Blackbeard Trivia
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42 free Blackbeard trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Blackbeard trivia quiz covers the roughly two years in which Edward Teach (or Thatch) went from a sloop captain in Benjamin Hornigold's crew to the most feared pirate on the American coast. It follows the capture of La Concorde and her rebirth as Queen Anne's Revenge, the alliance with Stede Bonnet, the smoking fuses under the hat, the blockade of Charles Town for a chest of medicines, the deliberate grounding at Beaufort Inlet, the royal pardon from Governor Eden, and the dawn battle at Ocracoke in November 1718 that ended with his head hanging from Lieutenant Maynard's bowsprit. The easy questions are ones most people know: his real name, his ship, how he died. The medium ones ask about his mentors and rivals, his fleet, his tactics and the governors who pardoned and hunted him. The hard ones dig into Israel Hands, Tobias Knight, the size of the crew at Ocracoke, the prize money dispute, the 1996 discovery of the wreck and the actors who have played him. It works for a pirate-themed party, a Talk Like a Pirate Day round or a history class on the Golden Age of Piracy. Every answer has been checked against a reference encyclopaedia, and each question shows its explanation and citation once you have answered.
30 of 42 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01By what real name is Blackbeard usually known?
Edward Teach
Edward Teach is the usual name, but people who met him wrote 'Thatch', and pirates often used false surnames, so his true name may never be known.
Q 02What was the name of Blackbeard's 40-gun flagship?
Queen Anne's Revenge
Queen Anne's Revenge was the captured French ship La Concorde, taken off Saint Vincent in November 1717 and refitted by Teach with about 40 guns as his flagship.
Q 03What was Blackbeard reported to have tied under his hat to frighten enemies?
Lit fuses
The slow matches, plus three brace of pistols in bandoliers, gave him a look 'from hell', according to a 1724 account.
Q 04On which Bahamian island did Blackbeard base himself when he first turned pirate around 1716?
New Providence
Its harbour held hundreds of ships but was too shallow for the Royal Navy's largest vessels.
Q 05Under which pirate captain did Blackbeard first serve before commanding his own sloop?
Benjamin Hornigold
Hornigold, a former privateer, attacked only old enemies; his crew demoted him and he took the King's pardon.
Q 06In which English city was Blackbeard most likely raised?
Bristol
Then England's second-largest city, it was a hub of the Atlantic slave trade; he could almost certainly read and write.
Q 07Which 'gentleman pirate', a wealthy landowner, handed Blackbeard command of his ship Revenge in 1717?
Stede Bonnet
Bonnet's own crew were dissatisfied with him; Blackbeard later stripped his ship and marooned his men.
Q 08What cargo did Blackbeard and Hornigold take from the Betty of Virginia in 1717 before scuttling her?
Madeira wine
They had apparently developed a taste for it after taking 100 barrels of wine from a Bermuda sloop.
Q 09On which island did Blackbeard put La Concorde's French crew ashore after capturing her in 1717?
Bequia
Teach landed La Concorde's crew on Bequia, near Saint Vincent, and gave them the smaller of his two sloops, which they renamed Mauvaise Rencontre, 'Bad Meeting'.
Q 10How did Blackbeard reportedly wear his beard?
Braided into pigtails with coloured ribbons
He also favoured knee-length boots and sometimes a long coat of brightly coloured silk or velvet.
Q 11How many verified accounts exist of Blackbeard murdering or harming a captive?
None
He relied on his fearsome image rather than violence to get what he wanted.
Q 12Whom did Blackbeard make captain of a captured Jamaican logwood sloop in March 1718?
Israel Hands
Hands later escaped hanging because he was ashore, having been shot in the knee by Blackbeard during a drinking session.
Q 13What rank did Blackbeard award himself by May 1718, at the height of his power?
Commodore
Teach styled himself Commodore of a flotilla of several vessels and more than 300 men, which blockaded Charles Town, South Carolina, in late May 1718.
Q 21Which colonial governor personally financed the expedition that killed Blackbeard?
Alexander Spotswood of Virginia
Alexander Spotswood of Virginia had no legal authority to invade North Carolina, and may have believed Blackbeard had fabulous treasure hidden away.
Q 22What were the names of the two sloops Maynard used to attack Blackbeard?
Jane and Ranger
Maynard's 57 men sailed in the hired sloops Jane and Ranger; they came from HMS Pearl and HMS Lyme, whose frigates drew too much water for the inlets and stayed behind.
Q 23Roughly how many men did Blackbeard have aboard at Ocracoke, according to the 1724 General Historie?
No more than 25
Q 14What did Blackbeard demand as ransom when he blockaded Charles Town in 1718?
Medical supplies
He threatened to send prisoners' heads to the governor, then released everyone once the drugs arrived.
Q 15Where did Blackbeard's flagship run aground on a sandbar in June 1718?
Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina
Some historians think Blackbeard grounded her deliberately to shed crew and increase his share of the loot.
Q 16Which governor granted Blackbeard a royal pardon at Bath, North Carolina, in June 1718?
Charles Eden
Eden was later accused of being Blackbeard's accomplice.
Q 17Roughly how many of his own men did Blackbeard maroon on a sandy island before sailing to Ocracoke?
About 25
The marooned men were rescued two days later.
Q 18What happened to the 'gentleman pirate' after Blackbeard stripped his ship and marooned his crew?
He returned to piracy and was hanged in Charles Town
He was captured at the mouth of the Cape Fear River in September 1718.
Q 19What did Blackbeard rename his last sloop after receiving official title to it?
Adventure
He was supposedly sailing to St Thomas for a privateer's commission, but was back to piracy within weeks.
Q 20Which fellow pirate joined Blackbeard for a days-long party on Ocracoke Island in 1718?
Charles Vane
Charles Vane and Blackbeard's crews drank and feasted on Ocracoke for days in October 1718; news of the gathering alarmed the governors of Pennsylvania and Virginia.
He had told everyone he had forty; two dozen of his men were ashore in Bath with one of his captains.
Q 24What trick did Maynard use to surprise Blackbeard's boarding party?
He hid most of his men below deck
Seeing an apparently empty deck, Blackbeard led his men aboard, and Maynard's crew burst out of the hold.
Q 25What did Blackbeard do to Maynard's cutlass during their duel?
Broke it at the hilt
Teach's cutlass broke Maynard's sword at the hilt, cutting his fingers; he was about to deliver the killing blow when one of Maynard's men slashed his neck.
Q 26How many times had Blackbeard been shot when Maynard examined his body?
Five
He had also been cut about twenty times.
Q 27What did Maynard do with Blackbeard's head?
Hung it from his sloop's bowsprit
Maynard hung Teach's severed head from the bowsprit of his sloop as proof for the reward; it was later displayed on a pole at the mouth of the Hampton River, Virginia.
Q 28What was Blackbeard's loot found to consist of when it was auctioned after his death?
Sugar, cocoa, indigo and cotton
It fetched £2,238, part of which paid for the entire operation.
Q 29Which North Carolina official was tried and acquitted of being in league with Blackbeard?
Tobias Knight
Tobias Knight, the colony's secretary and customs collector, argued the sugar in his barn was stored legally and that Blackbeard had visited him only on official business; the council acquitted him.
Q 30Where were the surviving members of Blackbeard's crew tried in March 1719?
Williamsburg, Virginia
The trial was held in Williamsburg, Virginia's capital, in March 1719; fourteen of the sixteen were hanged and left in gibbets along what became Gallows Road.