there, though, he began writing 121 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:21,840 Speaker 1: a whole new book. Within a year, Baldridge had become 122 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:25,080 Speaker 1: the head of his own organization, controlling commerce to and 123 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 1: from the island and mediating conflicts between the local tribes, 124 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:32,840 Speaker 1: all for a price. And because other pirates found the 125 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: island to be quite welcoming to their kind, Baldridge often 126 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: rented them out to merchants willing to pay their high 127 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:41,880 Speaker 1: fees for their services. He didn't stay too long on 128 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 1: the island, though, after it was discovered that he'd been 129 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,680 Speaker 1: selling the indigenous people as slaves. He fled to the 130 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: American colonies, leaving his paradise behind. But despite the loss 131 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: of its founder, Eel Santa Marie flourished. Almost a thousand 132 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:58,880 Speaker 1: pirates descended upon its shores over the next hundred years. 133 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:02,000 Speaker 1: Of course, that's a long time, and most pirates don't 134 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:04,880 Speaker 1: live to a ripe age. Those who died had to 135 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: be put somewhere, and that's when it was decided a 136 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 1: cemetery had to be erected to handle the deceased. A 137 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:14,280 Speaker 1: graveyard was established on a hilltop set off from the 138 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:17,560 Speaker 1: wooden huts of the village. It overlooked the water, providing 139 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: the dead with a final resting place near their one 140 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:24,440 Speaker 1: true home. The open ocean. Headstones were erected as well, 141 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:26,840 Speaker 1: many of which had been etched with a skull and 142 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:29,960 Speaker 1: crossbones like the flags flown atop their ships when they 143 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: were still alive. It said that William Kidd, the Scottish 144 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:36,760 Speaker 1: pirate captain who buried treasure all over the world, made 145 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 1: e l Santa Marie his home for a time, and 146 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:42,760 Speaker 1: despite being executed in England in seventeen o one, with 147 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: his body put on display over the River Thames for 148 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:49,080 Speaker 1: three years, Captain Kidd eventually made it back to Pirate Island. 149 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 1: He was laid to rest in a cemetery inside a 150 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: giant black tomb, but he was not made comfortable. Kid 151 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:59,839 Speaker 1: was oriented upright rather than lying down as punishment for 152 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 1: his actions while he was still alive. Between the late 153 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:07,560 Speaker 1: seventeen hundreds and the early eighteen hundreds, any remaining pirates 154 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:10,600 Speaker 1: were forcibly removed from the El Santa Marie by the French, 155 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:15,239 Speaker 1: who reclaimed the island and turned it into a penal colony. Today, 156 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 1: only about thirty headstones remain. However, despite its shrunken size, 157 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:23,920 Speaker 1: the graveyard at El Santa Marie represents the only pirate 158 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:26,920 Speaker 1: cemetery in the world and a grim reminder of a 159 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 1: time when pirates ruled the high seas. I hope you've 160 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:38,359 Speaker 1: enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe 161 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:40,959 Speaker 1: for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the 162 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 1: show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was 163 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:49,680 Speaker 1: created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. 164 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 165 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:56,720 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 166 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the World of Lore 167 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:03,160 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.