SYMHC Classics: Libertalia

Summary

---

Stuff You Missed in History Class | SYMHC Classics: Libertalia

Hosts: Holly Fry and Tracy V. Wilson
Date: August 1, 2026 (Original Air Date: July 11, 2018)
Podcast by: iHeartPodcasts

---

Episode Overview

This episode explores the legendary pirate utopia known as Libertalia (or Libertatia), a purported settlement founded by pirates in the late 17th century. Through a mix of adventure, utopian philosophy, and historical mystery, hosts Holly and Tracy dive into the story's origin—from its source in the infamous "General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates" (1728) to its lasting influence on pirate lore and popular culture. The hosts critically examine the tale: its possible truths, probable fictions, and why the myth of Libertalia endures.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins of Libertalia

[02:42–04:54]

• The story of Libertalia comes almost entirely from "A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates" (Volume 2, 1728), attributed to the famously shadowy "Captain Charles Johnson."
• Libertalia, sometimes spelled Libertatia, may never have existed outside the book's pages.
• The myth describes pirates seeking to create a utopian community based on equality and liberty—a radical idea for its time.

2. The Story of Captain Misson and Caraccioli

[04:54–12:19]

• Captain Misson: Frenchman from Provence, educated and well-mannered, whose disillusionment with the Church leads him to a life at sea.
• Caraccioli: A Dominican priest similarly cynical about the Church, who becomes Misson's close friend and companion on his adventures.
• Their early naval career is marked by a commitment to learning and camaraderie—but also by skepticism about religion and social hierarchies.

Quote:
"All religion was no more than a curb upon the minds of the weaker, which the wiser sort yield to in appearance only."
– Misson's revelation in Rome ([06:35])

[10:30–12:19]

• After seizing control of the ship Victoire, Misson offers his crew the choice to join him freely or disembark. The men cheer him as captain.
• Caraccioli advises adopting a white flag with "Liberty" as their standard, framing their new community as one seeking freedom, not piracy.

Quote:
"They were in fact not pirates, but men who were resolved to assert that liberty which God and nature gave them and own no subjection to any farther than was for the common good of all."
– Caraccioli's counsel to the crew ([15:48])

3. Establishing Libertalia in Madagascar

[18:28–21:23]

• Misson allies with a royal family near Madagascar, marries into their society, and eventually founds Libertalia—a settlement open to all, transcending nationality and particularly opposed to slavery.
• Efforts are made to establish a peaceful and equitable community: all plunder is shared, property is common, and liberated slaves are invited to join as equals ("Liberi").

Quote:
"Misson wanted the people who chose to settle in Libertalia to be called Liberi. The idea was that it was open to all and that it transcended any prior nationality and signaled a community of equals."
– Holly ([20:03])

4. Growth, Conflicts, and Governance

[21:53–28:16]

• The settlement grows in population and leadership complexity, especially after the infamous English privateer Thomas Tew and his men join.
• Tensions grow: disagreements emerge on how to treat prisoners and encounters reveal the settlement’s moral ambiguities (e.g., “polite piracy”).
• After incidents of betrayal, executions shake the colony’s ideals, leading to calls for formal governance.

Quote:
"While things seem to work with Misson's original group, after Tew and his men became part of Libertalia, conflicts started to arise."
– Holly ([24:43])

[27:11–28:16]

• Libertalia adopts a form of democracy with representatives from groups of ten men; private property replaces collectivism.
• Misson is elected "Lord Conservator," Tew becomes Admiral, and Caraccioli is Secretary of State.

5. The Fall of Libertalia

[29:50–30:43]

• While Tew is away, the settlement is destroyed by attacks from native peoples. Caraccioli and many others die; Misson and a handful survive.
• Plans to restart elsewhere collapse after Misson's ship, the Victoire, sinks in a storm—Misson is lost at sea.

Quote:
"Misson was so devastated at having lost all of his work that he just had no heart for another attempt."
– Holly ([30:13])

---

Fact, Fiction, and the Legacy of Libertalia

6. The "General History of Pirates" and Authorship

[30:55–32:38]

• The book is often attributed to Daniel Defoe (of "Robinson Crusoe"), though other names like Nathaniel Mist have been suggested.
• Most scholars regard the Libertalia account as fiction—albeit one mixing real pirates and plausible details with pure invention.

Quote:
"The account of the crew and the captain that founded the Libertalia is one of the 'most remarkable and neglected works of fiction among Defoe's work.'"
– Tracy, citing Maximilian Inovak ([31:49])

7. Pirate Settlements: Separating Myth from History

[32:38–33:59]

• While Libertalia may be fiction, pirate settlements did exist in the area—e.g., Ranter's Bay, founded by John Plantain, and Île Sainte-Marie, with its real pirate cemetery.
• No archaeological or documentary evidence for Libertalia itself has ever been found.

Quote:
"And he didn't find Libertalia. And no one else has any hard evidence or record of it either."
– Holly, on author Kevin Rushby's research ([33:59])

8. Libertalia in Popular Culture

[34:22–34:49]

• The myth appears in books, movies, and games—including Uncharted 4, Fallout 4, and the writings of William Burroughs.

Memorable Moment:
Holly: "Yeah, it's not so much of the utopia hugfest."
Tracy: "No, it's definitely not of hugfest. If you go there, people shoot at you."
([34:39])

9. Reflections and Enduring Appeal

[34:49–36:57]

• Holly and Tracy speculate on why the idea of an anti-slavery, egalitarian pirate utopia is so compelling.
• The language and style of the original account are noted as archaic but fun to read.
• Both hosts wish, half-jokingly, that proof could emerge validating the whole story as true.

Quote:
"There's part of me... that wants in my heart for some piece of evidence to appear to prove that everything in the general history is actually accurate and true. Because it would be mind blowing if that were the case."
– Holly ([36:33])

---

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• [05:21] Holly: "This one kind of, as we go through, you'll find checks, kind of all the boxes of popular pirate stories, but it also has the fun one of we're not pirates."
• [11:40] Holly: "...he desired they would declare themselves and he would set them ashore whence they might return with conveniency. They could basically opt out of this sort of life of piracy. But his offer was instead met with shouts of Vive la capital Misson."
• [16:27] Tracy: "The belongings of all the officers who were slain... were declared to belong equally to all the men."
• [23:32] Tracy: "Yeah, I'm going to build a pirate utopia funded by piracy, but I'm not calling it that, you guys."
• [28:34] Holly: "Yeah, Two was like, let's build our navy. And they were like, hey, somebody's gotta feed the cows."

---

Timeline of Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | | -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | | 02:07–02:19 | Episode theme intro: Libertalia, the pirate utopia | | 02:42–04:54 | Book source, authorship, and basic context | | 04:54–12:19 | The tale of Captain Misson and Caraccioli | | 15:48–21:23 | Founding Libertalia, utopian ideals, anti-slavery | | 21:53–28:16 | Expansion, Tew’s arrival, conflict, and democracy | | 29:50–30:55 | The fall of Libertalia | | 30:55–32:38 | Authorship and veracity of the General History | | 32:38–33:59 | Real pirate settlements in Madagascar | | 34:22–34:49 | Libertalia in popular culture | | 34:49–36:57 | Reflections and why the myth endures |

---

Tone and Style

• The hosts’ tone is playful, smart, and slightly skeptical, with a genuine love for both history and pirate lore.
• Quotations and summaries retain the original conversational style, emphasizing entertaining as well as informative elements.
• The episode maintains a spirit of critical inquiry while allowing space for the fun and allure of the pirate myth.

---

Conclusion

This episode offers a lively and thorough examination of the Libertalia legend—separating fantasy from history, and exploring why the idea of a pirate utopia still captivates the imagination. Whether fiction or fact, Libertalia’s story remains a compelling piece of pirate lore, as well as a fascinating reflection on freedom, equality, and rebellion.

---

Transcript

[Tracy V. Wilson]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[AT&T Guarantee Announcer]

Guaranteed Human the AT&T Guarantee is all about having your back with AT and T Internet air. Your home Internet is backed by the AT and T guarantee. In the rare event of a network outage, you'll automatically get a credit for a full day of service. It's like waking up from a nap, the warm blanket resting on your shoulders. Visit att.com guaranty to learn more. When the connection matters, it has to be AT and T credit for Internet air downtime lasting 20 minutes or more. Restrictions and exclusions apply. See att.com guarantee for full details.

[Apple Mac College Ad Announcer]

Getting to a great idea is hard in college. Nonsensical essays, cringe inducing presentations, and seemingly unsolvable problem sets. But then the first thought becomes a final thesis. Jumbled slides transform into a polished keynote. And that midterm assignment gets a lot less mid because the road to great ideas is littered with bad ones. You just have to keep going until something clicks. Great ideas start on Mac. Find out more on apple.com college this

[Grainger Ad Announcer]

is the story of the one. The one who keeps multiple buildings running smoothly day after day. Plumbing that flows, H Vac that homes. Cleaning supplies that keep surfaces sparkling. That's why she counts on Grainger. With easy reordering online and 24. 7 support, Grainger helps her keep the products she needs on hand so shelves stay stocked in buildings stay ready. Call 1-800-GRAINGER Click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

I love my phone but not my carrier.

[Sam J.]

What do I do?

[T-Mobile Representative]

Well, there are 250 reasons to join T Mobile.

[T-Mobile Ad Announcer]

Like what?

[T-Mobile Representative]

You can keep your phone and your number and T Mobile helps pay it off up to $800 per line.

[Holly Fry]

So I wouldn't have to buy a new phone?

[T-Mobile Representative]

Yep. Plus your plan price stays the same for 5 years on experience plans.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Nice.

[T-Mobile Representative]

Find your reason@t mobile.

[T-Mobile Rebate Details Announcer]

Via virtual prepaid guard card. Typically takes 15 days after rebate, submission price guarantee on Talk text and 5G data exclusions like taxes and fees apply.

[Holly Fry]

Happy Saturday. Since we had a pirate episode this week, we are returning to that theme for today's Saturday classic. It is about the pirate utopia of Libertalia, which may or may not have been a real place.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

This originally came out on July 11, 2018. Enjoy.

[Holly Fry]

Welcome to Stuff youf Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartradio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly Fry.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

And I'm Tracy V. Wilson.

[Holly Fry]

And today I thought we were due for a little bit of Fun summer pirate time. So this one is kind of a fun story. It's a little kooky. This is a subject that goes by two names, depending on the source you're looking at. Sometimes you will hear it as Libertatia with a Tia ending. Some of it is Libertalia with an LIA ending. That's one of those things that even in different printings of the same book, you will see it both ways, depending on the printer's decision. I presume the other part that's fun is that this may or may not have been a real thing.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yep.

[Holly Fry]

But it is an interesting thing to examine. The primary account that we have of Libertalia is from a general history of the robberies and murders of the most notorious pirates. This is in volume two. So if you go looking online and you only get volume one, you will not find this and be like what you said this was in here. Volume two. That one published in 1728. The writing lists its author as Captain Charles Johnson, and we're going to circle back to more specifics about its authorship at the end. We've talked about it on the show before as well, but we will revisit it. And the idea that a bunch of pirates wanted to create a utopia of equality, which is what this story is, might seem a little bit far fetched, but it does sound a lot like other utopian experiments we've talked about, just set earlier on the timeline and with a high seas theme. And there are also some instances we know about of pirates kind of trying to do that, which we'll talk about at the end.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

And it's also in a place in the world that there were definitely a lot of pirates.

[Holly Fry]

Yes, we talk about that at the end as well. And Libertalia, which in truth, as we said, might be completely fictional, would have been settled sometime probably in the late 17th century. And that's just based kind of on backdating from when the book was published, because we don't have much in terms of specific dates beyond that. So we're gonna go through this whole story of this unique pirate settlement as laid out in the general history by Johnson. And then we will talk about the other author who usually gets credit for writing his story, and whether that history has roots in reality.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

The story of Libertalia begins with a man named Mieson, who is a Frenchman born in Provence to a good family. The true name of the family is purposefully left out of the general history of pirates to safeguard their reputation. While Mison's father did pretty well there were so many children in the family that he knew he needed to go make his own way in the world rather than depending on any inheritance. Which is a popular pirate origin story.

[Holly Fry]

Yes, indeed. This one kind of, as we go through, you'll find checks, kind of all the boxes of popular pirate stories, but it also has the fun one of we're not pirates. So Misson was educated in humanity, logic and mathematics, and then at age 15, was sent to Angers in western France for a year of military training. And per Charles Johnson's account, which he claims is sourced from Misson's own writing about his life, Misson's father had a life as a musketeer in mind for his son, but Misson had decided on a life at sea.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

So Mison's father set him up with letters of recommendation, all of the items he might need, and then arranged for a volunteer stint aboard the Victoria, which was a ship commanded by a relative named Monsieur Forbin. The young Misson aboard the Victoire departed the port at Marseille and ventured into the Mediterranean.

[Holly Fry]

Misson learned about navigation and life at sea, and he spent his early time on the Victoire, learning all that he could from the more experienced men aboard. According to the story, he just was constantly asking them questions and he loved being a sailor and he was well regarded because of his really well mannered demeanor.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

But when the Victoire set into port in Naples, Misson's life course changed. He got permission from the captain to go ashore and to travel inland to Rome. But what he found there was really disheartening. He was really chagrined at all the licentiousness and the indulgence of the papal court. He really lost his faith, deciding that, quote, all religion was no more than a curb upon the minds of the weaker, which the wiser sort yield to in appearance only.

[Holly Fry]

And while in Rome, Misson, who was pretty devout at that point, went to confession. And in doing so, he met a lewd priest by the name of Caraccioli, who was Dominican, and while making the acquaintance of a man of the Church who was not exactly a pillar of piety, solidified Misson's perceptions that the Church was corrupt. He and Caraccioli became friends and they actually would remain companions for the rest of their lives.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Caraccioli told Misson that a life in the Church was a pretty good gig. It came with friends and opportunities, and, quote, the ecclesiastical state was governed with the same policy as were secular principalities and kingdoms, that what was beneficial, not what was meritorious and virtuous would be alone regarded. He likened the papacy to a monarchy to explain the situation to Meson. And he explained his own contempt at the whole structure, saying, quote, for my part, I am quite tired of the farce and will lay hold on the first opportunity to throw off this masquerading habit.

[Holly Fry]

The priest went on to say that he was worried that by the time he stayed in the church long enough to make a tidy living so that he could leave, that he would be too old to enjoy any of it. So Misson proposed that the priest join him on the seas. And so the two men traveled together to Livorno, Italy, to meet back up with the victoire. And with Misson's recommendation, Caraccioli was welcomed onto the crew.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Almost immediately, Caraccioli got a taste of the dangers of sailing life. The Victoire was engaged in a long and brutal battle with two other ships. Caraccioli was shot in the leg in this conflict, and it was a massive struggle, but ultimately the victoire won. There wasn't much of value to take from the bested opponents, but an estimated 50, 17 Christian slaves were freed in the process. After the battle, the battle damaged Victoire headed back into Marseille for repair, and Masson used the downtime to visit his family, bringing Caraccioli along with him. He also brought with him word from the captain that Misson had conducted himself admirably at sea.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, he had a nice little letter to show his parents that he was doing a good job. After a month of rest, the captain of the Victoire sent word to Misson and his friend the that they were to set sail again, leaving from Marseilles to go to Rochelle to pick up merchantmen and sail for the West Indies. And as the crew waited at Rochelle for the next phase of the journey, the merchant ships that they were to join with weren't ready to set sail. Misson and Caraccioli decided to take work on another vessel in the meantime, because he did not like to be idle at all.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

They got into some adventures along the way, but the more important part of their escapades, as related in the general history, was their ongoing discussion of religion and God. Through these discussions, Misson was adopting a deist philosophy and continuing to just turn away from all organized religion. There's a chunk of text that's several paragraphs long in which the writer seems to be sorting out his own thoughts on the matter of God and the soul. Craccioli continued to speak on religion, both with Misson and with the other sailors on their journeys. And as such, he became something of a religious leader. Simultaneously, because both Caraccioli and Misson had become highly skilled sailors, A lot of the men they traveled with were really looking up to both of them.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, there's a sort of wonderful irony that Caraccioli wants to leave the church because he thinks organized religion is not for him either. And then he sort of becomes a religious leader after that. That's kind of a fascinating twist. So on a cruise to Martinique, the Victoire was engaged in battle by an English man of war with 40 guns called the Winchelsea. The early battle took a serious toll on the leadership of the Victoire. The captain, second captain and three lieutenants were all killed very early on. So short on officers. Misson and Caraccioli, who had always been quick to step up when needed, began giving orders and leading the remaining Victoire crew. They were victorious. But this was actually by accident because for reasons unknown, the Winchelsea exploded, killing all of its crew save one lieutenant who died two days later aboard the Victoire.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

After the conflict with the Winchelsea, Caraccioli saluted Misson as captain and told him that he must make a choice. To return to port and be at the mercy of other men's decisions or to take the Victoire as his own and make his fortune.

[Holly Fry]

Misson opted for freedom, but stated to the assembled crew that, quote, a great number of them had resolved with him upon a life of liberty and had done him the honor to create him chief. That he designed to force no man and be guilty of that injustice he blamed in others. Therefore, if any were averse to the following, his fortune, which he promised should be the same to all the he desired. They would declare themselves and he would set them ashore whence they might return with conveniency. They could basically opt out of this sort of life of piracy. But his offer was instead met with shouts of Vive la capital Misson.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Which is also the origin story of most of pirate cruise.

[Holly Fry]

Yes, I'm going to be cool, you guys. You don't have to come with me. But if you want to, let's go. Let's all go.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yep, we're going to talk about Mison's life and leadership. But first we will pause for a quick sponsor break

[T-Mobile Ad Announcer]

this summer. There are 250 reasons to join T Mobile Girls.

[Grainger Ad Announcer]

Trip booked and switching to T Mobile.

[Holly Fry]

Help make it happen with experience beyond

[T-Mobile Ad Announcer]

switch and get $100 back plus $650 in value in built in plan benefits. That's $750 in your first year guaranteed.

[Holly Fry]

And honestly, that hundred dollars back, I'm putting it towards the zipline now.

[T-Mobile Ad Announcer]

That's how you do summer.

[Holly Fry]

Exactly. Best switch I ever made.

[T-Mobile Ad Announcer]

This is just one reason to join T Mobile this summer. There are 250 reasons to find yours.

[T-Mobile Rebate Details Announcer]

Savings based on the value of benefits included with experience beyond like entertainment and one year of AAA Classic and DashPass on us. Benefits may require activation CPlan. For details, get $100 via virtual prepaid MasterCard with eligible ported no cash access and expires in six months. Issued by Sunrise Banks and a member FDIC. Allow eight weeks.

[Ari Chambers]

What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers.

[Sam J.]

Hey, what's up, y'?

[T-Mobile Representative]

All?

[Sam J.]

It's your girl, Sam J.

[Ari Chambers]

And we're the host of Everyone Watches Women's Sports, a new podcast from Together. And I heart women's sports because, let's

[Sam J.]

be real, women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days.

[Ari Chambers]

So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo rower to go from California to Hawaii.

[Sam J.]

My first thought is like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we eating?

[Ari Chambers]

The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments that take over your entire

[Sam J.]

timeline and the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports.

[Ari Chambers]

Naomi Osaka showing out. She beat Sabalenka.

[Sam J.]

Shout out to you, Naomi, you get the Palm.

[Ari Chambers]

Naomi, you get the Palm for that.

[Sam J.]

Because we're not just interested in what happened, we're interested in why everyone's talking about it. Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's Sports on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Carl's Jr. Ad Announcer]

Yeah, Maxing is so maxing right now, bro. Get ready for spicy chicken maxing because Carl's Jr. Is saving you big with a 5.99 maxed out double stack double stack double stack spicy chicken sandwich. Seriously, just 5.99 double stack spicy chicken. This is unreal value in the bromosphere. The new spicy chicken Max Wallet friendly Max Tasty only at Carl's Jr available for a limited time at participating restaurants. Tax not included. Not valid for use within a combo or a combination with any other offered discount.

[Sleep Number Ad Announcer]

If the world were like a sleep number mattress, everything would adapt for your comfort. Your coffee would never get cold, your flight would always be on time, and your mattress would always respond to you and your unique sleep needs. Sleep number mattresses are designed to respond to your body and shift with your changing life, helping you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. To experience a whole new world of comfort. Visit a Sleep Number store or go to Sleepnumber. Do Sleep number to a good life Sleep.

[Holly Fry]

So Misson immediately set the tone of his leadership by giving the crew the power to select their own officers. Then their next destination was agreed upon. As a group, Misson suggested the coast of Spain. All of the men were in accord with that course. Then they had to decide on their colors. And at this point, Caraccioli was quick to clarify that they were in fact not pirates, but men who were resolved to assert that liberty which God and nature gave them and own no subjection to any farther than was for the common good of all. So he advised that they fly under a white flag, quote with liberty painted on the fly.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Next, the belongings of all the officers who were slain in the fight with the Winchelsea were brought on the deck and the money on board was put into a chest which was declared to belong equally to all the men. The lieutenants were asked to make an assessment of the men on board and determine who had immediate need of clothes so they could be prioritized to receive the clothes of the deceased men. Misson followed this up with a speech that the men should all show one another brotherly love and cast aside any grudges they had, and that they should see one another as equals. Quote for when equity was trodden underfoot, misery, confusion and mutual distrust naturally followed.

[Holly Fry]

It sounds so idyllic. Everybody love one another. We're all in this together. But it was not all hippie love from Misson, as he also declared war on any ports that would deny them entry and any who would not give them what they needed. He was basically saying, so we know we're not pirates, but other people might not get that, and if they treat us like we're pirates, we're going to have to get piratical. He did also admonish his men to always treat prisoners humanely and generously for the sakes of their immortal souls.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

The Victoire and its crew then did some plundering in the most polite way possible. They took sugar and rum from a ship without violence and then let it go. They made fake runs at privateers with no intent to actually engage them, betting that the ship would try to take them, which meant that they could then defend themselves. At one point, Misson told a privateer captain that he would plunder nothing from the captured ship, but that they would strip it of guns. And the privateers had to promise not to engage in piracy for six months.

[Holly Fry]

They made their way around the globe for a while, and eventually Misson had two ships under his command. He had taken a ship whose crew was so charmed that they all opted to join with him. And at this point, Caraccioli was named captain of the second ship, which was named the Bijou. And the two vessels made their way around the Cape of Good Hope and then on to Madagascar.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Misson allied himself to the royal family of an island near Madagascar in a conflict with a neighboring kingdom. He also married into the royal family, and so did Caracioli. Men of the crew married non royal women of the island of Johanna, which is modern day Anjouin. And Misson and his men helped to defend people of the island against invaders.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, there was actually an invasion by the queen's brother that they defended against. And they were always the good guys in this story. So not long after those events, Misson made his way to nearby northern Madagascar. And he scoped out an area of land that appealed to him. And then he went ashore, and he found good soil there and available fresh water. And he decided that he wanted to settle a town there. And this place that he envisioned would have docks and it would be an asylum, a place for aging men of the sea to live out the remainder of their lives in peace. And he would call it Libertalia.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Misson waited for his entire crew to agree to his plans before he actually began the project. All of the men agreed to the plan, and they immediately set to work on his designs. And within 10 days, they had cleared 150 large trees from the area. He requested that the royal family of Johanna loan him 300 men to help with the project in return for the assistance that had been provided in their defense. And after a great deal of debate among the leaders of that island, some of whom feared that enabling the settlement could lead to their own enslavement down the road. The 300 men were loaned for labor.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, a lot of that discussion centered around, wait, we're gonna help them build a place from which they could actually come after us. And it was like, well, maybe, but that's better than saying no to them and having them come after us now, right? Like, this way, we at least have a chance that we'll still all be friends. And Libertalia was set on a harbor, and the first structures that were built were armed forts on either side of it. And then homes and shops were built, and the town slowly began to take shape. Efforts were made to make friends with the native peoples of Madagascar. Of course, that is one of those things that is also always framed from a very European perspective. So take that as a note if you go looking for this story. And Libertalia was on its way to becoming the peaceful settlement that Misson had envisioned when he first ventured onto the land. Libertalia was anti slavery. This is something that comes up throughout this account. Misson and his men liberated slave ships whenever they came across them. And on occasions when slaves were offered to them as barter, they would always accept them and then immediately set them free. Misson wanted the people who chose to settle in Libertalia to be called Liberi. The idea was that it was open to all and that it transcended any prior nationality and signaled a community of equals.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Libertalia wasn't Misson's only focus during this formative time, though. He still took the victoire out to challenge ships and take their goods. And he met with a mix of good and bad luck on the sea. In one skirmish with a Portuguese ship, he was able to take a large sum of money, which was about £200,000, but he also lost 56 men in the process, making it the greatest loss of life that he experienced in this kind of conflict. But he made his way home to the developing town of Libertalia.

[Holly Fry]

And from its rudimentary beginnings, the land was worked to grow food, and the town was able to barter with other villages. They ended up with several hundred head of cattle. But in addition to growing its footprint and its own crops, Libertalia also grew in population because other people came to live there, including the English privateer captain, Thomas Tew. Misson had first encountered Tew when the latter sloop appeared in the waters off the coast of Madagascar. And it appeared there might have been a potential idea that they were going to take this new town. But eventually, things led to Two and his men joining the colony at Libertalia.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

If his name sounds familiar, he was part of our episode about Henry Every and the raid on the Mughal fleet.

[Holly Fry]

He pops up in a lot of places. He was a very busy world traveler.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

He was Misson. And Two didn't always see things in the same light, though. Even when Two first arrived in Libertalia, Maison was also coming in with a Portuguese ship that he had taken. Misson quickly realized that if they were going to keep the prisoners they had taken, they would need men to be on guard against an uprising, which meant he wouldn't have enough men to go back out to Sea. And while he had established the settlement as a home base and as a place where any mariner could call home, he wanted to continue his voyages as long as he could. He was still building his settlement and was, to be clear, getting supplies and fortifications and wealth by taking them from ships that he bested, even if he was being polite about it.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, I don't want to lose sight of the fact that he was stealing from people, even if he seems like a great, magnanimous dude.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah, I'm going to build a pirate utopia funded by piracy, but I'm not

[Holly Fry]

calling it that, you guys. We are not pirates unless people treat us like pirates, and then we kind of got to be pirates a little bit. There's a moral flexibility in the mix of this whole story. So he had planned to just let the ship, the Portuguese ship that he had taken and its prisoners go. He also just didn't want to take on the load of having to see to the needs of all those captured men. Like, to him, this was just way too great a burden for any value they were going to get out of it. But Two and even Caraccioli were not fans of this idea of letting everybody go. They knew that if they set those prisoners free, all of Europe would soon know about Libertalia and would invade.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Misson called a council and explained his position, and the men of the council agreed with him. All the prisoners were brought before Misson. He told them that he knew that they would cause his demise, but that he could cause their deaths if he wished, and that he needed them each to swear an oath not to work against him. Then he gave each of them back any belongings that had been taken from them and set them to sail on a ship that was stripped of all of its guns.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, I feel like so much of his leadership is based on the, like, we cool? Like, that's his whole approach. Are we cool? The next move for Libertalia was actually away from this everybody be cool freedom and no rules approach that it began with, but we will talk about that after we first hear from one of our sponsors. While the idea of a utopia always sounds great in theory, in practice, it is really hard to throw a bunch of humans together, tell them they all equally share in the land and the work, and have the whole thing chug along without any conflict. They are humans, after all. And while things seem to work with Misson's original group, after Two and his men became part of Libertalia, conflicts started to arise.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

On one occasion, Libertalia was invaded by Portuguese sloops the battle played out and Misson's men were victorious. And they treated the defeated men who survived with kindness and hospitality until they saw two of the men who had been set free under oath not to bring any trouble into the settlement. These two men were tried for perjury, found guilty and executed. And this caused some men to question Misson's leadership. While Misson and Caraccioli saw this execution as a matter of self preservation of their way of life, some of the men saw it as a contradiction of everything they'd been told about Libertalia and about its values. Eventually, Caraccioli was able to convince everyone of the necessity of the execution. But it took a lot of effort and rhetoric.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, he sounds based on this account, like he was really quite a good public speaker. But he was often convincing all of the men of what should be done. But then not long after this, there was an argument between Two's men and Misson's. The nature of this argument is a little unclear, although the account says that Thu's men started it. Thu thought that the matter should be solved with swords. But Misson and Caraccioli wanted to negotiate some sort of accord. They did not want to set up their new little utopia as a place where you settled your disagreements by potentially killing each other. And while they sorted out the matter at hand and they figured out how to settle this particular argument, all three of the captains came to the conclusion that it was actually time for Libertalia to have some actual laws.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

So everyone, the entire colony was gathered so that the three commanders could explain this plan. They had to have some sort of government and Misson, Caraccioli and two proposed a democratic system with laws made by the people. The men were to to divide themselves into groups of 10 and from each group one representative was to be chosen who would assist in setting up the laws and the government of the settlement. Property and land were to be divided evenly, but that it would be owned by each man. It would no longer be a system of collective ownership.

[Holly Fry]

On the first day that the newly selected lawmakers met, Caraccioli made a speech and proposed that there should be a Lord Conservator, basically a president that would be elected and would serve for terms of three years so he could be reelected, but every three years they would revisit that. And all agreed. And of course Misson was immediately made conservator and two was named as conservator Admiral and Caraccioli was Secretary of state. And for 10 full days this new governing body worked to set up the laws of Libertalia.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

They began, under Caraccioli's office, to even develop a new language for Libertalia that incorporated the various native languages of the many people who had settled there. They carefully balanced the manpower that was needed to maintain their animals and their crops against their needs for naval reinforcements.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, Two was like, let's build our navy. And they were like, hey, somebody's gotta feed the cows. So they kind of were figuring out some pretty advanced kind of balancing systems about what their society could handle. And Admiral 2 then set out to gather more members of the colony, hoping to meet with ships at sea and offer to take volunteers to bolster Libertalia's numbers. He also went and visited places he knew and sort of told people about it. And as part of his canvassing for new citizens, which he first began by finding a settlement of his former men who had not joined up with Libertalia but had started their own camp. He spoke really passionately about Libertalia and its government built around fairness and equality. But also he was clear to say that the settlement was also willing to work with other governments, saying, quote, if you will go to America or Europe and show the advantage which may accrue to the English by fixing a colony here out of the love we bear our country and to wipe away the odious appellation of pirates with pleasure, we will submit to any who shall come with a commission from a lawful government. But it is ridiculous to think we will become subjects of greater rogues than ourselves.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

But while Tew was visiting with his friends and potential recruits to their small paradise, he was surprised when Misson himself found him and told him that everything they had built had been lost. Misson told to that the native peoples had attacked the settlement, killed Caraccioli and many others, and that only he and 45 other men had managed to escape aboard the Bijou.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, this was at a point when Thiu was kind of stranded. There had been a big storm, and the victoire had actually capsized, and many of the crew were killed, but they weren't able to get the ship. And two thought that they should head to America and make a fresh start. And there was even discussion that, like, hey, we know how to do this now. Let's make another settlement. But Misson was so devastated at having lost all of his work that he just had no heart for another attempt.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

So Mison took the victoire and set out with a plan that he would meet two again on the guinea coast to regroup. But that meeting never happened. The Victoire sank during a storm and Meson went down with his ship.

[Holly Fry]

So it has come up on the show before, but just to recap, since the 1930s, the history of the lives and bloody exploits of the most noted pirates, sometimes the general history of pirates, you'll see it listed in a number of different ways, because on some republications, it has gotten new titles, has been attributed to journalist, spy and novelist Daniel Defoe. And that attribution came about through the work of John Robert Moore, who was a Defoe biographer. And it has been pretty widely accepted as truth at this point.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah, there are some other candidates that people name, including Nathaniel Mist, who was a sailor and a publisher. But it's so frequently associated with Daniel Defoe that a lot of times that is who the author is listed as in the library or wherever with, like, no little asterisk or anything.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, there are definitely versions that don't really even talk about how it came to be that it gets that attribution.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

So remembering that Defoe's most famous works were novels like Robinson Crusoe and Moll Flanders, with little evidence to back up that he. To back up what's contained in it. This account in A General History of the Robberies and Murderers of the Most Notorious Pirates is pretty much believed to be fictional. I mean, it's. We've talked about this book in a bunch of different episodes, and it's all. They all involve people we know were real and were involved in piracy, but the details a lot of times are very questionable. In an introduction to the modern printing of this work, Maximilian Inovak wrote that the account of the crew and the captain that founded the Libertalia is one of the, quote, most remarkable and neglected works of fiction among Defoe's work.

[Holly Fry]

But there were, as we said Tracy mentioned, there were definitely, in many cases, real people that these stories pulled in, and we don't. There's not a good way to verify or not. It's not like people that were living a privateering life were keeping great records, which is probably why some of these fanciful stories grew to fill the void of people that wanted to know about them. But there were a few pirate settlements in the 17th and 18th century, so the idea of Libertalia is not entirely outside the bounds of possibility. And Madagascar, as Tracy mentioned at the top of the show, was a popular destination for pirates looking for, at times, a bit of freedom and peace and sometimes to take a break from things

[Tracy V. Wilson]

and also to attack other ships.

[Holly Fry]

Well, yes. I mean, you can't live by rest alone?

[Tracy V. Wilson]

No, there was a lot of piratical action happening in that area. Ranter's Bay in Madagascar was founded by pirate John Plantain in 1720, although he had more of a kingdom in mind than a democracy. And Ile Saint Marie, which is four miles east of the island of Madagascar, is also believed to have been inhabited by pirates for almost a century. And a much looser sort of setup than Misson's purported settlement. So there's a pirate cemetery on that island that continues to be a tourist attraction.

[Holly Fry]

And in 2001, author Kevin Rushby published a book called Hunting Pirate Heaven, which was part travelogue and part investigative journalism. And he himself was basically traveling the routes of privateers, seeking out the sites of the various legendary utopias that have been part of pirate lore. And he didn't find Libertalia. And no one else has any hard evidence or record of it either.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

It does live on in popular culture, though. It has shown up in lots of books and movies and video games, including Uncharted 4 and Fallout 4. I haven't played Uncharted 4, but in Fallout 4, it's kind of a cobbled together raider settlement off the coast of Massachusetts.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, it's not so much of the utopia hugfest.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

No, it's definitely not of hugfest. If you go there, people shoot at you.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah. William Burroughs wrote about it at one point. It's shown up. It's one of those handy kind of touchstones that people pull in when they're talking about piracy and privateering to give it a feel of authenticity, even though that that feel may be based on something completely fictional. But it's a fascinating idea. I do think it's interesting to examine why someone would want to write, presuming it's fiction, to write a story that is so sort of progressive in this idea of all men being equal and like, so anti slavery. It's an interesting thing that that would be framed along with the idea of piracy and freedom and from government, and

[Tracy V. Wilson]

we're gonna goad this ship into attacking us so that we can then fight back and take their stuff.

[Holly Fry]

Right. Like I said, there's some moral flexibility baked into the whole thing. But that does become an interesting thing to look at. Like, why would that be such an appealing piece of fiction at a time that we don't often think of as being really rooted in all men being equal? It's fascinating and it's a fun read. It's a little bit tricky to get through it because the language is clunky. To our modern ear, there's some fast and loose use of capitalization. So things you're like, wait, is that a proper noun? Oh, no, it's not. He just likes the word prize. Okay, so, yeah, there's stuff like that to contend with, but it is a really fun read.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah, well, having read chunks of the book for research of various episodes of the podcast, it does tend to be a fun read, if not necessarily a historically accurate one.

[Holly Fry]

There's part of me. There is a doofy part of me that wants in my heart for some piece of evidence to appear to prove that everything in the general history is actually accurate and true. Because it would be mind blowing if that were the case.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah, like, oh, here is all of my notes, like my big file, my binder full of newspaper clippings, et cetera, that I used to research this book. Yet, no, I don't think.

[Holly Fry]

Oh, it'd be great, wouldn't it? It'd be hilarious.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday. If you'd like to send us a note, our email address is history podcastheartradio.com and you can subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Grainger Ad Announcer]

This is an iHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.