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v
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Although the majority of pirates in history have been men,[1] there are around a hundred known examples of female pirates,[2][a] about forty of whom were active in the Golden Age of Piracy.[4] Some women have been pirate captains and some have commanded entire pirate fleets. Among the most powerful pirate women were figures such as Zheng Yi Sao (1775–1844) and Huang Bamei (1906–1982), both of whom led tens of thousands of pirates.[5][6]
In addition to the few that were pirates themselves, women have also historically been more heavily involved in piracy through secondary roles, interacting with pirates through being smugglers, lenders of money, purchasers of stolen goods, tavern keepers and prostitutes, and through having been family members of both pirates and victims.[1][7] Some women also married pirates and turned their homes or establishments into piratical safe havens.[8] Through women in these secondary roles, pirates were strongly supported by the agency of women.[9] Some influential women, including monarchs such as Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558–1603), have also acted as powerful patrons of pirates.[1] Although they have received little academic attention, women still occupy these important secondary roles in contemporary piracy. Piracy off the coast of Somalia is for instance supported to a large extent by on-shore women who participate in transportation, housing and recruitment.[10]
Seafaring in general has historically been a highly masculine-gendered activity.[11] Women who became pirates at times disguised themselves as men in order to do so since they were otherwise rarely allowed on pirate ships. On many ships in the Golden Age of Piracy, women were prohibited by the ship's contract (required to be signed by all crew members) due to being seen as bad luck and due to fears that the male crew members would fight over the women. Many famous female pirates, such as Anne Bonny (1697–?) and Mary Read (1685–1721), accordingly dressed and acted as men.[12] Since the gender of many pirate women was only exposed after they were caught, it is possible that there were more women in piracy than is otherwise indicated by surviving sources.[13]
In addition to historical female pirates, women in piracy have also frequently appeared in legends and folklore. The earliest legendary female pirate is perhaps Atalanta of Greek mythology, who according to legend joined the Argonauts in the years before the Trojan War.[14] Scandinavian folklore and mythology, though the tales themselves are unverified, includes numerous female warriors (shield-maidens) who command ships and fleets.[15] Female pirates have had varying roles in modern fiction, often reflecting cultural norms and traditions. Beginning in the 20th century, fictional pirate women have sometimes been romanticized as symbols of female liberty.[16]
^ abcPowell 2015, Chapter 6.
^ abZuidhoek 2022, p. 3.
^Hardie 2019, p. 84.
^Hollick 2017, Were Women There in the Golden Age of Piracy?.
^Zuidhoek 2022, p. 163.
^Klausmann, Meinzerin & Kuhn 1997, pp. 54–55.
^Pennell 2001, p. 284.
^Pennell 2001, pp. 289–290.
^Gilmer 2019, p. 372.
^Gilmer 2019, pp. 371–372, 383.
^Appleby 2013, p. 191.
^Pennell 2001, pp. 285, 303.
^Rediker 2011, p. 112.
^Zuidhoek 2022, p. 48.
^Mueller-Vollmer & Wolf 2022, p. 216.
^Parker 2013, Pirate Utopianism.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
received little academic attention, women still occupy these important secondary roles in contemporary piracy. Piracy off the coast of Somalia is for instance...
Golden Age of Piracy is a common designation for the period between the 1650s and the 1730s, when maritime piracy was a significant factor in the histories...
2023 inpiracy was marked by 120 events of maritime piracy against ships, according to the annual Piracy and Armed Robbery Report of the ICC International...
acts of piracy are called pirates, and vessels used for piracy are called pirate ships. The earliest documented instances of piracy were in the 14th...
inpiracy resulted in 115 reports of maritime piracy and armed robbery against ships to the International Maritime Bureau. 288 acts of global piracy and...
2024 inpiracy included 33 reports of maritime piracy and armed robbery against ships to the International Maritime Bureau during the first quarter of...
Piracyin the 21st century (commonly known as modern piracy) has taken place in a number of waters around the world, including the Gulf of Guinea, Strait...
This timeline of the history of piracyin the 1680s is a chronological list of key events involving pirates between 1680 and 1689. Bartholomew Sharp embarks...
Piracyin Indonesia is not only notorious, but according to a survey conducted by the International Maritime Bureau, it was also the country sporting...
"Etymological origins". etymonline.com. Retrieved 9 August 2018. H. A. Ormerod, Piracyin the Ancient World (New York: Dorset Press, 1987), 54–56. C.E. Ioannidou...
having started his piracy career as the junior partner of Andrew Murray, an idealistic Jacobite turned pirate, who is not referenced in Stevenson's original...
Piracyin the Strait of Malacca has long been a threat to ship owners and the mariners who ply the 900 km-long (550 miles) sea lane. In recent years,...
April 1805. It was part of an effort to destroy the Barbary pirates and end piracy between warring tribes by the Barbary states, which were themselves member...
The era of piracyin the Caribbean began in the 1500s and phased out in the 1830s after the navies of the nations of Western Europe and North America with...
the Venetian Ambassador in London told the privy council that Venice was close to declaring war on England due to Ward's piracy. That ambassador, Secretary...
century, and among the few women known to have been convicted of piracy at the height of the "Golden Age of Piracy". Read was born in England between 1680 and...
be the first person to be charged with piracyin an American court in more than 100 years, when courts ruled in 1885 that Ambrose Light was not a pirate...
being second in command to Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard. His name serves as the basis for the name of the villainous sidekick in Robert Louis...
de Carrión, hidalgo and a captain of the Spanish navy, to deal with the piracy. Ronquillo wrote to King Philip II on 16 June 1582: Los japoneses son la...
Piracy off the coast of Somalia occurs in the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel, and Somali Sea, in Somali territorial waters and other surrounding places...
Piracy kidnappings occur during piracy, when people are kidnapped by pirates or taken hostage. Article 1 of the United Nations International Convention...
writer Mike Kenny. In 2013, YouthPlays published Long Joan Silver by Arthur M. Jolly, an adaptation where all of the pirates are women. From December 2014...
Roronoa Zoro (ロロノア・ゾロ, Roronoa Zoro, spelled as "Roronoa Zolo" in some English adaptations), also known as "Pirate Hunter" Zoro (海賊狩りのゾロ, Kaizoku-Gari...
a life of piracy instead. Nothing is known about his early exploits as a pirate prior to The Price of Freedom. In the novel, Barbossa, in his early 40s...
around 1716. Hornigold placed him in command of a sloop that he had captured, and the two engaged in numerous acts of piracy. Their numbers were boosted by...
Captain Kidd, who had been convicted of piracy and murder, was taken from Newgate Prison and executed at the dock in 1701. During his execution, the rope...
King's Pardon in 1719 and moved to New Providence, where he met Anne Bonny, who was married to James Bonny at the time. He returned to piracyin 1720 by stealing...
Lowe’s articles were published in The Boston News-Letter on August 1, 1723, and also The Tryals of Thirty-Six Persons for Piracy, Twenty-Eight of them upon...
during the latter days of the Golden Age of Piracy, in the early 18th century. Low was born into poverty in Westminster, London, and was a thief from an...