History

In 1695 a Young french marine officer Whose name was James Misson met in Rome a lewd priest named Caraccioli. The two, much ahead of their time, dreamed of a egualitarian society free from organized religion, kings, absolute powers, slavery. Travelling togheter embarked on the French privateering ship Victoire, soon they had the chance to prove their ideals, when the ship was assaulted by pirates and, though victorious, lost its captain. Misson was proclaimed the Victoire’s new leader by the crew, converted to Caraccioli’s revolutionary ideas.

So they sailed toward Africa, and settled in Madagascar, where they founded the Republic of Libertalia (sometimes refered as Libertatia). Around this time, they met up with the very real Englishman, Captain Thomas Tew, a privateer turned pirate, who joined Libertalia along with his men. They shed their old nationalities and called themselves “liberi.” They began to fashion their own language, a mixture of their various native tongues and local dialects. They agreed to democratic forms of government. Life was lived in a communal way, with every man sharing in both the work load and the spoils of the sea.

Unfortunately, this anarchist dream would not last for long. While Captain Tew was at sea, native peoples attacked Libertatia. Caraccioli was killed along with many other “liberis.” Captain Misson escaped with 40 odd men and a treasure trove of booty. He met up with Captain Tew, who tried to convince him to go to America and establish a colony there. The heartbroken Misson declined. Soon after, Misson and the Victoire went down during a violent storm. The Libertalia experiment had officially come to an end.

Sources: Wikipedia, Atlasobscura.com, Baroque.it (in Italian). All of them refer to the 1724 book from Charles Johnson: A General History of the Pyrates .