10 Most Violent Pirates In History

Sir Henry Morgan was a Welsh privateer who rose as high as the Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. A privateer is, in essence, a pirate who has some form of government backing or protection. He made a name for himself (and a fortune) raiding settlements in a region called the Spanish Main.

Morgan is also the man who the famous rum brand, Captain Morgan's, is named after. Despite his cheerful appearance on the bottles, the infamous privateer was not a man to trifle with.

Back in 1668, the captain and his crew sacked Portobelo ⁠— a city in Panama. After the city was sacked, Morgan wasn't able to find the treasure and resorted to torturing locals, in an effort to get some info. A technique known as "woolding" was used in this instance.

For those unfamiliar, woolding consists of wrapping a leather cord around a victim's head and using bars to tighten it. When pressure is fully applied, it causes the subject's eyes to dislodge.

When the Welsman and his associates attacked the city of Gibraltar, they came across a Portuguese man who wouldn't give up his treasure. The man was beaten, had a heavy boulder placed on his stomach, and was burned in several places.

Though he was involved in more than a few violent situations over the course of life, Morgan died a relatively peaceful death. Cirrhosis of the liver would claim the hard-drinking privateer's life in 1688 — he was 53 at the time.