A pirate code, pirate articles, or articles of agreement were a

code of conduct A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the norms, rules, and responsibilities or proper practices of an individual party or an organization. Companies' codes of conduct A company code of conduct is a set of rules which is commonly writt ...

for governing

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

. A group of sailors, on turning pirate, would draw up their own code or articles, which provided rules for discipline, division of stolen goods, and compensation for injured pirates.

History

The first set of the "Pirate's Code" was supposedly written by the Portuguese buccaneer

Bartolomeu Português Bartolomeu Português (1623–1670) was a Portuguese buccaneer who attacked Spanish shipping in the late 1660s. Português was responsible for the creation of the first "Pirate's Code". Piratical career Arriving in the Caribbean sometime in th ...

sometime in the early 1660s, but the first recorded set belonged to George Cusack who was active from 1668 to 1675. These early buccaneer articles were based on earlier

maritime law Admiralty law or maritime law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between priv ...

and privateer codes such as the 12th century Roles of Oleron. They were later used by buccaneers and pirates such as John Phillips, Edward Low and Bartholomew Roberts.

Buccaneer Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 until about 168 ...

s operated under a

ship's articles The ship's articles (shipping articles, more formally the ship's articles of agreement) is the set of documents that constitute the contract between the seafarer and the captain (master) of a vessel. They specify the name of the ship, the conditio ...

that, among other things, governed conduct of the crew. These "articles of agreement" became authority independent of any nation, and were variously called the Chasse-Partie, Charter Party, Custom of the Coast, or Jamaica Discipline. In retrospect, these became known as the Pirate's Code. Pirate articles varied from one captain to another, and sometimes even from one voyage to another, but they were generally alike in including provisions for

discipline Discipline refers to rule following behavior, to regulate, order, control and authority. It may also refer to punishment. Discipline is used to create habits, routines, and automatic mechanisms such as blind obedience. It may be inflicted on ot ...

, specifications for each crewmate's share of treasure, and compensation for the injured. Each crew member was asked to sign or make his mark on the articles, then swear an

oath Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to g ...

of allegiance or honour. The oath was sometimes taken on a

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

, but John Phillips' men, lacking a Bible, swore on an axe. Legend suggests that other pirates swore on crossed

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, a ...

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

s, on a

human skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, th ...

, or astride a

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

. This act formally inducted the signer into the pirate crew, generally entitling him to

vote Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holde ...

for officers and on other "affairs of moment", to bear arms, and to his share of the plunder. The articles having been signed, they were then posted in a prominent place, often the door to the captain's cabin. After a piratical cruise began, new recruits from captured ships would sometimes sign the articles, in some cases voluntarily, in other cases under threat of torture or death. Valuable sea

artisan An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...

s, such as

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters t ...

s and navigators, were especially likely to be forced to sign articles under duress, and would rarely be released regardless of their decision to sign or not. In some cases, even willing recruits would ask the pirates to pretend to force them to sign, so that they could plead they were forced should they ever be captured by the law. Generally, men who had not signed the articles had a much better chance of

acquittal In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribun ...

if captured by the law. Pirate articles are closely related to, and were derived from, ship's articles of the time, especially those of

privateers A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

, which similarly provided for discipline and regulated distribution of

booty Booty may refer to: Music * Booty music (also known as Miami bass or booty bass), a subgenre of hip hop * "Booty" (Jennifer Lopez song), 2014 * Booty (Blac Youngsta song), 2017 *Booty (C. Tangana and Becky G song), 2018 *"Booty", a 1993 song by ...

(though usually far less equally than with pirate articles). Merchant articles and privateering articles can be traced back to Europe in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

when there was a system of "joint hands" agreements between merchants, owners, and seamen to share profits.Hayes, Peter (2008), "Pirates, Privateers and the Contract Theories of Hobbes and Locke", ''History of Political Thought'' 24, 3: 461-84.

Examples

Nine complete or nearly complete sets of piratical articles have survived, chiefly from Charles Johnson's ''

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,

'', first published in 1724, and from records kept by

Admiralty Court Admiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all maritime contracts, torts, injuries, and offences. Admiralty courts in the United Kingdom England and Wales Scotland The Scottish court's earliest ...

proceedings at the trials of pirates. A partial code from

Henry Morgan Sir Henry Morgan ( cy, Harri Morgan; – 25 August 1688) was a privateer, plantation owner, and, later, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he raided settlements and shipping on the Spanish Main, becoming we ...

is preserved in Alexandre Exquemelin's 1678 book ''The Buccaneers of America''. Many other pirates are known to have had articles; the late-17th century Articles of George Cusack and Nicholas Clough have also survived intact. Part of the reason that few pirate articles have survived is that pirates on the verge of capture or surrender often burned their articles or threw them overboard to prevent the papers being used against them at trial.

Articles of Bartholomew Roberts

Bartholomew Roberts' Articles were similar (but not identical) to those of his former Captain, Howell Davis. In turn, Roberts' Articles influenced those of pirates such as

Thomas Anstis Thomas Anstis (died April 1723) was an early 18th-century pirate, who served under Captain Howell Davis and Captain Bartholomew Roberts, before setting up on his own account, raiding shipping on the eastern coast of the American colonies and in t ...

who served under him and later went their own way.

Articles of John Phillips

Captain John Phillips, captain of the ''Revenge'', also set a code for his men in 1724:

Articles of Edward Low and George Lowther

The articles listed below are attributed by the '' Boston News-Letter'' to Captain Edward Low. The first eight of these articles are essentially identical to those attributed to pirate captain George Lowther by Charles Johnson. Since Lowther and Low are known to have sailed together from about New Year's to May 28, 1722, it is probable that both reports are correct and that Low and Lowther shared the same articles, with Low's two extra articles being an ''ordinance'', or amendment, adopted after the two crews separated.

Articles of John Gow

A set of articles written in

John Gow John Gow (c. 1698–11 June 1725) was a notorious pirate whose short career was immortalised by Charles Johnson in the 1725 work ''The History and Lives of All the Most Notorious Pirates and Their Crews''. Little is known of his life, except f ...

's own hand was found aboard his ship, the ''Revenge'' (née ''George''), in 1729.The Newgate Calendar - JOHN GOW
Accessed 16 December 2009. Article IV's reference to no going ashore "till the ship is off the ground" suggests that the ''Revenge'' was already grounded when the articles were written, only days before Gow and his men were captured. The code states as follows:

Articles of Henry Morgan and other buccaneers

Exquemelin Alexandre Olivier Exquemelin (also spelled ''Esquemeling'', ''Exquemeling'', or ''Oexmelin'') (c. 1645–1707) was a French, Dutch or Flemish writer best known as the author of one of the most important sourcebooks of 17th-century piracy, first p ...

writes in general terms about the articles of late 17th century

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...

buccaneers. Although he does not attribute these articles to any specific buccaneer captain, Exquemelin almost certainly sailed with

as a physician, and thus his account likely reflects Morgan's articles more accurately than any other privateer or buccaneer of the time. Exquemelin writes that the buccaneers "agree on certain articles, which are put in writing, by way of bond or obligation, which every one is bound to observe, and all of them, or the chief, set their hands to it." Although Exquemelin does not number the articles, the following approximately reflects his description of the buccaneers' laws:

References

External links

Really Bad Eggs: Pirates of the Caribbean
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pirate Code Fictional books Codes of conduct Pirate customs and traditions Contract law Warrior code