The Pirate Code: Law and Order Beneath the Black

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Pirates are usually imagined as a lawless bunch, but the society they established aboard their ships was surprisingly quite complicated. They operated under a strict set of laws that dictated their government, their payment, and their behavior. Officers were elected, payment was equally divided, and stealing from your brothers? Punishable. The Code kept pirate crews together when nothing else would, and breaking any of its items could amount to a death sentence.

You might be familiar with The Code from Pirates of the Caribbean. A set of rules written down in a large book by the Brethren Court, which individual crews remember and abide to. Atleast when it fits them. It's a good starting point: did the Pirate Code actually exist? Yes and no. In one way, it was the other way around.

Modern sources
Buccaneers and Soldiers in the Americas - René Chartrand
The Buccaneer's Realm - Benerson Little
Piratical Schemes and Contracts - E.T Fox
Pirates in their own words - E.T Fox
Pirates of the Eastern Seas - Charles Grey
Pirates of the Americas - David F. Marley
A Nation of Pirates - Clive M. Senior

Period sources
Sea-man's Grammar - Captain John Smith
A Privateer's Voyage Round the World - George Shelvocke
The Buccaneers of America - Alexandre Exquemelin
The Memoirs of Pere Labat - Jean-Baptiste Labat

0:00 Introduction
0:42 Unwritten codes
3:36 Written laws
6:10 Division of plunder
9:15 Disciplinary items
13:42 Punishments
16:16 Outro

#pirates #history #piratesofthecaribbean #piratecode