The Golden Age of Piracy was a bloody and unstable era when maritime brigandage reached its peak due to a combination of wars, the growth of colonial trade, and weak control over the seas. It was a time of violence, random expenses, and constant risk, where pirate crews survived by plunder and quickly disappeared under the pressure of strengthening states.
And on the eve of the release of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, we should recall the real history. We will analyze how the life and economy of pirate crews were actually organized, why states issued licenses for maritime brigandage, what myths the Golden Age of Piracy was surrounded by, and why modern pirates have nothing in common with such a romantic image.
Origins of Piracy
Maritime brigandage arose almost simultaneously with navigation. Wherever trade routes, cargo transportation, and poorly protected coasts appeared, people ready to attack ships quickly emerged. In the ancient Mediterranean, raids on ships and coastal settlements were long perceived as commonplace, and in some cases even as a feat. War, trade, and brigandage went hand in hand.
In ancient times, sea raids were considered part of warfare and a way for rulers, poleis, and individual detachments to profit. Over time, such practices became a problem for the states themselves. Pirates attacked not only enemies but also merchants, captured people, and sold them into slavery. It was then that maritime brigandage began to gradually move away from legal warfare.
A similar logic was repeated in different eras and spread across all waters. In the Mediterranean, Cilician and Barbary pirates operated; in Northern Europe, Vikings; on Russian river routes, Novgorod ushkuyniki; in the East and South China Seas, their own representatives. One thing remained common to all these cases: piracy intensified where the state lacked resources to control sea routes.
By the end of the 17th century, these conditions were particularly evident in the Atlantic. Rapidly growing colonial trade between Europe, Africa, and America, constant wars between maritime powers, and huge volumes of transported goods created a favorable environment for maritime brigandage. After the end of the War of the Spanish Succession, thousands of privateers and naval sailors were left without work, but with experience in naval warfare. It was the combination of these factors that led to the formation of the period later called the Golden Age of Piracy.
In His Majesty's Service
The main thing to know when forming a general portrait of pirates is that they cannot be considered a homogeneous phenomenon. Each crew lived by its own rules, had its own code, and internal order. In addition, their legal status played an important role. In general, pirates can be divided into two categories: those acting with state permission and those who did without it.
Unlicensed pirates were ordinary bandits. They attacked any noticeable ships, recognizing no restrictions. Licensed pirates, on the contrary, acted within the framework of the permission issued to them - the so-called letter of marque. It allowed them to attack ships of hostile powers but forbade touching ships of their own country and its allies.
Such a practice was especially widely used by England in the first half of the Golden Age of Piracy, during the colonial wars with Spain. Spanish ships transported gold, silver, and other valuable goods, and attacks on them became part of state strategy. However, after the conclusion of peace treaties, the need for such "private" forces disappeared, and many former privateers found themselves outside the law.
At the same time, service as a privateer could become a stepping stone to a legal career. Some even managed to get high positions. For example, the English privateer Francis Drake later rose to the rank of vice-admiral, and the cruel pirate Henry Morgan became the vice-governor of Jamaica at the end of his life, although he did not hold this post for long - he died of cirrhosis of the liver.
But over time, these same legal pirates became convenient scapegoats in the fight against maritime brigandage in general. A striking example was the story of William Kidd: initially, he acted as a privateer with official permission, but after controversial seizures of East India Company ships, he was declared a traitor, arrested, and executed, becoming a symbol of how quickly the state could abandon its allies.
(Non) Market Relations
Years of indulgence and anarchy took their toll. Wars and international trade legitimized pirates as an institution. One could even say that the world economy relied on pirates, and they made a lot of money from it. Therefore, now it is worth analyzing the pirate economy: ways of earning, legalization of funds, and what the funds were spent on.
The most common were attacks on moored ships. Pirates waited in a secluded spot on the shore for a ship to enter port, and at the moment the crew was unloading, they launched an attack. They quickly seized key points: gangways, deck, and the captain's bridge. After that, they took everything valuable and tried to leave the crime scene as quickly as possible. Most often, such attacks occurred at night to reduce the risk of resistance and avoid witnesses.
The most profitable were attacks on coastal settlements. Pirates attacked cities on the coast, plundered them, and left before help arrived. Such raids brought great booty but required good organization and numerical superiority.
The most romanticized type of piracy in pop culture is open sea attacks. But in reality, battles were not as spectacular as they are shown in games and movies. Pirates did not engage in massive firefights with other ships. Instead, their cannons were always aimed at sails and masts so that the target could not escape. After that, they approached closely and boarded the ship. The main task was to quickly suppress resistance and demoralize the enemy crew.
However, in reality, such battles did not happen as often and were not as spectacular. For brigandage at sea, brigantines and modified schooners became effective ships. They were fast, maneuverable, and could carry a lot of loot. A pirate frigate or galleon was a rather rare phenomenon. They required an unacceptably large crew, and they could not be used for chases.
More often, ships were captured not by firepower, but by surprise tactics. Any resistance always meant expenses. Training a new crew required time and resources. Repairing a ship after battle was also expensive. Even a single cannonball hit could cause serious damage, and with intense shelling, the damage became critical. In addition, pirates sought to keep captured ships in usable condition. A damaged ship lost its value, and a sunken one brought no profit at all.
For a bloodless attack, pirates resorted to some tricks.
Firstly, pirates never sailed openly under a black flag. Mostly, they used the flags of the countries whose ships they intended to plunder. Only at the moment of closing to cannon shot distance did the flag change to the "Jolly Roger" - thus the enemy had no time to prepare for defense.
Secondly, famous pirates formed grim legends: some forced hostages to eat a comrade's heart, others used women and children as human shields, and still others built an image as if they were messengers of the Devil.
But pulling off a successful robbery is one thing. Then the loot had to be sold. Most often, pirates received ordinary goods: sugar, spices, fabrics, alcohol, slaves, and various raw materials. Some of the plunderers could keep for themselves - for example, barrels of rum. But everything else had to be "laundered." Shrewd merchants who were not afraid to buy stolen goods helped with this. They took the loot at below-market prices and then sold the supplies at a large markup.
Pirates did not carry out such deals in the nearest port or city. Over decades of their trade, pirates acquired their own harbors and settlements. The most popular pirate bases were on the islands of Tortuga and Madagascar, as well as the cities of Port Royal and Nassau. The events of Black Flag Resynced will unfold in the latter.
Life and Sufferings of Sea Robbers
As a rule, pirate crews were formed not from adventurers, but from unfortunates for whom ordinary life offered no normal prospects. Pirates included former naval sailors, merchant ship sailors, runaway debtors, the poor, marginalized people, and also those from oppressed population groups: blacks and Asians. Piracy was a risky one-way ticket, but for many, it still looked better than hunger, poverty, or service on an ordinary ship.
The best candidates usually had sea experience. Former military personnel knew discipline, could handle weapons, were not afraid of battle, and understood how a ship worked. People from the trade environment were also valued: they knew routes, ports, and ways to sell loot. Some merchants could combine legal trade with piracy, transporting their own goods and simultaneously helping to sell stolen goods.
Women ended up on pirate ships much less often. The main reason was not only prejudice but also the lack of access to naval training. Women were almost never taken into the merchant or, especially, the military fleet, so they had fewer chances to gain the necessary experience. Famous female pirates like Anne Bonny and Mary Read were exceptions. One entered the pirate environment through marriage to a sailor, the other long pretended to be a man. But even in the pirate environment, the position of women remained vulnerable: they were treated worse than men, and violence and lust were part of this reality.
The decision to become a pirate always meant a break with the past life. A person abandoned family, reputation, and their usual place in society. In the 17th-18th centuries, social status was rigidly fixed: the poor could rarely count on a serious rise. And piracy gave a microscopic chance for a sharp leap upward - the opportunity to get rich, get a share of the loot, and for a while feel freer than an ordinary sailor.
Within the pirate crew, there was its own order. It was enshrined in codes - sets of rules by which they lived on the ship. They regulated the choice of captain, dispute resolution, distribution of loot, punishments, duties in battle, and daily discipline. Pirates had to keep their weapons in working order, participate in robberies and work on the ship. On some ships, the rules even determined the daily routine: for example, when to extinguish lights and stop noise.
The code provided for punishments. For theft or violation of prohibitions - execution, and the rights of an individual ended where the interests of the crew began. At the same time, the code still gave ordinary pirates more formal protection than the regular navy. The captain could be elected or removed, disputes could be considered collectively, and loot was divided according to clear rules.
The main reason for the attractiveness of piracy was money. Earnings depended on the loot and were distributed among the crew. Unlike the merchant or military fleet, where most of the profit went to the shipowners and officers, with pirates, an ordinary participant could count on a share. On some ships, there were additional payments for special bravery or injuries received. The inheritance of property of the deceased was also discussed in advance: pirates often bequeathed their share to comrades.
No less important was the quality of life. On legal ships, sailors often lived in cramped conditions, slept in hammocks on dark and damp lower decks, ate hardtack, peas, and oatmeal, and drank water from barrels that quickly spoiled. Diseases were common: dysentery, malaria, typhus, scurvy, and infections quickly incapacitated people. Wages could be delayed for years, and for offenses, sailors were flogged to severe wounds. In some cases, sailors were less valuable to the captain than slaves, because slaves were considered property and cost money.
Against this background, a pirate ship might seem fairer and even more comfortable. A lot of cash and goods passed through pirates, so they often had better food, alcohol, medicines, clothes, and the opportunity to spend their loot. The egalitarianism of pirates also had practical significance: the captain and crew could eat and be treated under the same conditions, rather than existing in different worlds, as on ordinary ships.
Rest was also part of the profession. Pirates spent money in the ports of Tortuga and Port Royal, where taverns, brothels, fences, and suppliers of provisions operated. Many squandered their loot quickly because they understood: the next raid could be the last. More calculating captains left some funds for weapons, repairs, provisions, and bribing the right people.
The Captain Decides Everything
Despite the relatively democratic rules within pirate crews, the captain remained the main figure on the ship. It was he who chose targets, determined tactics, influenced the internal code, and created the crew's reputation. It depended on the captain whether the pirates would act as a disciplined armed group, as cautious hunters for prey, or as a gang for whom violence became an end in itself. Each crew lived by its own rules, and each famous figure of the Golden Age left behind a separate model of a pirate career.
The most famous pirate of the Golden Age is considered to be Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard. His biography before going to sea has almost not survived. Historians cannot confidently reconstruct his childhood and youth, so a significant part of the information about Teach's early years remains in the realm of speculation. The main thing is known: he gained sea experience, managed to be a privateer, and after the "War of the Spanish Succession" switched to full-fledged piracy.
Blackbeard began his career with the captured French ship "Concord," which he later renamed "Queen Anne's Revenge." And one of the most famous episodes of his career was the blockade of Charleston in 1718: Blackbeard's flotilla entered the city's harbor, blocked it, and held the port under control for several days. Pirates seized ships, took hostages, and demanded ransom.
Blackbeard's reputation was built on fear. Rumors circulated about him as a sadist and a man capable of any cruelty. Some of these stories were almost certainly exaggerations or deliberate misinformation. Pirates themselves supported such myths, and newspapers eagerly spread them further.
Even Blackbeard's appearance worked for this task. He wore a long black beard, braided it, and tied it with ribbons. According to eyewitnesses, before battle, he could insert smoldering fuses under his hat and into his beard to look even more terrifying.
At the same time, the real extent of his bloodthirstiness is difficult to assess. There is no direct evidence of many of the tortures and murders attributed to him. Newspapers of that time often exaggerated pirate stories, and pirates themselves were interested in being feared. An episode is known with the taking of hostages for ransom with medicines: Blackbeard demanded medicines for his crew, and the hostages remained under threat until the cargo was delivered.
Teach also understood that the time of pirates was coming to an end. He tried to legalize himself, get an amnesty, and enlist the support of the North Carolina authorities. But his reputation played against him. The Crown was not going to calmly leave a man in the colonies whose name had already become a symbol of maritime brigandage. As a result, Blackbeard returned to piracy and soon died in battle with the British. According to legend, he continued to fight even after several gunshot wounds and dozens of saber blows. His head was hung on the ship as a warning to other pirates.
The most telling thing about Blackbeard's story is its brevity. He actively pirated for only a few years, roughly from 1716 to 1718. During this time, Teach became the most recognizable pirate in the Caribbean and one of the main symbols of the entire era. It was he who made fear the main element of his name. In the end, this same image became a trap: Blackbeard could not get out of the game in time and died when the authorities began to systematically destroy piracy.
Another model of pirate success was shown by Henry Every. His name is less known to the mass audience, but he committed one of the most high-profile robberies in the history of piracy and managed to escape punishment. As with Blackbeard, little is known about Every's early years. He served in the navy, participated in privateering raids, and then found himself in a situation familiar to many sailors of that era: the ship was idle in port, the crew was not paid, and legal service ceased to make sense.
Every, along with his accomplices, seized the ship and went free. After that, he strengthened the ship's armament, reduced the crew, and set off for the Indian Ocean. There he began to prepare the main robbery of his life. Every knew that every year ships with pilgrims and merchants sailed from India to Mecca. They transported huge volumes of goods and money, which meant they were an extremely attractive target.
He managed to capture several large ships, the main one being the "Ganj-i-Sawai," belonging to the Mughal Empire. This was not just a rich merchant ship, but an object associated with one of the most influential empires of that time. The capture caused a serious international scandal and a diplomatic problem in England.
The main difference between Every and many other pirates was that he managed to stop. After his greatest success, he disappeared, and his men continued to pirate for some time until some of them were caught. Every himself was never found. Various versions arose about his further fate: according to some, he lived the rest of his life on stolen money; according to others, he quickly lost everything and died in poverty. But in the history of piracy, he remained an example of a man who committed one big robbery and left before the state machine got to him.
If Blackbeard built his power on fear, and Every on one great adventure, then Bartholomew Roberts, known as Black Bart, relied on discipline. He is often called one of the most successful pirates of the Golden Age. In a few years, his crew captured more than 500 ships, and Roberts himself became a figure around whom the image of an entrepreneur was formed.
Black Bart stood out even in appearance. He went into battle in an expensive scarlet camisole, wore jewelry, and maintained the image of a captain radiating hope and confidence with his appearance. At the same time, his success was not only due to style. Roberts knew how to work with entire groups of ships, attacked flotillas and convoys, blocked bays, and forced merchants to give up their most valuable possessions. In 1720, he attacked a flotilla off Newfoundland, capturing dozens of fishing and merchant ships. Later he operated off the coasts of Brazil and Africa.
The secret of his effectiveness lay in his code. Roberts established rules governing the life of the crew: the order of loot distribution, discipline, behavior on board, prohibition of drunkenness and gambling, and internal payments for medical needs. A newcomer understood what he had to do, what he could expect, and for what he would be punished. This reduced the number of conflicts and kept the crew in working order.
At the same time, Roberts himself had no illusions about the future. He is credited with the principle of "a merry and short life," and in his case, it turned out to be almost literal. In 1722, off the coast of Gabon, he was overtaken by a British ship. Roberts died in battle from a cannonball to the neck, and his men threw his body overboard so that it would not fall into enemy hands. But without a captain, the crew quickly disintegrated and surrendered to the British.
But in the history of the Golden Age, there were also captains whose fame rested on real cruelty. The darkest example was Edward Low. He was born in London, into a poor and criminal environment, then ended up in America, worked in a shipyard, experienced a personal tragedy, and went to sea. After an unsuccessful mutiny, Low, along with his accomplices, became a pirate and soon gathered his own crew.
Low also had a code, but its rules reflected the captain's character. One of the main provisions provided for severe punishment for cowardice during an attack. The wording left the captain and crew wide discretion in choosing the punishment. In such a system, discipline was maintained not by respect or profit, but by fear of one's own commander.
Witnesses described Low as an extremely cruel man. He was credited with torture, mutilation of captives, and exemplary massacres. Even if some of the stories were exaggerated, his reputation became one of the most sinister in pirate history. Unlike Blackbeard, who used fear as a tool of pressure, Low was perceived as a man for whom violence often became an end in itself.
The story of the Portuguese ship, whose captain threw a chest of gold overboard so that the loot would not fall into the hands of pirates, is indicative. According to reports, Low became enraged and brutally dealt with him. Such stories quickly spread, but did not always play to his advantage. In Low's case, they increased pressure on the authorities and helped to present piracy as a threat that needed to be destroyed. It was his actions that became the reason for the start of the campaign against pirates.
Hunting Pirates
By the beginning of the 18th century, piracy ceased to be a problem for individual merchants and governors. Bandits had too long taken advantage of the weakness of colonial administration, the fragmentation of ports, and the habit of states to fight their wars with other people's hands. As long as a pirate could be a privateer yesterday, plunder merchants today, and hope for a pardon again tomorrow, the system worked in his favor. But at some point, this gray area became too dangerous for the powers themselves.
The campaign against piracy did not begin with military actions - the first step was a royal pardon. Pirates were allowed to keep their stolen property and money, and in return, they were required to permanently abandon their criminal trade.
The key location of this campaign was the city of Nassau - the center of pirate freedom. In 1718, Woodes Rogers - a former privateer and the first governor of Nassau - arrived there. He brought with him not only the English fleet but also that very pardon. Some pirates agreed. Some refused and preferred to flee. From this moment, the pirate republic began to disintegrate.
It was especially painful for pirates that their former allies began to work against them. States quickly realized: no one knows pirates better than pirates themselves. Former captains knew routes, hideouts, fences, crew habits, and ways to evade pursuit. Therefore, a pardon turned not only into a way to save one's life but also into an offer of new work.
One of the most famous examples was Benjamin Hornigold. He was once a prominent figure in Nassau and one of Blackbeard's close associates. But after the pardon, Hornigold sided with Woodes Rogers and became a pirate hunter.
Private hunters and former privateers also became an important part of the anti-piracy campaign. For example, Jonathan Barnet is known for capturing Jack Rackham, along with whom Anne Bonny and Mary Read were arrested.
The business of catching robbers for former pirates turned out to be no less profitable than the robberies themselves. The rewards were substantial and sometimes exceeded the annual volume of loot. For free navigators, this was an ideal way to earn money before full retirement.
In parallel with this, direct military influence increased. After the conclusion of peace agreements between maritime nations, flotillas began to grow with an increasing number of warships. They patrolled routes and protected merchant ships from encroachment. Because of this, attacks on them became unprofitable. And along with this, more troops also began to arrive in the colonies themselves, which made it impossible to plunder ports and set up blockades.
The next stage of the campaign was the destruction of pirate infrastructure. From 1717, the authorities began to systematically clear out pirate bases. After the capture of Nassau, pressure spread to other points. In the Caribbean and on the coast of North America, ports that previously welcomed pirates began to close: control over governors was strengthened, contraband trade was suppressed, and pirates were deprived of the opportunity to repair ships and replenish supplies.
By the early 1720s, the cleanup reached the Atlantic and the west coast of Africa. The British fleet began operations against supply bases off the coast of Guinea. These points were gradually destroyed or came under the control of the authorities. By the middle of those same years, pirates had almost no reliable refuges left. Without permanent bases, they lost the ability to operate at sea for long, and pirate crews began to rapidly disintegrate.
Courts and public executions became a separate weapon. Captured pirates were usually tried in colonial admiralty courts - quickly and without juries. Many were left on gallows over the water or in chains for passing ships to see. And in the colonies, bodies could remain in plain sight in hanging cages for weeks, decomposing in the sun. Sometimes dozens of people were executed at once - for example, after the defeat of large crews, when all captured crew members were hanged at once. Charleston and Newport saw two of the largest mass executions in American history, where 49 and 26 criminals were hanged respectively.
As a result, pirate freedom lost in the struggle against monarchies. Some captains died, others were hanged, a third accepted a pardon, a fourth began hunting former allies. But the stories of former pirates did not end there. In the 1740s, warships returned to the ocean, and Europeans again began to fight for colonies. Experienced sailors were again needed by everyone. Then the remaining uncaptured pirates were again offered amnesties and pardons, but in exchange for public service. It was then that the Golden Age of Piracy ended.
Pirates After the Golden Age
Despite the end of the Golden Age of Piracy, the phenomenon itself did not disappear. Authorities eliminated most pirates through amnesties and military campaigns. Some hid, others legalized, and the rest could not give up such a life and ended up on the scaffold.
But in other regions, maritime brigandage continued to exist. In North Africa, Barbary corsairs operated for a long time, and large pirate associations appeared in the South China Sea. This was no longer the old Caribbean piracy with black flags and legendary captains, but the logic remained the same: pirates appeared where trade brought big money and state control was weak.
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, piracy returned to the news due to Somalia. Small groups went to sea in boats, attacked merchant ships, captured crews, and demanded ransom. They did not take the cargo. Containers can only be unloaded in ports, and oil in tankers is also useless.
But modern piracy is not limited to Somalia. Attacks are recorded in the Singapore and Malacca Straits, in the Gulf of Guinea, and in the Red Sea. The latter direction has become especially relevant. There, the threat to shipping was created not so much by classic pirates as by terrorists and religious organizations.
Therefore, modern pirates are difficult to romanticize. They lack that charisma. They are armed bandits who took up arms due to the lack of other ways to earn money. But now, in an era of developed technologies and international agreements, pirates no longer carry any positive traits. They do not earn big money, but they carry much more risks. At the same time, they act much more primitively. Therefore, no legends are made about them, no one particularly wants to write books or make films about them, or create games. Unlike those who lived and caused chaos 300 years ago.
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