#Pirate History

[k-wame]

I rather envy you. I remember what it was like the first time I met him…It's something quite indescribable. I imagine you're having it as we speak. ↳ BLACK SAILS | S2.E1 · IX

[ltwilliammowett]

When Tower of London ghost meets raven. The raven Poppy was getting rather curious about one of the Tower ghosts…

Alice Wolf was a Tudor pirate and the first and only female to escape the Tower! She was captured and sentenced to a pirate’s death.

Source

You can read more about her here - source

[usnatarchives]

Real pirate names for #TalkLikeAPirateDay! 🦜🏴‍☠️

ARRRR, the disappointment! This list of mostly non-piratical pirate names (John Desfarges, Peter Morel, Robert Johnston, Charles Dickinson, etc.) come from the case file of United States v. John Defarges, et. al. for charges of piracy, from the records of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. New Orleans. More documents from this case, including the indictment and witness affidavits are available in the online catalog.

[cuddlytogas]

maybe it's just the Radical Rediker talking, but there's something pointed in the way that, say, popular pirate media like Pirates of the Caribbean dilutes the pirate's freedom to "bring me that horizon" as opposed to, say, "plenty and satiety, pleasure and ease, liberty and power" (Bartholomew Roberts).

broadly speaking, most pirates chose the life in order to escape and revenge the hard labour, corporal punishment, overworking, and unequal pay of merchant/navy/privateer ships; or the privations of their sudden unemployment once a war was over, ignored as soon as their ability to die for the state was unneeded. yes, many were thugs, but, consciously political or not, they were responding to a particular, material reality.

the pirate's desired freedom was from the effects of exploitative modes of statehood and capital production. but popular media usually shifts this into a general desire for freedom: freedom to roam, freedom to love (usually merely a cross-class white, heterosexual union), or freedom from the personal pressures of social norms. it's a vague, ahistorical, post-Enlightenment, libertarian ideal rather than a response to a real social and economic situation.

to be clear, this only really applies to specifically the late golden age of piracy, in the first quarter of the 18th century. earlier generations of pirates/buccaneers often displayed nationalist/religious motives, and were lauded, tolerated, or even encouraged by the French and English states for aiding their fights against the Spanish and Portuguese. only the last gasp of age of sail pirates had a truly anti-national energy, and both figured themselves, and were figured by the imperial powers, as the enemies of all nations.

but if we are to valourise the late golden age pirate, at his best, his ideals were for true democracy, and the abolition of nation, hierarchy, and labour exploitation; not "the horizon". he was striking out in response to specific political, social, and economic oppressions, rather than a general individual restlessness, and that reality - and its similarities to our own - are important.

I dunno, I just... have a lot of thoughts about the defanging of piracy in modern media. obviously there were a lot of things bad about them, too, and the level of egalitarianism varied between individual people and ships. but again, if we're going to be valourising them anyway... there were idealists. and they weren't subtle about they wanted.

"I shan't own myself guilty of any murder", said William Fly in 1726. "Our captain and his mate used us barbarously. We poor men can't have justice done us. There is nothing said to our commanders, let them never so much abuse us, and use us like dogs. But the poor sailors --"

[noknowshame]

today is the deathiversary of my favorite guy who only I care about <3 dennis mccarthy (c.1690 – December 12 1718). dennis was sentenced to death by colonial authorities in nassau (along with seven other men) for breaking faith with their pardons and returning to piracy. according to court testimony, dennis arrived at his execution decorated in blue ribbons. he leaped up onto the gallows with enough enthusiasm for it to be written down, and kicked off his shoes into the crowd, joking that he had promised not to die with them on ("dying with your shoes on" being a euphemism for death by hanging). shortly after, he was indeed hanged. we knew very little else about him, but his defiance and light-heartedness in the face of death survives. RIP dennis

[devils-acre]

Historically accurate Armando Salazar :) with a lazy background

Research:

I keep trying to find military uniforms from the 1720s but, like I expected, no museums care about the first quarter of the 18th century so I sadly couldn’t find any references. I did however find this portrait with similar buttons to Armando’s coat:

And also used this illustration of Calico Jack from 1725 for inspiration!

I’ve never seen anyone roll up the cuffs of their coat like that, so I assume either it was the artist’s interpertation of what a pirate would do, or something like that. Either way I thought it was cool! I also gave him the shoulder gun-holster thing. On second thought I probably should have drawn him with multiple pistols, maybe?

I decided not to give Armando a wig so I could draw his beautiful hair. I can’t tell you if this is something pirate captains did or not because from what I’ve seen no one knows and I’ve seen illustrations with and without wigs.

Ok, that’s it! If I got anything wrong or you happen to know anything else about 1720-1730s fashion please tell me!

[shipwreckedwithcaptainmarrow]

Sinking of the 1715 Treasure Fleet

On the 31st of July, 1715, the famous 1715 Spanish Plate Fleet, consisting of twelve treasure galleons, was nearly entirely destroyed by a hurricane off the coast of Spanish La Florida, around 2 a.m. near present day Vero Beach.

The vessels had been carrying over seven million pesos worth of gold and goods from Veracruz when the fleet went down, with two of the ships being lost to open ocean, while the others were crashed into the shallow shoreline up and down the Florida coastline.

(A depiction of the Urca de Lima, one of the vessels of the fleet, wrecked upon Florida shores in the series Black Sails)

The Nuestra Senora de la Carmen was laden with gold bars, doubloons, and silver. An equal amount of wealth was on board the Nuestra Senora del Rosario in 1,000 chests, and the Senora de la Concepcion (also known as Urca de Lima) carried hundreds of chests of coinage as well. The Nuestra Senora de la Regla carried 1,300 chests of nearly three million silver coins, gold coins, chests of uncut emeralds and pearls, and Chinese porcelain.

Over 1,000 sailors would perish from the hurricane, including General Don Juan Esteban de Ubilla, commander of the fleet. In total, eleven vessels went down.

About half of the fleet’s Spanish sailors would survive the incident, and would create a salvage camp upon what is now North Hutchinson Island, and began collecting what treasure they could while waiting for rescue. Aid in the form of food, clothes, and tools came from St. Augustine to the north, sending a relief expedition.

(Myself visiting the site of the 1715 Salvagers' Camp earlier this year)

However, news of what transpired spread fast, and many pirates in the Caribbean and along the American coast flocked to the site for the treasure that was ripe for the taking. First on the scene was English privateer Captain Henry Jennings, along with crewmate Charles Vane in the Bersheba, along with four other vessels.

Jennings had been granted a commission from the governor of Jamaica to “Execute all manner of acts of hostility against pyrates according to the Law of Arms” with instructions to harm no one other than pirates. However, after learning the location of the salvage camp, from a Spanish mail ship, they would ignore their commission's rules and instead lead a ground assault at the still struggling camp - the plunder of which would become Jenning’s call to piratical fame.

(Treasure from the plate fleet. These pieces in particular, amid other artifacts, were discovered by diver Christopher James. Note that while mostly what is pictured are artifacts from the 1715 fleet, the keys and padlocks are from a later date) Today, those visiting the site of the Salvagers' Camp will find the McLarty Treasure Museum, a small maritime museum dedicated to the 1715 fleet. Beyond the museum is a boardwalk through overgrown dunes and out to a lookout post overlooking the coastline with a helm, mast, and a plaque for the fleet.

(My photos of the helm and sight at the lookout station) My venture to the site earlier this year was a success, was well-received by those operating it and they may have me return at some point to do an educational program with them.

[chaospixiemagic]

Truly … I am in love with these pirates. All of them. This show is absolutely killing it and it is a MASTERCLASS in storytelling. If you haven’t started watching … fix that. Catch up. This tale is heartbreakingly beautiful 🥹

[the-golden-vanity]

My current read is Daphne Palmer Geanacopolous's The Pirate Next Door, a book about the women, families, and onshore lives of the buccaneers of the Golden Age of Piracy. The chapter on Sarah and Capt. William Kidd was later expanded into the book The Pirate's Wife, so between the book and the fact that I just bought a bottle of Thrasher's Spiced Rum (far and away my favorite spiced rum—you can taste every individual spice in it, and it tastes like Christmas), I was moved to make a glass of this: a rum punch served to Captain Kidd on the fateful day in 1688 when he received a privateering commission from the Governor of the Leeward Islands.

[hang-on-lil-tomato]

[simplecountryboy]

[valkyries-things]

GRACE O’MALLEY // PIRATE

“She was one of the most famous pirates of all time. From the age of 11, she forged a career in seafaring and piracy and was considered a fierce leader at sea and a shrewd politician on land. When she was young, she wanted to travel on an expedition with her father, she was told she couldn’t go as her long hair would get caught in the ship’s ropes. To embarrass her father, she cut off most of her hair which earned her the nickname “Grainne Mhaol” which means Bald Grace. To this day, she is seen as a symbol of Ireland and an inspiration for many songs, theatre productions and books.”

[ltwilliammowett]

Barbecue

Many people do it in the summer, ok, the die-hards also do it in the winter, the barbecue. This word actually has a maritime background. The name is derived from the French term boucanier, which means "meat smoker", and this in turn from the Spanish barboka, "to cook over a grill".

The Buccaneer was a Picturesque Fellow: illustration of a pirate, dressed to the nines in piracy attire. By Howard Pyle, 1905

The Arawak, people of the Caribbean, used this term to describe a type of grill on which they smoked meat (preferably manatees) over a small flame with green wood. The buccaneers during the 17th century had adopted this type of grilling for the wild pigs they hunted on the coasts before moving on to bigger catches at sea.

The innocent and enjoyable pastime of barbecuing in one's own garden therefore has some roots in the bloody history of piracy in the Caribbean.

[theresastarmanwaitinginthesky008]

Most people know Stede and Ed are both based on real people.

Less people know that Stede Bonnet was hung to death in December 1718 and Edward Teach was killed in battle with sailors November 1718.

And S1 is set in 1717.

This worries me for s2 or future seasons.

[barbossas-wench]

Piracy and Enlightenment

There's the historical connection between enlightenment and pirates

We all know the pirates are lawbreakers but there's a connection between enlightenment and Piracy on the same time

Piracy had been a very long time to this day, especially Golden Age of Piracy dates from 1650s-1730s

Age of Enlightenment (or Age of Reason) dates from 1685-1815 was a movement with intellectual and philosophical influences and effects.

The movement's main ideas are humanity, reason, descience and liberty. The Enlightenment influence two grandest revolutions, the American revolution and French Revolution. The two revolutions influenced other countries independence in following years

Also, there are enlightened ideas of modern democracy, including vote for rights

Pirate government system is modern democracy. They have voting election to elect new captain or new second mate.

Some enlightened ideas about natural human rights (life, liberty, and property). Enlightened philosophers wanted to improve human conditions on earth than concern with skepticism

In Piracy, being aboard on pirate ships are more civilized than life on merchant ships that merchant sailors were treated poorly there. Piracy also offered to poor men who are unemployed. Pirates may be respect to each other despite their different backgrounds.

Since American Revolution influenced by enlightenment ideals, some pirates help America free from Britain

Pirate code was influenced by enlightenment as US Constitution, despite they have different similarities on their own and each other. And it has significant on process of American democracy.

So that means Pirates are enlightened rebels on the sea