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Pirate Weapons
Pirate Gifts
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Pirate Clothing
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| Pirate Replicas :: Viewing 1 to 8 out of 941 Product(s) [View All Pirate Products] |
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Pirate History
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The history of piracy can be traced as far back as the 13th century B.C.E. to sea-faring marauders in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and extends all the way to current times as pirates still navigate parts of the globe threatening commercial vessels. The Greek historian Plutarch, writing in about 100 A.D., defined pirates as those who attack maritime cities and ships without legal authority.
Contemporary lore and reference to pirates, though, tends to center on piracy in the Caribbean Sea between the mid-16th century through the mid-18th century. This classic period of piracy yielded the famous legends of the English, Dutch, and French pirates and branded names such as Blackbeard and Henry Morgan. Pirates were essentially bands of sea-faring thieves who would attack merchant vessels, in the case of Caribbean pirates these were mostly Spanish ships, and reap whatever riches and resources they could from them. Pirates acted for their own interests, and succeeded on the merits of their own organization and strategic ploys. They typically did not act with any authority from sovereign states although during wartime could have been given rights to act on behalf of states in privateering arrangements.
Pirate raids would follow the trade routes from India to America via Africa and although those navigating the Caribbean were subject to piracy the most, the Eastern seaboard of America was also dangerous as were parts of the Indian Ocean and the west coast of Africa. The boom in piracy that began in the 1580s paralleled the tremendous increase in trade and travel that grew out of the expeditions of the Spanish, Portuguese, British, and Dutch explorers and their succeeding colonial endeavors. Pirates would set themselves up on base islands in the Caribbean and lead their attacks from these strategic points. The captaincy on a pirate ship was decided by vote and often it was the adeptness and success of a pirate in battle that would decide his leadership capacity. The captain would be partnered in leadership with the quartermaster who was in charge of administration of the ship.
Pirates lived an alternative lifestyle to their land-based or legitimate sea-faring rivals, choosing the ocean as their source of income, sustenance, and protection. Whatever foods, commodities, livestock, or riches they obtained from other vessels would be split among the pirates in a comparatively fair and democratic manner.
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