- Portal:Piracy
-
The Piracy Portal - Wikipedia portals:
- Culture
- Geography
- Health
- History
- Mathematics
- Natural sciences
- People
- Philosophy
- Religion
- Society
- Technology
Introduction
Piracy is a robbery committed at sea, or sometimes on the shore, by an agent without a commission from a sovereign nation. The Golden Age of Piracy occurred mostly in the Caribbean, the American coast, the Indian Ocean, and the western coast of Africa. As British imperialism spread across Europe it brought about many drastic structural changes due to which many sailors and privateers found themselves unemployed. Factors contributing to piracy included the rise in quantities of valuable cargoes being shipped to Europe over vast ocean areas, the weakness of European navies in peacetime, the training and experience that many sailors had gained as conscripts in European navies (particularly the Royal Navy), and the weakness of European government in overseas colonies.
Seaborne piracy against transport vessels remains a significant issue (with estimated worldwide losses of US$13 to $16 billion per year), particularly in the waters between the Pacific and Indian Oceans, off the Somali coast, and in the Strait of Malacca and Singapore, which are used by over 50,000 commercial ships a year. A recent surge in piracy off the Somali coast spurred a multi-national effort led by the United States to patrol the waters near the Horn of Africa to combat piracy. While boats off the coasts of North Africa and the Mediterranean Sea are still assailed by pirates, the Royal Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard have nearly eradicated piracy in U.S. waters and the Caribbean Sea.
Selected biography
Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral (1540 – 27 January 1596) was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, a renowned pirate, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588, subordinate only to Charles Howard and the Queen herself. He died of dysentery in January 1596 after unsuccessfully attacking San Juan, Puerto Rico.
His exploits were legendary, making him a hero to the English but a pirate to the Spaniards to whom he was known as El Draque, 'Draque' being the Spanish pronunciation of 'Drake'. His name in Latin was Franciscus Draco ('Francis the Dragon'). King Philip II was claimed to have offered a reward of 20,000 ducats, about £4,000,000 (US$6.5M) by modern standards, for his life. He is famous for (among other things) leading the first English circumnavigation of the world, from 1577 to 1580.
Selected article
The Victual Brothers resp. Vitalians or Vitalian Brotherhood were a companionship of privateers who later turned to piracy. They were hired in 1392 by the Dukes of Mecklenburg to fight against Denmark, because the Danish Queen Margaret I had imprisoned Albrecht of Mecklenburg and his son to subdue the kingdom of Sweden. Albrecht was King of Sweden since 1364 and Duke of Mecklenburg since 1383.
The Victual Brothers were organised as a brotherhood or guild and attracted men from all over Europe. Their main naval enemy in 1392 was the powerful Hanseatic town of Lübeck, which supported Denmark in the war. Apart from Lübeck, the Hanseatic League at first encouraged the Victual Brothers. Most of the Hanseatic towns had no desire to see Denmark victorious, since its location was strategic for the control of the seaways. (more...)
Selected quotations
“ Coming up to them, there has passed some common shot between some of our fleet and some of them; and as far as we perceive, they are determined to sell their lives with blows. ” —Francis Drake to Admiral Henry Seymour, after coming upon part of the Spanish Armada.
Did you know...
- ...that there is only one account of walking the plank?
- ...that English pirate Henry Every, who was sometimes known as Long Ben, was one of the few major pirate captains to retire with his loot without being arrested or killed in battle?
- ...that red Jolly Roger flags were the most feared of all; all prayed they never encountered the "Bloody Red," which boldly declared that no mercy would be shown and all victims would be killed?
- ...that in the Golden Age of Piracy, the word "pirate" was often spelled "pyrate," or "pyrat"?
- ...that, while it is unknown if pirates actually kept parrots as pets, it is thought that at least some captains kept cats aboard to keep populations of rats and other vermin down?
- ...that, unlike traditional Western societies of the time, many pirate clans operated as limited democracies, demanding the right to elect and replace their leaders?
Selected picture
Image credit: Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates Howard Pyle's illustration of Pierre Le Grand attacking a Spanish captain in his cabin. He was a Caribbean buccaneer of the 17th century. He is known to history only from one source, Alexandre Exquemelin's Buccaneers of America, and may be imaginary. Pierre le Grand is known only for his attack on a Spanish galleon near the coast of Hispaniola in the 17th century.
News
Portal:Piracy/News/1
Categories
Subcategories of Piracy:
Topics
Historical Periods
-
- Timeline of piracy
- Golden Age of Piracy (1690–1730)
Types
-
- Pirates
- Privateers
- Buccaneer
- Corsairs
- Barbary pirate
- Wokou
Other
Famous Pirates
-
- Sir Francis Drake
- Sir Henry Morgan
- Pier Gerlofs Donia
- Bartholomew Roberts
- Gráinne O'Malley
- Blackbeard
- Redbeard
- Anne Bonny
- Mary Read
- Robert Surcouf
- René Duguay-Trouin
- Stede Bonnet
- Jean Bart
- François l'Ollonais
- William Kidd
- Calico Jack Rackham
- Henry Every
WikiProjects
WikiProject Piracy – WikiProject Criminal Biography – WikiProject History – WikiProject Law – WikiProject Maritime Warfare Related portals
Things you can do
Contribute to...
- ...articles on the pirates to help make them featured articles.
Expand...
- ...piracy stubs.
Join...
- ...WikiProject Piracy.
WikiProject Piracy Requests
- eliminate red links from List of pirates
- expand Timeline of piracy, specifically to fill in vast gap between the 1890's to 2000's
- revise Bartholomew Roberts
- help with Requested articles and Expand articles
- help with Portal:Piracy
- Create Modern Piracy
Categories:- WikiProject Piracy
- Piracy
- History portals
- Society portals
- Law portals
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
