Bartholomew Roberts, Welsh pirate (d. 1722)
Bartholomew Roberts (17 May 1682 – 10 February 1722), born John Roberts, was a Welsh pirate and the most successful pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy (measured by vessels captured), taking over 400 prizes in his career. Roberts raided ships off the Americas and the West African coast between 1719 and 1722; he is also noted for creating his own Pirate Code, and adopting an early variant of the Skull and Crossbones flag.
Roberts' infamy and success saw him become known as The Great Pyrate and eventually as Black Bart (Welsh: Barti Ddu), and made him a popular subject for writers of both fiction and non-fiction. To this day, Roberts continues to feature in novels, films and video games (such as Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag) as well as inspire fictional characters (such as the Dread Pirate Roberts).