Piracy Through the Ages

[JD Black]

The First Pirates
Pirates and their ancient forerunners were terrorizing the seas long before the first British privateer stalked a treasure-laden Spanish galleon in the Caribbean.
Some of the earliest accounts are of the Lukkan Sea Raiders in the 14th century B.C. Hailing from Lycia, the mountainous region of what is now Turkey's Mediterranean coast, these brigands of the Bronze Age terrorized some of western civilization's first maritime trade routes, contributing to a war-ridden dark age that lasted until the Romans came to power around 500 B.C.
Using their organized military might to conquer and assimilate warring regional cultures, the Romans eventually restored order to the Mediterranean under one powerful government. But the process was far from instantaneous.
During the first centuries of Roman rule, pirates were so strong a force that they were able to capture and hold for ransom high-profile elder statesmen—the most spectacular of whom was Julius Caesar himself. But their daring proved to be their downfall. After his release, Caesar garnered support from the Roman senate to unleash the full might of the navy upon them.
Though the political center of the Roman Empire lost power around 600 A.D., its fall did not result in a new era of Mediterranean piracy. Instead, Rome's erstwhile eastern stronghold, the Byzantine Empire, remained a force of maritime law until its capital, Constantinople, was captured by Christian crusaders in 1204 A.D.
The Eastern Orthodox Byzantines eventually recaptured control of their land, but their might at sea was never restored. Without a strong force of justice in the Mediterranean, pirates were once again able to prey upon maritime trade routes without any fear of retribution. In fact, need for survival forced many former Byzantine naval sailors to adopt a life of piracy for themselves.
The Development of Piracy in Asia
While Rome was struggling for control of the Mediterranean, some of Asia's first pirates were terrorizing trade routes in the South China Sea.
Following the downfall of the Han dynasty in 220 A.D., China experienced nearly four centuries of brutal rule by regional warlords. This period of lawlessness allowed an institution of piracy to develop that remained an undefeatable force for over 1600 years—until 1849.
In that year, British interest in the opium trade grew too great to allow pirate activity to continue unabated. Though the opium trade operated on the edge of legality itself, the British government sent an expedition to eliminate the threat of pirates capturing their valuable shipments.
When British captain Darymple Hay discovered a pirate fleet near the gulf of the Tonkin River, he employed the modern power of the British steamships under his command. In the fight, they managed to outpace the pirates' older sailing vessels—trapping them in the river delta. There Hay's forces massacred over 1,800 pirates who were under the command of captain Shap-'ng-Tsai. But Shap-'ng-Tsai was not among the dead. He had escaped to accept a position in the Chinese Navy.
Pillage and Plunder in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
The fall of the Roman Empire left a vacuum of power in Western Europe that lasted for over 800 years. As the last vestiges of its former military might fell to the Ottoman Empire, piracy continued unabated in the Mediterranean.
Toward the later years of the Middle Ages, private ships were increasingly being hired to protect coastal towns, in response to a newer, fiercer class of pirates that was emerging from North Africa's Barbary Coast.
Called corsairs, from the Medieval Latin word for "plunder," the Barbary Pirates combined piracy with naval service for the Ottoman Empire, taking part in a struggle for supremacy between the warring forces of Christianity and Islam.
The Treasure of the New World
When Christopher Columbus claimed the New World for Spain in 1492, he touched off a period of expansion and exploitation that would lead to a wave of piracy like none that been seen before, though large-scale piratical action by the Barbary corsairs would continue in the Mediterranean for nearly 100 more years.
Other European countries felt they deserved a share of the wealth—but all were wary to engage the mighty Spanish at war. Instead, they wrote letters of marque, giving private sailors legal permission to capture Spanish wealth in return for a small percentage of the booty. Called privateers, these government-sanctioned robbers became the first pirates of the Caribbean.
A profitable system during times of war, periods of peacetime left career privateers without a reliable source of income. In desperation, many turned to piracy to survive. This culture established by the governments of Europe in the New World would lead to the large-scale pillage and plunder that would define the social and political environment of the Caribbean for the next 300 years.


The Golden Age of Piracy
Generally agreed to be a 40-year period lasting from 1690 to 1730, the Golden Age of Piracy was an era defined by the largest scale piratical action the world had ever experienced.

Instead of treasure ships, Golden Age pirates targeted merchant ships that were making the rounds between the trade routes of Europe, the Caribbean and the American colonies.

In addition to these areas, some of the same Caribbean pirates chased their share of the wealth involved in a new increase of global trade—starting a second front in the Indian Ocean and a third in the South China Sea.

Increased military presence at all three fronts finally put an end to the Golden Age of Piracy, but smaller scale piracy remained a problem, and in certain areas of the world, it continues to the present day.

[JD Black]

Tortuga and Nassau

Tortuga: The Beginning of the Buccaneers
When the Spanish began importing African slaves to work on their Caribbean plantations, thousands of white workers were put out of their jobs.
Gathering on the island of Hispaniola, these Brethren of the Coast hunted cattle and pigs that were introduced by Spanish colonists. Called buccaneers, they eked out a living by selling cured meat to passing ships. The Arawak Indian grill they used to create their product, called the buccan, was also their namesake.
In an attempt to eliminate the buccaneers from Hispaniola, Spain proceeded to wipe out the livestock that was their livelihood. Instead of fleeing the island, the formerly peaceful group took to looting passing ships for survival. Eventually, the buccaneers established a stronghold against the Spanish on the small island of Tortuga, north of Hispaniola. They held the island for 14 years, but the Spanish eventually got their way. In 1654, they sent a strong force of five warships to capture the island. Their mission was successful, but they could do little to stem the tide of pirates who emerged from the disaffected group.


Nassau: Home Base of Plunder

Following the closing of Tortuga to pirates, many retreated to Nassau on New Providence Island. Over the years, the island served as a home base for many pirates, and by 1717 more than 500 called it home. But the pirate free-for-all would only last one year more, when the British appointed a no-nonsense governor of the Bahamas to stamp out the pirate element.


"Pistol Proof"

Pirates would refer to a captain that was skilled in the ways of navigation, crew control, naval warfare and ship handling as "pistol proof".


Port Royal

Similar to Boston, Massachusetts in the north, Port Royal, Jamaica was the largest English settlement in the New World and the mercantile center of the Caribbean Sea.

Soon after the English wrestled the settlement from its original Spanish founders, they lured buccaneers to its port to help provide defense from the looming threat of recapture.

By 1690, Port Royal had earned a reputation as the world's wickedest city. The raucous boomtown was swarming with pirates, prostitutes and cutthroats. One of the most feared pirates of the 17th century, Henry Morgan, often came to Port Royal—wealthy with plundered pieces of eight and trophies captured at sea.

The forces of nature would see to it that Port Royal's wicked reputation would not last. In 1692, a massive earthquake shook the island and tossed the northernmost portion of its shoreline into the ocean. Though the town remained, it would never achieve the population or reputation it had when it was the hideout of the buccaneers.

Port Royal Facts:


Its large natural harbor could shelter up to 500 ships.
It was conveniently located near the major shipping routes between Central and South America and Europe.
One in four buildings was a tavern or brothel.
Its shops were full of choice merchandise from around the world, thanks to the pirates.



The Florida Keys

The Florida Keys were home to Pirates long before Pat Croce founded Pirate Soul. In fact, the seafaring history of southern Florida is one of the oldest in the United States.

After Ponce de León searched Florida for its elusive fountain of youth in 1513, Protestant French Huguenots, acting in defiance of the Roman Catholic Spaniards, built a base of operations in Florida as early as 1564.

The Spanish settlement of St. Augustine had already been there for some years, but the foreign presence divided the attention of the Spanish and made it easier for other forces to gain a stronghold.

In 1586, Britain's Sir Francis Drake voyaged the Caribbean as a privateer, bearing a letter of marque bidding him to challenge Spanish dominance in the region. There, he captured the settlements of Santo Domingo, Cartagena and St. Augustine. But when the Spanish military might threatened his homeland, Drake was forced to abandon the captured land. The next expedition would have to wait until Britain built up its maritime defenses for this new era of warfare.

Later, the pirate Black Caesar chose the area as his home hunting grounds—preying on boats throughout the Florida Keys, as well as Cuba, the Bahamas and the Gulf of Mexico.

[Captain Emmy Tot]

Piracy


One of the most predominant myths about pirates is the belief that they were all a bunch of evil men completely lacking in any moral standards or beliefs. This was simply not true. Yes some pirates were rapists and murders, and some were truly sadistic killers. But most pirates were not much different in their moral beliefs then the other sailors of their time. Some worked as privateers and some on military ships before becoming pirates. Furthermore, not all buccaneers volunteered to serve as pirates of their choosing. Some were pressed men who were forced into serving when their ships were captured by pirates. Other men were abducted in ports and forced to join the pirates crew. (Note: Abducting seamen in ports to serve aboard naval warships was not an uncommon practice in the military back then.) Not to try and justify their actions but in a world of poverty and little opportunity for most, some found in the brutal life of piracy a risk worth taking.


The majority of these pirates were by nature rebellious and lazy. However they took their work quite seriously, and in most cases before a crew would sail off on a voyage, a set of written articles was drawn up which every member of the ships company was expected to sign. These articles regulated the distribution of plunder among the crew, and the scale of compensation for injuries received in battle. They set out the basic rules for shipboard life, and the punishments for those who broke the rules. The written articles varied from one ship to another but most were generally very similar. These articles were well needed as pirates were tough and ruthless men, notorious for their foul language and prolonged bouts of drinking. Which frequently led to quarrels and violence. They came together in a rather uneasy partnership, attracted by the lure of plunder and the desire for an easy life.


Terms for Piracy

PIRATE
The word pirate simply means one who robs or plunders at sea. Piracy is a term for sea-robbery. Reason tells us that pirates were no more than common criminals, but some still see them as figures of romance. As they are associated with daring deeds on the Spanish Main, with rakish black schooners and exotic tropical islands and sea chests overflowing with gold and silver coin.

Over the years many stories have been told and fact has merged with fiction. In reality seamen who resisted a pirate attack were commonly hacked to death and thrown over the side. The plunder was not usually chests full of doubloons and pieces of eight, but typically a few bales of silk and cotton, some barrels of rum or tobacco, spare canvas for sail, carpentry and navigation tools, food or medicine, and prehaps a half dozen slaves.


CORSAIR
These were pirates or privateers who operated in the Mediterranean. The most famous were the Barbary Corsairs from the Barbary Coast of North Africa who were authorized by their governments to attack the shipping of Christian countries. Some of these states even helped organize the pirates and the ones that operated from them were called corsairs. Among these states were Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli.

One of the most famous Barbary corsairs was Barbarossa. Less well known were the corsairs of Malta. They were sent out to loot shipping by the Knights of St. John, a military order created during the crusades to fight the Muslims on behalf of the Christian nations. At first these men were driven by religion but after a while the rewards of piracy became to great.

The Barbary Corsairs intercepted ships traveling through the Strait of Gibraltar or coming from the trading ports of Alexandria and Venice, swooping down on the heavily laden merchantmen, in their swift galleys powered by oars and sails. They looted their cargos, captured their passengers and crews, and held them for ransom or sold them into slavery.


PRIVATEER
The term privateer could apply to an armed vessel, its captain or its crew. Many of the pirates of the Golden Age of Piracy began their careers as privateers. Privateers worked under letters of marque from the various countries that used them to basically wage a form of economic warfare on there enemies. Maritime nations made use of privateers in times of war as a cheap way of attacking enemy shipping (saving the cost of building and maintaining a navy).

Usually the limits of the Marque were vague, leaving it up to the captain and crew to determine what they could undertake. Privateers often worked beyond the limits as detailed by their letter of Marque, many attacking neutral countries as well as hostile nations. These men did the same kind of things as pirates, but unlike pirates who were regarded by most as villians, they were seen by some as patriots by their respective countries because they were only suppose to attack hostile nations ships, and shared a part of their plunder with their countries rulers.

When the various countries with interests in the New World were openly competing for the riches found there, some men saw that it could be quite rewarding becoming a privateer. But eventually most of these countries began to turn away from the use of privateers as they made peace with there rivals, and many of these men where unwilling to give up their wicked ways....and so began a career in piracy.


BUCCANEER
Originally hunters of cattle and pigs on the island of Hispanola (now Haiti and Dominica), buccaneers got their name from the French word boucan which means barbeque. This was because of the way they barbequed their meat on grills. Driven out by the Spanish, the hunters joined the groups of runaway slaves, deserters and others who preyed on the ships of the hated Spanish. These buccaneers called themselves "The Brethren of the Coast".

By the end of the 17th century the word buccaneer was being applied generally to most of the pirates and privateers who had bases in the West Indies. The buccaneers established their headquarters on the little island of Tortuga. Later they used Jamaica as a base of operations. One of the most famous buccaneers was Sir Henry Morgan. Under his command five hundred buccaneers from Tortuga and one thousand buccaneers from Jamaica captured Panama in 1671.


MAROONERS
Marooners were yet another special breed of pirate harrassing the Spanish Main. Marooner is a coruption of the Spanish word "cimarron" which loosely translates to "deserter" or runaway. In those days many Spaniards deserted their Navy at the first opportunity, and over time their numbers began to grow into a serious problem for Spain. Another group of marooners were the cimarron negros. These were the runaway slaves that had been brought to the Americas by Spain to haul the heavy cargos of gold and silver. The cimarron's quickly joined with the other deserters and runaways and became known as Marooners.

Eventually this term became a common word for any pirate in the Caribbean, but not as common as Buccaneer. As time passed the pirate punishment of leaving shipmates on small deserted areas of land entered the language as "Marooning". The pirates would use this form of punishment for certain offenses, such as deserting the ship or quarters in battle, or stealing from other pirates. Marooning may not sound like such a serious punishment, but it usually meant a slow death from starvation or exposure. One of the most famous of these marooned men was the pirate Selkirk, better known as Robinson Crusoe.