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Pirates In Popular Culture
In English-speaking popular culture, the modern pirate stereotype owes its attributes mostly to the imagined tradition of the 18th century Caribbean pirate sailing off the Spanish Main and to such celebrated 20th century depictions as Captain Hook and his crew in the theatrical and film versions of J. M. Barrie's children's book ''Peter Pan'', Robert Newton's portrayal of Long John Silver in the 1950 film adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel ''Treasure Island'', and various adaptations of the Middle Eastern pirate, ''Sinbad the Sailor''. In these and countless other books, films, and legends, pirates are portrayed as "swashbucklers" and " plunderers". They are shown on ships, often wearing eyepatches or peg legs, having a parrot perched on their shoulder, and saying phrases like "Arr, matey" and "Avast, me hearty". Pirates have retained their image through pirate-themed tourist attractions, film, toys, books and plays. Origins The characteristics of pirates i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swashbuckler
A swashbuckler is a genre of European adventure literature that focuses on a heroic protagonist stock character who is skilled in swordsmanship, acrobatics, guile and possesses chivalrous ideals. A "swashbuckler" protagonist is heroic, daring, and idealistic: he rescues damsels in distress, protects the downtrodden, and uses duels to defend his honor or that of a lady or to avenge a comrade. Swashbucklers often engage in daring and romantic adventures with bravado or flamboyance. Swashbuckler heroes are gentleman adventurers who dress elegantly and flamboyantly in coats, waistcoats, tight breeches, large feathered hats, and high leather boots, and they are armed with the thin rapiers used by aristocrats. Swashbucklers are not unrepentant brigands or pirates, although some may rise from such disreputable stations and achieve redemption. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Israel Hands
Israel Hands, also known as Basilica Hands, was an 18th-century pirate best known for being second in command to Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard. His name serves as the basis for the name of the villainous sidekick in Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel ''Treasure Island''. Biography Hands' first historical mention was in 1718, when Blackbeard gave him command of David Herriot's ship ''Adventure'' after Herriot was captured by Teach in March 1718. During the winter of 1717–1718, Blackbeard harassed shipping to and from the port of Vera Cruz, Mexico and traversing the Bay of Honduras. On April 4 or 5th of 1718, at Turneffe Atoll, Blackbeard captured the ten-gun log-cutting sloop ''Adventure'' and forced captain Herriot to join him. Also on board was Edward Robinson, the ship's gunner, who would later be involved in the Battle of Cape Fear River. Blackbeard then made Israel Hands captain of the ''Adventure'' and began sailing for North Carolina. Later, in June 1718, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Artistic License
Artistic license (alongside more contextually-specific derivative terms such as poetic license, historical license, dramatic license, and narrative license) refers to deviation from fact or form for artistic purposes. It can include the alteration of grammar or language, or the rewording of pre-existing text. History The artistic license may also refer to the ability of an artist to apply smaller distortions, such as a poet ignoring some of the minor requirements of grammar for poetic effect. For example, Mark Antony's "Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears" from Shakespeare's ''Julius Caesar'' would technically require the word "and" before "countrymen", but the conjunction "and" is omitted to preserve the rhythm of iambic pentameter (the resulting conjunction is called an asyndetic tricolon). Conversely, on the next line, the end of "I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him" has an extra syllable because omitting the word "him" would make the sentence unclear, but ad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calico Jack
John Rackham (26 December 168218 November 1720), commonly known as Calico Jack, was an English pirate captain operating in the Bahamas and in Cuba during the early 18th century. His nickname was derived from the calico clothing that he wore, while Jack is a nickname for "John". Rackham was active towards the end (1718–1720) of the "Golden Age of Piracy". He is most remembered for having two female crew members: Mary Read and his lover, Anne Bonny. Rackham deposed Charles Vane from his position as captain of the sloop ''Ranger'', then cruised the Leeward Islands, Jamaica Channel and Windward Passage. He accepted the King's Pardon in 1719 and moved to New Providence, where he met Anne Bonny, who was married to James Bonny at the time. He returned to piracy in 1720 by stealing a British sloop and Anne joined him. Their new crew included Mary Read, who was disguised as a man at the time. After a short run, Rackham was captured by Jonathan Barnet, an English privateer, in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackbeard
Edward Teach (alternatively spelled Edward Thatch, – 22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's North American colonies. Little is known about his early life, but he may have been a sailor on privateer ships during Queen Anne's War before he settled on the Bahamian island of New Providence, a base for Captain Benjamin Hornigold, whose crew Teach joined around 1716. Hornigold placed him in command of a sloop that he had captured, and the two engaged in numerous acts of piracy. Their numbers were boosted by the addition to their fleet of two more ships, one of which was commanded by Stede Bonnet; but Hornigold retired from piracy toward the end of 1717, taking two vessels with him. Teach captured a French slave ship known as , renamed her ''Queen Anne's Revenge'', equipped her with 40 guns, and crewed her with over 300 men. He became a renowned pirate. His nickname derived ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Cordingly
David Cordingly is an English naval historian with a special interest in pirates. He held the position of Keeper of Pictures and Head of Exhibitions at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England for twelve years. David Cordingly organised several exhibitions at the National Maritime Museum, including ''Captain James Cook, Navigator'' and ''The Mutiny on the Bounty''. One of these exhibitions was ''Pirates: Fact and Fiction'', which became a critical and popular success, followed by a book of the same title, authored by Cordingly and John Falconer. Cordingly explored the subject further in his book ''Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates''. This was followed by ''Heroines and Harlots: Women at Sea in the Great Age of Sail'' (published in the U.S. under the title ''Women Sailors and Sailors' Women: An Untold Maritime History''), expanding on a subject Cordingly had touched upon in ''Under the Black Flag'' in a chapter entitled "Women P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Johnson (pirate Biographer)
Captain Charles Johnson was the British author of the 1724 book '' A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates'', whose identity remains a mystery. No record exists of a captain by this name, and "Captain Charles Johnson" is generally considered a pen name for one of London's writer-publishers. Some scholars have suggested that the author was actually Daniel Defoe, but this is disputed. A prime source for the biographies of many well known pirates of the era, Johnson gave an almost mythical status to the more colourful characters, and it is likely that the author used considerable artistic licence in his accounts of pirate conversations. First appearing in Charles Rivington's shop in London, the book sold so well that by 1726, an enlarged fourth edition had appeared. English naval historian David Cordingly writes: "It has been said, and there seems no reason to question this, that Captain Johnson created the modern conception of pirates." Cha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A General History Of The Pyrates
''A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates'' is a 1724 book published in Britain containing biographies of contemporary pirates,''A general history of the robberies & murders of the most notorious pirates''. By Charles Johnson. Introduction and commentary by Emmett Remis. Conway Maritime Press, 2002. which was influential in shaping popular conceptions of pirates. Its author uses the name , generally considered a pen name for one of London's writer-publishers. The prime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viking Revival
The Viking revival was a movement reflecting new interest in, and appreciation for Viking medieval history and culture. Interest was reawakened in the late 18th and 19th centuries, often with added heroic overtones typical of that Romantic era. The revival began earlier with historical discoveries and early modern publications dealing with Old Norse culture. The first printed edition of the 13th-century ''Gesta Danorum'' or the ''Legend of the Danes'' by Saxo Grammaticus, came out in 1514 just as book printing began become more practical and printing trade was quickly spreading. Olaus Magnus's '' Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus'', or "History of the northern peoples", was printed in 1555. The pace of publication increased during the 17th century with Latin translations of the famous Edda, notably Peder Resen's ''Edda Islandorum'' of 1665. The Edda consisted of two 13th-century Medieval Icelandic literary works on Norse mythology, written down in the 13th century, but cer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vikings
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9–22. They also voyaged as far as the Mediterranean, North Africa, Volga Bulgaria, the Middle East, and North America. In some of the countries they raided and settled in, this period is popularly known as the Viking Age, and the term "Viking" also commonly includes the inhabitants of the Scandinavian homelands as a collective whole. The Vikings had a profound impact on the early medieval history of Scandinavia, the British Isles, France, Estonia, and Kievan Rus'. Expert sailors and navigators aboard their characteristic longships, Vikings established Norse settlements and governments in the British Isles, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, Normandy, and the Baltic coast, as wel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golden Age Of Piracy
The Golden Age of Piracy is a common designation for the period between the 1650s and the 1730s, when maritime piracy was a significant factor in the histories of the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, the Indian Ocean, North America, and West Africa. Histories of piracy often subdivide the Golden Age of Piracy into three periods: # The buccaneering period (approximately 1650 to 1680), characterized by Anglo-French seamen based in Jamaica and Tortuga attacking Spanish colonies, and shipping in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. # The Pirate Round (1690s), associated with long-distance voyages from the Americas to rob Muslim and East India Company targets in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. # The post-Spanish Succession period (1715 to 1726), when Anglo-American sailors and privateers left unemployed by the end of the War of the Spanish Succession turned en masse to piracy in the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, the North American eastern seaboard, and the West African coast. Narrower def ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
