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This article is about sea pirates. For other uses see Pirate (disambiguation)
A pirate is one who robs or plunders at sea without a commission
from a recognized sovereign nation. Pirates usually target other ships, but have also
attacked targets on shore. These acts are known as piracy; the concept of taking someone else's possessions and using
them for your own pleasure or profit has been extended so that the term piracy also commonly refers to trademark and copyright
infringement or unauthorized copying of software.
Other terms for pirates
Pirates were termed buccaneers if they operated in the
West Indies. English pirates called themselves freebooters.
French pirates called themselves flibustiers, which the English changed to filibuster for
French pirates. Originally, the terms buccaneer and filibuster referred to different types of pirate, but eventually both terms
took the same meaning. See also piracy in the
Caribbean. Pirates with commissions from a government are called privateers or corsairs, which in modern Arabic is قرصان from the
Turkish Korsan, which seems to have been derived from the European word.
Privateering
A privateer or corsair was similar in method, but had a commission or a letter of marque from a government or king to capture merchant ships belonging to an enemy nation.
The famous Barbary Corsairs of the Mediterranean were privateers, as were the Maltese Corsairs, who were
authorized by the Knights of St. John. The letter of marque
was recognized by convention and meant that a privateer could not be charged with piracy, although this was often not enough to
save them. Seven nations agreed to suspend the use of the letter of marque under the Declaration of Paris of 1854, while the United States and Spain represent two nations who have explicitly reserved the right of commissioning letters of
marque and reprisal. The most famous corsair was Sir Francis Drake and England was the main nation in promoting them.
Piracy in international law
Piracy is of note in international law as it is commonly held
to represent the earliest invocation of the concept of universal jurisdiction. Committing thefts on the high seas, inhibiting trade, and endangering maritime communication were considered by sovereign states to be hosti humanis
generis (crimes against humanity). Since piracy, by definition, takes
place outside the jurisdiction of any state, the prosecution of pirates by
sovereign states represents a unique legal situation.
Pirate stereotypes and myths
Pirates are associated with a stereotypical manner of speaking. September
19 is International Talk
Like a Pirate Day.
Pirates are a popular modern representation of rebellious, clever teams who operate outside the restricting bureaucracy of modern life. In reality, most pirates ate poorly, did not become
fabulously wealthy, and died young.
Modern Piracy
Piracy in recent times has increased in areas such as South and Southeast Asia (the South China Sea), parts of South America, and the
south of the Red Sea, with pirates now favouring small boats and taking advantage of
the small crew numbers on modern cargo vessels. Modern pirates prey on cargo ships who must slow their speed to navigate narrow
straits, making them vulnerable to be overtaken and boarded by small motorboats.
In most cases, modern pirates are not interested in the cargo and are mainly interested in taking the personal belongings of
the crew and the contents of the ship's safe, which might contain large amounts of cash needed to pay payroll and port fees. In
some cases, the pirates force the crew off the ship and sail the ship to a port, where it is repainted and given a new identity
through false papers.
Pirate attacks have tripled between 1993 and 2003. The first half of 2003 was the worst 6-month period on record, with 234
pirate attacks, 16 deaths, and 52 people injured worldwide. There were also 193 crew members held hostage during this period.
Environmentalist and yachtsman Peter Blake was
killed by pirates in 2001.
In the modern time ships, as well as aeroplanes, are also hi-jacked for political reasons. The perpetrators of these acts
could be described as pirates (e.g. the French for plane hijacker is pirate d'air), but in English are usually
termed hi-jackers or terrorists. An example is the hi-jacking of the Italian civilian passenger ship, the Achille
Lauro.
Notable pirates
Notable privateers
Fictional Pirates
- Captain Blood, the title character of novel by Rafael Sabatini who is an English doctor turned slave, then pirate. It was
also adapted into a film starring Errol Flynn by Casablanca director
Michael Curtiz.
- Captain Hook from the novel Peter Pan, by J. M. Barrie, leads a band of
pirates.
- Long John Silver, one of several pirates in
Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson, which weaves together many pirate myths and motifs, map of hidden
treasure, villany among pirates, marooning, parrots, missing limbs, eye
patches.
- Monkey D. Luffy, the protagonist in a world of pirates
in One Piece, an anime and manga
- The Pirates of Penzance, an operetta by Gilbert and
Sullivan.
- Terry and the Pirates, by Milton Caniff, an adventure comic
strip frequently set among pirates of China and South Asia, led by the notorious Dragon Lady.
- The notorious Dread Pirate Roberts in
The Princess Bride, by William Goldman, was in fact a long series of different pirates operating under the same name, each
inheriting the title from the last and capitalizing on its reputation.
- Guybrush Threepwood, hero and main character of
the Monkey Island adventure games by LucasArts. He is also the antagonist of
the evil zombie pirate LeChuck.
- Pirates of the Caribbean, the Disneyland ride, also spawned the 2003 movie vaguely based on the ride, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the
Black Pearl, which introduced the pirate Captain Jack Sparrow.
External Links
See also
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