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JOHN WARD
THE LONGEST LIST OF THE LONGEST
STUFF AT THE LONGEST DOMAIN NAME AT LONG LAST
Who was John Ward?
John Ward or Warde was born in Faversham, Kent in 1553
that become a famous Elizabethan Pirate also known as Jack Ward. Ward joined the
navy sometime during his teen years and eventually began to trade slaves brought
from Africa with the aid of his cousin.
John Ward was jailed in 1602 after illegally taking
a Danish ship during a visit to the Caribbean. After this incident, he was
forced to enroll into the Royal Navy one year later, however, John deserted a
few month later while in Plymouth taking along with him 30 other individuals.
Ward stole a small vessel, along with his new crew
captured two large ships, and then sailed off for the Mediterranean. John Ward
was able to steal a 32-gun warship in 1605, used to plunder vessels loaded with
silks and spices.
At this time, he turned into a Barbary corsair
sailing to Morocco, the place in which he dealt with the ruler of Tunis, Uthman
Dey, who granted Ward with a safe haven in return to buy his booty for a fifth
of its true value.
Ward plundered a 60-ton ship loaded with £100,000
worth of cargo and continued with piracies mainly attacking Venetian vessels. In
1609, he converted to Islam and adopted the Muslim name of Yusuf Reis.
The wealthy Uthman Dey kept his word and protected
John Ward after his travels back to England trying to bribe King James I in
exchange for a pardon. Back to Tunis, Yusuf Reis married an Italian woman, but
he continued sending money for the rest of his life to a wife left in England.
Yusuf Reis remained active in piracy until the age 70, living in luxury and
wealth under the protection of Uthman Dey, until the day of his death in 1622,
probably as a result of the plague.
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