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ELIZABETH’S ARMADA NIGHTMARE Why England was hours away from invasion in 1588 MAGAZINE BRITAIN’S BESTSELLING HISTORY MAGAZINE January 2023 / www.historyextra.com When ruled the waves *QYEQNQPKCNEQPʚKEV FTQXGUCKNQTUVQXKNNCKP[ KPVJGVJEGPVWT[ Elephants, emus BRITAIN’S BURIED and empire TREASURES What Victorian zoos reveal Eight discoveries that about 19th-century society transform our view of the past When Britain said ‘oui’ The story behind the decision to join the EEC in 1973

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WELCOME JANUARY 2023 ON THE COVER: EDWARD TEACH AKA BLACKBEARD A NOTORIOUS PIRATE: AKG IMAGES. BACKGROUND: PIRATES BOARDING A LARGE MERCHANT SHIP. WOODCUT: GETTY IMAGES. On a sunny day in early September, I took my ove-year-old THREE THINGS I’VE ARMADA PORTRAIT BY GEORGE GOWER OF ELIZABETH I: GETTY IMAGES. THIS PAGE: GETTY IMAGES/ALAMY. GEOFFREY PARKER: JO MCCULTY son to Bristol Zoo for the very last time. Two days later the site LEARNED THIS MONTH closed for good, in preparation for its forthcoming move to larger premises outside the city. |ough most kids were primarily interest- 1. Battles against equality ed in the animals (and, let9s be honest, the playground), Bristol Zoo I was interested to read, in our review of Women was also an important part of the city9s history, dating back to 1836 and embodying a long and complex story of public spectacle and in White Coats (page 75), that a riot ensued our relationship with wildlife. On page 54, Joanne Cormac delves when Sophia Jex-Blake (right) and other into these themes in her piece on the 19th-century British zoo craze, focusing on Surrey Zoological Gardens, which mixed exotic female students attempted to sit animals with classical music and volcanic eruptions. an anatomy exam in One of the most signiocant events in the recent past was the Brexit referendum and Britain9s withdrawal from the EU. In this Edinburgh in 1870. issue we9re exploring where it all began: 1 January 1973, when Britain joined the EEC (forerunner of the EU). On the 50th anni- 2. Hating Hitler versary of Britain saying <oui=, Alwyn Turner examines the national In this month’s Q&A section mood as we embarked on this European adventure (page 20). I was intrigued to discover For our cover feature this month, we9re heading to the high seas and the golden age of piracy. Countless novels and movies revel in that Adolf Hitler had a this thrilling period of violence and plunder, but few focus on the half-nephew (right) who underlying causes of this surge in pirate activity. On denounced his uncle and page 28, Rebecca Simon olls in the gaps, revealing went on to serve in the how trade, war and colonialism helped inspire the likes of Blackbeard and Henry Avery to take US navy (page 53). up their cutlasses. 3. Chest-nuts Rob Attar Among many fascinating details in our piece on Second Editor World War communal eating was the fact that the author GK Chesterton coined the term “nutter” in protest against a nut-based energy bar he disapproved of (page 49). THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS Contact us Emran El-Badawi Susan Greaney Geoffrey Parker Rebecca Simon PHONE “Long before Islam, “Major new discoveries “The Spanish Armada “As I began researching Subscriptions & back issues Christianity spread about the past are always was an almost miraculous the history of the golden 03330 162115 throughout the Arabian thrilling. I’ve chosen eight concentration of 130 age of piracy, I realised Editorial 0117 300 8699 peninsula because of a CTEJCGQNQIKECN PFUVJCV sailing ships all acting in that the best way for woman. Queen Mavia showcase the work of concert. It was a very people to understand EMAIL beat the Romans in battle, archaeologists in remarkable and terrifying pirates was by witnessing then installed a monk universities and the prospect for the English their public executions. Subscriptions & back issues named Moses as bishop commercial sector.” to face – and yet they These events give us www.buysubscriptions.com/ over Arabia.” Susan selects eight great managed to defeat it.” the direct picture of contactus 'OTCPRTQ NGUCRQYGTHWN archaeological digs that Geoffrey revisits the maritime 18th-century piracy.” Editorial historymagazine queen who took on the shaped our understanding invasion that could have Rebecca explains why so @historyextra.com Romans and won on page 62 of history on page 37 spelled disaster for England many 18th-century sailors on page 66 went rogue on page 28 POST Subscriptions & back issues BBC History Magazine, PO Box 3320, 3 Queensbridge, Northampton, NN4 7BF. Basic annual subscription rates: UK: £84.50, Eire/Europe: € 120, USA: $168.87, AUS/NZ: AU$180 ROW: $136 In the US/Canada you can contact us at: PO Box 37495, Boone, IA 50037, BHIcustserv@cds HWN NNOGPVEQODTKVUWDUEQO history, Toll-free 800-342-3592 3

JANUARY 2023 FEATURES EVERY MONTH 20 When Britain said ‘Oui’ 6 Anniversaries 20 LYNN HATZIUS/ALAMY/GETTY IMAGES/MOLO 62 Alwyn Turner charts the United The Conversation 54 Kingdom’s journey to becoming a member of the European Economic 11 The Conversation The historical Community in 1973 precedents to the events of 2022 28 The golden age of pirates 15 Michael Wood on the modern relevance of China’s greatest poet Rebecca Simon reveals the factors that sparked a boom in piracy during 17 Hidden Histories: Kavita Puri the 17th and early 18th centuries – and QP%CTFKʘoU5QOCNKCPJGTKVCIG how authorities tackled maritime crime 18 Letters 37 Britain’s greatest 52 Q&A Your history questions archaeological discoveries answered Susan Greaney highlights eight of VJGOQUVKORQTVCPVCPFGZEKVKPI PFU Books spanning 12,000 years of British history 66 Interview: )GQʘTG[2CTMGT 46 Eating for victory shares his new research about the Spanish Armada During the austere years of the Second World War, a network of communal 70 New history books reviewed FKPKPITQQOU NNGFGORV[UVQOCEJU for less. Bryce Evans tells the story Encounters of British Restaurants 77 Diary: What to see and do 54 Animal attractions this month Joanne Cormac explores how the 82 Podcast: The 19th-century role and popularity of British zoos boom in overseas tourism evolved during the 19th century 84 Explore: Iona, Inner Hebrides 62 Warrior queen of Arabia 86 Holidays: Wellington, Emran El-Badawi introduces an New Zealand inspiring leader who defeated the Romans and forged an 88 Prize crossword independent Arab state 90 My history hero Phil Tufnell picks Denis Compton 37 4

MORE FROM US SUBSCRIBE 66 SAVE WHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE TODAY See page 60 for details ENGAGE 28 “Henry Avery captured historyextra.com the ship, slaughtered many of its crew and made The website of BBC History MagazineKU NNGFYKVJ off with everything” exciting content on British and world history, and includes an extensive archive of magazine content. 46 Social Media @historyextra historyextra @historyextra LISTEN PODCAST Our award-winning podcast is released six times a week. Why not check it out today, and explore our archive of more than 1,500 previous episodes. Download episodes for free from iTunes and other providers, or via JKUVQT[GZVTCEQORQFECUV GETTY IMAGES 7525+FGPVK ECVKQP5VCVGOGPV BBC HISTORY (ISSN 1469-8552) (USPS 024-177) January 2023 is published 13 times a year under licence from BBC Studios by Immediate Media Company London Limited, Vineyard House, 44 Brook Green, Hammersmith, London W6 7BT, UK. Distributed in the US by NPS Media Group, 2 Enterprise Drive, Suite 420, Shelton, CT 06484. 2GTKQFKECNURQUVCIGRCKFCV5JGNVQP%6CPFCFFKVKQPCNOCKNKPIQʛEGU POSTMASTER: Send address changes to BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE, 21|$QZ$QQPG+# 5

21 JANUARY 1846 HELEN CARR highlights events that took place in January in history The Daily News is launched by British troops struggle to defend Charles Dickens their position at Isandlwana from Zulu warriors in a c1885 painting |e new broadsheet ofers an by Charles Edwin Fripp alternative to rightwing rivals BRITISH NEWSPAPER ARCHIVES/TOPFOTO/GETTY IMAGES E arly in 1846, word of a new broad- sheet newspaper was spreading across the bustling City of London. #PFQPVJGOQTPKPIQH,CPWCT[pʚ[KPI newsmen” (street vendors) tore through the crowds, touting for business by waving the brand-new edition. Some 10,000 copies of VJG TUVKUUWGQHThe Daily News, edited by %JCTNGU&KEMGPUYGTGUQNFKP.QPFQPHQT XG pence on the streets and in taverns, gentle- OGPoUENWDUCPFEQʘGGUJQRU In it, Dickens declared that “the Principles advocated by The Daily News will be Princi- ples of Progress and Improvement; of Educa- tion, Civil and Religious Liberty, and Equal Legislation.” The paper aimed to provide a more liberal alternative to the popular right- wing Morning Chronicle, though Dickens couldn’t help but add some lighter content. “Travelling Letters: Written on the Road” were sketches describing his personal travel GZRGTKGPEGU6JG TUVKPUVCNOGPVKPENWFGFCP account of summer in Paris: “The wine shops (every second house) were driving a roaring trade; awnings were spreading, and chairs and tables arranging, outside cafes, prepara- tory to the eating of ices.” Dickens’ “Travelling Letters” continued as a regular feature in The Daily News for the himself had handed over the reins of 6JG TUVKUUWGQHThe Daily News NGHV KPKVKCNN[GFKVGFD[%JCTNGU&KEMGPU KPUGVHGCVWTGFCEQNQWTHWNVTCXGN UVQT[YTKVVGPD[VJGHCOQWUCWVJQT



















































Cover story / The golden age of piracy WATERBORNE KILLERS: The Atlantic world’s most notorious pirates Scourge of the Mughals Kidds’ buried loot Henry Avery worked on a merchant ship The privateer Captain William Kidd and led a successful mutiny against his turned to piracy in 1698 when he robbed captain. He then sailed for the East Indies a ship called the Quedagh Merchant where he antagonised Indian Mughal ships. QʘVJGEQCUVQH+PFKCCPFUCKNGFHQT In 1695, Avery attacked the Ganj-i-Sawai, Madagascar. On learning he was wanted brutalising its crew and the women on board for piracy, Kidd headed to Boston for and plundering it dry. Britain organised a refuge but was arrested and imprisoned manhunt for Avery to avoid all-out war with before being shipped back to England. He India. Some of Avery’s crew made it to the was hanged at Execution Dock on the American colonies but Avery himself was never found. His fate remains a mystery. shoreline of the Thames on 23 May 1701. Kidd is best known for A contemporary depiction of claiming to have buried his Henry Avery, who sparked a loot, which sparked a manhunt after plundering the long-running fascina- Mughal ship the Ganj-i-Sawai tion with pirates’ buried treasure. The hirsute hell-raiser A 1701 painting of Captain William Kidd, who was hanged Edward Teach, AKA Blackbeard, fought for piracy at Execution Dock as a privateer in the War of Spanish Succession (1701–14). He turned to piracy A shoe that was discovered with the wreckage The world’s richest raider of the Whydah Gally, which sank in 1717, taking and captured the French slave ship with it the wealthiest pirate in the world Samuel Bellamy was best known for .C|%QPEQTFG, renaming it Queen ordering his men to charge naked on to Anne’s Revenge. Teach (left) ships to scare his victims into a rapid was dubbed “Blackbeard” surrender. In 1717, he captured the British because of his black hair and slave ship the Whydah Gally, which was beard, which he used to worth tens of millions of dollars, making it intimidate his victims. the wealthiest ship in the Atlantic world and (Lighted candles were Bellamy the richest pirate. Yet his great woven in his hair during wealth was short-lived: on 26 April 1717 his battle to give the impres- DQCVYCUECWIJVKPCUVQTOQʘ%CRG%QF sion that he was sailing out Massachusetts, and crashed into rocks, of hell itself.) Teach was killing almost everyone on board, including infamous for blockading Bellamy. Treasure from the Whydah Gally Charleston, South Carolina for is still being excavated to this day. more than a week. He was beheaded in battle on 22 November 1718. Mary Read, Anne Bonny left her Open shirts and potty mouths shown in a print, husband for a life of piracy befriended Anne Mary Read and Anne Bonny were Bonny on Jack the only known female pirates during the Rackham’s golden age of piracy. They sailed with pirate ship Captain Jack Rackham between August CPF1EVQDGTCPFYGTGMPQYPVQ IJV with their shirts open to intimidate their BRIDGEMAN/ALAMY/GETTY IMAGES victims into surrendering. Survivors of their attacks later claimed that the women fought and swore more than any of the men. They were captured in late October 1720 and found guilty of piracy in Novem- ber of that year. It turned out they were both pregnant, so they received a stay of execution. Read died in prison in April 1721 while Bonny’s fate remains unknown. 32

colonies with the express aim of trying and Sitting duck A 19th-century painting shows Blackbeard – see box opposite) and Samuel executing pirates using the same, harsher pirates storming a Spanish galleon in the mid-17th penalties imposed in English courts. Until EGPVWT[&GURKVGVJGDGUVGʘQTVUQHVJGCWVJQTKVKGU Bellamy. He knew that, with the connict now then, colonial courts had been able to operate in London, English colonists often tacitly encouraged more or less autonomously, punishing such acts at an end, many privateers would suddenly convicted pirates as they saw ot. And, as the colonies were frequently reliant on piracy to Hornigold imposed ond themselves unemployed. He also knew oll their cofers and bring in desirable goods, law and order on those punishments were oven light to Nassau. They called that many of these men would turn pirate and non-existent. Such laxness, London decreed, him “the pirate king had to be stopped. of the pirate world” needed a safe harbour from which to launch Yet no sooner had this new era of zero their raids. He therefore stepped in and tolerance come into efect than a sharp deterioration in Anglo-Spanish relations created law and order. |e pirates dubbed reset the relationship between the English authorities and pirates once again. In 1701, him <the pirate king of the pirate kingdom=. the War of Spanish Succession broke out, embroiling most of Europe in a connict Nassau was now the pirate capital of the over who would control the Spanish throne. Much of the war was fought at sea and Atlantic world. Yet soon that capital would England found itself in need of skilled seamen and oghters. come under attack. In 1718 a former privateer Suddenly pirates had the upper hand. |e called Woodes Rogers became the orst royal English authorities issued a proclamation promising all pirates a pardon if they agreed governor of the Bahamas. He had a mission to to oght as privateers for the government against the Spanish and its allies. Under their eradicate piracy, and a burning desire to wipe contract, known as a letter of marque, the pri- vateers would be allowed to keep much of the the pirate kingdom of the face of the Earth. loot they stole from enemy ships. Most pirates took advantage of this proclamation because No sooner had he taken up his new post they were able to continue their operations without fear from persecution. It was a than Rogers had issued a proclamation that win-win situation for everyone involved. ofered all pirates a pardon if they confessed The pirate kingdom If the period from the 1670s to the 1730s is their crimes before September of that year. widely remembered as a golden age of piracy, then the years during and immediately aver More than 200 pirates took up the ofer, the War of Spanish Succession surely marked its zenith. During the connict many pirates reasoning that the risks of piracy now out- began gravitating toward the island of Providence in the Bahamas to settle in the weighed its rewards. city of Nassau. |anks to its proximity to Florida, the Bahamas was the gateway to the Rogers couldn9t rely upon the support of Caribbean and North America. |e Spanish ALAMY/GETTY IMAGES and British oven fought over them: the the Royal Navy, for whom piracy was now former seeking to use the islands as a spring- board from which to attack British ships; the simply not a priority. But he could call upon latter wanting to employ them as a defensive base for North America. Yet during the chaos the assistance of Benjamin Hornigold who, in of the War of Spanish Succession, pirates were able to claim the islands for themselves. a remarkable turn of events, rounded on his By the time the war ended in 1714, Nassau former brethren and became Rogers9 chief had gained a reputation for violence, disease and malcontents. |is all changed when a pirate-hunter (quite possibly because he • man named Captain Benjamin Hornigold viewed being in Rogers9 good books as a spotted an opportunity to create an oocial community where pirates could congregate safely. Hornigold was formerly a leading privateer in the War of Spanish Succession and mentor to many future infamous pirates, such as Edward Teach (better known as 33

Cover story / The golden age of piracy Buccaneers’ scourge Woodes Rogers (seated) receives a map of Providence island from his son in a 1729 painting. During his time as governor of the Bahamas, Rogers waged all-out war on the Caribbean’s pirates A title page of a pamphlet detailing the trial of eight men for piracy in Boston, 1717. By now, the tide was turning on piracy’s golden age smart career move). Hornigold died in a pirates9 traditional hunting grounds were audience about the evil of piracy. Fly had wreckage somewhere along North America9s providing increasingly meagre pickings. nothing to say and stood deoantly, refusing to eastern seaboard in 1719, but that didn9t stop atone for his actions before meeting his fate Rogers having almost 100 people publicly It has been estimated that nearly 4,000 with the noose. Fly9s was the last major executed during his war on piracy. pirates were arrested between 1700 and 1726, execution (ie one performed in front of a many of whom were put to death. One of large crowd at which he was expected to utter Soon, other powerful ogures were seeking those to die was a man named William Fly his dying words) of a pirate in the Atlantic to destroy notorious pirate captains. Among who, in July 1726, was led to a scafold in world. As such, it heralded the end of the them was Alexander Spotswood, lieutenant Boston. Overseeing the execution was a golden age of piracy. governor of Virginia, who ordered the preacher, Cotton Mather, who spoke to a rapt coastguard, headed by Lieutenant Robert Within a few years of Fly9s death, the Maynard, to hunt down Blackbeard9s ship. Atlantic world would be rocked by connict again, in the shape of the War of Jenkins9 Ear Maynard caught up with his quarry on (1739–48) and the War of the Austrian 22 November 1718, instantly engaging him in Succession (1740–48). Yet instead of trigger- battle. During the oght, one of Maynard9s ing a resurgence of piracy, these two connicts men stabbed Blackbeard. <Well done, lad!= saw the few remaining pirates trading in their the cornered pirate shouted. With Blackbeard black nags for the letters of marque borne by distracted and injured, one of his assailants state-sponsored privateers. beheaded him. Blackbeard9s head was mounted on a ship9s mast and paraded up For around 60 years, pirates had made and down the east coast, signifying the power the waters of the Caribbean and beyond of those working to bring pirates to heel. very perilous places to sail. Yet now their reign of terror was onally over. |ese Struck by a stray bullet With Blackbeard scourges of the high seas sailed into history, GETTY IMAGES/ALAMY Blackbeard may have been the most famous distracted and where they9ve haunted the popular imagina- of all the pirates. But the wealthiest (at least, injured, one of tion – almost as successfully as they haunted in the early 1720s) was Bartholomew Roberts, his assailants sailors in the 17th and 18th century – for who commanded the world9s largest pirate beheaded him almost 300 years. neet. His death in February 1722, aver being struck by a stray bullet in a battle of the coast Rebecca Simon is a historian of early modern of west Africa, was somehow symbolic of the piracy, colonial America and the Atlantic world. enormous squeeze that was being exerted on Her next book, |e Pirates’ Code: Laws and Life pirates across the Atlantic. With relative Aboard Ship, is due to be published by Reaktion peace and stability replacing war and chaos Books in May along North America9s eastern seaboard, the 34

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Complements season 10 of Digging for Britain © WESSEX ARCHAEOLOGY/UCL/SHUTTERSTOCK/MOLA From the astonishing revelation of Palaeolithic cave art • to the discovery of the birthplace of Elizabethan theatre, 37 Susan Greaney introduces eight of Britain’s ITGCVGUVGXGTCTEJCGQNQIKECN PFU

Great discoveries 2 The mystery of the Burton Agnes drum The discovery of an intricately carved cylinder in a child’s grave is testament to the beauty and sophistication of Neolithic art Natural beauty Abstract +VUVCTVGFQʘCULWUVCPQVJGTFKI FTWOUCUVJGUGECTXGFQDLGEVU markings in the Church Hole – albeit a very cold one. “It was were known, had also been ECXG CDQXGCPKOCNGPITCXKPIU the middle of winter, and the placed in the grave of a child. HTQOVJGECXGCTGJKIJNKIJVGFKP weather was terrible,” recalls 6JKUVTKQQHGPKIOCVKEQDLGEVU FKʘGTGPVEQNQWTU NGHV Alice Beasley, describing the JCFQʘGTGFCYKPFQYQPVQNKHGKP preliminary stages of an Britain 5,000 years ago – decorat- 1 The art of darkness excavation near Burton Agnes ed artefacts from the Neolithic in early 2015 But, as Beasley period are, after all, vanishingly A spectacular gorge has revealed some and her fellow archaeologists rare. Now, in 2015, archaeolo- of Britain’s earliest known artworks were to discover as they gists had found a fourth drum – worked at the east Yorkshire CPFJCFVJGDGPG VQHOQFGTP Paul Bahn was a man with a hunch. And in April 2003, site ahead of the construction science when studying it and the the 49-year-old archaeologist decided to act upon it of a renewable energy plant, grave it was found in. – with spectacular results. Bahn had long been puzzled things were about to hot up. by the absence of Palaeolithic engravings and paintings While the Folkton discovery across Britain. Such works of art from this period of 6JG TUVUKIPCTTKXGFYJGP featured three drums with one prehistory (which stretched from 3.3 million to around Beasley started investigating EJKNFVJG$WTVQP#IPGU PF 11,650 years ago) had been found in nearby parts of a couple of circular ditches – contained three children and one Europe. Yet Britain remained a cave art black hole. likely the remains of burial drum. Two younger children had mounds. “We uncovered the been carefully positioned holding That bugged Bahn. He suspected that such art did skeletons and were clearing or touching hands, and were both indeed exist – if only we’d look in the right place. And around the head when it being held by an older child. so, with two colleagues, he set out to explore potential appeared, and we realised sites in central and southern England systematically. It we’d found something spe- Modern analytical techniques didn’t take long for his suspicion to be proved right. cial.” They had, indeed: three are revealing key details about children buried with an intri- VJG PFCPFVJGKPVGTTGFDQFKGU 6JG TUVUKVG$CJPoUVGCOXKUKVGFYCU%TGUYGNN%TCIU cately carved chalk cylinder, Radiocarbon dating showed that a limestone gorge on the border of Derbyshire and covered on every surface with the children died about 2950 BC, Nottinghamshire. Ever since the 1870s, when Victorian concentric circles, lozenges, when our forebears were adding explorers began excavating the caves – leaving spoil zigzags and chevrons. similar geometric decorations to heaps that were later found to include stone tools and pottery vessels and carving them the bones of extinct animals such as the woolly rhino Immediately, the team KPVQUVQPGCTVGHCEVU5WEJQDLGEVU – the area had been known as a Palaeolithic site. recognised the item they had are often described as symbols of found. It was a Neolithic chalk power, but the presence of 1PVJCV TUVOQTPKPIUJKPKPIVJGKTVQTEJGUQPVJG “drum”, very similar to three children alongside the four chalk walls of a 75-metre-long cave known as Church Hole, cylinders that had been exca- drums suggests that they had the team made out an engraving of a stag and two vated in 1889 at a site only other meanings. other carvings that hundreds of earlier visitors had |OKNGUCYC[6JG(QNMVQP failed to spot. Returning a few months later, aided by Chalk carving The highly UECʘQNFKPIVJG[HQWPFCHWTVJGTPKPGGPITCXKPIU6JG decorated Burton Agnes drum is next year, assisted by sunny weather that cast natural arguably one of the most important light into the cave, they found even more. Bahn’s teams GXGPVWCNN[TGEQTFGFUGRCTCVG IWTGUKP%JWTEJ*QNG pieces of prehistoric art in Britain Many of the engravings were in relief, making use of the soft limestone’s natural cracks and other aspects to HISTORIC ENGLAND/ALAMY accentuate features. They depict wild cattle, birds, a stag, a horse and other unknown shapes. Dating of the ʚQYUVQPGVJCVJCUHQTOGFQXGTVJG IWTGUJCURTQXGF them to be over 12,000 years old. Created by some of VJG TUVRGQRNGVQTGUGVVNG$TKVCKPCHVGTVJGNCUV+EG#IG they constitute some of Britain’s earliest known art. 38