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This is a list of known pirates, buccaneers, corsairs, privateers, river pirates, and others involved in piracy and piracy-related activities. This list includes both captains and prominent crew members. For a list of female pirates, see women in piracy. For pirates of fiction or myth, see list of fictional pirates.
BBC. Pirates flew the Jolly Roger. This one’s actually true. The Jolly Roger is the name given to a flag which identifies a pirate ship. It was typically a black flag that featured either a...
- Blackbeard. Blackbeard is possibly the most famous pirate in history, but his life is shrouded in mystery. Much of what we know about him and other pirates of his time comes from a 1724 book, published under the name Capt.
- Ching Shih. One of the most successful pirates in history was a woman named Ching Shih, sometimes called Cheng I Sao or Zheng Yi Sao. Born into poverty as Shih Yang in Guangzhou, China, in the late 18th century, Shih was a sex worker until she married a pirate named Ching I in 1801 and took the name Ching Shih, which meant "the wife of Ching," according to a case study by the University of Oxford's Global History of Capitalism project.
- Sir Francis Drake. Sir Francis Drake was a noble to some and an outlaw pirate to others. Born in Devon, England, around 1540, Drake became the first person from England to circumnavigate the globe, according to the BBC — although this feat was not a planned exploration but rather a byproduct of his goal to raid Spanish ships in the Americas.
- Black Sam Bellamy. Samuel Bellamy lived to be only 28 years old, but he made a name for himself during his short life. Likely born in Devon at the end of the 17th century, Bellamy began working on the high seas at the beginning of the War of the Spanish Succession when he was 13 years old and later became a pirate captain, according to the New England Historical Society.
- Jesse Greenspan
- The Barbarossa Brothers. Sailing from North Africa’s Barbary Coast, the Barbarossa (which means “red beard” in Italian) brothers Aruj and Hizir became rich by capturing European vessels in the Mediterranean Sea.
- Sir Francis Drake. Francis Drake, nicknamed “my pirate” by Queen Elizabeth I, was among the so-called “Sea Dog” privateers licensed by the English government to attack Spanish shipping.
- L’Olonnais. L’Olonnais was one of many buccaneers—a cross between state-sponsored privateers and outright outlaws—who plied the Caribbean Sea in the mid-to-late 1600s.
- Henry Morgan. Perhaps the best-known pirate of the buccaneering era, Henry Morgan once purportedly ordered his men to lock the inhabitants of Puerto Príncipe, Cuba, inside a church so that they could plunder the town unhindered.
Jul 18, 2023 · When were pirates first around? Did pirates really exist? Yes, pirates existed — and starting in the 14th century, they helped shape European history. This article will explore the history of pirates, from ancient times to the Golden Age and beyond.
Pirate is the most general of the four terms. Originating with the Greek peiratēs , meaning brigand , it can be applied to a wide range of nautical misbehavior, including coastal raiding and intercepting ships on high seas.
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What do pirates do? Who became a pirate and what was life like for them? Step into the world of pirates in the classic age of piracy. What is a pirate? A pirate is a robber who travels by water. Though most pirates targeted ships, some also launched attacks on coastal towns.
