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Aidez-vous des documents vus en classe pour répondre à l'UNE des 3 problématiques suivantes:
- Were pirates just a myth?
- Can some pirates be seen as heroes?
- How has the movie "Pirates of the Carribean" made Edward Teach a myth and/or a hero?

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Pirate Hunters of the Golden Age

During the "Golden Age of Piracy," thousands of pirates plagued the seas from the Caribbean to India. These desperate men sailed under ruthless captains like Edward "Blackbeard" Teach, "Calico Jack" Rackham and "Black Bart" Roberts, attacking and pillaging any merchantman unfortunate enough to cross their path. They did not enjoy complete freedom, however: the authorities were determined to stamp out piracy in any way they could.

One of the methods was the employment of "pirate hunters," men and ships specifically chartered to hunt pirates down and bring them to justice.

The Pirates

Pirates were seamen who had tired of the harsh conditions on board naval and merchant vessels. The conditions on those ships were truly inhuman, and piracy, which was more egalitarian, appealed to them greatly. On board a pirate ship, they could share more equally in the profits and they had the freedom to elect their own officers. Soon there were dozens of pirate vessels operating all over the globe and particularly in the Atlantic. By the early 1700's, piracy was a major problem, particularly for England, which controlled much of the Atlantic trade. Pirate vessels were swift and there were many places to hide, so the pirates operated with impunity. Towns like Port Royal and Nassau were essentially controlled by pirates, giving them the safe harbors and access to unscrupulous merchants they needed to sell off their ill-gotten loot.

Bringing the Sea-Dogs to Heel

The government of England was the first to seriously try to control the pirates. The pirates were operating out of bases in British Jamaica and the Bahamas and they victimized British ships as often as those of any other nation. The English tried different strategies to get rid of the pirates: the two that worked the best were pardons and pirate hunters.

The pardons worked best for those men who feared the hangman's noose or wanted to get out of the life, but the true die-hard pirates would only be brought in by force.

Pardons

In 1718 the English decided to lay down the law in Nassau. They sent a tough former privateer named Woodes Rogers to be Governor of Nassau and gave him clear orders to get rid of the pirates. The pirates, who essentially controlled Nassau, gave him a warm welcome: notorious pirate Charles Vane fired on the royal navy ships as they entered the harbor. Rogers was not intimidated and was determined to do his job. He had royal pardons for those who were willing to give up the life of piracy. Anyone who wished could sign a contract swearing to never again return to piracy and they would receive a full pardon. As the penalty for piracy was hanging, many pirates, including famous ones like Benjamin Hornigold, accepted the pardon. Some, like Vane, accepted the pardon but soon returned to piracy. The pardons took many pirates off the seas, but the biggest, baddest pirates would never willingly give up the life. That's where the pirate hunters came in.

Pirate Hunters and Privateers

For as long as there have been pirates, there have been men hired to hunt them down.

Sometimes, the men hired to catch the pirates were pirates themselves. This occasionally led to problems. In 1696, Captain William Kidd, a respected ship's captain, was given a privateering commission to attack any French and/or pirate vessels he found. Under the terms of the contract, he could pretty much keep the spoils and enjoyed the protection of England. Many of his sailors were former pirates and not long into the voyage, when pickings were scarce, they told Kidd that he had better come up with some plunder...or else. In 1698 he attacked and sacked the Queddah Merchant, a Moorish ship with an English captain. Allegedly the ship had French papers, which was good enough for Kidd and his men. However, his arguments did not fly in a British court and Kidd was eventually hanged for piracy.

The Death of Blackbeard

Edward "Blackbeard" Teach terrorized the Atlantic between the years of 1716-1718. In 1718 he supposedly retired, accepted a pardon and settled down in North Carolina. In reality, he was still a pirate and was in cahoots with the local governor, who offered him protection in exchange for part of his loot. The Governor of nearby Virginia chartered two warships, the Ranger and the Jane, to capture or kill the legendary pirate. On November 22, 1718, they cornered Blackbeard in Ocracoke Inlet. A fierce battle ensued, and Blackbeard was killed after taking five gunshot wounds and twenty cuts by sword or knife. His head was cut off and displayed: according to legend, his headless body swam around the ship three times before sinking.

The End of Black Bart

Bartholomew "Black Bart" Roberts was the greatest of the Golden Age pirates, taking hundreds of ships over a three-year career. He preferred a small fleet of two to four ships that could surround and intimidate his victims. In1722, a large warship, the Swallow, was sent to get rid of Roberts. When Roberts first sighted the Swallow, he sent one of his ships, the Ranger, to take it: the Ranger was overpowered, out of sight of Roberts. The Swallow later returned for Roberts, aboard his flagship the Royal Fortune. The ships began firing on one another, and Roberts was killed almost immediately. Without their captain, the other pirates lost heart quickly and surrendered. Eventually, 52 of Roberts' men would be found guilty and hanged.

The Last Journey of Calico Jack

In November of 1720, the Governor of Jamaica got word that notorious pirate John "Calico Jack" Rackham was working the waters nearby. The governor outfitted a sloop for pirate hunting, named Jonathan Barnet captain and sent them off in pursuit. Barnet caught up with Rackham off of Negril Point. Rackham tried to run, but Barnet was able to corner him. The ships fought briefly: only three of Rackham's pirates put up much of a fight. Among them were the two famous female pirates, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, who berated the men for their cowardice. Later, in jail, Bonny allegedly said to Rackham: "If you had fought like a man, you need not have hanged like a dog." Rackham and his pirates were hanged, but Read and Bonny were spared because they were both pregnant.

The Final Battle of Stede Bonnet

Stede "the Gentleman Pirate" Bonnet wasn't really much of a pirate. He was a born landlubber who came from a wealthy family on Barbados. Some say he took up piracy because of a nagging wife. Even though Blackbeard himself showed him the ropes, Bonnet still showed an alarming tendency to attack ships he could not defeat. He might not have had the career of a good pirate, but no one can say he didn't go out like one. On September 27, 1718, Bonnet was cornered by pirate hunters in the Cape Fear inlet. Bonnet put up a furious fight: the Battle of Cape Fear River was one of the most pitched battles in the history of piracy. It was all for nothing: Bonnet and his crew were captured and hanged.

Hunting Pirates Today

In the eighteenth century, pirate hunters proved effective at hunting down the most notorious pirates and bringing them to justice. True pirates like Blackbeard and Black Bart Roberts would never have given up their lifestyle willingly.

Times have changed, but pirate hunters still exist and still bring hard-core pirates to justice. Piracy has gone high-tech: pirates in speedboats wielding rocket launchers and machine guns attack massive freighters and tankers, looting the contents or holding the ship ransom to sell back to its owners. Modern piracy is a billion-dollar industry.

But pirate hunters have gone high-tech as well, tracking their prey with modern surveillance equipment and satellites. Even though pirates have traded their swords and muskets for rocket launchers, they are no match for the modern naval warships which patrol the pirate-infested waters of the Horn of Africa, Malacca Strait and other lawless areas.

Sources

Cordingly, David. Under the Black Flag New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 1996

Defoe, Daniel. A General History of the Pyrates. Edited by Manuel Schonhorn. Mineola: Dover Publications, 1972/1999.

Raffaele, Paul. The Pirate Hunters. Smithsonian.com.

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Who Did You Call When You Had a Pirate Problem?

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During the "Golden Age of Piracy," thousands of pirates plagued the seas from the Caribbean to India. These desperate men sailed under ruthless captains like Edward "Blackbeard" Teach, "Calico Jack" Rackham and "Black Bart" Roberts, attacking and pillaging any merchantman unfortunate enough to cross their path.

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Port Royal is a town located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest and most prosperous city in the Caribbean, functioning as the centre of shipping and commerce in the Caribbean Sea by the latter half of the 17th century. It was destroyed by an earthquake on 7 June 1692, which had an accompanying tsunami, leading to the establishment of Kingston, which is now the largest city in Jamaica. Severe hurricanes have regularly damaged the area. Another severe earthquake occurred in 1907.

Port Royal became home port to English and Dutch government sponsored privateers who were encouraged to attack Spanish vessels, at a time when many European nations were reluctant to attack the powerful Spanish fleet directly. As a port city, it was notorious for its gaudy displays of wealth and loose morals, with the privateer crews spending their treasure in the many taverns, gambling houses and brothels which catered for the sailors. When the British and Dutch governments officially abandoned the practice of issuing letters of marque to privateers against the Spanish treasure fleets and possessions in South America in the later 16th century, many of the crews turned pirate to allow themselves to maintain their plundering illegally. Port Royal effectively became a pirate republic, and they continued to use the city as their main base during the 17th century. Pirates from around the world congregated at Port Royal, coming from waters as far away as Madagascar. The town became notorious in folklore as 'the wickedest city on Earth'.

After the 1692 disaster, Port Royal's commercial role was steadily taken over by the rapidly growing nearby town (and later, city) of Kingston. Plans were developed in 1999 to redevelop the small fishing town as a heritage tourism destination to serve cruise ships. The plan was to capitalize on Port Royal's unique and fascinating heritage, with archaeological findings from pre-colonial and privateering years as the basis of possible attractions.

Port Royal has a tropical savanna climate ( Köppen climate classification Aw) with a short dry season from January to April and a lengthy wet season from May to October. Temperatures remain steady throughout the year with the dry season being slightly cooler and range from 25.5 °C (77.9 °F) in January to 27.7 °C (81.9 °F) in May. The average annual precipitation is 1,345 millimetres (53 in).

Port Royal and Kingston Harbour (1774). Port Royal is the small town at the tip of the peninsula in the center of the map.

The Taino historic indigenous people of the Caribbean occupied this area for centuries before European settlement. They used the area, which they called Caguay or Caguaya, during their fishing expeditions. Although it is not known whether they ever settled at the spot, they did inhabit other parts of Jamaica.

The Spanish first landed in Jamaica in 1494 under the leadership of Christopher Columbus, leading to the destruction of the Taino population. Permanent settlement occurred when Juan de Esquivel brought a group of settlers in 1509. They came in search of new lands and valuable resources, like gold and silver. Instead they began to cultivate and process the sugar cane. Much like the Taino before them, the Spanish did not appear to have much use for the Port Royal area. They did, however, retain its Taino name. Spain kept control of Jamaica mostly so that it could prevent other countries from gaining access to the island, which was strategically situated within the trade routes of the Caribbean. Spain maintained control over the island for 146 years, until the English took control following their invasion of 1655.

The town was captured by England in 1655 during the invasion of Jamaica. By 1659 two hundred houses, shops and warehouses had been built around the fort; by 1692 five forts defended the port. The English initially called the place Cagway but soon renamed it Port Royal. For much of the period between the English conquest and the 1692 earthquake, Port Royal served as the unofficial capital of Jamaica, while Spanish Town remained the official capital. In 1872 the government designated Kingston, the largest city, as the capital.

Port Royal Fort defences

Port Royal provided a safe harbour initially for privateers and subsequently for pirates plying the shipping lanes to and from Spain and Panama. Buccaneers found Port Royal appealing for several reasons. Its proximity to trade routes allowed them easy access to prey, but the most important advantage was the port's proximity to several of the only safe passages or straits giving access to the Spanish Main from the Atlantic. The harbour was large enough to accommodate their ships and the shallow waters provided a place to careen and repair these vessels with no difficulty. It was also ideally situated for launching raids on Spanish settlements. From Port Royal, Christopher Myngs sacked Campeche and Henry Morgan attacked Panama, Portobello, and Maracaibo. Additionally, buccaneers Roche Brasiliano, John Davis and Edward Mansvelt used Port Royal as a base of operations.

In 1657, as a solution to his defence concerns, Governor Edward D'Oyley invited the Brethren of the Coast to come to Port Royal and make it their home port. The Brethren was a group of pirates descended from cattle-hunting (later anglicized to buccaneers), who had turned to piracy after being robbed by the Spanish (and subsequently thrown out of Hispaniola). These pirates concentrated their attacks on Spanish shipping, whose interests were considered the major threat to the town.

The English privateers were given letters of marque by Jamaica's governor. Around the same time that pirates were invited to Port Royal, England launched a series of attacks against Spanish shipping vessels and coastal towns. By sending the newly appointed privateers after Spanish ships and settlements, England had successfully set up a system of defence for Port Royal. Spain was forced to continually defend their possessions from attack, providing them with no opportunity and no means with which to attempt to retake the land.

Spain was unable to retake the island and, due to the privateers, could no longer regularly provide their colonies in the New World with manufactured goods. The progressive irregularity of annual Spanish fleets, combined with an increasing demand by colonies for manufactured goods, stimulated the growth of Port Royal. Merchants and privateers worked together in what is now referred to as "forced trade." Merchants would sponsor trading endeavors with the Spanish, while also sponsoring privateers to attack Spanish ships and rob Spanish coastal towns. While the merchants most certainly had the upper hand, the privateers were an integral part of the operation.

Nuala Zahedieh, a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, wrote the quote: "Both opponents and advocates of so-called 'forced trade' declared the town's fortune had the dubious distinction of being founded entirely on the servicing of the privateers' needs and highly lucrative trade in prize commodities.". "A report that the 300 men who accompanied Henry Morgan to Portobello in 1668 returned to the town with a prize to spend of at least £60 each (two or three times the usual annual plantation wage) leaves little doubt that they were right".

The forced trade became almost a way of life in Port Royal. Michael Pawson and David Busseret wrote "...one way or the other nearly all the propertied inhabitants of Port Royal seem to have an interest in privateering." Forced trade was rapidly making Port Royal one of the wealthiest communities in the English territories of North America, far surpassing any profit made from the production of sugar cane. Zahedieh wrote, "The Portobello raid [in 1668] alone produced plunder worth £75,000, more than seven times the annual value of the island's sugar exports, which at Port Royal prices did not exceed £10,000 at this time."

An 18th-century pirate flag of the style used by Calico Jack

Since the English lacked sufficient troops to prevent either the Spanish or French from seizing it, the Jamaican governors eventually turned to the pirates to defend the city. By the 1660s the city had, for some, become a pirate utopia and had gained a reputation as the " Sodom of the New World", where most residents were pirates, cutthroats, or prostitutes. When Charles Leslie wrote his history of Jamaica, he included a description of the pirates of Port Royal:

Wine and women drained their wealth to such a degree that [...] some of them became reduced to beggary. They have been known to spend 2 or 3,000 pieces of eight in one night; and one gave a strumpet 500 to see her naked. They used to buy a pipe of wine, place it in the street, and oblige everyone that passed to drink from it.

The taverns of Port Royal were known for their excessive consumption of alcohol such that records even exist of the wild animals of the area partaking in the debauchery. During a passing visit, famous Dutch explorer Jan van Riebeeck is said to have described the scenes:

The parrots of Port Royal gather to drink from the large stocks of ale with just as much alacrity as the drunks that frequent the taverns that serve it.

There is even speculation in pirate folklore that the infamous Blackbeard ( Edward Teach) met a howler monkey, while at leisure in a Port Royal alehouse, whom he named Jefferson and formed a strong bond with during the expedition to the island of New Providence. Recent genealogical research indicates that Blackbeard and his family moved to Jamaica where Edward Thatch Jr. is listed as being a mariner in the Royal Navy aboard HMS Windsor in 1706. Port Royal benefited from this lively, glamorous infamy and grew to be one of the two largest towns and the most economically important port in the English colonies. At the height of its popularity, the city had one drinking house for every 10 residents. In July 1661 alone, 40 new licenses were granted to taverns. During a 20-year period that ended in 1692, nearly 10,000 people lived in Port Royal. In addition to prostitutes and buccaneers, there were four goldsmiths, 44 tavern keepers, and a variety of artisans and merchants who lived in 2,000 buildings crammed into 51 acres (21 ha) of real estate. 213 ships visited the seaport in 1688. The city's wealth was so great that coins were preferred for payment over the more common system of bartering goods for services.

Following Henry Morgan's appointment as lieutenant governor, Port Royal began to change. Pirates were no longer needed to defend the city. The selling of slaves took on greater importance. Upstanding citizens disliked the reputation the city had acquired. In 1687, Jamaica passed anti-piracy laws. Consequently, instead of being a safe haven for pirates, Port Royal became noted as their place of execution. Gallows Point welcomed many to their death, including Charles Vane and Calico Jack, who were hanged in 1720. About five months later, the famous woman pirate Mary Read died in the Jamaican prison in Port Royal. Two years later, 41 pirates met their death in one month.

Remains of the Naval Hospital, rebuilt 1818 by Edward Holl

Under British rule the Royal Navy made use of a careening wharf at Port Royal and rented a building on the foreshore to serve as a storehouse. From 1675, a resident Naval Officer was appointed to oversee these facilities; however, development was cut short by the 1692 earthquake. After the earthquake, an attempt was made to establish a naval base at Port Antonio instead, but the climate there proved disagreeable. From 1735, Port Royal once more became the focus of the Admiralty's attention. New wharves and storehouses were built at this time, as well as housing for the officers of the Yard. Over the next thirty years, more facilities were added: cooperages, workshops, sawpits, and accommodation (including a canteen) for the crews of ships being careened there. A Royal Naval Hospital was also established on land a little to the west of the Naval Yard; and by the end of the 18th century a small Victualling Yard had been added to the east (prior to this ships had had to go to Kingston and other settlements to take on supplies).

At the start of the 19th century, a significant amount of rebuilding took place in what was by now a substantial Royal Navy Dockyard serving the fleet in the Caribbean. A sizeable storehouse with a clocktower formed the centrepiece, with a covered way leading from it to the careening wharves. The adjacent Port Admiral's (later Commodore's) House included a watch tower, to counter the threat of privateers. The Yard continued to expand to meet the new requirements of steam-powered vessels: the victualling wharf became a coaling depot in the 1840s, and twenty years later a small engineering complex was built. The Yard continued to expand through to the beginning of the 20th century, but then (with the Admiralty focusing more and more on the situation in Europe) the Navy withdrew from its station in Jamaica and the Dockyard closed in 1905. (Nevertheless, the Naval Yard and Hospital remained in Admiralty ownership until after the Second World War, with part of the Yard being used by the War Department).

Many of the Dockyard buildings (most of which were of timber construction) were subsequently demolished or destroyed (some in the 1907 Kingston earthquake, others by Hurricane Charlie in 1951). A few remain in place, however, including the Naval Hospital complex, some of the steam engineering buildings and a set of officers' houses. There is also a slipway, completed as late as 1904, which (with its accompanying sheds) was designed for housing and launching torpedo boats, stationed there for the Yard's protection. In 2014, it was announced that some of the Historic Naval Hospital buildings would be restored to house a museum as part of a broader Port Royal Heritage Tourism Project.

Old map of Port Royal. Light section at top and going down toward the right is the part of the city lost in the 1692 earthquake; slightly shaded middle section, the part of the city that was flooded; darkly shaded bottom section is the part of the city that survived.

Shoreline changes in the Port Royal earthquake

The town grew rapidly, reaching a population of around 6,500 people and approximately 2,000 dwellings, by 1692. As land on which to build diminished, it became common practice to either fill in areas of water and build new infrastructure on top of it, or simply build buildings taller. Buildings gradually became heavier as the residents adopted the brick-style homes of their native England. Some urged the population to adopt the low, wooden building style of the previous Spanish inhabitants, but many refused. In the end, all of these separate factors contributed to the impending disaster.

Ships at Port Royal c. 1820

The fortress

On 7 June 1692, a devastating earthquake hit the city causing most of its northern section to be lost - and with it many of the town's houses and other buildings. Many of the forts were destroyed, as well; Fort Charles survived, but Forts James and Carlisle sank into the sea, Fort Rupert became a large region of water, and great damage was done to an area known as Morgan's Line.

Although the earthquake hit the entire island of Jamaica, the citizens of Port Royal were at a greater risk of death due to the perilous sand, falling buildings, and the tsunami that followed. Though the local authorities tried to remove or sink all of the corpses from the water, they were unsuccessful; some simply got away from them, while others were trapped in places that were inaccessible. Improper housing, a lack of medicine or clean water, and the fact that most of the survivors were homeless led to many people dying of malignant fevers. The earthquake and tsunami killed between 1,000 and 3,000 people combined, nearly half the city's population. Disease ran rampant in the next several months, killing an estimated 2,000 additional people.

The historical Jamaica earthquake of 7 June 1692 can be dated closely not only by date, but by time of day as well. This is documented by recovery from the sea floor in the 1960s of a pocket watch stopped at 11:43 a.m., recording the time of the devastating earthquake.

The earthquake caused the sand under Port Royal to liquefy and flow out into Kingston Harbour. The water table was generally only two feet down before the impact, and the town was built on a layer of some 65 feet (20 m) of water-saturated sand. This type of area did not provide a solid foundation on which to build an entire town. Unlike the Spanish before them, the English had decided to settle and develop the small area of land, even while acknowledging that the area was nothing but "hot loose sand".

According to Mulcahy, "[Modern] scientists and underwater archaeologists now believe that the earthquake was a powerful one and that much of the damage at Port Royal resulted from a process known as liquefaction." Liquefaction occurs when earthquakes strike ground that is loose, sandy, and water-saturated, increasing the water pressure and causing the particles to separate from one another and form a sludge resembling quicksand. Eyewitness accounts attested to buildings sliding into the water, but it is likely some simply sank straight down into the now unstable layer.

Underwater archaeology, some of which can be seen in the National Geographic Channel show Wicked Pirate City, reveals the foundations of building underwater, showing there was subsidence, as do comparisons of post-earthquake maps and pre-earthquake maps.

Some attempts were made to rebuild the city, starting with the one third that was not submerged, but these met with mixed success and numerous disasters. An initial attempt at rebuilding was again destroyed in 1703 by fire. Subsequent rebuilding was hampered by several hurricanes in the first half of the 18th century, including flooding from the sea in 1722, a further fire in 1750, and a major hurricane in 1774, and soon Kingston eclipsed Port Royal in importance. In 1815, what repairs were being undertaken were destroyed in another major fire, while the whole island was severely affected by an epidemic of cholera in 1850.

Giddy House

A devastating earthquake on 14 January 1907 liquefied the sand spit, destroying nearly all of the rebuilt city, submerging additional portions, and tilting The Giddy House, an artillery storage room built c. 1880 that is today a minor tourist attraction.

Today, the area is a shadow of its former self with a population of fewer than 2,000 that has little to no commercial or political importance. The area is frequented by tourists, but is in a state of disrepair. The Jamaican government has recently resolved to further develop the area for its historic and tourist value. This is in part a result of abandonment of plans begun in the early 1960s to develop the town as a cruise ship port and destination. The plans stimulated the archaeological explorations on the site which, in turn, led to the suspension of development solely as a port but now included archaeological and other attractions.

In 1981, the Nautical Archaeology Program at Texas A&M University began a 10-year underwater archaeological investigation of the portion of Port Royal that sank underwater during the 17th century. The program focused on an area that had sunk directly into the sea and suffered very little damage. Due to very low oxygen levels, a large amount of organic material could be recovered. The efforts made by the program have allowed everyday life in the English colonial port city to be reconstructed in great detail.

In 1998, the Port Royal Development Company commissioned architectural firm The Jerde Partnership to create a master plan for the redevelopment of Port Royal, which was completed in 2000. The focus of the plan is a 17th-century-themed attraction that reflects the city's heritage. It has two anchor areas: Old Port Royal and the King's Royal Naval Dockyard. Old Port Royal features a cruise ship pier extending from a reconstructed Chocolata Hole harbour and Fisher's Row, a group of cafes and shops on the waterfront. The King's Royal Naval Dockyard features a combination shipbuilding-museum and underwater aquarium with dioramas for views of the native tropical sealife. The Royal Naval Dockyard also includes the headquarters for the Admiral of the Royal Navy. The redevelopment plan also includes a five-star hotel.

Today, Port Royal is known to post-medieval archaeologists as the "City that Sank". Robert Marx considers it the most important underwater archaeological site in the western hemisphere, yielding 16th-and-17th-century artifacts and many important treasures from indigenous peoples predating its 1518 founding, some from as far away as Guatemala. Several 17th and early 18th century pirate ships sank within Kingston Harbour and are being carefully harvested, under controlled conditions, by various teams of archaeologists. Other "digs" are staked out along various quarters and streets by different teams.

By 2019, a floating pier where a cruise ship could dock had been built; the first ship arrived on 20 January 2020. Tourists from a few ships (after the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have ended) might be beneficial to the town, but "there's still much work to be done if the town will become the 'world-class heritage, environmental and cultural attraction'" according to a BBC Travel report published in September 2020. Another report that month discussed the well-funded Living Heritage Programme, which was seeking "to transform the town into a SMART, safe and secure community with a vibrant local economy, preserved cultural heritage and protected natural environment".

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Port Royal is a town located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest and most prosperous city in the Caribbean, functioning as the centre of shipping and commerce in the Caribbean Sea by the latter half of the 17th century.

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Separating Pirate Truth From Fiction

The so-called "Golden Age of Piracy" lasted from about 1700 to 1725. During this time, thousands of men (and women) turned to piracy as a way to make a living. It is known as the "Golden Age" because conditions were perfect for pirates to flourish, and many of the individuals we associate with piracy, such as Blackbeard, "Calico Jack" Rackham, or "Black Bart" Roberts, were active during this time. Here are 10 things you maybe did not know about these ruthless sea bandits!

Some pirates buried treasure - most notably Captain William Kidd, who was at the time heading to New York to turn himself in and hopefully clear his name - but most never did. There were reasons for this. First of all, most of the loot gathered after a raid or attack was quickly divided up among the crew, who would rather spend it than bury it. Secondly, much of the "treasure" consisted of perishable goods like fabric, cocoa, food or other things that would quickly become ruined if buried. The persistence of this legend is partly due to the popularity of the classic novel "Treasure Island," which includes a hunt for buried pirate treasure.

Most pirates didn't last very long. It was a tough line of work: many were killed or injured in battle or in fights amongst themselves, and medical facilities were usually non-existent. Even the most famous pirates, such as Blackbeard or Bartholomew Roberts, only were active in piracy for a couple of years. Roberts, who had a very long and successful career for a pirate, was only active for about three years from 1719 to 1722.

If all you ever did was watch pirate movies, you'd think that being a pirate was easy: no rules other than to attack rich Spanish galleons, drink rum and swing around in the rigging. In reality, most pirate crews had a code which all members were required to acknowledge or sign. These rules included punishments for lying, stealing or fighting on board (fighting on shore was OK). Pirates took these articles very seriously and punishments could be severe.

Sorry, but this one is another myth. There are a couple tales of pirates walking the plank well after the "Golden Age" ended, but little evidence to suggest that this was a common punishment before then. Not that pirates didn't have effective punishments, mind you. Pirates who committed an infraction could be marooned on an island, whipped, or even "keel-hauled," a vicious punishment in which a pirate was tied to a rope and then thrown overboard: he was then dragged down one side of the ship, under the vessel, over the keel and then back up the other side. This doesn't sound too bad until you remember that ship bottoms were usually covered with barnacles, often resulting in very serious injuries.

A pirate ship was more than a boatload of thieves, killers, and rascals. A good ship was a well-run machine, with officers and a clear division of labor. The captain decided where to go and when, and which enemy ships to attack. He also had absolute command during battle. The quartermaster oversaw the ship's operation and divided up the loot. There were other positions, including boatswain, carpenter, cooper, gunner, and navigator. Success as a pirate ship depended on these men carrying out their tasks efficiently and supervising the men under their command.

The Caribbean was a great place for pirates: there was little or no law, there were plenty of uninhabited islands for hideouts, and many merchant vessels passed through. But the pirates of the "Golden Age" did not only work there. Many crossed the ocean to stage raids off the west coast of Africa, including the legendary "Black Bart" Roberts. Others sailed as far as the Indian Ocean to work the shipping lanes of southern Asia: it was in the Indian Ocean that Henry "Long Ben" Avery made one of the biggest scores ever: the rich treasure ship Ganj-i-Sawai.

It was extremely rare, but women did occasionally strap on a cutlass and pistol and take to the seas. The most famous examples were Anne Bonny and Mary Read, who sailed with "Calico Jack" Rackham in 1719. Bonny and Read dressed as men and reportedly fought just as well (or better than) their male counterparts. When Rackham and his crew were captured, Bonny and Read announced that they were both pregnant and thus avoided being hanged along with the others.

Were pirates desperate men who could not find honest work? Not always: many pirates chose the life, and whenever a pirate stopped a merchant ship, it was not uncommon for a handful of merchant crewmen to join the pirates. This was because "honest" work at sea consisted of either merchant or military service, both of which featured abominable conditions. Sailors were underpaid, routinely cheated of their wages, beaten at the slightest provocation and often forced to serve. It should surprise no one that many would willingly choose the more humane and democratic life on board a pirate vessel.

Not all of the Golden Age pirates were uneducated thugs who took up piracy for lack of a better way to make a living. Some of them came from higher social classes as well. William Kidd was a decorated sailor and very wealthy man when he set out in 1696 on a pirate-hunting mission: he turned pirate shortly thereafter. Another example is Major Stede Bonnet, who was a wealthy plantation owner in Barbados before he outfitted a ship and became a pirate in 1717: some say he did it to get away from a nagging wife!

Sometimes it depended on your point of view. During wartime, nations would often issue Letters of Marque and Reprisal, which allowed ships to attack enemy ports and vessels. Usually, these ships kept the plunder or shared some of it with the government that had issued the letter. These men were called "privateers," and the most famous examples were Sir Francis Drake and Captain Henry Morgan. These Englishmen never attacked English ships, ports or merchants and were considered great heroes by the common folk of England. The Spanish, however, considered them pirates.

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What Did Pirates Actually Do? Learn What's Truth and What's Fiction

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Separating Pirate Truth From Fiction The so-called "Golden Age of Piracy" lasted from about 1700 to 1725. During this time, thousands of men (and women) turned to piracy as a way to make a living.

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Greed, lust, revenge. The motivations of the young, psychologically damaged Somali pirates. Personally immerse yourself with these rogue mercenaries as we follow one man's infiltration of a dangerous crew, all for the sake of research and exposure. Want to watch more full-length Documentaries?

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The Real Story - Pirates of the Caribbean: Sneak Peek

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Join us on a treasure hunt for the truth as we dive into the mythology of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series. From: THE REAL STORY: Pirates of the Caribbean http://bit.ly/1kfoHG9

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Five Pirate Myths That are Actually True | National Geographic

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In English-speaking popular culture, the modern pirate stereotype owes its attributes mostly to the imagined tradition of the 18th century Caribbean pirate sailing off the Spanish Main and to such celebrated 20th century depictions as Captain Hook and his crew in the theatrical and film versions of , Robert Newton's portrayal of Long John Silver in the 1950 film of Treasure Island , and various adaptations of the Eastern pirate, Sinbad the Sailor .

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A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. The commission, also known as a letter of marque, empowers the person to carry on all forms of hostility permissible at sea by the usages of war, including attacking foreign vessels during wartime and taking them as prizes.

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Modern Pirates Terrorize Seas With Guns and Grenades