Neapolitan Mastiff Club

According to Wikipedia, a pirate is a person who engages in war-like acts against vessels and parties at sea for the purpose of robbery or violence and are not associated with a government. The term can include acts taking place on land, sea or in the air. The word pirate is derived from the Greek word for brigand, and therefore carries the reputation of being a criminal - even when laws against piracy were nonexistent. Over the last few years the film franchise The Pirates of the Caribbean has embellished many of the stereotypes associated with historical pirates. Here is a chance to test your knowledge of what pirates were really about!

Question #1 - Who were the first pirates according to the above definition?

Question #2 - Was there really a pirate code of conduct?

Question #3 - Why did pirates bury their treasure if they were so fierce and willing to fight?

Question #4 - What is the difference between a pirate and a privateer?

Question #5 - What are some really notorious pirates and did they really exist? Was there really a Blackbeard and a Captain Morgan?

Answer #1 - The very first people to travel the ocean with the purpose of warring and looting were the Vikings. Historical evidence shows Vikings from Scandinavia traveling the coasts, rivers and inland cities of Western Europe from 783 AD. There is even evidence the Vikings reached the coasts of Africa and Italy.

Answer #2 - Like any large group under one purpose, there were governing pirates who wrote and enforced a pirate code. In general every pirate crew had its own set of rules, and when someone joined the crew they had to sign or make their mark, take an oath of allegiance and swear on a bible (or axe) to abide by the code.

Answer#3 - In fact pirates rarely buried their so-called treasure. Most of the time the items seized in an attack were household items, food, alcohol, weapons and clothing. The stories of Spanish ships loaded with gold are exaggerated. There were gold-laden ships, but very few because governments knew they would be looted. With the exception of a couple particularly demented ones, pirates generally did not kill anyone on the ships they captured. Their theory was if the ship surrendered, then they would just take everything and leave. If they earned a reputation of killing, then ships would be harder to take.

Answer #4 - A privateer is a government sanctioned pirate. They used the same methods of pirates, but were in possession of letters of marque authorizing them to attack and loot ships from an enemy country. There was a fine line between privateers and pirates, as many who claimed they had letters of marque actually didn't, and vice versa. Each entity used the other to get out of sticky situations, and in the end both pirates and privateers found themselves at the end of the hangman's rope.

Answer #5 - There was a pirate named Blackbeard, but he was born as Edward Teach. He was most notorious for his shrewd and calculating ways. Blackbeard managed to create such a fearsome reputation of himself that he could rely on it instead of violence for ships to surrender. There are no records of him harming or murdering anyone he held captive. The most brutal pirate in history was Edward Low. He was known for murdering, torturing and maiming hundreds of people including his own crew members. There were two female pirates recorded in history, Anne Bonny and Mary Read. They sailed with Calico Jack Rackham around the Caribbean, gaining a reputation for being quite ruthless. Yes, there was a Captain Morgan but he was a Welsh privateer.