Pirate Codes, Laws, Rules, and Guidelines
Lawless Pirates Actually Made Rules for their Ships
Apr 10, 2009
One of the most famous scenes from Hollywood is from Pirates of the Caribbean, Curse of the Black Pearl.. Confronted with desperate pirates ready to kidnap her, Elizabeth Swann, played by Keira Knightly, fights back, with words and a pirate code being her only weapons.
"Parlay! I invoke the right of parlay! According to the Code of the Brethren, set down by the pirates Morgan and Bartholomew, you must take me to your Captain!"
The Pirate Code of the Brethren
Did the real-life pirates Morgan and Bartholomew create a pirates' code together?
According to the article "The Pirates' Code," by Ed Foxe, "No, they did not, but the era of buccaneering in the late 17th century did see the beginning of pirate codes. Pirate codes did exist, but there was no single code which all pirates recognized and subscribed to."
The Rules of a Pirate's Code
Pirate codes often contained similar rules, no matter which captain and crew developed them.
- Fighting between crew members could be punished by death or marooning both men.
- Pirates who brought women disguised as men aboard ship were threatened with death.
- Sexual assault was punished with death.
- Drinking during watch was punished by death.
- Gambling for money was forbidden.
- Musicians had to play every day, with rest only on Sundays.
Pirate Codes Provided Insurance Plans
Pirate ships often sailed under the guidelines of codes that provided better insurance coverage than many modern people have today. There was compensation to a crew-member for injuries suffered during the work of sailing and plundering. Here is an example from Morgan's articles,
"Lastly they stipulate in writing what recompense or reward each one ought to have, that is either wounded or maimed in his body, suffering the loss of any limb, by that voyage."
Some of the payments included six hundred pieces of eight, or six slaves, for the loss of a right arm. There was discrimination against the left-handed pirates, though, who would only receive five hundred pieces of eight or slaves for the loss of a left arm.
It appears that the freedom and laws on pirate ships arrived on land. Pirates who retired from the sea to farm or to go into business often used the pirate codes as guidelines in their new lives. Thus, the lawless pirates and their rules, or guidelines drifted into society and culture.
References
Pirates of the Caribbean. Walt Disney Pictures Directed by: Gore Verbinski Written by: Tedd Elliott &Terry Rossio from a story by Ted Elliott &Terry Rossio and Stuart Beattie and Jay Wolpert based on Walt Disney's `Pirates of the Caribbean' Cast: Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom Screened at: Beekman, NYC, 7/9/03.
“The Pirates’ Code.” Pirate Mythtory. Ed Foxe. 2004.
Surowiecki, James. “The Pirates’ Code.” The New Yorker. July 9, 2007.
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