We have novelists and playwrights to thank for that. Why, then, do we associate pirates with walking the plank? In fact, real pirates tended toward even nastier behavior, like gruesome tortures (holding lighted matches to a victim's eyes was a favorite) or hacking their prisoners to death with swords. It makes for great film drama, but pirates didn't actually do this - though not because of gentlemanly qualms. Did pirates make their prisoners walk the plank? So, perhaps there existed some honor among thieves. "No prey, no pay" was a common principle, but equal shares in the plunder was also valued. Turns out Sir Henry Morgan and Bartholomew Roberts were actual pirates, members of a loose confederation of buccaneers called the "Brethren of the Coast," centered on the island of Tortuga in the 1600s.Įven the code existed as a historical fact, and as in the movie, involved issues of fairness among the pirates. The first film makes much of the "Pirates' Code." When Elizabeth Swann (played by Keira Knightley) is about to be seized, she asks for a parley, invoking the "Code of the Brethren, set down by the pirates Morgan and Bartholomew." Clever film fiction, right? Wrong. How about the "Pirates' Code?" Any truth to that? Their corpses were then displayed as a warning, like the three whom Jack Sparrow salutes early in the first Pirates film. ![]() Port Royal officials shifted from welcoming pirates to hanging every one they could catch. The abuses of the privateering system, and the presence of so many scruffy free-agent pirates, led to a decision by the British authorities in the early 18th century to begin cracking down on piracy in the Caribbean. Many also balked at relinquishing any of their ill-gotten gains to their governments. But the system grew rife with abuse, since most privateers couldn't be trusted to limit their pillaging only to enemy ships. The Spanish and French also licensed pirates to harass their European rivals, as a cheap way of waging naval warfare. To the English, Drake was a national hero. In the 16th century, he plundered countless Spanish ships and ports around the Caribbean, stealing the equivalent of millions of dollars in today's money, all in the name of the British crown. Sir Francis Drake was one such privateer (licensed pirate). In some cases, the British government actually commissioned seamen to commit acts of piracy, but with one catch: They were charged to prey only upon Spaniards, British rivals on the high seas and in the New World, and turn over a large portion of the stolen loot to the government. So, the British government encouraged piracy? But ironically, the Brits in Port Royal welcomed pirates initially, in part because of the money they spent but also in hopes that the pirates' fearsome reputation would keep the Spanish and French from attempting to capture Jamaica. Yes, and the town, which was also featured in the first film, served as the capital of the British community in Jamaica in the 17th century. This group later made their base on Tortuga and turned to piracy.Ī. ![]() They smoked their meat over open fires, and so the French word for that process - boucaner, meaning "to smoke-dry" - became associated with them. The original buccaneers were French renegades who lived off stolen livestock on Hispaniola (which today is Haiti and the Dominican Republic). ![]() A buccaneer was a pirate who plundered in the Caribbean. What's the difference between a buccaneer and a pirate?Ī pirate is anyone who robs on the high seas. Even Tortuga - the pirate city depicted in the first Pirates of the Caribbean film - existed, founded by buccaneers in 1630 on an island off Haiti. Numerous pirates plied those waters, pillaging, plundering and pilfering. The 17th century has been called the "Golden Age of Piracy" in the Caribbean. Here lie some valuable nuggets of information about pirates, buccaneers and privateers: With the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - and thanks to Johnny Depp, who plays the zany Captain Jack Sparrow - pirates are chic once again. Was Tortuga an actual pirate city? What does one do when urged to "avast!"? And did pirates really wear such thick eyeliner? ![]() Films like Captain Blood gave audiences Errol Flynn as dashing, clean-cut pirates, who rescued damsels in distress and vanquished hammy villains in spectacular swordfights. Hollywood has churned out more than 70 films about pirates.
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