In today’s Hollywood-ruled entertainment culture – shanghaied recently by a certain pirate blockbuster, which shall go unnamed – pirates are of more interest than ever before.
Pirate Captains
In today’s Hollywood-ruled entertainment culture – shanghaied recently by a certain pirate blockbuster, which shall go unnamed – pirates are of more interest than ever before. We have an image of romantic, dashing pirate men and of the beautiful pirate woman with her cutlass and low neckline, all on a fantastical pirate ship.
Pirate ships provided pirates with transport, weapons and storage. They were a sailing home for the crew, and included space for not only rations, but treasure. They needed to be navigable, fast, and well armed in order to allow the pirates to be successful.
Current media has made pirates a more popular and interesting subject than ever. While many documentaries and books focus on pirate history, there is less out there about famous female pirates. While we may not even always know her real name, pirate women fought, sought glory and treasure, and even captained more than one pirate ship.
While pirate history is full of stories of more than one famous pirate ship, and many a name, pirate or not, Blackbeard is perhaps the most famous pirate of all. Blackbeard reigned in the Caribbean for a short period in the early 18th century, during the Golden Age of Piracy.