Jean Bar is a famous French naval sailor and corsair. National Hero of France, the most famous of the Dunker privateers.
Biography
The future sailor was born in October 1651 in the small French commune of Dunkirk. His parents, Katerina Jansen and Cornelius Bar, were hereditary sailors, engaged in fishing, and sometimes traded in the craft of corsairs.
The Bar family consisted of several generations of corsairs, which largely predetermined the fate of Jean. His grandfather was an admiral and commanded a small group of corsairs' ships, died of severe wounds in battle. Jean's great-uncle, the famous Dutch privateer Jan Jacobsen, also died in the battle, at the cost of his life he was able to cover the withdrawal of his crew's ships.
Privateer career
Jean Bart got on his first ship as a teenager. He began his legendary career as a simple cabin boy, but thanks to his ingenuity and courage, he quickly began to climb the career ladder.
Early in his adult life, Jean managed to fight against England on the side of Holland during the second war between these powers. With the outbreak of another war, in which France was involved, Bar went over to the side of his native country.
Returning to service in France, Bar got a job on one of the corsair ships. Two years later, at the age of 23, he took over as captain on the Rua David. Some sources indicate that he collected this ship with his own money.
In 1979 he was appointed Lieutenant Commander of the Royal Navy. For a long time he fiercely fought against African pirates. He made one of the most daring raids in 1686. He attacked the Moroccan port of Sale, the main refuge of African pirates. The sortie resulted in 550 rescued prisoners.
Throughout his life, he continued to serve the French crown and contribute to the success of the power at sea. In 1702, after the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession, he was preparing the ship for going to sea. Sorting equipment and supplies in the port, Bar caught a cold and took to bed, after a while the disease turned into pneumonia from which he died.
Personal life
The famous corsair was married twice. He had thirteen children from both marriages, and only six of them were able to outlive their legendary father. The eldest son from his first marriage, François Bar, was a frequent companion of his father in his military campaigns. When the guy served on the ship as a cabin boy, the ship was carrying gunpowder and came under fire from a Dutch galleon. François panicked and hid behind the mast. The senior bar saw this and ordered to tie him to the mast. It is difficult to say how much this event influenced François, but later he rose to the rank of admiral of the French fleet.
