BARTH, or BART, JEAN, son of a fisherman of Dunkirk, was born in 1651 and died in 1702. He served, when young, in the Dutch navy, but when war broke out between Louis XIV. and Holland, he entered the French service. He gained great distinction in the Mediterranean, where he held an irregular sort of commission, not being then able from his low birth to receive a command in the navy. His success was so great, however, that he was made a lieutenant. He rose rapidly to the rank of captain, and then to that of admiral. The peace of Ryswick put a close to his active service. Many anecdotes are narrated of the courage and bluntness of the uncultivated sailor, who became the popular hero of the French naval service. (Richer, Vie de Jean Bart, 1780, and many editions since ; Vanderest, Histoire de Jean Bart.)