8 Famous Pirates Of All Time

Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the world’s most famous pirates roamed the seven seas and amassed vast fortunes. Many of these hijackers are still famous today, but they differed greatly from the friendly pirates in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series.

Many of history’s most famous pirates started as privateers: sailors hired aboard private warships who were permitted to attack their country’s enemies at sea and harass merchant ships in designated areas. Some of these pirates also attacked their own country’s ships when the lure of gold was too great and set out under their flags to raid merchant ships illegally.

The period between 1689 and 1718 in the United States was the Golden Age of Piracy, with many female pirates appearing, including Blackbeard and Henry Morgan, as well as female pirates such as Anne Bonny and Mary Read.

List of Some Famous Pirates of All Time

Some pirates were so successful that they struck fear into the hearts of the world and made millions of dollars by today’s standards. Here are 8 of the most famous pirates in the marine world.

The Barbarossa Brothers

From state-sponsored pirates to outlaws, these pirates earned a reputation as fearsome marauders. Setting sail from North Africa’s Barbary Coast, brothers Oruj and Hazir grew rich by seizing European ships in the Mediterranean. Although their most lucrative early victims were two Papal warships and a Sardinian warship, they began targeting the Spanish when Oruj lost an arm in battle.

In 1516, the Ottoman Sultan placed Oruj in charge of the entire Barbary Coast, a position Hazir took over two years after his brother’s death. Hazir, also known as Khair ad-Din, spent the rest of his life battling various Christian enemies, including the Holy League fleet the Pope had specially assembled to destroy.

Sir Francis Drake

Francis Drake was called a “buccaneer” by Queen Elizabeth I of England and was one of the so-called “dogfish” pirates who the English government licensed to attack Spanish ships. Drake made his most famous voyage between 1577 and 1580, becoming the first English captain to sail worldwide.

On the same voyage, he lost four of his five ships, executed a subordinate who was plotting a mutiny, attacked various Spanish ports, and captured a Spanish ship laden with treasure. Upon his return, Queen Elizabeth knighted him. Eight years later, Drake helped defeat the Spanish Armada.

L’Olonnais

L’Ollonna was one of many pirates who sailed the Caribbean in the mid-to-late 17th century, ranging from state-sponsored privateers to outright outlaws. Lunette, also known as Jean-David Nau, is believed to have begun launching attacks on Spanish ships and coastal settlements soon after arriving in the Caribbean as an indentured servant and became notorious for his extreme cruelty.

Alexandre Excmelin, a 17th-century pirate historian, wrote that Lunette would cut his victims into pieces bit by bit or strangle them with a rope around their necks until their eyes bulged out. Lunette was suspected of treason and is said to have once ripped out a man’s heart and taken a bite out of it. However, according to Exkmlen, karma came back to haunt him in 1668 when he was captured and eaten by cannibals.

Henry Morgan

Perhaps the most famous pirate of the Age of Piracy was Henry Morgan, who once ordered his men to lock the residents of Puerto Principe, Cuba, inside a church to sack the city undisturbed. He then went on to capture Puerto Bello, Panama, in part by setting up a human shield consisting of priests, women, and the mayor. Other brutal attacks followed in the following years on the towns of Venezuela and Panama City.

Although Morgan was briefly captured in 1672, he eventually served as acting governor of Jamaica in 1678 and again from 1680 to 1682. Ironically, the Jamaican legislature passed anti-piracy laws during his time in office and even helped Morgan prosecute pirates.

Captain Kidd

Captain William Kidd was once a respected pirate who set sail in 1696 with a mission to hunt pirates in the Indian Ocean. But he soon turned pirate, seizing ships such as the Quetta Merchant and killing a subordinate with a barrel. Due to mass defections, he embarked on a journey home with a ragtag crew, which included a stop at Gardiners Island, New York, to bury treasure.

After falling out with the powerful British East India Company, Kidd was arrested before returning to England. He was subsequently tried and executed, and his rotting body was displayed on the banks of the Thames as a warning to other pirates.

Blackbeard

Blackbeard, born Edward Teach, terrorized his enemies by wrapping a smoking wick in his long braided beard and throwing several pistols and daggers across his chest. In November 1717, he captured a French slave ship, later named the Queen Anne’s Revenge, and re-armed it with 40 guns. With this extra firepower, he blockaded the port of Charleston, South Carolina, until the city’s residents responded to his request for a large crate of medicine.

After hiding out for months in North Carolina, Blackbeard was killed in a battle with the British navy. Legend has it that he died from 20 stab wounds and five gunshot wounds. The so-called Golden Age of Piracy, dominated by Blackbeard, would last only a few years. But countless books, plays, and movies (from Treasure Island to Pirates of the Caribbean) have since brought a romanticized version of the era into the public eye.

Calico Jack

John Rackham, also known as Calico Jack, was pardoned for his previous piracy in 1719. However, he set sail again the following year after capturing a 12-gun sloop in Nassau Harbor, Bahamas. Among Rackham’s dozens of followers, two were the only female pirates to sail the Caribbean.

One, Anne of Bonny, left her husband to be with Rackham, while the other, Mary Read, is believed to have sailed for some time disguised as a man. In October 1720, Rackham’s drunken gang was overtaken by a pirate trawler. It is believed that Bonnie, Reed, and perhaps only one other person resisted.

Although Rackham was executed the next month, his colleague escaped the hanging because she was pregnant.

Madame Cheng

In 1805, Lady Cheng’s husband, Cheng Yi, formed what quickly became the largest pirate guild in history. After his death two years later, Lady Cheng expanded it further, commanding an estimated 1,800 ships and 70,000 men at its peak.

With the help of Zhang Baozai (her husband’s adopted son and her lover), she extorted protection money from coastal communities, attacked ships in the South China Sea, and even kidnapped seven British sailors. In 1810, when Chinese authorities began to crack down on piracy, Lady Cheng was granted amnesty.