Advertising

Pirate

| Print |

E-mail

Written by Todd Massey

Friday, 16 May 2008

by ToddMassey

Pirate is now the frequently established expression throughout the world for an individual that perpetrates an assortment of wrongs on the ocean. A various points in history they were given specialized names helping to identify them either by region or nationality.

A buccaneer was a pirate that lived in the Caribbean. They were originally French and some English that lived on the island of Hispaniola and the name is derived from the original Indians of the island who had a word called "buccan". The French word was a person or boucanier and then it became buccaneer. Due to conflicts with the Spanish, the buccaneers hated them for running them off the island.

A Barbary corsair was a name given by the French to Muslim pirates that sailed along the North African and Mediterranean coasts.

Pirates really got their big start in the seas around Greece, where they raided merchants and were used by the warring countries and city-states against each other. At one time they were even used by the city-states as tax collectors due to the fact that so many people feared the pirates.

Pirate activity was sometime made legal by a country, when this happened the pirates became known as privateers. Warring countries like England, France and Spain would direct their privateers to attack enemy ships and disrupt trade. Privateers were often more successful than the navies at fighting and the theft of merchants and government treasure could badly hinder a country.

At times pirate activity would get so out of control that governments would forge alliances to clean up the waters of most pirates so that trade routes could be safe again.

Pirates would escape to sea running from poverty, escaping the local navy or cruel laws of the land. Pirates needed their own laws on board ship so that they could come together and operate successfully. This inadvertently led to pirates creating what became known as the first true individual democracy in which every pirate had a voice by having an equal vote in what took place on board the ship. But shipboard lawbreakers found they had to face harsh penalties to pay for their transgressions against fellow crew members.

Severe injury, lost limbs or body parts was commonplace in the dangerous life of a pirate. But pirates take care of their own, and established compensatory payment for injuries. Establishing in writing for example that the loss of a leg was worth 500 pieces of eight.

Piracy could be a hard life, dangerous and deadly but it was often preferable to the navy of the day. You could potentially get better pay, better food be treated better and have a say in decisions.

It would not be unusual for a pirate who had spent months at sea, to collect his share of the treasure and then blow it all in a night or two of excessive pleasure.

About the Author:

Pirates live larger than life in our minds thanks to books and movies. Another fun Pirate book has come out that combines pirates and magic like no body else has before.

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.