The Golden Age of Piracy

The Golden Age of Piracy began around 1650, and ended around 1730. Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea, but can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the criminal. The term has been used throughout history to refer to raids across land borders by non-state agents. A pirate is one who commits robberies at sea, usually without being allotted to do so by any particular nation. The usual crime for piracy can include being hung, or publically executed. Some of the most famous pirates who were killed either because of piracy, or because of natural causes, are Barbarossa, Stede Bonnet, Anne Bonney, Sir Francis Drake, Captain Greaves, William Kidd, Jean Laffite, Sir Henry Morgan, Mary Read, and Giovanni da Verrazano.

Barbarossa, whose name was originally Khizr, was born the late 1400’s on the Ottoman island of Midilli Lesbos. He had three brothers and two sisters, but not much is known about his sisters. His mother is thought to have been a local Christian Greek woman from Mytilene, and his father is thought to have been a Greek renegade from Yakup who took part in the Ottoman conquest of Lesbos in 1462. Eventually, all four of the brothers became seamen, working as sailors. However, they eventually became privateers in the Mediterranean. As Aruj and Ilyas operated in the Levant, Khizr operated in the Aegean Sea. As the two brothers, Aruj and Ilyas, were returning from a trading expedition in Tripoli they were attacked by the Knights of St. John. Aruj was taken prisoner in a castle at Bodrum, and Ilyas was killed. Once Barbarossa found out where his brother was being held...

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...horized for use in war. Buccaneers were any pirates who raided Spanish colonies and ships along the American coast in the second half of the 17th century. Sea dogs are considered old or experienced sailors or pirates, and a filibuster is someone who uses irregular or obstructive tacticts by a member of a legislative assembly to prevent the adoption of a measure generally favored to force a decision against the will of the majority. Some people argue over if there are really good pirates in the world, and I believe it depends on who the pirate works for or what your position is with the pirate. If the pirate is working for you, then that pirate is considered good to you, but bad to others. Another thing people argue about is whether or not there are still pirates today. The answer is yes, in 2012 there were about 297 pirate attacks and 28 highjacks across the globe.