Pirate

FAMOUS PIRATES

Jeanne de Clisson (1300-1359) was a Breton privateer who harried French ships after her husband Olivier de Clisson IV was beheaded. Enraged by Oliver's execution, she swore retribution against the French King, Philip VI. Jeanne sold the de Clisson estates and outfitted three warships, which she painted black with red sails. For 13 years, the ships of this Black Fleet patrolled the English Channel hunting down French ships.

Not many survived an encounter with "The Lioness of Brittany" and her fellow pirates. A few intentionally released prisoners spoke to the French king of Jeanne de Clisson's rage against their crews who received no mercy. According to some reports, Jeanne personally decapitated all prisoners of noble birth with an axe, before throwing their bodies into the sea.

Famed Frisian rebel leader and pirate Pier Gerlofs Donia (ca. 1480–1520) could behead multiple people with a single blow from his 7-ft (2.15 m) sword.

The pirate Hayreddin "Red beard" Barbarossa (1478-1546) was exiled from so many countries that he ended up starting his own country (Regency of Algiers) with the blessing of The Ottoman Empire.

The 16th-century Irish pirate Gráinne Mhaol was said to be so fiery that she once defended her ship from invaders a day after giving birth.

The great age of Caribbean piracy began in 1522 when French corsair Jean Fleury captured two Spanish ships on their way back to Spain from the New World, plundering more than $30 million worth of Aztec gold.

Captain Morgan was a real pirate, who made a name for himself looting Spanish settlements. Henry Morgan sacked and burned the city of Panama in 1671 – the second most important city in the Spanish New World at the time.

When Henry Morgan died, an amnesty was declared so pirates and privateers could come and pay their respects without fear of arrest. He was also given a state funeral in Port Royal, and buried with a 22-gun salute.

Notorious pirate William Kidd was hanged twice on May 23, 1701 (the rope having snapped the first time) and his body gibbeted in the Thames for three tides as a warning to would-be buccaneers. The stolen booty on his ship allegedly included jewels worth £30,000 — around £10 million ($15 million) today.

Captain Kidd in New York Harbor, ca. 1920 painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris

Edward Teach was born in Bristol in 1680. Known for his luxuriant beard, he was nicknamed Blackbeard. His flagship was known as Queen Anne's Revenge.

Blackbeard weaved hemp in his hair and beard and set fire to it to frighten enemies.

After notorious acts of piracy along the American coast, Blackbeard was killed in a sea battle off the coast of North Carolina with a boarding party led by Royal Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard on November 22, 1718. His head was mounted on the bowsprit of the ship that defeated him.

Capture of the Pirate, Blackbeard, 1718, Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, painted in 1920

The pirate Henry Every became the richest pirate in the world after raiding on September 7, 1695 the 25-ship convoy of Grand Mughal vessels which were making the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Among them was a treasure laden ship belonging to the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Every stole £600,000 in precious metals and jewels, equivalent to £89.6 million today.

The world’s first worldwide manhunt was called to locate Every. A combined bounty of £1,000—an immense sum at the time—was offered by the Privy Council and the East India Company for his capture, but he was never found.

"Black Sam" Bellamy (1689-1717) is considered the most successful western pirate even, plundering an estimated $120 million in his career.

The youngest pirate ever was John King, who became a pirate when "Black Sam” captured a passenger ship, the Bonetta, in 1716 and John begged to join the crew. He was between 8 and 11 years old.

The most successful pirate captain of the Golden Age of Piracy, Bartholomew "Black Bart" Roberts (May 17, 1682 – February 10, 1722), had very strict rules on his ship, prohibiting all lights and drinking after eight in the evening. There was also a complete ban on gambling. If a crew member got hurt, he received a pension proportionate to his injury.

Black Bart believed the Irish to be some of the worst people to have on your crew due to them being highly mutinous. As a result, many people who Bart tried to force into piracy would often fake an Irish accent so they could get out of it.

Bartholomew Roberts at Ouidah with his ship 

Mary Read from England (1685–1721), also known as Mark Read and Anne Bonny from Ireland (unknown, possibly 1697 – unknown, possibly April 1782) were two of the most famed female pirates of all time. They discovered each others' real genders (both were disguising themselves as men) when Bonny told Read that she was attracted to her, causing Read to reveal herself as a female as well.

A pirate named Zheng Yi Sao was active in the South China Sea from 1801 to 110, eventually rising to lead a pirate confederacy. When she retired in 1810, she had 24 ships and 1433 pirates under her personal command. Zheng Yi Sao later served as a privateer and retired to run a casino, dying at 68.

When Louisiana governor William Claiborne offered in 1813 a $500 bounty for pirate Jean Lafitte, Lafitte offered $5,000 for the capture of the governor.

The most successful pirate of all time was a Chinese prostitute called Ching Shih (1775-1844). She commanded over 1,800 ships and around 20,000-40,000 other pirates. She fought off the Chinese, British, and Portuguese navies—and was never captured. Ching Shih was one of the few pirates to actually retire.

Ching Shih

The first Governor of the Bahamas was a former pirate named Woodes Rogers (ca. 1679 – July 15, 1732).

Australia's only recorded pirate is Black Jack Anderson, an African-American sealer who operated in the Recherche Archipelago off the south coast of Western Australia. From 1826, he robbed ships, killed local Indigenous men and kidnapped their women. He is thought to have been murdered by his crew sometime in the mid 1840s.

When a North Korean cargo vessel MV Dai Hong Dan was attacked by Somali pirates on October 29, 2007, an American destroyer, USS James E. Williams, came to their aid. In the aftermath of the incident, the North Korean press released an unprecedented positive statement, expressing gratitude to the United States for their help,

Dai Hong Dan

FUN PIRATE FACTS

The earliest documented instances of piracy were in the 14th century BC, when the Sea Peoples, a group of ocean raiders, attacked the ships of the Aegean and Mediterranean civilization

A "buccaneer" raided Spanish colonies and ships along the American coast in the 17th century, while a "pirate" is any seafaring criminal.

Centuries ago many pirates pierced their ears and wore earrings because they believed it improved their vision.

Pirates wore eye patches to have one eye adjusted for the top deck and the other already adjusted for the darkness when going below deck.

The black pirate flag known as the "Jolly Roger" was originally a bright red French "surrender-or-die" banner known as the "Jolie Rouge."

The traditional "Jolly Roger" of piracy.

In the 1700s, a pirate ship with a black flag meant that if a vessel surrendered its goods, the pirates were willing to spare its crew. However, a red flag,meant "no quarter given", meaning that no mercy would be shown, and no life would be spared.

Pirates often stocked a variety of flags and usually flew false flags, only raising the Jolly Roger when they had their prey vessels within firing range.

There's a pirate museum in St. Augustine, Florida, that displays not only one of two authentic Jolly Roger flags known to exist, but also the only known treasure chest that actually belonged to a pirate.

Pirates assessed another ship by looking at its jib—a sail on the boat’s forwardmost mast—hence the phrase "I like the cut of your jib."

Pirates spent their loot as soon as they got it, on account of their short lives—there are only a few documented cases of buried treasure.

The word "piracy" has been used for copyright breaking since 1700.

Until 1830 pirates were hanged in England at Execution Dock in Wapping as "enemies of all mankind".

The actor Robert Newton is best remembered for his portrayal of Long John Silver in the 1950 film adaptation of Treasure Island, the film that became the standard for screen portrayals of historical pirates. Hailing from the West Country, his exaggeration of his West Country accent is credited with popularizing the stereotypical "pirate voice." Newton was the first actor to employ the phrase "Arrrrh, matey!"

However, John Barrymore was the first Long John to use "arrr!" to mean "yes" back in 1934.

Newton and Linda Darnell in Blackbeard the Pirate (1952).

International Talk Like a Pirate Day is celebrated on September 19 each year as the day when everyone in the world should talk like a pirate. An observer of this holiday should greet friends not with "Hello, everyone!" but with "Ahoy, maties!" or "Ahoy, me hearties!" The day was born in 1995, when John Baur (Ol' Chumbucket) and Mark Summers (Cap'n Slappy), of Albany, Oregon were  playing racquetball. One of them reacted to an injury with an outburst of "Aaarrr!", and the idea was born.

There is little evidence that pirates ever made their enemies walk the plank.

Japanese sushi chain CEO majorly contributed to a drop in piracy off the Somalian coast by providing the pirates with training as tuna fishermen.

Somali Pirates at one point had an investment firm. You could invest in the Somali Pirates, and receive a cut of their loot if their plunder was successful.  A 22 year old 'investor' made $75,000 in 38 days after joining the 'company' - after getting a share of ransom money.

Here is a list of songs about pirates.