Geography of piracy in the 16th and 17th centuries. The most famous pirate ships

The peak of maritime robberies occurred in the 17th century, when the World Ocean was the scene of struggle between Spain, England and some other growing European colonial powers. Most often, pirates made their living through independent criminal robberies, but some of them ended up in government service and deliberately harmed foreign fleets. Below is a list of the ten most famous pirates in history.

1. William Kidd

William Kidd (22 January 1645 - 23 May 1701) was a Scottish sailor who was convicted and executed for piracy after returning from a voyage to the Indian Ocean to hunt pirates. Considered one of the most cruel and bloodthirsty sea robbers of the seventeenth century. The hero of many mysterious stories. Some modern historians, such as Sir Cornelius Neale Dalton, consider his pirate reputation to be unfair.

2. Bartholomew Roberts

Bartholomew Roberts (May 17, 1682 - February 17, 1722) was a Welsh pirate who robbed about 200 ships (according to another version 400 ships) in the vicinity of Barbados and Martinique over two and a half years. Known primarily as the opposite of the traditional image of a pirate. He was always well dressed, had refined manners, hated drunkenness and gambling, and treated the crew of the ships he captured well. He was killed by cannon shot during a battle with a British warship.

3. Blackbeard

Blackbeard or Edward Teach (1680 - November 22, 1718) was an English pirate who traded in the Caribbean in 1716–1718. He liked to strike terror into his enemies. During the battle, Teach wove incendiary wicks into his beard and, in clouds of smoke, like Satan from hell, burst into the ranks of the enemy. Due to his unusual appearance and eccentric behavior, history has made him one of the most famous pirates, despite the fact that his “career” was quite short, and his success and scale of activity were much smaller compared to his other colleagues on this list.

4. Jack Rackham

Jack Rackham (December 21, 1682 - November 17, 1720) was an English pirate, famous primarily for the fact that his crew included two more equally famous corsairs, female pirates Anne Bonny, nicknamed “Mistress of the Seas” and Mary Read.

5. Charles Vane

Charles Vane (1680 – March 29, 1721) was an English pirate who plundered ships between 1716 and 1721 in North American waters. He became famous for his extreme cruelty. As history says, Vane was not attached to such feelings as compassion, pity and empathy; he easily broke his own promises, did not respect other pirates and did not take anyone’s opinion into account. The meaning of his life was only production.

6. Edward England

Edward England (1685 - 1721) was a pirate active off the coast of Africa and in the waters of the Indian Ocean from 1717 to 1720. He differed from other pirates of that time in that he did not kill prisoners unless absolutely necessary. Ultimately, this led to his crew mutinying when he refused to kill sailors from yet another captured English merchant ship. England was subsequently landed in Madagascar where he survived for some time by begging and eventually died.

7. Samuel Bellamy

Samuel Bellamy, nicknamed Black Sam (February 23, 1689 - April 26, 1717) was a great English sailor and pirate who traded at the beginning of the 18th century. Although his career lasted just over a year, he and his crew captured at least 53 ships, making Black Sam the richest pirate in history. Bellamy was also known for his mercy and generosity towards those he captured in his raids.

8. Saida al-Hurra

Saida al-Hurra (1485 – c. 14 July 1561) - last queen of Tetouan (Morocco), reigning between 1512–1542, pirate. In alliance with the Ottoman corsair Arouj Barbarossa of Algeria, al-Hura controlled the Mediterranean Sea. She became famous for her fight against the Portuguese. She is rightfully considered one of the most outstanding women of the Islamic West of the modern era. The date and exact circumstances of her death are unknown.

9. Thomas Tew

Thomas Tew (1649 - September 1695) was an English privateer and pirate who made only two major piracy voyages, a voyage later known as the "Pirate Circle". He was killed in 1695 while attempting to rob the Mughal ship Fateh Muhammad.

10. Steed Bonnet

Steed Bonnet (1688 - December 10, 1718) was a prominent English pirate, nicknamed the "pirate gentleman." Interestingly, before Bonnet turned to piracy, he was a fairly wealthy, educated and respected man, owning a plantation in Barbados.

11. Madame Shi

Madame Shi, or Madam Zheng, is one of the world's most famous female pirates. After the death of her husband, she inherited his pirate flotilla and put sea robbery on a grand scale. Under her command were two thousand ships and seventy thousand people. The strictest discipline helped her command an entire army. For example, for unauthorized absence from a ship, the offender lost an ear. Not all of Madame Shi's subordinates were happy with this state of affairs, and one of the captains once rebelled and went over to the side of the authorities. After Madame Shi's power was weakened, she agreed to a truce with the emperor and subsequently lived to an old age in freedom, running a brothel.

12. Francis Drake

Francis Drake is one of the most famous pirates in the world. Actually, he was not a pirate, but a corsair who acted on the seas and oceans against enemy ships with the special permission of Queen Elizabeth. Devastating the coasts of Central and South America, he became immensely rich. Drake accomplished many great deeds: he opened a strait, which he named in his honor, and under his command the British fleet defeated the Great Armada. Since then, one of the ships of the English navy has been named after the famous navigator and corsair Francis Drake.

13. Henry Morgan

The list of the most famous pirates would be incomplete without the name of Henry Morgan. Despite the fact that he was born into a wealthy family of an English landowner, from his youth Morgan connected his life with the sea. He was hired as a cabin boy on one of the ships and was soon sold into slavery in Barbados. He managed to move to Jamaica, where Morgan joined a gang of pirates. Several successful trips allowed him and his comrades to purchase a ship. Morgan was chosen as captain, and it was a good decision. A few years later there were 35 ships under his command. With such a fleet, he managed to capture Panama in a day and burn the entire city. Since Morgan acted mainly against Spanish ships and pursued an active English colonial policy, after his arrest the pirate was not executed. On the contrary, for the services rendered to Britain in the fight against Spain, Henry Morgan received the post of lieutenant governor of Jamaica. The famous corsair died at the age of 53 from cirrhosis of the liver.

14. Edward Teach

Edward Teach, or Blackbeard, is one of the most famous pirates in the world. Almost everyone has heard his name. Teach lived and was engaged in sea robbery at the very height of the golden age of piracy. Having enlisted at the age of 12, he gained valuable experience, which would then be useful to him in the future. According to historians, Teach took part in the War of the Spanish Succession, and after its end he deliberately decided to become a pirate. The fame of a ruthless filibuster helped Blackbeard seize ships without the use of weapons - upon seeing his flag, the victim surrendered without a fight. The cheerful life of a pirate did not last long - Teach died during a boarding battle with a British warship pursuing him.

15. Henry Avery

One of the most famous pirates in history is Henry Avery, nicknamed Long Ben. The father of the future famous buccaneer was a captain in the British fleet. Since childhood, Avery dreamed of sea voyages. He began his career in the navy as a cabin boy. Avery then received an appointment as first mate on a corsair frigate. The ship's crew soon rebelled, and the first mate was proclaimed captain of the pirate ship. So Avery took the path of piracy. He became famous for capturing the ships of Indian pilgrims heading to Mecca. The pirates' booty was unheard of at that time: 600 thousand pounds and the daughter of the Great Mogul, whom Avery later officially married. How the life of the famous filibuster ended is unknown.

16. Amaro Pargo

Amaro Pargo is one of the most famous freebooters of the golden age of piracy. Pargo transported slaves and made a fortune from it. Wealth allowed him to engage in charity work. He lived to a ripe old age.

17. Arouge Barbarossa

Famous powerful pirate from Turkey. He was characterized by cruelty, ruthlessness, and a love of mockery and execution. He was involved in the pirate business together with his brother Khair. The Barbarossa Pirates were a threat to the entire Mediterranean. So, in 1515, the entire Azir coast was under the rule of Arouj Barbarossa. The battles under his command were sophisticated, bloody and victorious. Arouj Barbarossa died during the battle, surrounded by enemy troops in Tlemcen.

18. William Dampier

A sailor from England. By vocation he was a researcher and discoverer. Made 3 trips around the world. He became a pirate in order to have the means to engage in his research activities - studying the direction of winds and currents in the ocean. William Dampier is the author of such books as “Travels and Descriptions”, “A New Journey Around the World”, “The Direction of the Winds”. An archipelago in the North-West coast of Australia, as well as a strait between the western coast of New Guinea and the island of Waigeo, are named after him.

19. Grace O'Mail

Female pirate, legendary captain, lady of fortune. Her life was full of colorful adventures. Grace had heroic courage, unprecedented determination and high talent as a pirate. For her enemies she was a nightmare, for her followers an object of admiration. Despite the fact that she had three children from her first marriage and 1 child from her second, Grace O'Mail continued her favorite business. Her work was so successful that Queen Elizabeth I herself invited Grace to serve her, to which she received a decisive refusal.

20 . Anne Bonney

Anne Bonny, one of the few women who succeeded in piracy, grew up in a wealthy mansion and received a good education. However, when her father decided to marry her off, she ran away from home with a simple sailor. Some time later, Anne Bonny met the pirate Jack Rackham and he took her on his ship. According to eyewitnesses, Bonnie was not inferior to male pirates in courage and ability to fight.

Incredible facts about pirates

1. In the 18th century, the Bahamas were a paradise for pirates

The Bahamas, today's respectable resort, and its capital, Nassau, were once the capital of maritime lawlessness. In the 17th century, the Bahamas, which formally belonged to the British crown, did not have a governor, and pirates took the reins of government into their own hands. At that time, more than a thousand sea robbers lived in the Bahamas, and squadrons of the most famous pirate captains moored in the island’s harbors. The pirates preferred to call the city of Nassau Charlestown in their own way. Peace returned to the Bahamas only in 1718, when British troops landed in the Bahamas and regained control of Nassau.

2. “Jolly Roger” is not a single pirate flag at all

The Jolly Roger, a black flag with a skull and crossbones, is often called the main pirate symbol. But it is not so. He is rather the most famous and spectacular. However, it was not used as often as is commonly believed. It appeared as a pirate flag only in the 17th century, that is, already at the end of the golden era of piracy. And not all pirates used it, since each captain himself decided under which flag to carry out raids. So, along with the Jolly Roger, there were dozens of pirate flags, and the skull and crossbones was not particularly popular among them.

3. Why did pirates wear earrings?

Books and films don’t lie: almost all pirates wore earrings. They were even part of the pirate initiation ritual: young pirates received an earring upon their first crossing of the equator or Cape Horn. The fact is that among pirates there was a belief that an earring in the ear helps preserve vision and even helps cure blindness. It was this pirate superstition that led to the mass fashion for earrings among sea robbers. Some even tried to use them for dual purposes, casting a spell against drowning on the earring. Also, an earring taken from the ear of a killed pirate could guarantee a decent funeral for the deceased.

4. There were a lot of female pirates

Oddly enough, women in pirate crews were not such a rare occurrence. There weren't even that few female captains. The most famous of them are the Chinese Cheng Yi Sao, Mary Read and, of course, the famous Anne Bonny. Anne was born into the family of a wealthy Irish lawyer. From an early age, her parents dressed her like a boy so that she could help her father in the office as a clerk. The boring life of a lawyer's assistant did not appeal to Anne, and she ran away from home, joining the pirates and quickly becoming a captain thanks to her determination. According to rumors, Anne Bonny had a hot temper and often beat her assistants if they tried to challenge her opinion.

5. Why are there so many one-eyed pirates?

Anyone who has watched a movie about pirates has probably thought at least once: why are there so many one-eyed people among them? The eye patch has long remained an indispensable part of the pirate image. However, the pirates did not wear it because they all lacked an eye. It was simply convenient for quick and more accurate aiming in battle, but putting it on for battle took too long - it was more comfortable to wear it without taking it off.

6. There was strict discipline on pirate ships

Pirates could do any obscenity on the shore, but strict discipline reigned on board pirate ships, because the lives of sea robbers depended on it. Each pirate, upon boarding a ship, signed a contract with the captain, stipulating his rights and obligations. The main duties were unquestioning obedience to the captain. A simple pirate did not even have the right to contact the commander directly. This could be done at the insistence of the sailors only by an appointed representative of the team - usually the boatswain. In addition, the contract strictly determined the part of the booty that the pirate would receive, and an attempt to conceal the captured property was subject to immediate execution - this was done to avoid bloody showdowns on board.

7. The pirates included people from all walks of life

Among the sea robbers there were not only poor people who went to sea for lack of other means of subsistence, or fugitive criminals who did not know the possibility of legal earnings. There were also people from rich and even noble families among them. For example, the famous pirate William Kidd - Captain Kidd - was the son of a Scottish nobleman. He was originally a British naval officer and pirate hunter. But his innate cruelty and passion for adventure pushed him onto a different path. In 1698, under the cover of the French flag, Kidd captured a British merchant ship loaded with gold and silver. When the first prize turned out to be so impressive, could Kidd refuse to continue his career?

8. Buried pirate treasure is the stuff of legends.

There are many legends about buried pirate treasures - much more than there are treasures themselves. Of the famous pirates, only one is reliably known to have actually buried treasure - William Kidd did this, hoping to use it as ransom if he was caught. This did not help him - after his capture he was immediately executed as a pirate. Typically, pirates did not leave behind large fortunes. The pirates' expenses were high, the crews were numerous, and each member of the crew, including the captain, was succeeded by one of his friends and colleagues. At the same time, realizing that their life was short, the pirates preferred to waste money rather than hide it in the prospect of a very unreliable future.

9. A walk along the yard was a rare punishment

Judging by the films, the most common method of execution among pirates was the “yardwalk,” where a man with his hands tied was forced to walk along a thin yard until he fell overboard and drowned. In fact, such punishment was rare and was applied only to sworn personal enemies - to see their fear or panic. The traditional punishment was “dragging under the keel,” when a pirate or an obstinate prisoner punished for disobedience was lowered overboard with the help of ropes and dragged under the bottom of the ship, pulling out from the other side. A good swimmer could easily not choke during the punishment, but the body of the punished person ended up being so cut up by shells. stuck to the bottom, which took many weeks to recover. The punished could easily die, and, again, more likely from wounds than from drowning.

10. Pirates roamed all seas

After the film "Pirates of the Caribbean", many believe that the seas of Central America were the nest of world piracy. In fact, piracy was equally common in all regions - from Britain, whose privateers, pirates in the royal service, terrorized European ships, to Southeast Asia, where piracy remained a real force well into the 20th century. And the raids of the northern peoples on the cities of Ancient Rus' along the rivers were real pirate raids!

11. Piracy as a way to make a living

In difficult times, many hunters, shepherds and lumberjacks became pirates not for adventure, but for a banal piece of bread. This was especially true for residents of Central America, where in the 17th-18th centuries there was an endless battle between European powers for colonies. Constant armed clashes deprived people not only of work, but also of home, and residents of coastal settlements knew maritime affairs from childhood. So they went to where they had a chance to be well-fed and not think too much about tomorrow.

12. Not all pirates were outlaws

Government piracy is a phenomenon that has existed since ancient times. Berber corsairs served the Ottoman Empire, Dunker privateers served Spain, and Britain, during the era of dominion over the ocean, kept a fleet of privateers - warships that captured enemy merchant ships - and corsairs - private individuals engaged in the same trade. Despite the fact that state pirates were engaged in the same craft as their free brothers, the difference in their position was enormous. Captured pirates were subject to immediate execution, while a corsair with the appropriate patent could count on the status of a prisoner of war, a quick ransom and a state reward - like Henry Morgan, who received the post of governor of Jamaica for his corsair service.

13. Pirates still exist today

Today's pirates are armed with modern machine guns instead of cutlass, and prefer modern high-speed boats to sailing ships. However, they act just as decisively and ruthlessly as their ancient predecessors. The Gulf of Aden, the Strait of Malacca and the coastal waters of Madagascar are considered the most dangerous places for pirate attacks, and civilian ships are advised not to enter there without an armed escort.

7 Most Scary Pirates in History

With the advent of the famous Jack Sparrow, pirates turned into cartoon characters of modern pop culture. And that makes it easy to forget that real sea robbers were more formidable than their Hollywood parody. They were brutal mass murderers and slave owners. In a word, they were pirates. Real pirates, not pathetic caricatures. As evidenced by the following...

1. Francois Ohlone

The French pirate François Ohlone hated Spain with all his heart. Early in his pirate career, Ohlone nearly died at the hands of Spanish marauders, but instead of reconsidering his life and becoming, say, a farmer, he decided to dedicate himself to hunting the Spanish. He clearly expressed his attitude towards this people after he beheaded the entire crew of a Spanish ship that came his way, with the exception of one single man, whom he sent to his fellows to convey the following words: “From this day forward, not a single Spaniard will receive from me not a cent."

But these were only flowers. Considering what happened next, we can say that the beheaded Spaniards got off lightly.

Having earned a reputation as a cutthroat, Ohlone gathered eight pirate ships and several hundred men under his command and set out to terrorize the coast of South America, destroying Spanish cities, capturing ships bound for Spain, and generally causing severe headaches for that state.

Nevertheless, Olone's luck suddenly turned away when he, returning from another raid on the coast of Venezuela, was ambushed by Spanish soldiers who outnumbered him. Explosions thundered here and there, pirates flew into pieces, and Olona barely managed to escape from this meat grinder, simultaneously capturing several hostages. But this was not the end of his difficulties, because Olona and his team still needed to escape alive from enemy territory and not run into another ambush, which they simply could not repulse.

What did Ohlone do? He took out a saber, slashed the chest of one of the Spanish hostages, pulled out his heart and “sank his teeth into it like a greedy wolf, telling the others: “The same thing awaits you if you don’t show me the way out.”

The intimidation worked, and soon the pirates were out of danger. If you're wondering what happened to the heads of the beheaded Spaniards we mentioned earlier... well, let's just say that for a week the pirates ate like kings.

2. Jean Lafitte

Despite his effeminate name and French origin, Jean Lafitte was a true pirate king. He owned his own island in Louisiana, robbed ships and smuggled stolen goods into New Orleans. Lafitte was so successful that when the governor of Louisiana offered $300 for his capture (at that time, 300 bucks was half the country's budget), the pirate responded by offering $1,000 for the capture of the governor himself.

Newspapers and authorities portrayed Lafitte as a dangerous and violent criminal and mass murderer, a sort of 1800s Osama bin Laden, if you will. Apparently his fame crossed the Atlantic Ocean, since in 1814 Lafitte was given a letter signed personally by King George III, who offered the pirate British citizenship and lands if he sided with them. He also promised that he would not destroy his small island and sell it piece by piece. Lafitte asked to be given a few days to think... and in the meantime he hurried straight to New Orleans to warn the Americans about the British advance.

So, maybe the United States did not like Jean Lafitte, but for Lafitte the United States was like family.

Even though he was not an American, Lafitte treated the new country with respect and even ordered his fleet not to attack American ships. Lafitte personally killed one pirate who disobeyed his order. In addition, the privateer treated hostages well and sometimes returned their ships if they were not suitable for the pirate business. New Orleans residents considered Lafitte almost a hero, as the contraband he brought in allowed people to buy things they otherwise could not afford.

So, how did the American authorities react to the report of a future British attack? They attacked the island of Lafitte and captured his people, because they thought that he was simply lying. Only after future President Andrew Jackson intervened, noting that New Orleans was not ready to withstand a British attack, did the authorities agree to release Lafitte's men on the condition that they agree to help their navy.

It can be said that it was only thanks to the pirates that the Americans managed to defend New Orleans, which otherwise could have been a significant strategic victory for the British. In this city the latter could gather their forces before attacking the rest of the country. Just think: if it weren’t for that unwashed French “terrorist,” the United States might not exist today.

3. Stephen Decatur

Stephen Decatur does not fit the typical pirate mold in that he was a fairly respected US Navy officer. Decatur became the youngest captain in the history of the Navy, which would be a ridiculous fiction if it were not true. He was recognized as a national hero, and for a time his portrait even appeared on the twenty-dollar bill.

How did he manage to achieve such popularity? Organizing some of the most epic and bloody raids in history.

For example, when Tripolitan pirates captured the frigate Philadelphia in 1803, 25-year-old Decatur gathered a group of men disguised as Maltese sailors and armed only with swords and pikes and entered the enemy harbor. There, without losing a single person, he captured the enemies and set fire to the frigate so that the pirates could not use it. Admiral Horatio Nelson called the raid "the boldest and most daring adventure of the century."

But that is not all. Later, returning from the capture of another ship whose crew was twice the size of Decatur's, the man learned that his brother had been mortally wounded in a battle with pirates. Although his crew was exhausted from a recent raid, Decatur turned the ship around and pursued the enemy ship, which he and ten others later boarded.

Ignoring the others, Decatur ran straight towards the man who had shot his brother and killed him. The rest of the team eventually gave up. Thus, in one day, the young man captured 27 hostages and killed 33 pirates.

He was only 25 years old.

4. Ben Hornigold

Benjamin Hornigold was Blackbeard's Emperor Palpatine. While his protégé became the most famous pirate in history, Hornigold forever became a footnote in the books about Edward Titch.

Hornigold began his pirate career in the Bahamas; at that time he had only a couple of small boats at his disposal. However, a few years later Hornigold sailed on a huge 30-gun warship, thanks to which it became much easier for him to engage in sea robbery. So much easier that, apparently, the privateer began to rob solely for fun.

Once, for example, in Honduras, Hornigold boarded a merchant ship, but all he demanded from the crew was their hats. He explained his demand by saying that last night his team got very drunk and lost their hats. Having received what he wanted, Hornigold boarded his ship and sailed away, leaving the merchants with their goods.

And this was not the only case. On another occasion, a crew of sailors captured by Hornigold said that the pirate released them with only “a little rum, sugar, gunpowder and ammunition.”

Alas, his crew did not seem to share their captain's views. Hornigold always considered himself a “privateer” rather than a pirate, and to prove this, he refused to attack British ships. This position did not find support from the sailors, and ultimately Hornigold was removed, and a good part of his crew and ships went to Blackbeard. Before he lost his head.

Hornigold left the pirate life, accepted a royal pardon and took the other side, starting to hunt for those with whom he once hung out.

5. William Dampier

The Englishman William Dampier was used to achieving a lot. Not wanting to be content with the status of the first person to travel around the world three times, as well as a recognized author and scientific researcher, he had a small business on the side - he plundered Spanish settlements and plundered other people's ships. All this in the name of science, of course.

Pop culture insists that all pirates were toothless, illiterate bums, but Dampier was the opposite: he not only respected the English language, but also filled it with new words. The Oxford English Dictionary refers to Dampier more than a thousand times in its articles, since it was he who wrote examples of the spelling of words such as “barbecue”, “avocado”, “chopsticks” and hundreds of others.

Dampier was recognized as Australia's first naturalist, and his contribution to Western culture is simply invaluable. It was his observations that Darwin based on when working on the theory of evolution, and he is also mentioned in a laudatory tone in Gulliver’s Travels.

However, his most striking achievement did not concern literature or science. In 1688, when his first trip around the world was almost over, Dampier sent his crew away and landed somewhere on the coast of Thailand. There he boarded a canoe and swam home. Dampier landed on the English coast only three years later; he had nothing on him except a diary... and a tattooed slave.

6. Black Bart

In the 17th-18th centuries, sailing on military or merchant ships was an extremely thankless task. The working conditions were disgusting, and if you suddenly angered a senior, the punishment that followed was extremely cruel and often led to death. As a result, no one wanted to become a sailor, so the military and merchants had to literally kidnap people from the ports and force them to work on their ships. It is clear that this method of hiring did not awaken in the sailors any particular loyalty to the cause and to their superiors.

Bartholomew Roberts (or simply “Black Bart”) himself became a pirate by force, which, however, does not make him worse than others. Roberts worked on a slave trading ship that was captured by pirates. When they invited the sailors to join them, he agreed without hesitation. Although there is a possibility that the robbers also threatened to kill him if he did not go with them. Thanks to his high intelligence and talent for navigation, Roberts quickly gained the captain's trust. When the latter was killed, he (by that time having lived with the pirates for only six months) was elected in his place.

Roberts became an outstanding pirate, but apparently never forgot where he came from. Having boarded a ship, he, before making money, asked the captured sailors whether the captain and officers had treated them well. If a complaint was made against anyone from the commanding staff, Roberts dealt mercilessly with the offenders. By the way, other pirates also practiced this. although their punishments were more sophisticated.

Roberts, being a civilized man, eventually forced his crew (the one who had previously captured him) to follow a strict 11-point code of conduct, which included: a ban on gambling, a ban on women on board, and an eight-hour blackout. evenings and mandatory washing of dirty bed linen.

7. Barbarossa

In movies and TV shows, a pirate can be considered lucky if they have at least one ship and a crew of a couple dozen people. But as it turned out, some real pirates were much luckier in life. Thus, the Turkish pirate Hayreddin Barbarossa had not only his own fleet, but also his own state.

Barbarossa started out as an ordinary merchant, but after an unsuccessful political decision (he supported the wrong candidate for sultan) he was forced to leave the Eastern Mediterranean. Becoming a pirate, Barbarossa began attacking Christian ships in the area of what is now Tunisia until his enemies captured his base, leaving him homeless. Tired of being constantly kicked out from everywhere, Barbarossa founded his own state, known as the Algerian Regency (the territory of modern Algeria, Tunisia and part of Morocco). He succeeded in this thanks to an alliance with the Turkish Sultan, who, in exchange for support, supplied him with ships and weapons.

Piracy appeared as soon as people began to use watercraft to transport goods. In different countries and in different eras, pirates were called filibusters, ushkuiniki, corsairs, privateers.

The most famous pirates in history left behind a significant mark: they inspired fear in life, and in death their adventures continue to attract undiminished interest. Piracy has had a great influence on culture: sea robbers have become central figures in many famous literary works, modern films and TV series.

10 Jack Rackham

One of the most famous pirates in history is Jack Rackham, who lived in the 18th century. He is interesting because there were two women on his team. His love for Indian calico shirts in bright colors earned him the nickname Calico Jack. He ended up in the navy at an early age because of need. For a long time he served as senior helmsman under the command of the famous pirate Charles Vane. After the latter tried to refuse a fight with a French warship pursuing a pirate ship, Rackham rebelled and was elected as the new captain according to the order of the pirate code. Calico Jack differed from other sea robbers in his gentle treatment of his victims, which, however, did not save him from the gallows. The pirate was executed on November 17, 1720 in Port Royal, and his body was hung as a warning to other robbers at the entrance to the harbor.

9 William Kidd

The story of one of the most famous pirates in history, William Kidd, is still controversial among scholars of his life. Some historians are sure that he was not a pirate and acted strictly within the framework of the marque patent. Nevertheless, he was found guilty of attacking 5 ships and murder. Despite the fact that he tried to get his release in exchange for information about the location where the valuables were hidden, Kidd was sentenced to hang. After the execution, the body of the pirate and his accomplices was hung for public display over the Thames, where it hung for 3 years.

The legend of Kidd's hidden treasure has long intrigued people's minds. The belief that the treasure really exists was supported by literary works that mentioned pirate treasure. Kidd's hidden wealth was searched on many islands, but to no avail. The fact that the treasure is not a myth is evidenced by the fact that in 2015, British divers found the wreckage of a pirate ship off the coast of Madagascar and underneath it a 50-kilogram ingot, which, according to experts, belonged to Captain Kidd.

8 Madame Shi

7 Francis Drake

6 Henry Morgan

5 Bartholomew Roberts

Bartholomew Roberts, aka Black Bart, is one of the most colorful pirates in history, although he is not as famous as Blackbeard or Henry Morgan. Black Bart became the most successful filibuster in the history of piracy. During his short pirate career (3 years), he captured 456 ships. Its production is estimated at 50 million pounds sterling. It is believed that he created the famous "Pirate Code". He was killed in action with a British warship. The pirate's body, according to his will, was thrown into the water, and the remains of one of the greatest pirates were never found.

4 Edward Teach

3 Henry Avery

2 Amaro Pargo

1 Samuel Bellamy

Among the most famous sea robbers is Samuel Bellamy, known as Black Sam. He joined the pirates to marry Maria Hallett. Bellamy desperately lacked funds to provide for his future family, and he joined Benjamin Hornigold's crew of pirates. A year later, he became captain of the bandits, allowing Hornigold to leave peacefully. Thanks to a whole network of informants and spies, Bellamy was able to capture one of the fastest ships of the time, the frigate Whyda. Bellamy died while swimming to his beloved. The Whyda was caught in a storm, the ship was driven aground and the crew, including Black Sam, died. Bellamy's career as a pirate lasted only a year.

Incredible facts

Blackbeard

Edward Teach, known as Blackbeard, established a reign of terror in the Caribbean that lasted from 1716 to 1718.

The sailor began his career as a privateer, fighting for England during the War of the Spanish Succession, honing his skills as a sea raider before turning to piracy.

A fierce fighter, Blackbeard was known both for his distinctive style of capturing ships and for his enormous mane of hair.

Anne Bonny

The most famous female pirate in history was just as fearsome as her male counterparts, and she was also very smart and educated.

The daughter of a plantation owner, Anne left her comfortable life in the early 1700s to sail the seas.

She joined the crew of Jack Rackham's ship Calico Jack Rackham, disguised as a man, but according to legend she was spared the death penalty after the crew was captured because she was pregnant.

Captain Samuel Bellamy

Although he died at a very young age (he was only 28 years old), "Black Sam" made a name for himself after capturing several ships, including the Whydah Gally, a ship that was full of gold, silver and other valuable goods. Bellamy made this ship his own in 1717, but it was also the one on which he sank during a storm that same year.

Ching Shih

The golden age of piracy did not spare China, and women on board or even at the helm were not uncommon.

From 1801, her “career” developed very rapidly, and she became one of the most powerful female captains, and, in the end, the commander of a fleet of 2,000 ships and 70,000 sailors.

It is believed that the key to the Jin's success was the iron discipline that reigned on its courts.

Bartholomew Roberts

"Black" Bart Roberts was one of the most successful pirates of the Golden Age, patrolling the waters off the coasts of Africa and the Caribbean.

In less than four years, he captured 400 ships.

Bart was very cold-blooded and rarely left anyone alive on captured ships, so he was actively sought by the British authorities. He died at sea.

Captain Kidd

Pirate or privateer? Scottish sailor William Kidd is known for his high-profile legal battles with the British government regarding its brutal crimes and pirate attacks.

However, the veracity of this claim is still disputed. According to some modern historians, Kidd acted in accordance with the marque patent issued to him and did not attack allied ships.

However, he was hanged in 1701. Rumors about the whereabouts of the huge treasures hidden by him still excite the minds of many adventure lovers.

Henry Morgan

So popular that he had a rum named after him, Captain Morgan first served as a privateer in the Caribbean, then became a pirate, and famously wreaked havoc on the golden Spanish colony of Panama City in the mid-1600s.

He is also known as one of the few pirates who managed to "retire".

Calico Jack

"Pioneer of the Jolly Roger Flag" Calico Jack Rackham was a pirate of the Caribbean who had several epic names, but is best known for his association with Anne Bonny, as well as his classic pirate death.

Captured in Jamaica in 1720, Rackham was hanged, doused in tar and set on fire to show what would happen to every pirate. Now the place where this event took place is called Kay Rackham.

Sir Francis Drake

Noble to some and criminal to others, Drake spent his time between the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and his circumnavigation of the world actively involved in piracy and the slave trade in the Caribbean.

The conquests he carried out, especially the attacks on the Spanish colonies in Central America, were considered some of the richest in terms of loot in the history of piracy.

Barbarossa brothers

Names like Aru and Khizir may not sound familiar, but the nickname given to Turkish corsairs by Europeans - Barbarossa (red beard) - probably conjures up images of tough, rugged sailors on the Mediterranean.

In the 16th century, using North Africa as a base, the Barbarossa brothers attacked several coastal cities and became some of the most powerful people in the area.

Large and tiny, powerful and maneuverable - all these ships, as a rule, were built for completely different purposes, but sooner or later they ended up in the hands of corsairs. Some ended their “career” in battle, others were resold, others sank in storms, but all of them glorified their owners in one way or another.

Adventure Galley is the favorite ship of William Kidd, an English privateer and pirate. This unusual frigate galley was equipped with straight sails and oars, which made it possible to maneuver both against the wind and in calm weather. The 287-ton ship with 34 guns accommodated 160 crew and was primarily intended to destroy the ships of other pirates.

Queen Anne's Revenge is the flagship of the legendary captain Edward Teach, nicknamed Blackbeard. This 40-gun frigate was originally called Concorde, belonged to Spain, then passed to France, until it was finally captured by Blackbeard Under his leadership, the ship was strengthened and renamed. "Queen Anne's Revenge" sank dozens of merchant and military ships that stood in the way of the famous pirate.

Whydah is the flagship of Black Sam Bellamy, one of the pirates of the golden age of sea robbery. The Ouida was a fast and maneuverable vessel capable of carrying a lot of treasure. Unfortunately for Black Sam, only a year after the start of his pirate “career” the ship was caught in a terrible storm and was thrown ashore. The entire crew, except two people, died. By the way, Sam Bellamy was the richest pirate in history, according to Forbes' recalculation, his fortune amounted to about 132 million dollars in modern equivalent.

"Royal Fortune" belonged to Bartholomew Roberts, the famous Welsh corsair, with whose death the golden age of piracy ended. Bartholomew had several ships during his career, but the 42-gun, three-masted ship of the line was his favorite. On it he met his death in battle with the British warship "Swallow" in 1722.

Fancy is the ship of Henry Avery, also known as Long Ben and the Arch-Pirate. The Spanish 30-gun frigate Charles II successfully plundered French ships, but eventually a mutiny broke out on it, and power passed to Avery, who served as first mate. Avery renamed the ship Imagination and sailed on it until his career ended.

Happy Delivery is a small but beloved ship of George Lowther, an 18th-century English pirate. His signature tactic was to ram an enemy ship with his own while simultaneously boarding it with lightning speed.

The Golden Hind was an English galleon that, under the command of Sir Francis Drake, circumnavigated the world between 1577 and 1580. The ship was originally named "Pelican", but upon entering the Pacific Ocean, Drake renamed it in honor of his patron, Lord Chancellor Christopher Hatton, who had a golden hind on his coat of arms.

The Rising Sun was a ship owned by Christopher Moody, a truly ruthless thug who took no prisoners as a matter of principle. This 35-gun frigate terrified Moody's enemies until he was safely hanged - but she went down in history with the most unusual pirate flag known, yellow on a red background, and even with a winged hourglass to the left of the skull.

The end of the 17th century was a time of unprecedented prosperity for sea robbery and was called golden age of piracy, despite the fact that it lasted only 40 years - from approximately 1690 to 1730. It was this era that gave birth to such living legends as Blackbeard and Bartholomew Roberts, who rampaged through the Spanish Seas and the Atlantic coast of America; or Henry Avery and Thomas Tew, who plundered along the coast of West Africa and in the Indian Ocean.

During the time of the buccaneers, the main targets of pirates were Spanish ships. Now “fair play” began, and the hunt began for merchant ships that sailed from Europe to the colonies, transporting African slaves and returning back with a load of rum, cocoa and sugar. The huge Spanish caravans with gold, silver and precious stones are a thing of the past; The time has come for other products.

The golden age of piracy was caused by a combination of many reasons. Buccaneering was coming to an end, and, as a result, many former buccaneers retrained as privateers or simply robbers. During the war between England and France, a huge number of letters of marque were distributed. But the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, which ended the War of the Spanish Succession, caused mass unemployment. Thousands of sailors were dismissed from military service and many unwillingly became pirates, since legal work could only be found on slave ships, and there the service turned into real hard labor: earnings were negligible, and the mortality rate on these ships exceeded thirty percent. Against this background, piracy looked much more attractive.

Very often, historians divide this period of pirate prosperity into three time periods:

1650-1680, the era of buccaneering, when new settlers from England and France settled the Caribbean islands and then began a sea hunt for Spanish jewelry. The buccaneers were also engaged not only in sea robbery, but also made land forays aimed at plundering the Spanish colonies.
Pirate circle. The name speaks for itself - a long journey with many stops in different parts of the world. The purpose of this voyage was aimed at plundering Muslim ships and rich ships of the East India Trading Company.
The period following the end of the War of the Spanish Succession. Hundreds, or rather even thousands of sailors lost their jobs, and the only attractive option for them was to go into piracy in order to somehow ensure their existence.

Now let's look at the main factors that contributed to the development:

a large amount of valuable cargo that was sent to Europe;
the decline in the number of ships in the European fleet;
experienced sailors trained in seamanship in the Royal Navy;
ineffective policy of government in the colonies, which, on the one hand, fought against piracy, and on the other, were forced to fight against enemy states.

Due to the lack of strong central government, the American colonies became easy prey for pirates. At first, the governors benefited from smuggling trade with pirates, but gradually they gained economic power and began to eradicate piracy. By 1730, the golden age of piracy was over, but it was this period that was immortalized in books such as The true story of the robberies and murders committed by the most famous pirates Captain Charles Johnston Treasure Island Stevenson, Peter Pan J.M. Barry and many others.