The Pirates Part I

When the Templar Fleet went missing on October 13^th, 1307 there was a upsurge in piracy throughout the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coast of Europe. The Vikings were considered pirates, as were the Geneses, Venetians, Turks, Muslims and King Rene was considered a pirate. Not by his countrymen but by his enemies!

It was said that by the age of 10, Columbus started his maritime career on a pirate ship of the King of Majorca, King Rene. Today we would call them terrorists. Today we have piracy in heavy drug trafficking countries in Columbia and Latin America.

We have piracy in the Red Sea, the Somali Pirates, and also in Yemen. Where merchant ships coming into and out of the Red Sea are so vulnerable to attack that they stationed US warships to protect shipping.

I don't remember the South China Sea ever being without piracy. Their was a upsurge in piracy after the fall of Saigon when political refugee's were fleeing on anything that would float, and they were preyed upon from their own boat crews and auctioned off to the highest bidder, after being ravaged!

Conflicts between European Countries took their fights to the Caribbean, piracy in the Caribbean was the countries of Europe preying on each other. They called it piracy but it was actually the masonic fleets going after the fleets loyal to the Vatican.

The various skull and cross bones of the Jolly Rodger were flown proudly by the crews operating under letters of authorization called “Letters of Marque of reprisal”, these ships were only able to prey on countries in conflict with the country originating the letter of marque. These ships were called “Privateers”.

Portuguese ships continued to fly the Templar flag. Columbus was flying the Templar Flag on his voyages of Discovery for the Spanish Crown. Privateering was only different from piracy by the letter of marque. Privateering has been used between the 13^th and 19^th century but it's high point was between the 16^th and 18^th centuries.

Privateers were mainly English, Scottish and American ships. There was also some activity with Dutch and French ships but these were almost exclusively Masonic Vessels. The targets of these privateers were almost exclusively French, Spanish and Muslim ships.

Between the 16^th and 18^th centuries their was a complicated maze of political and religious activity in Europe which created a change in alliances and animosities between the maritime trade in the Caribbean.

Since the suppression of the Templar’s in 1307, France became exclusively aligned with the Vatican. The Merovingian families of the Holy Blood have been operating underground since the suppression in 1307 and by the 16^th and 17^th centuries France and England were almost continually at war.

This made French, Portuguese and Spanish ships the target of Privateers. The Privateers motivation was of course the capture of treasure however so many privateers would cross the line in to piracy that by the early 1500's they were required to register their seizure with the admiralty, to distinguish between what was gained through Privateering and what would be considered piracy.

Privateering became heavily regulated by the mid 1700's and became a legitimate business investment. When navies of certain countries were small, privateers could place a significant dent in the country of the navy, with little cost to the country holding the letter of marque.

All of the western European countries used privateers to wreck havoc on each other with the intent of destroying their enemies trade. This practice started in Europe and eventually spread throughout the world.

After Magellan and Drake had circumnavigated the world, piracy expanded to the western shores of North and South America, across the pacific to the Philippines and on to India. The Privateers were simply following the Spanish Galleys like sharks following the schools of tuna.

The Island of Madagascar which was unruled in the 16^th century lay between the Indian trade routes and the cape leading to Europe. Madagascar became the center of Piracy off the African coast.

Meanwhile back in Europe, a hundred years after the suppression of the Templar’s, there were constant wars and conflict between the Nations of France, England and Scotland. Scotland didn't become free of oppression from England until the Battle of Bannockburn which the Templar’s were involved in.

They were in part left relatively unharnessed by England because of the one hundred year war with France. The Stuart Dynasty became the monarch's of Scotland and with all seven of the Stuart Monarchs there was constant strife with England. The Stuarts seemed to have an unlimited supply of gold to fund their military campaigns against England.

After the Death of King James V, 7^th Monarch of the Stuart dynasty, his wife Queen Regent Mary De Guise, the second wife of King James V and mother of Mary, Queen of the Scots. Queen Mary de Guise ruled until her daughter came of age.

Under the rule of Mary, Queen of Scots, a reformation was taking place and the population of Scotland was taking opposition to the Catholic Queen. She was forced to leave Scotland in 1567, and departed for England where she was imprisoned, and executed by Queen Elizabeth I.

However Mary's son, King James VI of Scotland, succeeded Queen Elizabeth I, on the Throne of England in 1603. Although united under one crown England and Scotland remained separate for another century.

It had now been hundreds of years since the suppression of the Templar’s and entire new countries had been created with new allegiances. The Templar fleet had become the Navy of Scotland. It's sailors became the Masonic English and Dutch Privateers who attacked the French and Spanish ships allied with the Vatican.

The Templar tradition infiltrated England and the American colonies as Masonic thought. There were two primary forms of Masonry Scottish Rite and York Rite.

It is interesting that the descendants of the Templar’s of the Lost Fleet, that became the pirates and privateers that helped in the formation of America, were also Masons. Being a secret society it is difficult to trace genealogies, but the evidence shows that many of them were.

With the Elizabethan wars between England and Spain a new era of piracy broke out in the 16^th century. Galleons carrying treasure from the New World were the targets of piracy. The privateers were called the Sea Dogs of England, the Sea Beggars of the Netherlands and the Sea Wolves of France. These privateers intercepted countless ships in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.

This is the era of Henry Morgan, Francis Drake, Black Beard and Captain Kidd.. The Spanish dominated control of the Caribbean and the New World but they were fair game for the Masonic Privateers.

Sir Francis Drake was well respected for his circumnavigation of the world, and was probably the most famous of the Masonic Pirates. There is a passage through the Virgin Island named after Sir Francis Drake.

In 1577, Queen Elizabeth I, supplied five ships and one hundred and sixty men, under the command of Sir Francis Drake, to circumnavigate the world. This would be the second circumnavigation of the world.

This voyage was problematic for Drake, he had a mutiny off the Patagonian coast which cost him two of his ships. It was a two week voyage through the Magellan Strait. One of his ships abandoned the voyage and returned to England at this point. While still in the strait another ship was lost in a storm.

By the time Sir Francis Drake reached the Pacific he lost his entire fleet, only the Golden Hind, under his command remained. He traveled up the coast of Chilli and Peru attacking Spanish Galleons as he progressed.

The Golden Hind traveled as far north as San Francisco, where he claimed the area for England and dubbed it New Albion. He departed across the Pacific for the spice islands (Indonesia), and signed trade agreements with the rulers of the islands.



Sir Francis Drake returned to England by way of the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope and reached Plymouth England May 20^th 1580, with a cargo of treasure and spices. He was appointed Mayor of Plymouth upon his return and served the crown until 1585, when he received the command of a large fleet of ships.



Sir Francis Drake traveled to Spain and sacked Vigo, he then departed with his fleet for Columbia and captured Cartagena, then headed for Santa Domingo which they also plundered. They then traveled up the coast of Florida and plundered St. Augustine Florida. He returned with his fleet and attacked the Spanish Fleet in Cadiz Spain destroying their supply ships along with many Galleys and war ships at anchor in the harbor.



The attack on Cadiz delayed the attack by the Spanish Armada on England by a year. Sir Francis Drake was a leader in the defense of England during the attack by the Spanish Armada in 1588 and was once again proclaimed as England’s hero!






In 1589 his fleet was defeated in Lisbon and he retired to Plymouth England for a number of years and once again headed for the New world. His final voyage to the west Indies left Plymouth in 1595, this voyage wasn't a successful endeavor and Drake died off the coast of Panama in 1596.



Sir Frances Drake's cousin Sir John Hawkins was also a famous Masonic Privateer who also died in 1595. Between 1562 and 1569 Sir John Hawkins was a slave trader. He delivered slaves from Africa to the Spanish colonies in the West Indies.
On his third voyage to the West Indies, he was involved in a battle with his cousin Sir Francis Drake off the Mexican coast where he was attacked by the Spanish fleet. The battle of San Juan de Ulua was devastating and he lost many of his men and several ships.
Sir John Hawkins commanded a portion of the English fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588. He was on the expedition to the West Indies with Sir Francis Drake and they both died off the coast of Panama in 1596.
The following century Sir Henry Morgan was the center of attention as the Masonic Privateer who preyed on Spanish shipping, but he crossed the line into piracy because he didn't have a Marque from England. In 1688 he captured Puerto Principe, (camaguey) Cuba, then sacked Portobelo Panama. In 1669 he raided Maracaibo in Venezuela.



Sir Henry Morgan is well noted for his capture of Panama City in 1671. He was primarily well noted for the brutality his crew exhibited. Much of the booty was somehow lost and his crew accused him of cheating them.



In1672 he was captured and returned to England for piracy, however he was then treated as a hero, he was Knighted and made Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica, where he lived peacefully until his death in 1688, who says crime doesn't pay?



The success of the campaign’s against the Spanish colonies in America and the West Indies spread like wild fire. It was spoken of in taverns the way we now talk football in the same taverns. Taverns were many in colonial America. In populated areas in the New England states their were taverns every 8 miles.

Taverns were the town center, often serving as community centers, town halls in some instances they were used as churches. In these tavern's the lure of piracy was great, legends of piracy were spread and no dought over stated in most cases, it's always greener on the other side of the fence.



Their was nothing shameful in being a privateer, they were the hero's of the colonists! The era of royally commissioned privateers was coming to an end. England had become a powerful nation and because England and Scotland were no longer in constant skirmishes and because of the Templar tradition they now had a powerful navy.



However because privateering was no longer sanctioned by the crown, and privateers were being chased down by the English Navy, it was now losing it's adventuring appeal.
The flying of flags on ships has been customary and very important since the middle ages. Signals were sent from ship to ship and ship to shore by using various flags. With nations at war and ship's often switching sides, the flag you were flying often determined whether you would be attacked or not.



Pirate ship's had a different set of rules, they carried the flags of several different nations, they would fly what ever flag would bring them close to what ever ship they were preying upon. The pirates just like sharks were in a position of superiority when approaching their prey!



They would follow ships for hours if not days seeing how well they handled the ship, Blackbeard was famous for using this strategy. If the ship proved to be a well manned warship they could change course and seek a more vulnerable victim.



The pirates would either take their prey by surprise by getting close to them by flying flags of the same or friendly nations, or by a frontal attack. When the pirate ship hauled down the national flag and replaced it with a red flag it meant “no mercy”!



There were many flags of the Jolly Rodger, any of them would associate them with thee lost Templar fleet. The skull and crossed bones of the Jolly Rodger has always been the symbol of piracy, of master Masons and goes back to burial standards of the first century.



Other symbols on pirate flags include bleeding hearts, blazing balls, hourglasses, crossed cutlasses, spears and whole skeletons. All of these symbols were in white on black flags, prior to the mid 18^th century red flags were being used while assaulting their victims and meant no mercy.



Often while being surveyed the merchantman would drop their sails and lay their cargo on deck and surrender it and be at the mercy of the pirates. This actually was a recruitment method of the pirates, and they usually left the merchantman unharmed.



When you are being pursued by the Jolly Rodger you have an excellent chance of surviving the ordeal, when being pursued by the Red Flag, it's time for your last will and testament! Edward Teach the North Carolina pirate known as Blackbeard flew a flag with a full skeleton holding a dart in one hand, striking a bleeding heart, and in the other hand a hourglass.



Historians believe that pirates flying the Jolly Rodger weren't cold blooded killers, just sailors going about their business. In David Cordingly's book “Under the Black Flag” he represents that quite a few pirates were quite “gentlemanly” in nature!



Cordingly represents that most merchantmen surrendered without a fight! They usually disarmed the merchantman, transferred the cargo from the merchantman and usually with the help of the merchantman’s crew. They would leave them unharmed with food and water.