Pirates have been causing chaos on the seas and oceans of the world since man first began to use sailing as a means of travel, trade, and warfare. There have been periods of history where much of the world’s navigable waters were controlled by pirates, with periods of relative peace for those who sail along the sea lanes of the world’s waterways.

Pirates such as Jack Sparrow have been portrayed in literature as being misunderstood sailors fighting for their right to sail freely and only steal from those who ‘deserve’ it. Nothing is farther from the truth, there were instances in history where they worked to aid a government, but always there was a price to be paid. We begin with the first pirates who drew the blueprints for the rest to follow along wit

Viking’s Define the Term

The meaning of the word pirate immediately brings to mind a vicious attack by a group of men bent on wreaking havoc on anyone who stands in their way. There is a reason why that description is so perfect; the word pirate comes from the Viking word ‘Vik’. Their word for waterway, to go “i Viking” was to plunder by water. Beginning in 795, with a raid on the island of Iona, the Vikings sailed into history as the fiercest warriors ever to be called pirates. They created a legacy with a single word, which has echoed down through history.

Pirates of the Mediterranean

From 1400-67 BC, the Mediterranean Sea was controlled by whole fleets of Cilician raiding ships. In 67 BC, the governing bodies of the coastal regions of the Mediterranean appealed to Rome for help. Rome responded by sending their fiercest Roman general, Pompey the Great to destroy the entire Cilician pirate fleet, and their strongholds on the islands and coastlines of the Mediterranean. Following Pompey’s magnificent achievement in victory, the area remained almost entirely free of acts of piracy for hundreds of years.

The Barbary Corsairs

For more than 300 years beginning around 1504, the European trading nations were forced to comply with the Corsairs terms by means of extortion, paying ransom for kidnap victims and complete ships of goods. The Corsairs were adept at controlling the narrow shipping lanes and dictated their terms to everyone from Emperor Charles V, to the ruling heads of Europe in the early 1800’s. The French, English, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, and the American Governments were powerless to stop them, until the creation of strong national navies from Europe and America combined to fight against them.

The Spanish Main-the Golden Age of Piracy

During the time of Queen Elizabeth I, when frictions were on the rise between England and Spain; the buccaneers formed an alliance between the pirates of the Caribbean Sea and those who frequented the Mediterranean. The buccaneers’ vowed war against the ships and ports of Spain. The Spanish had shown no mercy when they captured privateer ships or towns and tended to kill everyone without question, even burning the ship beneath living captives. The buccaneers declared war on the Spanish and vowed to fight to the last man to see them destroyed. England owes her freedom from Spanish rule to the aid of these pirates of the Brethren of the Coast.

Modern Pirates

There are no more sworn brotherhoods of men; fighting to defeat an evil empire controlled by despots, in modern pirate organizations. These men are using modern technology and modern weapons to terrorize and rob ships, their crews, and passengers for the age-old motive of greed. They kidnap and murder hundreds of people every year, and steal millions of dollars worth of equipment, trade goods, and even entire ships. From private yachts to monstrous cargo ships, and even passenger cruise liners, no one is safe from these modern pirates.

The resurgence in pirate activity since the 1980’s has drawn the interest of the world, to focus on the acts and deeds of pirates. After more than 200 years of absence, once more governments of the world are issuing daily warnings: Sail far from shore; here there be Pirates.

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