Perhaps piracy is not the oldest profession on Earth, but we can safely say that it originated along with shipping itself, as soon as goods and people began to be transported across the seas. By the way, the word “piracy” itself comes from the ancient Greek concept of “attempt.” It's time to learn more about real pirates and compare them with Jack Sparrow's crew. What if the differences surprise you?

The group of sea bandits known to the ancient Egyptians as the "Sea Peoples" are one of the oldest criminal organizations recorded in recorded history. The Sea Peoples were responsible for some of the most sudden, violent, and culturally disruptive events of their era. They appear to have played a decisive role in the Bronze Age catastrophe, influencing all political forces in the eastern Mediterranean. In addition, presumably, they were involved in the turmoil of the subsequent Dark Ages of Greece.

The 13th century BC was relatively peaceful, a time of real prosperity in the Mediterranean and Aegean region. There were many strong kingdoms here - the Mycenaean civilization in Greece, the Hittites in Anatolia and Syria, the New Kingdom in Egypt and Canaan. They all interacted with each other and conducted active trade.

But suddenly all this disappeared, and history changed its course. In just 100 years from 1276 to 1178 BC, the Mycenaean and Hittite empires collapsed, and Egypt was significantly weakened, never again regaining its former glory and power. And although not all modern scientists will agree, there is a hypothesis that it was the pirates from the “peoples of the sea” who influenced what happened. They probably carried out their brutal attacks on each of these empires, leaving only death and destruction in their wake.

During this period, all the coastal cities of Crete were abandoned, their inhabitants moved en masse inland - higher into the mountains and away from the sea. Dozens of mountain settlements emerged because people had to move to less habitable regions to avoid the danger of pirate attacks.

Only in a collision with Egypt did the peoples of the sea meet an almost equal force in the army of Pharaoh Ramses II and his two subsequent descendants, who eventually managed to defeat the aggressor. However, Egypt also suffered a lot and never recovered from the damage done to it.

The origin of these pirates is still not entirely clear. Some researchers believe that the Sea Peoples came from Anatolia (modern Turkey), others that they came from Sicily, Sardinia and other Italian lands.

As for the Hellenes, with the exception of Athens, all coastal cities were abandoned, and the population declined sharply. For the next few millennia, the Greeks survived in small communities, living a peasant lifestyle. However, the events of the end of the Bronze Age also served a good purpose, because it was then that the first Greek city-states began to appear, in which the idea of ​​democracy, as we know it today, essentially arose.

Pirate Queen Teuta and the Romans

Immediately after defeating the Carthaginians during the First Punic War in 241 BC, Rome became the largest naval power in the western Mediterranean region. But the Roman Empire's control over these waters was not absolute. The waters of the Adriatic Sea had to be shared with the peoples of the Balkan coast - the Illyrians and Ardiaei, who were ruled by Queen Teuta.

The Illyrian tribes led an aggressive lifestyle, and they expanded their territories to the Greek regions of Epirus, Corcyra, Epidamnus, Pharus. In addition, they were famous pirates, attacking merchant ships in the waters of the Adriatic and Ionian seas. During the reign of Teuta, the Illyrian pirates reached such numbers and power that the Roman Empire had to intervene.

Concerned more with territorial expansion, the Romans did not seek to become the maritime police of the Mediterranean. But when a ship with grain intended for the Roman legions was captured by pirates, the Senate sent two authorized ambassadors to the queen. According to written evidence, Teuta not only did not satisfy the diplomats' request, but also killed one of them just before they sailed home. In response, the Roman Empire declared war on Teute.

The Romans sent a fleet of 200 warships and a foot force of 20,000 men, which destroyed the Illyrian settlements one by one. In 227 BC, the pirate queen surrendered. She was allowed to rule a small territory in the area of ​​​​Scodra, the capital of the defeated kingdom of the Illyrians.

It is known that the queen lived for several more decades, but no one knows what really happened to her. In the best traditions of piracy, there is an Albanian legend, according to which Queen Teuta managed to hide fabulous treasures from the Romans. They were not found and therefore still haunt the minds of dreamers.

Gaius Julius Caesar was captured by pirates

The Roman Empire managed to deal with the Illyrian invaders, but piracy did not disappear completely and plunder in the Mediterranean still continued. Moreover, the Roman Empire even relied on the services of pirates when it needed new slaves on construction sites and in the fields. However, Gaius Julius Caesar himself could one day become a slave.

In 75 BC, at the age of 25, he went to improve his oratory skills in Rhodes, with the famous rhetorician Apollonius Molon, Cicero’s mentor. During Caesar's journey, he was captured by pirates who had long traded in the Eastern Mediterranean. He was held on the small island of Pharmacussa in the Dodecanese archipelago. The pirates demanded a large ransom of 50 talents (300 thousand Roman denarii). Ancient authors colorfully describe Julius Caesar's stay on the island: he allegedly joked with the kidnappers and recited to them poems of his own composition.

After 38 days, Caesar was ransomed and he immediately equipped a squadron to capture the pirates themselves. Having captured his captors, Guy asked the new governor of Asia, Mark Yunk, to judge and punish the robbers, but he refused. After this, Caesar himself organized the execution of the pirates - they were crucified on crosses.

Suetonius (an ancient Roman writer and historian) adds some details of the execution as an illustration of the gentleness of Caesar's character: “He swore to the pirates who had him captive that they would die on the cross, but when he captured them, he ordered them to be stabbed first and only then crucify.”

Pirates were to blame for the collapse of the Roman Republic

The kidnapping of Caesar seemed insufficient to the Sicilian pirates, and they decided to attack the Roman port city of Ostia, then considered a key harbor, a strategic site and a place of active trade. In 68 BC, a fleet of several dozen pirate ships entered this harbor. The robbers sank 19 Roman ships, kidnapped two high-ranking magistrates, took everything valuable from the port and burned the city. The flame was so strong that its reflection was visible even in Rome itself.

Such unheard of and unexpected barbarity shocked the civilians of the Roman Empire to the core. Citizens feared that new attacks awaited them and that mass famine was coming. There was a rumor in the empire that after their easy victory in Ostia, the pirates went deep into the mainland, destroying all the villages and cities along the way.

Taking advantage of the panic of the people, the Roman general and politician Pompey strengthened his influence in the Republic. With Pompey's support, the tribune of the people, Aulus Gabinius, pushed through a bill in the Senate that would give Pompey absolute power over the Roman army and treasury. Having gained control of a fleet of 500 warships, an infantry of 120,000 soldiers and a cavalry of 5,000 soldiers, Pompey set out on an expedition against pirate strongholds in Sicily, Crete, Illyria and Delos.

Thousands of robbers were killed, but Pompey still gave most of the pirates a second chance, inviting them to move inland to lead a peaceful lifestyle there, cultivate the land and earn their living by honest labor. Over the course of several months of war, the powerful Roman general completely crushed the resistance of the sea pirates, for which he was awarded the title Magnus, which means Great.

However, the new bill, which helped Pompey concentrate all military power in his hands, also played a negative role in history. The Lex Gabinia, as this bill was called, gave too much power to too few people, which ultimately led to the collapse of the Roman Republic and it finally fell when the notorious Julius Caesar appeared on the horizon, starting the Roman Civil War. Tens of thousands of people were killed (more than ever killed by pirates), and Pompey himself was defeated in one of the bloody battles. This marked the beginning of the formation of the next state - the Roman Empire.

Saint Patrick of Ireland and the Pirates

The patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick, was the same man who converted the Irish people to Christianity at the beginning of the 5th century AD.

Not many people know that he was not a native of this land, but was a Roman citizen living in Britain. His name was not Patrick, but Maewyn Succat. He took his more famous name when he became a priest. And although his father was a deacon, Patrick did not receive any education as a youth, and subsequently he was very ashamed of this and was afraid that someone would find out how uneducated he was.

What eventually made him the patron saint of Ireland was in fact initially an example of great failure. When the guy was only 16 years old, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and sold into slavery to a local priest. The young man became a shepherd in the fields of the new owner, and for the next 6 years he lived in almost complete isolation, constantly praying and caring for livestock. And although Patrick was not a religious person, he became a deeply religious Christian during his captivity, since this was his only connection with his past life.

On the advice of a voice he heard in a dream, in 408 AD, Patrick managed to escape from slavery by hiding on a ship that landed on the coast of Ireland. After 3 days of sailing, he landed on his native shore and was reunited with his family, and in approximately 431 he was consecrated bishop of Ireland.

The Legend of St. Patrick / Brighton Riviere

He spent the rest of his life converting the islanders to Christianity. Knowing well the pagan customs and rituals of this land, he found a way to use them for church practices in order to get closer to the local population. Saint Patrick is also known as the man who brought here the famous Celtic cross, which combines symbols of Christianity and sun worship.

Viking Age

Without a shadow of a doubt, the most dangerous and cruel pirates in Europe during the Middle Ages were the Vikings. Forced to plunder due to harsh living conditions (overpopulation, soil unsuitable for farming), the Scandinavian peoples formed a society that survived by raiding. They attacked first to ensure victory was on their side, and if they failed, they moved on to trade.

Even the word “Viking” itself is translated as pirate or warrior. Both translation options in Scandinavian culture were considered synonymous and did not differ in meaning. Piracy and robbery were commonplace for the Scandinavians. On board their ships, they set sail along the coast, sailed along rivers deep into the continent and unleashed their fury on all the settlements that came their way.

The Vikings stole everything, destroyed houses and killed or enslaved the inhabitants of the defeated villages. Sometimes they even settled in conquered cities themselves if they found them suitable enough for their new home. Only very large and strong cities or fortresses withstood the onslaught of Scandinavian pirates. In cases of defeat, the Vikings tried to bargain with these settlements in order to get at least some benefit from their campaign.

The inglorious era of the Vikings occurred in the period of the 8th-11th centuries, when Scandinavian warriors quite often attacked European peoples and sailed beyond the continent. In their travels, the Vikings even reached the lands of modern Iran, sailing across the Caspian Sea, and further up to the northwestern coast of North America. The brutal terror began to fade away only thanks to the penetration of Christian ideas into the northern culture, which was inevitable due to frequent contacts with European peoples.

Barbary Corsairs and Knights of Malta

By the 16th and 17th centuries, Mediterranean pirates were still plundering merchant ships. Historians call this period the Golden Age of Piracy. It was also a time when power in the Mediterranean basin was constantly changing. In the mid-15th century it passed from Byzantium to the Ottoman Empire, but when the Portuguese began to succeed in exploring the world's oceans, the Mediterranean lost its relevance for geopolitical players.

However, trade and especially looting still took place. During the years of turmoil, when Venice lost its influence, 4 large pirate groups formed. The first consisted of Croatian refugees who called themselves Uskoks. She carried out raids on Venetian and Ottoman merchant ships. The next large group represented England and Holland, which by that time were already empires. They considered robber expeditions in the Mediterranean Sea to be an addition to their international activities.

The third group of pirates were called the Barbary Corsairs. These bandits were Muslim marauders who lived along the northwest coast of Africa. Taking advantage of the temporary weakness of the Christian states of the Mediterranean region, they began to approach European lands.

Barbary pirates attacked ships and coastal villages most often in the western Mediterranean. The scale of banditry was so serious that in the 17th century almost all the coastal villages of Europe were plundered and abandoned. In search of profit, corsairs began to sail in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, sometimes even reaching the lands of modern Iceland and Norway.

In addition to goods, the Barbary people were also interested in slaves. And although they were far from the scale of the Transatlantic Slave Trade (the export of blacks to the plantations of North America), about 1.25 million Europeans suffered at their hands, kidnapped and sold into slavery.

Last on the list were the Knights of the Order of Saint John, or better known as the Knights Hospitaller of Malta. Contrary to the usual opinion about the nobility of knights, this gang was engaged in banditry and slave trading in the eastern Mediterranean region. Sometimes they were joined by the knights of the Order of Saint Stephen, and then together these “saints” became the spitting image of corsairs, but only without Islam.

The Maltese, whose criminal activities had been particularly active since 1530, had a smaller fleet than the Barbary ones, but their ships were much better equipped than the Arab ships. In fact, they had the most powerful navy in the entire Mediterranean.

These pirates were sometimes hired by private clients from Italy and France to capture and capture Muslims. Today the order is considered a Christian charitable organization that protects the sea from pirates, but once upon a time they were real wolves in sheep's clothing.

No story about sea robbers can do without mentioning the pirates of the Caribbean. And the best way to get to know them is to take a look at the “most dangerous city on Earth.” Yes, the pirates had their own city - Port Royal on the island of Jamaica (Port Royal, Jamaica). For about a century and a half, the Spaniards controlled almost the entire Strait of Mexico and the Caribbean. At the same time, transportation of valuable cargo across the Atlantic from America to Spain and vice versa began. Profitable shipping was not encumbered by any obstacles in its path, except weather conditions.

Map of Port Royal before the earthquake

The British were very jealous of the Spaniards. They wanted to get their prey or at least grab as much of the tasty pie as possible. Therefore, they hired private ships to capture Spanish ships. By and large, these were ordinary pirates who entered the service of the queen.

The appetites of the British grew and they set out to seize the island, which had previously been dominated by the Spaniards, and is now home to the Republic of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The attempt was made in 1655 and turned out to be a failure. Then the British turned their gaze towards Jamaica. On its southern coast they built Port Royal, which by the end of the century became the largest European city in the New World, second only to Boston.

Port Royal also became home to mercenary pirates who attacked Spanish ships. Since then, the city has acquired the reputation of the most dissolute and dangerous settlement in the world. It is said that at one time every fourth building here was either a tavern or a brothel. It is also known that just 7 years after the founding of Port Royal, so much looted gold and silver began to flock here that there was more money per capita than in London itself. Businessmen from all over the world came to the city, where one could find anything - from slaves to Asian masterpieces of art.

Earthquake in Port Royal / Antique engraving

When a terrible earthquake occurred in those places in 1692, the city was destroyed almost to its foundation. Built largely on sand, Port Royal suffered from constant bogging down in shifting soils. Entire buildings, as well as roads and people, were sucked into the sand. The catastrophic state of affairs began to make many think of divine punishment for the wicked lifestyle of its inhabitants and frequent visitors.

Ruins of Port Royal after the earthquake

Today, most of the former city is flooded and rests at a depth of 12 meters. Port Royal is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And who knows what treasures may be hidden in its flooded ruins.

Site materials used

The life of the pirate community is a complex, bizarre combination of socio-economic, political and psychological relations. Each crew member brought his own life experience and worldview to the general atmosphere. As a rule, this experience implied a negative reaction to a civilized, law-abiding society, with which the pirates, coming from layers dissatisfied with their existence, were in constant conflict. Piracy, thus, turned into a kind of conglomerate that absorbed potential opponents of modern society and lived with the idea of ​​​​creating a new world, a world of equality and justice.

Psychology of piracy

The majority of people who boarded the robber ship were not pathological maniacs with criminal tendencies. The “labor” core of the team consisted of a layer of simple, rude men who came from the lowest strata of society. In their past, they were port workers, demobilized sailors, recent privateers, fishermen. Next to them were many people whose fate had been cruelly crippled by modern society - hundreds of tramples and beggars, trampled, deprived of life's guidelines, no longer expecting to achieve justice in the cruel drama of life. In parallel with the world of the “hunted” and “thrown out”, the pirate ship also received numerous representatives of the “hiding society” - criminals, thieves, deserters from military and merchant ships. From now on, a strong thread of complicity in the crime connected all these people. The pirate trade gave hope of getting rich, going out into the world, leading the life of a “rich man”, with all its joys, or, together with the same losers, finding that ideal of justice, where there would be no laws protecting the “rich man” and turning the life of the poor man into hell.

The pirate world, as if in miniature, embodied a living picture of everything that people who boarded a robber ship had seen in their previous lives. Having grown up in an atmosphere of beatings and deprivation, forced every minute to come to terms with the violation of their own dignity, they rushed into a new life with a frantic desire to realize their injured pride and feel free.

Indicative in this regard is the last word of Billy Bones, a young pirate from the crew of Bartholomew Roberts, who was sentenced to hanging. ". ..No one spoke under the gallows such a speech as he did: in it he complained about the golden lure of wealth, which forced him to enter into a pirate life, and his youth was not able to resist such a great temptation. He was very sad about the insults he had inflicted on various people, asked for forgiveness from God and in the most lively words exhorted the audience to never forget their Creator in their youth, if they did not want their minds to deteriorate too early ... "

(F.V. Karzhavin."Biographies of Pirates".)

Piracy provided an opportunity to find an outlet for pent-up vital energy and express oneself. When robbers captured a merchant ship, a scene unfolded on board that represented the culmination of social confrontation in society. Captured sailors were offered to break with their old life. They had to take just one step out of formation - and they found themselves in another world. And many took this step, which their new comrades had previously decided to take.

What did these sea people see before? How did they get into piracy? Let us have no illusions about the life of sailors on ships of that time. They knew that the dog would be taken better care of than them. In the 17th century There was a proverb: “It’s better to hang around in a noose than to serve in the navy.” The despotism and cruelty of the captains of military and merchant ships, who clamped their crews in the grip of inhuman, dull discipline, turned ship life into a terrible ordeal. The strictest, sometimes brutal, discipline reigned on the ships, destroying all attempts at rebellion. Public flogging, keeling, and shackling were widely practiced. Bestial treatment of people, unbearable working and living conditions turned the ships of that time into floating prisons. Captain Charles Johnson, author of the famous book A General History of Pirates, noted that “Existence on a ship was no different from life in prison, adding that there was also a chance of drowning on a ship. A person in prison has bigger quarters, better food and usually better company.” Locked in cramped rooms - “cages”, eating disgusting, crudely prepared food devoid of taste and vitamins, subject to frequent epidemics of scurvy, exhausted by hard physical labor, surrounded by rude, irritable colleagues, the sailors spent long months on long voyages, seeing nothing but the sea . In the short days of their stay on land, they choked in an alcoholic stupor, and then everything repeated itself. These people early turned into ruins, and when their physical strength deserted them, they acutely felt their uselessness. Is it any wonder that the pirate world combined the primitive thinking of uneducated people with an atmosphere of spiritual rudeness, downtroddenness and dull grayness of a colorless existence.

The flavor of piracy

The spiritual atmosphere of the pirate crew was fueled by the boundless desire of the robbers to live on a grand scale, as fun and rich as they had never been able to do in that old life. It is not surprising that the everyday conditions on some pirate barge could not be compared with the situation on a warship or merchant ship and were immeasurably less painful. More high-calorie and varied food, the absence of many restrictions, less time allotted for naval service itself, strange and absurd, from the perspective of a modern person, hobbies and other indulgences made piracy attractive. The famous outlaw Bartholomew Roberts liked to say: “A short but merry life is my rule.” And, having embarked on the path of free life, the pirates, each in their own way, tried to prove themselves.

The first - perhaps the most typical in everyday life - challenge that pirates posed to society was their clothing. Where, if not in appearance and costume, was the irresistible desire to look like noble and rich reflected? The pirates were extremely demanding of their wardrobe and, with the manic persistence of people devoid of even a shadow of artistic taste, they chose bright multi-colored dresses for themselves and hung themselves with sparkling jewelry. If one of the robbers died during the voyage, his wardrobe was immediately sold at auction, and members of the gang, gathered at the mainmast, heatedly argued about the prices for this or that accessory of his costume. Coming ashore, decorated like peacocks, they proudly strode in their magnificent outfits along the streets of the towns and, after partying in taverns, lured port beauties to their tables, leaving no hope for the local dandies. And who in Europe could boast of such magnificent robes? Only the king himself and a handful of aristocrats could afford to flaunt themselves in silk shirts, brocade pants, and wear the same large diamonds and luxurious feathers on their hats. The execution of two bandits in 1615 was marked by uncontrollable daring and bragging. Even having ascended to the scaffold, they could not resist and decided to “shine” for the last time, scattering their breathtaking attire to the crowd - breeches made of crimson taffeta, doublets with gold buttons and velvet shirts decorated with gold lace. A description of the costume in which Captain Bartholomew Roberts went into his last battle has been preserved. This chic gentleman wore a satin camisole of bright scarlet color, richly embroidered with gold flowers, and a hat with a large red feather. Around his neck hung a massive chain with diamonds and a huge diamond cross. The overall composition was completed by two pistols tucked into the belt and a cutlass on the side.

The same thing happens on the other side of the world. Sailing master Dutchman Jan Streis, who was in Russian military service, indicated that “simple Cossacks were dressed like kings: in silk, velvet and other clothes woven with gold, some wore crowns of pearls and precious stones on their caps, and Stenka(Razin. - D.K.) could not be distinguished from the others if he did not stand out for the honor that was shown to him when, during a conversation with him, they knelt down and bowed their heads to the ground, calling him nothing more than daddy ... "

The pirates rejoiced, feeling “admitted”, participating in the joys of the world, and this feeling prompted them not only to “creatively” rethink fashion. Creation marks many areas of their activity. An eventful, hectic life, improvisation and freedom turned the pirate crew into a bundle of creative force. In this atmosphere of constant fermentation of ideas, innovative, grandiose projects for organizing their own microworld and reorganizing society as a whole were born.

Pirate egalitarianism

The creation of the pirate world and the substantiation of its principles was the result of the activities of people who came from the bottom. They were sincerely embraced by the "good faith desire" of all the inhabitants of the slums and lower decks to share the responsibility of wealth among all members of society. Therefore, the spiritual core of the economic structure of the pirate microcosm was egalitarianism (from the French “egalite” - “equality”). It is based on the idea of ​​universal equality based on the egalitarian principle of distribution of property. Without burdening themselves with philosophical reflections, members of the pirate crews, as a radically thinking group of society, declared unlimited war on the rich. Charles Bellamy, one of the pirate leaders of the early 18th century, attacked the captain of the captured ship and shouted at him in anger: "Damn it! Like all the others we have punished, you are governed by a law that the rich created for their own safety. These cowardly dog ​​souls do not have the courage to protect in any other way what they have fraudulently dug up. Curses and blood on the property of these purging beasts. The only difference between us is that they rob the poor under the protection of the law, don't they? And we rob the rich, relying only on our courage.”

There is nothing strange in the fact that the most characteristic “rite” of the pirate group was the taking of an oath, which, among other provisions, declared merciless war on all the rich people of the world.

Pirate egalitarianism was legalized on the ship and was an “effective” force that united the entire team. Here is what Exquemelin wrote about this:

“To someone who has nothing, some property is immediately allocated, and payment is waited until the poor person has money.”

“After a ship is captured, no one is given the right to plunder property or encroach on goods in its holds. All loot — be it gold, jewelry, stones or various things — is then divided equally. So that no one takes more than another and there is no deception, everyone, receiving his share of the spoils, must swear on the Bible that he did not take a penny more than he was entitled to during the division. Anyone who has sworn a false oath is expelled from the ship and will never be accepted in the future..."

“The pirates treated each other with care. Those who have nothing can count on the support of their comrades.”

“... the pirates unloaded the booty ashore and divided it up in their own way. Having divided all the goods, they calculated that there were sixty thousand reals worth of silver and jewelry. In addition to money, everyone also received more than a hundred reals worth of silk and woolen fabrics, not counting other little things... Part of the booty that fell to the share of those killed in battle was transferred to their comrades or relatives.”

The pirate team was a relatively small community of people, each of whom was always visible. Hiding anything from your “colleagues” was extremely difficult. In the practice of the life of a robber, there are clear examples of how robbers were protected from appropriating illegal loot and theft in their midst. During Morgan's campaign against Panama, the following cleansing campaign was carried out. All the filibusters gathered for a meeting. Each took an oath that he did not hide anything from the others. After that everyone undressed. Having thrown their clothes in front of them, the filibusters waited patiently while the trustees from each detachment shook out their clothes. Morgan himself and all the commanders of the pirate detachments suffered the same fate.

In search of social justice, the robbers tried to foresee in detail situations that could arise in real life. Thus, when distributing the spoils, management received larger sums than ordinary crew members. The size of these amounts varied - if the captains of Morgan's flotilla were entitled to eight shares, then the amounts received by the leaders of pirate gangs at the beginning of the 18th century ranged from one and a half to two shares. However, the very principle of remuneration from common spoils remained unchanged. Special shares were paid to the quartermaster, doctor, carpenter, boatswain, navigator, i.e. the ship's brains. The crew members acted as equals in the face of danger and were partners in the risky game in which they became participants. Therefore, while paying tribute to the leaders and specialists, they were not at all going to infringe upon themselves when dividing up the loot and giving away anything beyond the specially agreed amounts. Such a system of payments from a common pot balanced the hierarchical structure, equalized the financial situation of crew members and reduced tension on board.

Not all captured loot was distributed within the crew. Part of it went to the general fund in two directions. An incentive fund and an insurance fund were provided. Let's turn again to Exquemelin:

“...A share was established for those who especially distinguished themselves and those who suffered from the enemy, as well as for those who would be the first to hoist a flag on the enemy’s fortifications...they(pirates. - D.K.) decided that another fifty reals should be added for this. The one who is in greater danger will receive two hundred reals in addition to his share. Grenadiers who bombard a fortress with grenades must receive five reals for each grenade. Then compensation for injury was established: whoever loses both arms — will receive, in addition to his share, another one and a half thousand reais or fifteen slaves (at the choice of the victim); whoever loses both legs could receive one thousand eight hundred reals or eighteen slaves, whoever loses an arm, it makes no difference whether it is left or right, should receive five hundred reals or five slaves. For anyone who lost a leg, it makes no difference whether it was left or right, five hundred reals or five slaves were given. For the loss of an eye, the penalty was one hundred reals or one slave. For losing a finger — one hundred reals or one slave. For a gunshot wound, the penalty was five hundred reals or five slaves. A paralyzed arm, leg, or finger was paid the same as for a lost limb. The amount necessary for the payment of such compensation was to be withdrawn from the total spoils before its division... if any ship was the first to capture an enemy ship at sea or in the harbor, a bonus of one thousand reals should be allocated to its crew from the total spoils, and if the spoils on such a ship were valued at over ten thousand reais, then add another thousand for every ten thousand. Also, under pain of corporal punishment or execution, it was established that no one dares, having captured a ship, destroy it if there are no enemies on it.”

In this way, insurance guarantees were created in case of injury, mutilation, wounds, amounts were allocated to support the family of the killed (if there was one) and amounts to reward those who showed great skill, dexterity, courage and energy.

Collective pressure

The power of the pirate gathering

The egalitarian system of remuneration could not have established itself as the economic principle of piracy if its practical implementation had been in the hands of individuals. The powerful lever of collective responsibility, based on cooperation and mutual assistance, set the entire system in motion. Contemporaries who found themselves on pirate ships could not recover from amazement when faced with the “wild”, according to their concepts, rules that reigned on the ship. What is the testimony of the captain of a merchant ship who was captured by pirates worth? He was indignant that the crew members could sleep wherever they wanted, but the captain himself was not allowed to have a bed. Another observer was amazed that everyone on the ship could speak on an equal footing with the captain. However, there was nothing surprising in this for the pirates themselves. The principle of subordination, of which these astonished eyewitnesses were bearers, had nothing in common with the procedures established on pirate ships. The real power on the ship belonged to the pirate gathering. Members of the pirate crew gathered at the mainmast and resolved all emerging issues in open discussion. They concerned the drawing up of a written agreement on the conditions of participation in the robbery, and the adoption of regulations for ship life, and the election of a captain, and the implementation of disciplinary punishments.

To illustrate what has been said, we present one document. Its origin is connected with the events that took place on the Royal African Company ship Camelion. In 1682, it sailed to the west coast of Africa and, taking a cargo of black slaves, moved to the island of Barbados, and then to the island of Nevis.

In June 1683, the Camelion moved back to the shores of England. However, the crew captured the ship and went piracy. A corresponding agreement was concluded, which was preserved in connection with the indictment of the incident. The contents of this document show the customs adopted on pirate ships, and throw light on the precautions taken by the crew in case such a treaty should fall into the hands of justice.

Piracy Agreement

June 30th, 1683. Articles of the agreement adopted between us on board the Camelion under the command of N. Klov, that we will jointly dispose of all the goods on board; everyone must receive their full rightful share. The commander alone will receive two With half a share for the ship, and the one whom the captain would like to take as an assistant will receive one and a half shares.

This, Gentlemen, should satisfy you, as well as the fact that the doctor is entitled to one and a half shares, and these are the articles to which we all adhere, individually and collectively.

This should assure you that we intend to trade with the Spaniards and not to deal with any nation that we meet at sea.

So, Gentlemen, we hereby declare that if anyone from now on opposes us, he will be severely punished in accordance with what he has done, and all of you here present have taken a joint oath on the holy Gospel to adhere to each other until the end of life.

John Hallamore

Thomas Dixon sign

Robert Cockram

Joe Darwell cross

Arthur Davis cross

cross of D. Morrin

John Renals

sign of Robert Duzin

Nick. Klov

Samuel Haynsworth

Daniel Kelly

William Heath

John Griffin

Henry Mickelson

Albert Desen

Simon Webson sign

William Strocher

Edward Dow

John Watkins

Edward Starkey

George Paddisson sign

John Copping

sign of Henry Levin."

Not a single person, even if he had an iron will and determination to achieve his goal at any cost, even if he were the most outstanding organizer and skillful intriguer, could exercise complete control over order on the ship, where the rules were dictated by a motley collection of independent and dangerous subjects. But each crew member acted not just as a separate individual - he was part of a single organism. His personal ambitions were shackled by the vice of the collective will.

Thus, the system of collective power on a pirate ship allowed the “sea people” to put their life experience into practice and was aimed at maintaining discipline. It contained the features of a democratic structure based on the equality of ordinary team members, their direct and equal participation in management and the equalizing and distributive nature of economic relations. Mutinies, disobedience, riots were suppressed by the concerted actions of the majority of the crew and the captain.

Principles of discipline

The system of collective pressure brought real results. And the main thing in this regard was discipline on the ship, the maintenance of which ensured the viability of the pirate crew. Disciplinary norms were stipulated in special “Rules” - a charter adopted on each pirate ship. Here are two such documents.

Bartholomew Roberts Rules

Each crew member has the right to vote on pressing issues; he has an equal right to receive fresh provisions and liquor as soon as they are captured; he can use them at his own pleasure, except in cases where for the general good it becomes necessary to limit their consumption.

Each member of the crew must be called, in accordance with the established procedure, on board the prize ship, because, in addition to his share of the captured booty, he can also take a change of linen. But if anyone tries to deceive the partnership and steal a silver plate, jewelry or money, his punishment will be landing on a desert island.

No crew member is allowed to play cards or dice for money.

Lights and candles must be extinguished at 8 pm. If any of the crew still wants to continue drinking after this hour, they must do so on the upper deck.

Each crew member must keep guns, pistols and cutlass clean and in good working order.

No child or woman is allowed on board. Anyone who brings a woman in disguise to the ship must be executed.

Anyone who voluntarily leaves a ship or his place during a battle is sentenced to death or landing on a desert island.

No one has the right to fight on board a ship, but any quarrel can be resolved on shore with the use of a saber or pistol. If both parties could not come to an agreement, the quartermaster goes with them to the shore in order to ensure the correctness of the duel and place the opponents with their backs to each other at the required distance. When the command is given, they turn and must fire immediately or the gun will be knocked out of their hands. In the event of a mutual miss, the cutlass are used, and the quartermaster declares the winner the one who drew blood first.

No member of the crew has the right to talk about disbanding the brotherhood until each has collected a share of 1000 pounds. If during the service someone loses a limb or becomes crippled, then 800 dollars are transferred to him from public capital; in case of lesser damage, he receives proportional compensation.

The captain and quartermaster receive two shares each when dividing the spoils; the skipper, boatswain and gunner — one and a half shares, the remaining members of the command staff — one share and a quarter.

Musicians rest only on Sundays, and on the other six days and nights they have no right to do so unless they receive special permission.

Phillips rules

Everyone must obey the established rule: when dividing the spoils, the captain is entitled to one and a half shares, the quartermaster, the carpenter, the boatswain and the gunner — share and a quarter.

If it happens that someone escapes from the ship or hides some secret from the company, then he should be landed on a desert island with one horn of gunpowder, one bottle of water, a musket and a bullet.

For stealing any item from the company or for cheating during the game, the culprit must be left on a desert island or shot.

If we meet someone left on a desert island (i.e. a pirate) and this person signs our charter without the consent of the entire company, then he must be punished as determined by the captain and carpenter.

While this statute remains in force, whoever strikes another will receive according to the law of Moses (which is forty lashes minus one) on the bare bottom.

1. And if the guilty person is worthy of beating, then let the judge order to put him down and beat him with him, depending on his fault, according to the count.
2. You can give him forty blows, and no more, so that from many blows your brother will not be disfigured before your eyes.

Anyone who rattles a weapon, smokes tobacco in the hold without putting the cap on his pipe, or carries a lighted candle without a lantern will be subject to the same punishment.

One who will not keep clean and constant readiness his weapon or neglects this matter, he will be deprived of his share and punished by the verdict of the captain and the carpenter.

Anyone who loses a hand or foot in battle is entitled to 400 reais; to someone who has lost a limb — 800.

If we meet a respectable woman and someone interferes with her without her consent, he will immediately be put to death.

As we can see, the rules of the Roberts pirates contain two principles that made it possible to keep the ship in combat readiness. On the one hand, the rules bound the team members internal self-discipline. The pirates themselves adopted the charter, and reasonable demands for order at sea mobilized the robbers to fulfill these demands. In everyday life, the moment of pirate self-discipline was clearly reflected in the reverent feeling that each of them had for their weapons. With fanatical zeal, the pirates monitored the condition of their sabers, pistols, cannons and rifles. Behind this hid not only the panache and desire to show off, characteristic of these people. The shine and beauty of the weapon, the colorful silk baldrics are only one side of the matter. The main thing was hidden elsewhere. These were pirate “tools of production”, as necessary for them in robbery as a saw is for a carpenter, and a pencil is for a draftsman. The pirate was obliged to control his combat equipment, otherwise the contempt and mockery of his comrades would turn the life of an irresponsible thug into a living hell.

But discipline was not only the result of a responsible approach to this by the robbers themselves. Order was also maintained through measures of a violent nature and was controlled by a pirate gathering.

This is especially clearly demonstrated by the practice of dueling. From clause No. 8 of Roberts' Rules, we see that the pirates were concerned about preventing conflicts on the ship, and all controversial issues were resolved outside of it. In case of violation of the code, the punishment was merciless and was punishable by death. One day, Captain John Evans, a figure in the pirate world of the second decade of the 18th century, quarreled with his skipper. Neither of them wanted to give in to the other, and then the captain ordered his assistant to immediately go ashore to settle the matter in a duel. However, the skipper categorically refused to leave the ship. An enraged Evans attacked him and began beating him with a stick. In self-defense, the skipper fired his pistol and killed the captain on the spot. A ship council was immediately convened, which unanimously decided to roughly punish the offender and come up with a special execution for him. The unfortunate man was saved from torment by the fact that during a discussion of methods of execution, someone shot at him and finished him off.

Isolated cases of violation of the pirate code of honor could interfere with the most thoughtful operations. So, in 1668, such passions flared up among the pirate army located in Puerto del Principe that English and French pirates almost cut each other’s throats. The cause of the conflict was a treacherous murder committed by an English robber. Having quarreled with a French pirate, he shot him when the enemy turned his back to him. The French demanded that the lawbreaker be hanged, the British stood up to defend their compatriot. The commander of the expedition, Henry Morgan, managed to reason with the disputants, promising to hold a trial of the criminal. The treacherous duelist was chained and placed in the hold of the flagship. Soon, Morgan himself was accused of violating the laws. The fact is that he decided to arrange a show trial of the murderer and did not allow him to be hanged during the division of the spoils, which the French insisted on. The result of Morgan's intransigence was the departure of the French crews, dissatisfied, on the one hand, with the behavior of the leader, and on the other, with the small size of the captured booty. True, upon arrival in Port Royal, the trial actually took place, and the Englishman, who had undermined the honor and dignity of a British gentleman, was hanged.

Duels often took place between pirate leaders. Moreover, these were not just banal drunken fights, like the one that took place in the cabin of La Bush and Howell Davis, after which their ships interrupted their joint voyage. No, there were real fights that ended in death.

The most famous duel between the leaders was the fight in 1682 between the Belgian Van Dorn and the Dutchman Laurent de Graaf. The quarrel occurred after they, together with the Chevalier de Grammont, plundered Veracruz. The cause of the quarrel is not known for certain, but, apparently, it occurred due to the division of prisoners. Pirates took 1.5 thousand people out of Veracruz, but did not seize food or water in a hurry. This escalated the situation even more. Word for word, and the leaders went ashore to sort things out. The sword fight ended with a sharp lunge from de Graaff, wounding Van Dorn in the arm. The quarrel between the leaders almost escalated into a clash between their people. It was already close to serious bloodshed. Then de Graaf hastened to divide the prisoners and sailed away on his ships. A few days later, Van Dorn died of blood poisoning and was buried on the deserted shore of the Yucatan Peninsula. His ship passed to de Grammont.

Captains and crew

A peculiar focus of the special relationship that reigned on the pirate ship was the role that was entrusted to the captain. The breadth of his power is not comparable to the powers of captains of warships, merchant ships and privateers. He was elected by the entire crew and became the direct “creature” of the pirate meeting, acting within certain conditions. In a society of direct democracy, such as the pirate partnership, the captains usually included an “informal leader”, forced to reckon with his egalitarian environment. First of all, this was reflected in living conditions. Exquemelin reports that “The captain of the ship is obliged to eat the same food as his entire crew, up to and including the cabin boy. If the team wants to respect the captain, then some special dish is prepared for him, and it is served directly to the captain at the common table.”

The main thing in the captain's activity was leadership of the crew during naval operations and battles. Pirate Walter Kennedy (hanged at Wapping in 1721) said at his trial: “They (pirates. - D. K)they choose a captain from among themselves, but his powers are disproportionately less than the title, with the exception of military skirmishes, when he is unquestioningly obeyed and he commands undividedly.”

The leaders stood out for their courage, audacity and experience. These were, first of all, military leaders capable of leading teams. Not to part with luck, to go at the head of a column to storm a fortress, lead the boarding and burst on board an enemy ship, instilling fear in the enemies and pride in the crew - this is how the pirates saw a real captain, and if the affairs of the robbers went well and brought income, such leaders quickly gained authority and gained more and more power.

In military matters, the role of the captain was dangerous to challenge. His experience and determination were the key to success. Exquemelin tells how the pirate leader Olone behaved on the eve of the assault on the fortress of Gibraltar during a campaign in Venezuela (1667).

He “as the leader of all pirates, he consulted with other commanders, then with everyone who surrounded him, and made it clear that he did not intend to retreat, — although the Spaniards learned of their approach and gathered large forces. His opinion was: “They are strong, so the more booty we will capture if we defeat them.” Everyone unanimously supported him and said that it was better to fight, hoping for good booty, than to wander for who knows how long without it. Ohlone finished like this: “I want to warn you that whoever chickens out, I will immediately kill with my own hand...” The next morning, long before sunrise, Ohlone landed people ashore... Everyone took each other’s hands and vowed to stand for each other until death itself. Then Ohlone rushed and shouted: “Forward, my brothers, follow me and don’t be a coward!” And the pirates rushed V attack..."

Examples of such leaders in the Cossack environment of the 3rd quarter of the 18th century. there were the Zaporozhye ataman Ivan Sirko and the Don leader Stepan Razin. In the portraits that have come down to us, reality and legend are inseparably fused; often mental imbalance, ferocity, recklessness and reckless cruelty paradoxically determine the scale of real power and strengthen the authority of the leader, capable of subduing and leading robbers.

Ivan Sirko is the personification of the Cossack threat, the “Russian devil,” a man for whose death, according to the Sultan’s firman, they prayed in Turkish mosques, with whose name Turkish and Tatar women frightened their children. From birth and for a long time after death, a legend hovered around the terrible chieftain. So, they said that he was born with teeth (in order to gnaw the enemies of the Orthodox faith all his life); when the midwife carried him around the hut, she didn’t even have time to look back when the newborn hero grabbed a pie with filling from the table and instantly swallowed it. When Sirko died, the Cossacks put his bones in a coffin and took them with them on overseas campaigns, and dried the severed hand of their leader and displayed it before the battle for fear of the enemy.

Recklessness, youth, daring, reckless courage, Cossack enthusiasm - that’s what distinguished Sirko. Moreover, according to popular legend, he "defeated unclean devils"- once the ataman was walking along riverbank Devil, and the devil splashed in her, so “he just mumbled(flickered. - D.K.) upside down when Sirko hit him with a pistol.”

Another Cossack leader, Stepan Razin, the famous leader of the peasant war in Russia, the “people’s” ataman, protector of orphans and the downtrodden, appears as a real mythological character, a hero. He appears as an all-powerful magician, connected by some incomprehensible secret relationship with divine forces, an invulnerable sorcerer, charmed from bullets and cannonballs, killing the enemy from an unloaded gun, a mysterious wizard, whose magical power knows no bounds - with the help of spells he frees the city from mosquitoes , turns poisonous snakes into harmless creatures, can sail away from prison in a painted boat, launches their ships "by land and by water" and when he needs to gather an army, he takes a linden sliver and throws it into the Volga, and lo and behold, a ship with Cossacks is already sailing along the river. With such a headman, i.e. leader, and robbery is not robbery, theft is not theft, debauchery is not debauchery - but the whole thing is noble, honest, just, “sacred” for free free people.

However, legends do not arise out of nowhere. From the comments of his contemporaries, an image emerges of an enterprising, brave man of remarkable energy, great abilities, a strong, powerful leader who knows how to lead people, “... a man, although rootless, is extremely skillful and dexterous, ready for any task... I saw him several times in the city and on the plow. He was a tall and sedate man of strong build, with an arrogant, straight face. He behaved modestly, with great severity."- Jan Streis recalled. Another Dutchman, Ludwig Fabricius, who was an artilleryman in the Russian service and was captured by the differences, said: “If someone did not immediately carry out his order, believing that maybe he would come to his senses and have mercy, then this monster would fall into such a rage that it seemed that he was possessed. He tore his hat off his head, threw it to the ground and trampled his feet, snatched a saber from his belt, threw it at the feet of those around him and screamed at the top of his lungs: “I will no longer be your chieftain, look for someone else,” after which everyone fell at his feet. legs and all in one voice asked that he take the saber again and be not only their chieftain, but also their father, and they will obey him both in life and in death.”

The captain was elected by the team and had the right to protection from attacks on his power. If the captain happened to violate the established rules, traditional respect for the boss on the ship and respect for his rights as an elected leader often forced the meeting to resolve the issue in his interests. A very characteristic episode was the story that happened on the ship of Bartholomew Roberts. One pirate swore at his captain and was shot by him on the spot. A friend of the murdered man, Ralph Bragh, demanded that the captain, who raised his hand against a crew member and shed blood on board the ship, be executed. Roberts rushed at him with a drawn blade, and a fight ensued. Brag was a man of strong build and extraordinary courage and, despite the wound he received, he knocked the captain onto the deck and began beating him in front of the crew. Finally he was pulled away from the bloodied Roberts, and the team held a meeting about the fate of both. The adopted decision stated that for insulting the rank of captain, Brag was sentenced to receive two blows with a molt from each member of the crew.

The relationship between the captain and the crew reflected old maritime traditions, when the owner consulted with experienced sailors to make decisions. The life experience of the team and captain was decisive in resolving pressing issues. In a number of cases, the aggressiveness and all-destroying will of the captain suppressed the resistance of the motley crew and could intimidate it and force it to retreat. However, such “victories” were ephemeral, since the accumulated irritation against the leader could at any moment end in tears for the violator of the code. A quarrel with potential contenders for the gallows, which were all pirates, was fraught with considerable danger. The captain could be removed for cowardice or cruelty, he could become the victim of an “accident.” There are known cases when the crew threw out the captain because he refused to attack an English ship; another pirate leader suffered because he behaved "like a gentleman." In special cases, an objectionable despot captain could pay with his life. For example, John Phillips died as a result of a conspiracy by his team. He went out on deck at night, hearing noise (they were removing an objectionable boatswain, a close associate of the captain), was stunned and thrown into the sea. Captain Anstis was shot in his sleep in his own cabin, after which the pirate conspirators came to the Dutch possessions of the island of Curosao, where they surrendered to the authorities and were amnestied.

The mechanism of direct elections and the violent destruction of the captain were extreme, but not the only means of putting pressure on the leader by the team. The quartermaster played a major role in the relationship between the captain and the crew. He acted as a mediator in complex chains of relationships that connected both sides. As the representative of the crew and acting as the second man on the ship, the quartermaster had to ensure that the captain did not violate the interests of the brotherhood. In his person, the captain always had a potential competitor in the struggle for power over the ship, a representative of the crew in the management of the ship.

Justice

The pirate code of honor determined the justice system of the robber world. Describing the legal process, Exquemelin emphasized:

“Pirates adhere to their own laws and bring to justice those who commit treacherous murder. In such cases, the culprit was tied to a tree, and he had to choose the person who would kill him. If it turns out that the pirate sent his enemy to the next world quite deservedly, that is, he gave him the opportunity to load his gun and did not attack him from behind, his comrades forgive the killer.”

Justice was administered by a court composed of representatives of the “pirate brotherhood.” Cases of betrayal, desertion and violations of discipline in “wartime” conditions were also punished mercilessly. Often, pirates managed to remain faithful to their principles even in the most extreme situations. In the spring of 1697, during the French War against the League of Augsburg, the wealthy city of Cartagena was captured by a French military expedition led by Captain 1st Rank Baron de Puenti. The squadron included filibuster ships, the crews of which agreed to participate in the operation on pre-agreed conditions. Massive confiscations began in Cartagena. The mercilessly plundered city paid a huge sum of money. However, during the division of the spoils, the filibusters were deceived, and the share paid to them turned out to be tiny in comparison with what they expected. Enraged robbers were preparing to attack de Puenti's flagship and defend their rights to the spoils. It is unknown how the matter could have ended if the wave of rage had not been directed towards the already plundered Cartagena. The angry army again rushed to the city and organized a new money collection in it. Within a few days the appointed ransom was collected. It was then that an episode occurred, described by the historian of piracy F. Arkhengolts:

“The residents of Cartagena, before the departure of the filibusters, were still witnesses to the act of justice of the pirates. Two of them violated the order not to do any outrages and raped several girls. The latter's relatives dared to complain, based on the filibusters' formal promise to refrain from any hostile behavior. The complaint was accepted, the criminals were seized, brought to a military court, hastily formed from pirates, who sentenced them to be shot, which, despite the petition of the offended themselves, was immediately carried out in front of all the inhabitants.”

The pirates were especially afraid of desertion - after all, if a fugitive fell into the hands of the authorities, he could become an informer, and then... Therefore, all members of the crew were sworn in (in the Holy Scriptures) - from the subsequent explanations of the “colleagues” it became clear to the convert that any proposal division or dissolution of the team is fraught with the most serious punishment; and execution by the quartermaster without a court verdict was the quickest, but far from the most terrible punishment.

Pirates also developed other methods of execution, such as, say, the world-famous marooning. “Marooning” comes from “maroons” - runaway slaves of the West Indies, married to Indian women and hiding in mountainous and forested areas in Haiti, Jamaica, Mauritius, and Surinape. The root of the word seems to come from a distorted local definition, implying "dweller of the mountains", in the broad sense - a fugitive, deserter, outcast. The sophisticated cruelty of the punishment was that, leaving the criminal to live, he was deprived of the chance of salvation and survival. The condemned man was taken to the shore of a “desert island,” but not like the island of Mas a Tierra from the Juan Fernandez archipelago, described by D. Defoe as the island of Robinson Crusoe, but to a small long sandbar, a spit, flooded during the high tide. They left him a pistol and gunpowder for one shot, so that, driven to despair by thirst, hunger, or flooded by the elements, he could shoot himself.

No less terrible was another form of execution, when the condemned person was forced to walk along a plank - a long plank was put out into the sea from the side, and the unfortunate person walked along it until he fell into the sea.

The system of punishments provided for by the customs of the Zaporozhye and Don Cossacks was also distinguished by its severity. Theft, murder of a comrade, beatings, insults inflicted on a woman, desertion and drunkenness during hostilities were punished mercilessly. So, for the murder of a comrade, the criminal was buried alive in the ground. Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, describing the procedure for carrying out the sentence, wrote: “...they dug a hole, lowered the living murderer into it, and placed a coffin on top of it, containing the body of what he had killed, and then they covered both of them with earth.” He also mentions another punishment: “If a Cossack was stealing, stealing some trifle, this was already considered a disgrace to the entire Cossacks: with it, as dishonorable, they were tied to a pillory and a club was placed near it, with which anyone passing was obliged to strike him, until in this way he was beaten to death. The debtor who did not pay was chained to a cannon, where he had to sit until one of his comrades decided to ransom him and pay the debt for him.” Hanging by the feet, hanging on an iron hook, was practiced. Among the Don Cossacks, “planting in water” became widespread. “Criminals subject to death were put on bags that were filled with sand and stones, and so they were thrown into the water, and those whose crimes were not so important had sand poured into their dresses, and then they were put in the water for some time.”

A very remarkable observation by Fabricius dates back to the time of Stepan Razin, lifting the veil over yet another side of the life of robbery. “Curses, rude curses, swear words, and the Russians have such unheard of words and not used by other peoples that it is impossible to convey them without horror, — Stenka tried to completely eradicate all this, as well as fornication and theft. For if someone stole something from another that was no more expensive than a pin, they tied a shirt over his head, poured sand into it, and then threw him into the water. I myself saw how one Cossack was hanged by his feet just because he casually poked a young woman in the stomach.”

The pirate trial was a severe test for all its participants, since human life was at stake. Therefore, sometimes truly stunning episodes occurred during the process. An unpublished manuscript about pirates, authored by Russian traveler Fyodor Vasilyevich Karzhavin, provides a story about a trial that took place on the ship Bartholomew Roberts.

“...While everyone was drunk, Harry Glasby, a sober man, the skipper of the ship “Royal Fortune”, with other two like-minded people, slowly lagged behind him, but he (Roberts. — D.K.), soon learned about these fugitives, sent a detachment in pursuit of them, and all three of them were caught and brought back; the case was immediately brought to trial. When everyone was ready and Captain Roberts sat in the presidential chair, the culprits were called into the hallway, where there was a large bowl of punch on the table, with pipes and tobacco laid out; when the court opened, the charge was read to them. The law composed by the pirates was very strict, and votes were already being collected on the death sentence; how, having drunk another glass, the prisoners began to ask to stop this judgment. But their crime was found so great that those sitting did not accept their requests; suddenly a certain Valentin Sturdibak ran upstairs, saying that he had something to offer to the court in favor of one of the prisoners, and swore that he had known him for a long time as an honest man, and no worse than all the others present here, and that his name was Glasbai: “I swear , he said that he Not he will die, and damn me if he has to die.” Having uttered these words, he took a loaded pistol out of his pocket and put it to the chest of one of the judges, to whom, seeing this very strong evidence, he said that he did not find Glasbai guilty, the others all agreed with his opinion. And they believed that Glasbai’s law itself justifies... And the other two were condemned to death by the same law, and only the mercy was given to them that they were allowed to choose four comrades who would shoot them..."

In revelry of fun

Not every trial ended so tragically. The pirates were not at all gloomy misanthropes and loved to have fun V in their typical rude manner. The opportunity to relax, have fun, have a good drink and frolic put them in a good-natured mood. “They literally spend in a month everything they earned in a year or a year and a half,- noted Exquemelin, who was well acquainted with the customs of the pirate fraternity. — They drink vodka like water, buy wine directly by the barrel, knock out the plugs and drink until the barrel is empty. Day and night, the buccaneers wander around the villages and praise Bacchus, until there is even a penny left for drink... Some of them manage to spend two or three thousand reals in one night, so that by morning they don’t even have a shirt left on their body. I knew a man in Jamaica who paid a girl five hundred reais just to look at her naked. And such people do a lot of stupid things. My former master often bought a barrel of wine, rolled it out onto the street, knocked out the plug and sat down next to it. Everyone passing by had to drink with him - try not to drink if you are treated at gunpoint, but my master did not part with his gun. Sometimes he bought a barrel of oil, took it out into the street and threw oil at passersby directly on their clothes or in their heads.” The superstitions of these ignorant people and loyalty to maritime traditions brought light shades into the everyday life of the crew. For example, marine rituals adopted during the passage of the equator or dangerous reefs were carefully preserved. A genuine bacchanalia of joyful rapture for life captured the brave young men somewhere in a secluded corner abandoned by people, where sea wanderers were left to their own devices. It was here that funny court proceedings were born, stories about which then traveled the seas for a long time, acquiring numerous details. The robbers had a lot of fun and mocked the order of civilized legal proceedings that they hated.

One such “process” took place on a small island off the coast of Cuba. Captain Anstis's pirates had been idle here for months. One day they gathered at the edge of the tropical forest. The heat and stuffiness of the hot day did not prevent them from tasting the joy of the theatrical spectacle that they witnessed. The first to appear before the eyes of the spectators, reclining on the emerald grass, was the defendant himself. With a face distorted by a grimace of horror, he, “shaking with fear,” looked with longing in the direction from which the chief judge was supposed to appear. Finally, a judge emerged from the jungle, his arrival was accompanied by thunderous applause and applause, the pirates jumped up from their seats and began firing pistols into the air. Threats rained down on the “unfortunate” defendant. The judge came closer, and now the pirates could already see him. He had put some incredibly dirty cap on his head, and his judicial robe was replaced by a vile-looking wide tarpaulin that trailed behind the judge, supported by two gloomy subjects portraying an assistant and an adviser. The judge placed ugly glasses on his nose. Taking on a threatening appearance, he looked sternly at the defendant. Having hobbled to the tree around which the whole company had gathered, the judge, groaning and cursing, climbed onto a thick branch and sat comfortably on it, so that his “mantle” slid down and touched the ground. An “assistant” and an “adviser” were located under the tree. The judge's rod was replaced by objects that they held in their hands. One of them had a crowbar, the other had a spade. The public prosecutor presented the essence of the matter: “Gentlemen, this scoundrel who stands before you is the most vile scoundrel, who can only be hanged on the highway. He was born specifically for the gallows, and therefore, having been through hundreds of alterations, he still has not drowned or been shot. How many tears were shed because of this vile pirate. But this is not his main fault. Imagine, this beast drinks nothing but beer, he has never wet himself like a dog; He rejects such healing drinks as rum, gin or vodka, as if they were a devilish infection. And it is absolutely clear to your justice, and to everyone present, that nothing good can come from a sober person. Who else but a crafty rogue and a pathetic deceiver can be a person whose tongue cannot be loosened after a good portion.” After the prosecutor's speech, a confidential conversation between the judge and the perpetrator began. “We are amazed at the gravity of this rogue’s crime. What do you say, you disgusting dog, before we hang you to dry in the sun, like a dead crow, which is only good for scaring away other birds? Are you guilty or not? And just dare to say “no”!!!” The accused, with a trembling voice, says: “No.”

To the delight of the public, the trial drags on. Finally, after his own furious denunciations, the judge gives the floor to the defense attorney. His speech is short. “It’s hard to think of a more serious crime than the one my client is accused of. I suggest that he be hanged as soon as possible because I am ashamed to defend such a bastard.” After the crowd cheers, the judge begins to read the verdict. “It will not be good,” the guardian of the laws begins, “if on the day when I sit as a judge, no one is hanged. Look at the face of this guy - in my opinion, it is clear without words that one such face should be sent to the gallows. And finally, it’s been several hours since we’ve been wasting time on this slacker, lunch time has long passed, and I’m already fed up with this whole trial. I’m hungry and it’s time to hang him.” The “trial” usually ended to the general delight of the pirates. The judge and defendant each drank a cup of rum and joined in the general fun.

Such theatrical performances were very common and enlivened pirate everyday life, adding variety to the monotonous life on the ship.

The pirates willingly performed these improvised “plays” and selflessly indulged in stage performances. These people were attracted by the unusual life of fictional characters on stage, they were impressed by this unfamiliar atmosphere, which spoke of another world; in a series of everyday events, such acting gave a good psychological shock and provided emotional upliftment. Whatever role these thugs had to perform “on the stage” - in the roles of the main characters or as secondary characters - the newly minted actors selflessly performed their “parts”. The audience, always generous with abuse and praise, reacted violently to all the nuances of the action and was not at all a passive participant - empathy for what was happening on the stage sometimes grew into a riot that went far beyond what the “producer” intended. Some of these stage “shake-ups” ended disastrously for the participants. Here, for example, are the events that took place on board the ship Whydah, when the pirate leader, Captain Bellamy, decided to stage a play about the life of Tsar Alexander the Great.

The culminating episode of the performance was the scene of the execution of a captured Greek pirate. The performance was coming to an end, and the actors were about to “hang” their unlucky fellow craftsman, when suddenly events took an unexpected turn. The culprit for this was the ship's gunner, who until then had been sitting calmly near the side, looking in amazement at the unusual sight for him. A simple-minded fellow, he took everything that happened at face value, but by the end of the performance he was noticeably alarmed, and when it came to the gallows, he was clearly out of his mind. Stunned by the fate in store for his friend, who played the role of the “Greek pirate,” the gunner decided to act. Of course, after all, Jack Spinkles, his good old comrade in robberies, a man who has not yet been reached by cannonballs, bullets, or blades, will now, just like that, mediocrely, in the hands of his own “former comrades,” these vile scoundrels, will end his life , dangling in a noose. “Well, this won’t happen,” our young man decided. Jumping up from his place, the brave artilleryman rushed into the hold and shouted to his friends, who were peacefully talking over a bowl of rum: “Hey, guys, you’re sitting here, and the scoundrels, up there, are finishing off the venerable Jack Spinkles. If we don’t intervene, then, for goodness sake, they’ll come after us too.” Having shouted these words, the gunner grabbed the fan, lit the fuse and, instantly flying onto the deck, threw it at the participants in the production, these vile “jailers” and “judges”. Meanwhile, those sitting below “understood” what was going on. “Damn it, we won’t let our own people be offended,” and a gang of drunken, enraged warriors, waving sabers and pistols, burst out of the hold. A fierce brawl broke out in the smoke of gunpowder. It was not immediately possible to clarify what was happening and calm the raging passions. However, these minutes were enough for the robber playing the role of Alexander the Great to have his hand cut off, and the venerable Jack Spinkles lost his leg in the fight.

In this regard, let us recall the revelry of fun captured by Ilya Efimovich Repin in the famous painting “The Cossacks Write a Letter to the Turkish Sultan.” The plot is based on the story of the same “actor” series. The Turkish Sultan Mehmed IV was going to send an army against the Zaporozhye Sich, but decided to first try to achieve the obedience of the Cossacks by peaceful means, sending a letter of demand “surrender to me voluntarily and without any resistance and do not bother me with your attacks.”

The delight that gripped the Cossacks upon receiving such a message is beyond description. When composing the answer, they tried their best not to lose face in front of the Sublime Porte: there are few examples in history of such rollicking “diplomatic correspondence.”

Zaporizhian Cossacks — to the Turkish Sultan

“You are the Turkish devil, the damned devil’s brother and comrade, and Luiyper’s own secretary! What kind of devil are you?(the Sultan had the imprudence to call himself “an extraordinary knight, undefeated by anyone.” -

Koshova ataman Ivan Sirko with all the Zaporozhye kosht.”

Brotherhood of Vengeance

Entrance to the pirate world was open to people who felt restless and defenseless in the familiar human world or who became burdensome due to the laws in force in society. One of the moral criteria that attracted people to engage in maritime robbery was the hope of finding inner freedom in communication with fellow unfortunates, the dream of healthy human coexistence. It is no coincidence that pirate gangs were spoken of as brotherhoods. The idea of ​​cooperation and mutual assistance permeated all economic, military, household and everyday aspects of pirate life. Equal distribution of spoils, democratic principles of management, equality of robbers before collectively accepted obligations, living together in the narrow space of a ship - all this together united people.

However, let's not delude ourselves - the world of pirates was a world of robbers and murderers. It was not at all humane, and the mood of its inhabitants was not dominated by philanthropy. The pirate brotherhood was built on the cruel practice of retribution for betrayal and treason, and those who fought with it lived under the oppressive feeling of a constant threat of becoming victims of the merciless revenge of their enemies. Mutual aid and revenge went hand in hand. Authorities who managed to capture the robbers were immediately convinced of this. They immediately became the object of dire threats from the friends of the captives floating at large.

The pirate Sawkins' detachment appeared in 1680 in the vicinity of Panama. The pirate leader sent a message to the governor demanding the surrender of the captured prisoners. “We will approach your walls in ships so that you can have the pleasure of seeing captured Spaniards hanged on yards. We want to inform you that we are the commanders of all the southern seas. So, decide whether it is worth making us impatiently wait for your decision about the life or death of our people who are in your captivity. If you decide to kill them, you will certainly receive the heads of captured Spaniards on Monday morning.

Rulers over all the southern seas."

In the spring of 1717, a pirate ship was broken up by a storm near Boston. The survivors managed to get ashore, where they were captured and imprisoned. The sad fate of the captured did not leave the bandit Tich Blackbeard indifferent. The authorities received a warning message "that if prisoners get hurt, they(pirates. - D.K.) will kill anyone associated with New England." A little time passed, and Teach captured a Boston merchant ship. He was burned, and Blackbeard announced that this was done in revenge on the authorities who executed the pirates. He warned that all Boston ships would suffer a similar fate. The famous Bartholomew Roberts, with his rich arsenal of intimidating means, was no stranger to revenge. For example, he declared war on ships from the islands of Martinique and Barbados, whose governors dared to raid him. He terrorized the authorities of the West Indian islands with constant threats of vengeance. Roberts' words matched his deeds. In 1720, he broke into the Bas-Terra roadstead (St. Kitts Island) and burned the ships there in memory of the death "his comrades on Nevis." The following year, the Virginia authorities were so intimidated by his promises to visit the city and avenge the pirates executed there that they called on the population to be vigilant and urgently installed 60 cannons on the fortifications.

Pirates were masters of creating an atmosphere of fear and psychological stress. Thus, they “neutralized” their victims and paralyzed possible resistance. The nicknames of the pirate leaders, the names of their ships and the ominous symbols of the robbers played a huge role in escalating tension and a depressing sense of doom among the enemy. Moreover, as the huge island colonies of pirates disintegrated and their fishing became more and more individual in nature, the need for such “measures” increased.

The threat of revenge also haunted the captains of military ships who distinguished themselves in the war against sea robbers. They were blacklisted. In 1723, the pirate leader Francis Spriggs vowed to kill Captain Moore for his participation in the destruction of the pirate Lowther. He promised to “visit” Captain Solgard, who took over the pirate ship of Charles Harris. Under the yoke of pirate blackmail, local authorities constantly took risks in pursuit of their enemies. While pursuing a firm course, the administration was always mindful of the possible fate of the ships, which could end up in the hands of fierce avengers, true to their oaths.

D. N. Kopelev

From the book “The Golden Age of Sea Robbery”

Notes

The origin of some pirate leaders of the early 18th century is characteristic: John Phillips - from a family of carpenters, was a timmerman on a ship; John Evans from Wales - skipper of a merchant ship; Davis, of Milforle, as seaman, navigator; Bartholomew Roberts from Wales - seaman; David Lowther - co-navigator; Edward England came from a family of Irish peasants, served as a cabin boy in the navy, and then deserted; Thomas Kuklin was a sailor.

It is curious that he, like another character in Treasure Island, the villain Israel Hands, was a real historical figure. The latter, a member of the crew of Teach Blackbeard, happily escaped the gallows after the capture of the pirate ship Queen Anne's Revenge in 1718. Having injured his knee on the eve of the decisive battle, he was sent ashore and did not participate in the last battle of the bloody captain. He was sentenced to hanging, but then pardoned. After spending some time in prison, Hands was released, went to England and lived in London, eking out a miserable existence.

It is possible that the English writer Daniel Defoe was hiding under this pseudonym.

The democratic system of the Cossack gathering is very reminiscent of the above. Let's remember the circle: “A circle is when the Cossacks, by order of the ataman, gather in a circle, and in the middle of the circle a head banner is stuck, near which the ataman stands with his senior officers, to whom he communicates his plan so that they bring it to the attention of ordinary comrades and listen their opinion about it. If ordinary comrades like the ataman’s proposals, then everyone shouts out in one voice: “Any, any!”” (D. Fabritius. “Notes.”)

See Genesis. Deuteronomy. 25:2,3.

Cook - cook.

Kolesnyk - making driving wheels; association with execution by wheeling is possible.

Brovarnyk is a brewer.

Any reference to a pig contained a terrible insult to a Muslim.

Sagaidak - a bow with a quiver. The hint is that the bow (“Turk”) hangs behind the back of the Tatar (vassal of the Empire), hitting him below the back and on the legs.

That is, the executioner of Kamenets-Podolsk is an allusion to the plunder and devastation of this city by the Turks.

A hint of the ruin of Podolia.

Blazen is a young, inexperienced fool.

Sea battles, treasure hunts, yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum - hundreds of stories have been written about the romance of pirate life. Their canonical hero is an unkempt fellow, one-legged and one-eyed, with a saber at the ready in one hand and a bottle of rum in the other. He is inseparable from his partner, a huge green parrot, who constantly makes dirty jokes. We decided to find out how far this stereotypical character is from a real sea wolf.

MYTH 1:
Pirate - one-eyed, with a hook instead of a hand and a wooden leg

Amputation was a good “prevention” of gangrene and infections, and therefore pirates who were missing limbs were actually encountered. But the ship's doctors - and often this role was taken on by the cook, who professionally wielded a knife - did not know how to cope with the bleeding, and the wounded often died from blood loss. Even after surviving the operation, the patient without a leg hardly remained a valuable member of the team - the pirate’s sea career was ending, and he, having received compensation, went ashore. Pirates with hand injuries had a higher chance of staying on the ship. However, they did without hooks - there is no historical evidence of such a body mod.

A black eye patch was indeed used, but not to hide the injury, but to ensure that one eye was always adapted to the darkness of the hold. And the gold earrings, so beloved by pirates from the drawings of Howard Pyle and Newell Wyeth, were worn for pragmatic reasons: for example, they could guarantee a decent funeral in the event of sudden death.

MYTH 2:
Parrots- eternal companions of pirates

Still from the film “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”

The image of the parrot, the prompter of every captain, like most other myths, grew out of pirate novels: the motley bird accompanied Captain Flint on his voyages, and in the stories of Arthur Ransome, Uncle Jack's parrot chattered “a little more than a pretty girl.”

In the 17th - early 18th centuries, a general fashion for exotic animals began in Europe, which was immediately noticed by enterprising sailors who met many tropical birds on the shores of Africa and the Caribbean islands. But they were transported in cages, because keeping a parrot on your shoulder is risky - the feathered first mate does not always successfully control vital processes.

But pirates willingly adopted cats: they were believed to bring good luck. Multi-toed cats (with extra toes) were especially valued - their extraordinary “climbing” abilities helped deal with ship rodents.

MYTH 3:
Piracy- the lot of white thugs and fugitives

Artist: Howard Pyle

The crew of the pirate ship is mostly black men, former slaves. Often, honest sailors in their early twenties also became pirates: the terms of the “labor contract” were more attractive than in the civil service, not to mention the fact that during the Golden Age of Piracy (approximately 1650–1730), people joined the British Navy more under duress than by free will. Sailors recruited against their will received less than volunteers, and in the port they were even tied to the deck so that they would not escape. Combined with tropical diseases, starvation and the unforgiving elements, three-quarters of the sailors ended up living on the ocean floor within the first two years. It is not surprising that they preferred an adventurous life among the sea wolves to an inglorious death.

MYTH 4:
- exclusively men

There were also women among the pirates: Captain Zheng Shi gathered an army of several hundred ships and became the Chinese thunderstorm of the seas, and Anne Bonny exchanged the quiet everyday life of the daughter of a rich planter for a pirate life full of adventure, becoming friends with another pirate, Mary Read. However, women on board were not liked, and therefore they often wore men's clothing.

MYTH 5:
Pirates were obsessed with gold

Still from the film "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"

The treasure map with the treasured red cross is another fantasy that grew out of Stevenson’s “Treasure Island.” Real pirates highly valued soap, provisions, navigation equipment and medicines necessary for survival at sea: gold is gold, but no one wanted to go to feed the fish. If among the loot there was still a couple of pesos, the pirates immediately spent the money in the nearest port on grog, the drink of a true corsair (and not pure rum!), and reliable young ladies.

If they managed to accumulate a lot of gold, the pirates did not bury it for a rainy day: the life of a sea wolf was too unpredictable and short to dream of a carefree old age. There are only three known cases of pirates hiding treasure: Captain William Kidd wanted to use the location of his treasure as a bargaining chip in negotiations, but failed and was executed; in 1573, Francis Drake built a temporary storage facility, unable to carry away all the loot at one time; The bloodthirsty corsair Roche Brasiliano split during torture, talking about his treasure. The rest of the pirates, if they hid treasures, did not do so for long, believing that they needed to live and spend money here and now.

Pirates, of course, are superstitious people, but half of the omens are the imagination of writers. The Black Mark, which migrated into the Pirates of the Caribbean films, was invented by Robert Stevenson. The mark foreshadowed the captain's imminent deposition - Billy Bones and John Silver received it. Real corsairs, dissatisfied with the captain, solved the problem more quickly: they could easily shoot the leader in his sleep or send him overboard - the possibility of peaceful re-election was not always in honor.

MYTH 6:
Pirate ship- galleon under the Jolly Roger

Artist: Willem van de Velde the Younger

Colorful descriptions of rigging and sails, a carved wheel and mermaid bas-reliefs are found in almost every pirate novel. In films, such details are rarely paid attention to, so filmmakers use size - and giant galleons appear on the screens. In addition, it is not easy to accommodate large camera equipment on a small ship. Real pirates preferred maneuverable schooners and sloops for their voyages - so they could quickly appear and quickly leave with the loot.

There was always a flag flying at the top of the mast - but not always the iconic Jolly Roger. The images ranged from an hourglass to a hand holding a saber. And on Blackbeard’s flag a whole scene was depicted: a skeleton holding an hourglass in one hand as a symbol of the transience of time, and with the other clutching a spear, ready to pierce the bloody heart.

MYTH 7:
Pirates were bloodthirsty thugs

Artist: Howard Pyle

There are many legends about pirate torture and executions. The most famous pirate execution, the “walk the plank,” although known since the 18th century, was not very popular among pirates. More often, captives were simply sent overboard to feed the fish or tortured: they were forced to run around the mast until completely exhausted, or burning candles were shoved between their fingers. But all this was done only when absolutely necessary, unless, of course, the captain was particularly cruel.

Myths about Blackbeard

Most of the legends are associated with the pirate Edward Titch, nicknamed Blackbeard. Despite his worldwide fame, his career as a sea robber was surprisingly short - only two years, from 1716 to 1718 - and not particularly successful. Contrary to the legends, he was not bloodthirsty and was not crazy. It is believed that Edward Titch set his beard on fire. In fact, he simply attached lighted musket fuses to his hat.

They say that Blackbeard had 14 wives. This is partly true - pseudo-marriages took place more than once on the deck of Queen Anne's Revenge. But Mary Ormond was his only “real” wife - the young people were married under the auspices of the governor of North Carolina himself.

Blackbeard's death is also embellished: according to legend, his body floated around the ship three times, which, however, was not said in the report of Lieutenant Maynard, who deprived the pirate of his head. And it’s hard to believe that after five bullet wounds and a couple of dozen stab wounds, a person can swim.

MYTH 8:
Pirates motto- anarchy and robbery

Artist: Howard Pyle

Fighting, and in some cases gambling and even alcohol, were prohibited on board. The pirates were quite humane for their time: they often took care of captives, and divided the booty according to strict rules - all this was prescribed by the Code of Conduct in force on the ship. And on land, pirates tended to organize themselves: archaeologists have found traces of small settlements in Madagascar, Tortuga and the Bahamas - they were not pirate states, but guaranteed protection for the robbers.

The pirates spent a lot of time on land, with their families. There were benefits from the sea robbers: Captain Kidd helped with the construction of the Trinity Church in New York and even paid for the family pew, and the corsairs supplied gold and silver coins, as well as exotic food and luxury goods, which were in short supply, to the cities of North America.

MYTH 9:
The era of pirates is over

Today, the damage from piracy is estimated at $13–16 billion. Today's sea robbers, like their predecessors, rob, kidnap and mutilate their victims. The hottest spots are the Indian Ocean, East Africa and the Far East; They also wrote about a couple of cases on the civilized Danube. Instead of eye patches there are now night vision goggles, and instead of sabers and hooks there are Kalashnikov assault rifles and rocket launchers. There is even a Somali pirate exchange where sea robbers can buy the necessary equipment.

* * *

Everything we know about pirates is a figment of the imagination of Defoe, Stevenson and Ransom. The image they invented replaced the true story. But there was one thing in common between real and fictional pirates: a love of the sea and a thirst for freedom. True, we should not forget that this craving claimed many lives - both the robbers themselves and their victims.

The phenomenon of piracy has given human history many names of legendary adventurers. 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 emerging 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.

Francis Drake

Born in 1540, he came from an ordinary farming family, and nothing foreshadowed that he would become a great pirate and navigator. A sharp turn in his fate happened at the age of 12, when his parents moved to Kent. There the teenager became a cabin boy on a merchant barque. The owner of the ship was his distant relative. Dying, he handed over the ship as an inheritance to Drake. So, by an amazing coincidence, already at the age of 18, the young man turned out to be a captain.

Like all other contemporary sailors, Francis dreamed of the distant western seas, where the Spaniards continued to rule since their discovery. The most famous pirates of that time, as one, hunted royal galleons loaded with American gold. The Spanish did control the West Indies and had no intention of giving its resources to the British. There were constant skirmishes between the ships of these two countries. In one of them, in 1567, Francis Drake almost lost his life. Of the entire English flotilla, only two ships survived. After this episode, the Spaniards became Drake's sworn enemies.

Francis received from his authorities a privateering patent and the right to freely plunder enemy bases. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the pirate captured Spanish fortresses and outposts in the Caribbean. In 1572, his detachment intercepted a huge cargo of silver. A robber sailed to England with 30 tons of precious metal.

Drake became famous not only as a threat to the Spaniards, but also as a brave navigator. In 1577, Queen Elizabeth I sent him on an expedition around the world. It was this pirate who became the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe. During his journey, he found out that Tierra del Fuego is an island, and not the southern mainland, as was previously believed in Europe. After his triumphant return, Francis Drake received a knighthood and became sir. The high rank did not change the habits of the sea wolf. On the contrary, over and over again he was eager to embark on another adventurous voyage.

In 1588, Francis Drake took part in the defeat of the Spanish Invincible Armada. The victory of the English fleet heralded British naval rule for several centuries. After this success, Drake went on expeditions to the West Indies several more times. He destroyed enemy pirate bases that interfered with profitable English trade. Sir Drake died in 1596 while traveling in Panama. His lead coffin was buried in the ocean. Without a doubt, the adventurer is the most famous pirate of the 16th century.

Henry Morgan

Henry Morgan was born in 1635 in the Welsh countryside into the family of a landowner. The boy could have become his father's heir, but from childhood his passion was not agriculture, but the sea. As time has shown, the love for distant horizons turned out to be justified. The most famous pirates were jealous of the success of Henry Morgan, who became a living legend of his time.

As a young man, the Englishman was hired on a ship sailing to the harbor of the island of Barbados. Once in the Caribbean, Morgan began to build an amazing pirate career. Having joined the sea robbers, he moved to Jamaica. Young quickly became a participant in raids, the main purpose of which was to rob ships that came to hand. In a short time, the boy learned all the laws and customs of marine life. Already in his youth, he became the owner of considerable capital, amassed from pirate earnings and winnings at dice. With this money Henry bought his first ship.

Very soon, even the most famous pirates heard about Morgan's daring and luck. A group of like-minded people formed around the pirate. New ships began to join his ship. Growing influence could not but lead to growing ambitions. In 1665, Morgan decided to give up looting ships and began planning an operation to capture the entire city. Trujillo was his first target. The bandit then captured several Spanish bases in Cuba. Both simple privateers and the most famous pirates could not boast of such successes.

Morgan's most famous military enterprise was his campaign against Panama, which took place in 1670. By this time, the robber already had a fleet of 35 ships and a crew of 2 thousand people at his disposal. This gang landed in Panama and moved to the Spanish fortress of the same name. Although the garrison numbered 2.5 thousand soldiers, it was unable to defend the city. Having taken Panama, the pirates exterminated all those who resisted and plundered everything they could reach. The city was set on fire and destroyed. After this raid, the names of the most famous pirates faded in comparison with the name of Henry Morgan.

When the English subject returned to Jamaica, which belonged to the crown, the authorities unexpectedly arrested him. The fact was that the day before London and Madrid made peace. The pirates did not act on behalf of the state, but enjoyed its benevolent connivance. Having made peace with Spain, the English government promised to rein in its pirates. Henry Morgan was exiled to his homeland. A trial awaited him at home, but the trial turned out to be only a sham demonstration. The authorities were not going to punish the pirate who had provided them with so many services in the fight against Spanish rule at sea.

Soon Henry Morgan returned to Jamaica. He became the island's vice-governor and commander-in-chief of its fleet and army. Subsequently, the pirate continued to faithfully serve the crown. He died in 1688 and was buried with honors in Port Royal Church. A few years later, Jamaica was rocked by a catastrophic earthquake, and Morgan's grave was washed into the ocean.

Anne Bonney

Although sea robbery has always been traditionally considered an exclusively male affair, the most famous female pirates are of no less interest. One of them was (born in 1700). The girl came from a wealthy Irish family. When she was still a child, her father acquired an estate in distant America. So Anne moved to the New World.

At the age of 18, the daughter ran away from home and embarked on a path of adventurous adventures. She met a pirate and decided to join his sea adventures. The girl had to get used to men's clothing and master fighting and shooting skills. Rackham's crew was captured by the authorities in 1720. The captain was executed, but the punishment for Anne was constantly postponed due to her pregnancy. Her further fate remained unknown.

According to one version, Bonnie was freed and died during another raid; according to another, her influential father rescued her, after which the former robber spent her entire life in South Carolina and died in 1782 at a ripe old age. Be that as it may, the most famous female pirates (another famous robber at the time) generated even more rumors than their male companions.

Blackbeard

The legendary figure of Blackbeard remains one of the most recognizable in the pirate pantheon. Edward Teach was hiding under this nickname. Almost nothing is known about his childhood. The sailor made his presence known in 1713, when at the age of 33 he joined the bandits of Benjamin Hornigold. Like all world-famous pirates, this crew hunted in the Caribbean Sea, attractive for its valuable cargo. Teach was the true ideal of a pirate. He knew nothing except regular raids and robberies. His ship, Queen Anne's Revenge, terrified both sailors and civilians on earth.

In 1717, thanks to the efforts of the governor of the Bahamas, the official authorities began an uncompromising fight against pirates. In new unusual conditions, many robbers (including that same Hornigold) decided to lay down their arms and receive a royal pardon. However, Teach refused to change his lifestyle. From that moment on, he became enemy number one for the British military and naval forces.

Many famous pirates who did not want to fit into the new order joined Blackbeard. The most famous adventure of this captain was the blockade of Charleston in South Carolina. The raiders captured many high-ranking citizens and received a colossal ransom in exchange for their return.

The treachery of the owner of Queen Anne's Revenge did not go unpunished. The authorities promised 100 pounds for the pirate's head, which was a fortune at the time. A real hunt has begun for Blackbeard. Very soon, on November 22, 1718, he died in a boarding battle against the team of Lieutenant Robert Maynard. Often the most famous pirates and their ships haunted the seas for an extremely short but eventful period. The same was the lot of Blackbeard.

Bartholomew Roberts

The fame enjoyed by the most famous pirates in history gave rise to many rumors and myths around them. Bartholomew Roberts was no exception to this rule. It is he who is credited with the authorship of the Pirate Code, a set of rules according to which many generations of sea robbers lived.

Roberts was born in 1682 in the small Welsh town of Haverfordwest. His sea travels began on a slaver ship, where Bartholomew was mate. He became involved with pirates at the age of 37, when he was hired on the ship Princess of London. Within a month and a half, the novice robber was elected captain of his own ship.

Roberts' further independent enterprises made him famous in many seas and countries. At that time it was believed that he was the most famous pirate in the world. Bartholomew's team operated not only in the Caribbean, but also in the coastal waters of West Africa, Brazil and even Canada. The thugs robbed everything that could be sold profitably: ships with precious metals, galleons with northern furs, barges with rare American goods. Roberts made his flagship a hijacked French brig, which he named the Royal Pirate.

Bartholomew was killed in 1722 during another trip to Africa, where he intended to engage in the profitable slave trade. The legendary pirate was ruined by his companions' addiction to drinking. When a British ship unexpectedly attacked Roberts's ship, its entire crew was dead drunk. The most famous pirates of the Caribbean and the admirals of the Royal Navy were amazed at what happened: it seemed to everyone that Bartholomew was invincible. Roberts stood out noticeably from his comrades not only in his own successes, but also in his habit of dressing well, as well as his aversion to gambling and foul language. There is no doubt that he was one of the most extravagant pirates of his time.

Henry Avery

During his short life he managed to acquire many nicknames. Some contemporaries called him Long Ben, others - the Arch-Pirate. Avery's love for the sea was predetermined by his own roots. Henry's father served as a captain in the English fleet. In 1659, a son appeared in the officer’s family, who was destined to become one of the brightest and most legendary pirates of his era.

At first, the future criminal sailed on merchant ships and only then changed them to robber ships. In 1694, 25-year-old Emery was hired on a privateer ship. The main difference between such a ship and a classic pirate ship was that it robbed and attacked foreign traders with the permission of its government. Sometimes contracts were violated: when the ship stopped paying wages, the crew rebelled. The sailors decided to become pirates and chose a new one instead of the old captain. It turned out to be Henry Emery.

The new leader of the robbers left the Caribbean Sea and went to the Indian Ocean, where there was also something to profit from. The place of the first long stop was Madagascar. Emery's team then attacked ships belonging to the Indian Mughal Empire. The robbers managed to seize a huge amount of rare oriental goods and all kinds of jewelry. All American pirates dreamed of such a profitable enterprise. After that expedition, Avery disappeared from view. There were rumors that he moved to England and tried to start an honest business and ended up completely broke.

Thomas Tew

The path that Henry Emery followed during his famous expedition was called the “Pirate Circle”. The first to travel this route (Atlantic - southern Africa - Madagascar - India) was Thomas Tew. Like Emery, he began as a privateer and ended as a pirate. In 1693, he robbed several ships in the Red Sea. Before his attack, European cutthroats had never traded in this area. Perhaps Tew's success is connected to this - no one expected the appearance of the Caribbean gentlemen of luck.

On his second voyage to Madagascar, Thomas met Henry Emery by chance. Due to the spread of rumors about easy money in the eastern countries, the most famous sea robbers now sought to repeat the success of Tew. This captain remained in the memory of the pirates precisely as the discoverer of the “Circle”. He didn't have time to do more. In 1695, Thomas Tew was killed during an attack on a Mughal flotilla.

Thomas Cavendish

A list that includes the most famous pirates in world history cannot be complete without mentioning Thomas Cavendish (1560-1592). He was a contemporary of Francis Drake. The biographies of these two pirates, who acted in the interests of the English crown, have many similarities. Cavendish, following Drake, decided to travel around the world. The expedition, carried out in 1586-1588, was not at all peaceful. Rounding America, English pirates robbed many Spanish ships filled to capacity with gold. In a sense, Thomas Cavendish's journey was an audacity. The Spaniards considered the Pacific Ocean to be their “inner lake” and were furious when foreign robbers entered these still unknown waters.

Cavendish's team made its most profitable attack off the coast of Mexico. Subjects of Elizabeth I attacked a galleon that was carrying an annual supply of Peruvian gold (120 thousand pesos). Another profitable enterprise of the pirates was the stopover in Java. This island was famous for its pepper and cloves. Spices at that time were worth their weight in precious metals. Cavendish managed to obtain a large cargo of this expensive product. The pirates returned to their native Plymouth in 1588. Having traveled around the world in 2 years and 50 days, they set a speed record that lasted for two centuries.

Cavendish quickly spent the fortune he had earned. A few years after his amazing success, he assembled a second expedition, intending to exactly repeat his previous triumph. However, this time the pirate was plagued by failure. In 1592 he died in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Presumably Cavendish's ship sank near Ascension Island.

Francois Ohlone

Although the most famous pirates and their ships were usually associated with England, other countries also had their own nuggets. For example, the Frenchman François Olone (1630-1671) left a significant mark on history. In his youth, he became famous in the main Caribbean pirate port of Tortuga. In 1662, the young robber received a privateering patent and began to hunt Spanish ships. One day the Ohlone ship was wrecked. The pirate washed up on the Mexican coast, where he and his crew were attacked by the Spaniards who arrived in time. All the French died, and only Olona, ​​who pretended to be dead in time, managed to survive.

François's most ambitious undertaking was his capture of the Spanish city of Maracaibo in modern-day Venezuela. The daredevils who attacked the colony fit on only five ships. On the way, the pirates plundered a Spanish ship and obtained a valuable cargo of jewelry and cocoa. Arriving on the mainland, Ohlone led the assault on the fort, which was garrisoned by 800 people. The pirates captured the fortress and obtained 80 thousand silver piastres. In honor of the fall of Maracaibo, the captain received the nickname “scourge of the Spaniards.”

The last campaign for the famous French robber was his expedition to Nicaragua. After three months of searching for profit, pirates captured a ship loaded with cheap paper. Due to failure, part of the team returned to Tortuga. Ohlone continued the raid, but unfortunately for the captain, his ship ran aground near Cartagena. A French detachment of 40 people that reached the shore was attacked by a crowd of Indians. Ohlone and his crew were torn to pieces and eaten by local cannibals.

Amaro Pargo

Amaro Pargo is one of the most famous Spanish pirates. He was born in 1678 on the Canary Islands and already in his youth began to earn his living by transporting slaves from Africa to America. Free workers on plantations were highly valued, thanks to which Pargo quickly became rich. He was the sworn enemy of Blackbeard and all English pirates in general.

Before his death in 1747, Pargo drew up a will in which he indicated that he had buried a chest with fabulous treasures: silver, gold, pearls, jewelry, precious stones and expensive fabrics. For several decades, many adventurers, including the most famous pirates, tried to find this treasure. There are still a lot of blank spots in the story of Pargo's inheritance. Despite a long search for the Spanish pirate's treasure, no one found it.