Pier Gerlofs Donia

Pier Gerlofs Donia, also known and Grutte Pier (Great Pier) was a Frisian (Northern coast of the Netherlands and Germany) pirate and rebel who became legendary for his size, said to be seven feet tall or greater, and likewise his great strength, said to be able to behead multiple enemies with a single swing of his seven-foot zweihander sword. Pier was a farmer until 1515, until the Black Band, a violent group of Landsknecht in service of the ruling Habsburg dynasty burned his village and raped and murdered his wife. In retaliation, Donia declared a led a Frisian uprising against the Habsburgs, taking to the sea and capturing numerous Habsburg and allied vessels, and captured and razed multiple Habsburg-controlled cities. Peir's actions, however, were not enough to win Frisia its freedom, and Pier retired in 1519, disillusioned with the conflict, and died a year later.