John Ward or Birdy ( 1553
– 1622), also known as Jack Ward or later as Yusuf Reis, was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
-
Ottoman pirate
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
who later became a
Barbary Corsair
The Barbary pirates, or Barbary corsairs or Ottoman corsairs, were Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. This area was known in Europe as the ...
for the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
operating out of
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
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, population_density_km2 =
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during the early 17th century.
According to writer Giles Milton, Jack Sparrow was inspired by the seventeenth-century English pirate Jack Ward.
Biography
Early life
What little is known about Ward's early life comes from a pamphlet purportedly written by someone who sailed with him during his pirate days. Ward seems to have been born about 1553, probably in
Faversham
Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2, which follows an ancient British t ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, in southeast England. Like many born in coastal areas, he spent his youth and early adult years working in the fisheries. After the failed invasion of England by the
Spanish Armada
The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aris ...
in 1588, Ward found work as a privateer, plundering Spanish ships with a license from
Queen Elizabeth I of England. When
James I of England
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the Union of the Crowns, union of the Scottish and Eng ...
ended the war with Spain upon assuming the throne in 1603, many privateers refused to give up their livelihood and simply continued to plunder. Those who did were considered pirates because they no longer had valid licenses – called
letters of marque – issued by the state.
Around 1604, Ward was allegedly
pressed into service on a ship sailing under the authority of the King (the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
had yet to become a formal institution), where he was placed in the
Channel Fleet
The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915.
History
Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history the ...
and served aboard a ship named the ''
Lyon's Whelp''.
Turn to piracy
According to Andrew Barker, a captive of Ward's who wrote ''A True & Accurate Account of the beginning, proceedings, overthrows, and now present estate of Captain Ward and
Danseker'', Ward was drinking in a Plymouth tavern with thirty of his shipmates. He is alleged to have said:
Ward and his colleagues deserted and stole a small 25-ton
barque from
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
Harbour.
Ward's comrades elected him captain, one of the earliest precedents for pirates choosing their own leader. They sailed to the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
and captured another ship, the ''Violet'', a ship rumored to be carrying the treasure of Roman Catholic refugees. The ship turned out to be empty of treasure, but the enterprising Ward used her to capture a much larger French ship.
Ward and his men sailed for the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
where he was able to acquire a Dutch
Flyboat The flyboat (also spelled fly-boat or fly boat) was a European light vessel of Dutch origin developed primarily as a mercantile cargo carrier, although many served as warships in an auxiliary role because of their agility. These vessels could displa ...
of thirty-two guns, which he renamed ''The Gift.'' Ward first sailed for Algiers, but several of his men were arrested upon entering the city. Algiers had been attacked by another English mariner, Richard Giffard, only months earlier. They sailed to the Moroccan Atlantic port city
Salé,
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
where in 1605 several English and Dutch sailors, including Richard Bishop and Anthony Johnson, joined Ward's crew.
In the summer of 1606, Ward captured a
dhow in the
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...
allegedly carrying Catholic slaves. In August 1606 Ward arranged with
Uthman Dey to use
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
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, population_metro = 2658816
, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 ...
as a base of operations. Uthman Dey, or Kara Osman Dey, was the commander of the
Janissary corps in Tunis. That garrison supplanted the Pasha of Tunis as the rulers of Tunis in 1598, making Uthman Dey the military dictator of the city. According to their arrangement, Uthman Dey would have first refusal of all goods, up to ten percent of all goods captured.
In early November 1606 Ward captured the English merchantman ''John Baptist'' under Captain John Keye. He renamed the merchantman ''Little John'' after the English folk hero. From this base, Jack Ward was easily able to capture many ships from several European states. Ward's top lieutenant, William Graves, captured a small English merchantman called the ''York Bonaventure'' captained by Andrew Barker. The richest hauls on these early cruises were the valuable Venetian ships ''Rubi'' (taken on 16 November 1606) and ''Carminati'' (taken on 28 January 1607).
The ''Reniera e Soderina''
John Ward outfitted ''Gift, Little John, Rubi, & Carminati'' for piracy over the late winter and early spring of 1607. His fleet headed for the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
when they were scattered by a terrible storm. Ward, onboard ''Gift'', found only the ''Rubi'' before heading for the Eastern Mediterranean. On 26 April 1607, between Cyprus and Turkey, Ward spotted "a great argosy of fourteen or fifteen hundred tons" named ''Reniera e Soderina.''
Rubi was 400 tons, and Gift only 200 tons, yet the crew elected to attack the ''Reniera e Soderina.'' They fought a three-hour firefight, but ''Reniera e Soderina'' was too large to maneuver in the light winds, so her guns never scored a hit. Ward's ships managed to pierce her hull five times, lighting bales of hay aflame inside. Finally, Ward ordered his ships to close and prepare to board.
The crew of ''Reniera e Soderina'' voted to fight and repel the boarding party, and the captain handed out small arms. However, a well-timed volley of
chain shot from ''Rubi'' hit at least two defenders, tearing them apart. The carpenter aboard ''Reniera e Soderina'' confronted his captain, telling him to surrender or face a mutiny. The captain consented, and Ward captured ''Reniera e Soderina'' with no further fighting. According to Andrew Barker her cargo was "esteemed to be worth two millions in the least."
The English government didn't concur. They estimated the cargo to be worth only £500,000. Still, a report from the Venetian Ambassador in London told the privy council that Venice was close to declaring war on England due to Ward's piracy. That ambassador, Secretary Esposizioni, wrote:
''"That famous pirate, Ward, so well-known in this port for the damage he has done, is beyond a doubt the greatest scoundrel that ever sailed from England. He has refitted a Venetian ship ''Soderina'' and turned her into a berton, with forty pieces of bronze artillery on the lower, and twenty on the upper deck. He has given his old ship to Captain
ravesand these two and some other four ships form six fighting ships in all."''
The English Ambassador in Venice assured the Council ''"As to Ward, who captured the ''Soderina'' and transformed her into a berton, he will meet with a warm reception if he comes into these waters."''
Conversion to Islam
Following his return to Tunis in June 1607, Ward outfitted ''Reniera e Soderina'' into a powerful Man-o-War. The crew cut at least 20 new gun ports into her hull to accommodate all 60 brass guns. He set out to sail in early 1608. Then, in March, a ship spotted wreckage of a ship off the coast of Greece, and rumors began to spread that it was ''Reniera e Soderina'' and John Ward was dead.
Ward asked
James I of England
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the Union of the Crowns, union of the Scottish and Eng ...
for a
royal pardon
In the English and British tradition, the royal prerogative of mercy is one of the historic royal prerogatives of the British monarch, by which they can grant pardons (informally known as a royal pardon) to convicted persons. The royal preroga ...
which was refused, due to a threat of war from Venice, as Ward had attacked many Venetian ships, and he reluctantly returned to Tunis.
Uthman Dey, an Ottoman officer of Tunis, kept his word and granted him protection. He accepted Islam along with his entire crew, changed his name to Yusuf Reis with a nickname of Chakour or Chagour as he used an axe in his piracy, and married an Italian woman while he continued to send money to his English wife. In 1612 a play called ''
A Christian Turn'd Turk
''A Christian Turn'd Turk'' (1612) is a play by the English dramatist Robert Daborne. It concerns the conversion of the pirate John Ward to Islam.
Characters
The list of dramatis personae printed in the 1612 quarto is incomplete and inaccura ...
'' was written about his conversion by the English dramatist
Robert Daborne
Robert Daborne (c. 1580 – 23 March 1628) was an English dramatist of the Jacobean era.
His father was also Robert Daborne, heir to family property in Guildford, Surrey and other places, including London, and a wealthy haberdasher by trade ...
.
It is doubtful that English converts to Islam in Tunis had to follow the religion strictly: French traveller
Laurent d'Arvieux visited the city later that century, and made note of its liberal attitude to religion.
Later years
An English sailor who saw him in Tunis in 1608 allegedly described Ward as "very short with little hair, and that quite white, bald in front; swarthy face and beard. Speaks little and almost always swearing. Drunk from morn till night...The habits of a thorough salt. A fool and an idiot out of his trade."
During the next few years
ballads
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
and
pamphleteer
Pamphleteer is a historical term for someone who creates or distributes pamphlets, unbound (and therefore inexpensive) booklets intended for wide circulation.
Context
Pamphlets were used to broadcast the writer's opinions: to articulate a polit ...
s condemned John Ward for turning
corsair
A corsair is a privateer or pirate, especially:
* Barbary corsair, Ottoman and Berber pirates and privateers operating from North Africa
* French corsairs, privateers operating on behalf of the French crown
Corsair may also refer to:
Arts and ...
.
Ward continued raiding Mediterranean shipping, eventually commanding a whole fleet of corsairs, whose flagship was a Venetian sixty-gunner. After 1612 he ended his career in piracy, electing to teach younger corsairs gunnery and navigation. He profited greatly by his piracy, retiring to Tunis to live a life of opulent comfort until his death in 1622, at the age of 70, possibly from the
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
.
Legacy
From 1609 until 1615 dozens of plays, ballads, memoirs, pamphlets, and books would be written about England's Arch-Pirate. The most prominent include ''
A Christian Turn'd Turk
''A Christian Turn'd Turk'' (1612) is a play by the English dramatist Robert Daborne. It concerns the conversion of the pirate John Ward to Islam.
Characters
The list of dramatis personae printed in the 1612 quarto is incomplete and inaccura ...
'' by Robert Daborne
Nevves from Sea, Of two notorious Pyrats Ward the Englishman and Danseker the Dutchman Captain Ward and the Rainbow
Captain Ward and the Rainbow, or Ward the Pirate, is Child ballad 287. It recounts a tale of the pirate Captain Ward, likely Jack Ward.
Synopsis
The king sends a ship, the ''Rainbow'', after Captain Ward. In one variant, the ship carries 500 sea ...
, an
A True and Certain Report of the Beginning, Proceedings, Overthrows, and Now Present Estate of Captain Ward and Danseker, the Two Late Famous Pirates from their First Setting forth to this Present Time by Andrew Barker.
It has been suggested that his nickname was "Sharkey" and was the origin of this nickname, now given to anyone in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
with the surname "Ward".
Numerous TV series and movies have been based on Jack Ward.
To his contemporaries, Ward was an enigmatic figure, in some ways like a Robin Hood, but in the 16th and 17th centuries, many English pirates operated out of the mouth of the
Sebou River and preyed on Mediterranean shipping. Ward was supposed to have spared English ships while attacking "papist" vessels. John Ward and
Simon Danseker are credited with introducing Barbary corsairs to the use of
square-rigged ships of northern Europe.
The ballad "
Captain Ward and the Rainbow
Captain Ward and the Rainbow, or Ward the Pirate, is Child ballad 287. It recounts a tale of the pirate Captain Ward, likely Jack Ward.
Synopsis
The king sends a ship, the ''Rainbow'', after Captain Ward. In one variant, the ship carries 500 sea ...
" is very likely based on Jack Ward.
A fictionalized account of Ward's career appears in
Thomas Costain
Thomas Bertram Costain (May 8, 1885 – October 8, 1965) was a Canadian-American journalist who became a best-selling author of historical novels at the age of 57.
Life
Costain was born in Brantford, Ontario to John Herbert Costain and Ma ...
's historical novel ''For My Great Folly'', which was published in 1942.
In the 2010s, various Turkish newspapers and websites popularised a hypothesis put forth in the monthly Derin Tarih that John Ward could be the inspiration for the character
Jack Sparrow
Captain Jack Sparrow is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the '' Pirates of the Caribbean'' film series. The character was created by screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio and is portrayed by Johnny Depp.
The characte ...
from the film series
''Pirates of the Caribbean''.
The BBC ''History Magazine'' also revealed John Ward as the pirate behind the character.
References
Further reading
*Bak, Greg. ''Barbary Pirate: The Life and Crimes of John Ward, the Most Infamous Privateer of His Times''. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing Ltd. 2006.
* Costain, Thomas, ''For My Great Folly'', 1942
*Tinniswood, Adrian. ''Pirates of Barbary: Corsairs, Conquests and Captivity in the Seventeenth-Century Mediterranean''. Riverhead Hardcover, 2010.
*Peter Lamborn Wilson. ''Pirate Utopias: Moorish Corsairs & European Renegadoes''
External links
A True and Certaine Report of the Beginning, Proceedings, Overthrowes, and Now Present Estate of Captaine Ward and Danseker by Andrew Barkerby
Abdal-Hakim Murad see als
(same article)*https://anonhq.com/captain-jack-sparrow-real-muslim/
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Jack
1550s births
1622 deaths
People from Faversham
English pirates
English privateers
17th-century pirates
Barbary pirates
English Muslims
Converts to Islam
17th-century deaths from plague (disease)
Infectious disease deaths in Tunisia
16th-century English people
17th-century English people