Forget Jack Sparrow. These famous pirates were the swashbuckling, sword-slinging ruffians that originally made the skull and crossbones cool.
Wikimedia CommonsThe Jolly Roger, a common flag flown by various pirate captains.
From roughly the 1650s to the 1730s, the world was in the midst of the Golden Age of Piracy. Although it’s often romanticized nowadays, it was in reality a brutal time period, with thousands of pirates terrorizing the world’s oceans, disrupting global trade routes and challenging the naval supremacy of Europe’s greatest empires.
While popular culture has often portrayed pirates as swashbuckling adventurers seeking treasure and freedom, the reality was a far more complex story of desperation, violence, democracy, and rebellion against the rigid social hierarchies of the early modern world.
Learn about some of history’s most famous pirates below:
History's Most Famous Pirates: François L'Olonnais
François L’Olonnais was a French pirate who attacked ships and towns in the 1660s. His hatred for Spaniards was legendary and he was known for his cruelty toward Spanish prisoners of war. His savage life came to an equally savage end as he was captured, hacked to pieces, roasted over a fire, and reportedly eaten by a tribe of cannibals in the Gulf of Darien.Wikimedia Commons
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Bartholomew Roberts
Bartholomew Roberts was a young, handsome, and well-dressed pirate that did immensely well. Roberts actually captured more than 400 vessels during his career. Despite his incredible success, Roberts despised hedonism and did not allow gambling, female passengers, or excessive drinking. He died during a battle with the HMS Swallow, a British warship.Wikimedia Commons
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Henry Morgan
Henry Morgan ruthlessly attacked a myriad of Spanish cities and ships in service of Jamaican Governor Sir Thomas Modyford. The resulting booty made Morgan an incredibly wealthy man. He was even eventually knighted and appointed Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. However, Morgan died from complications of alcoholism. Wikimedia Commons
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Edward England
Born Edward Seegar in Ireland around 1685, he called himself Edward England and was rumored to be an educated man. He originally served as a privateer during the War of the Spanish Succession. England then became a pirate after being captured by a private vessel where he was forced to join the crew. He later died of a tropical disease in 1721. Wikimedia Commons
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Anne Bonny
Anne Bonny was Irish and married to a small-time pirate named James Bonney. The marriage was not happy, and Bonny left him for another pirate by the name of Calico Jack. Eventually, the lovebirds and Bonny's close friend and fellow female pirate Mary Read were apprehended by English forces. Bonny avoided execution by claiming to be pregnant. Wikimedia Commons
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Benjamin Hornigold
Benjamin Hornigold was a pirate that ran raids on cargo ships. His second-in-command was none other than Edward Teach, a notorious pirate who later became known as “Blackbeard.” In his later years, Hornigold became a pirate hunter and died in an unforeseen shipwreck. Wikimedia Commons
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Blackbeard
Born Edward Teach, he served England as a privateer and later turned to piracy at the end of Queen Anne’s War. His savagery and violence attracted the attention of Virginia governor Alexander Spotswood. After locating the famed pirate, Spotswood organized an ambush for Blackbeard and hung his decapitated head to the bowsprit of the ship. Wikimedia Commons
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Calico Jack
Born John Rackham, he was known as “Calico Jack” due to the calico clothing he wore. Calico Jack was an English pirate that was famous for two reasons: his design of the famous Jolly Roger flag (a skull with two crossed swords) and for having two female pirates, Mary Read and Anne Bonny, on his crew. Calico Jack was tried, convicted, and sentenced to hang in 1720.Wikimedia Commons
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Charles Gibbs
Charles Gibbs was the pseudonym of an American pirate named James D. Jeffers. He was one of the last active pirates in the Caribbean during the nineteenth century. Jeffers was among the last people to be executed for piracy in the United States.Wikimedia Commons
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Charles Vane
Charles Vane was an English pirate who operated in the Caribbean during the early 18th century's Golden Age of Piracy. Known for his ruthlessness and refusal to accept pardons, he commanded various vessels and frequently clashed with colonial authorities. Vane was eventually captured in 1719 after being marooned by his own crew and was executed in Jamaica in 1721. Wikimedia Commons
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Cheung Po Tsai
Cheng Po Tsai was just the son of a local fisherman when he was kidnapped by the notorious pirate couple Cheng I and Ching Shih, and adopted into a life of crime. According to legend, when Cheng I died, Cheng Po took up with his adoptive mother and married her, carrying on the family business of pillage and plunder. Later in life, Cheung Po joined the Qing government and became a government official. Wikimedia Commons
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Ching Shih
Ching Shih was a Chinese prostitute that worked on a floating brothel in Canton, China, in 1775. Shih met and then married Zheng Yi who was a powerful and wealthy pirate. After his death, she assumed power and became the world’s first female pirate lord with over 80,000 ships under her command. Wikimedia Commons
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Edward England
Edward England was an Irish pirate who operated in the Caribbean, West Africa, and Indian Ocean during the early 18th century. Known for being more merciful than many of his contemporaries, he often spared captives and treated prisoners humanely. England commanded several vessels and sailed alongside other notable pirates. His compassion proved his downfall—after showing mercy to captives against his crew's wishes around 1720, he was marooned on Mauritius by his own men. England managed to reach Madagascar but died there in poverty shortly after, a rare example of pirate mercy leading to mutiny.Wikimedia Commons
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Edward Low
Edward Low in his youth was a thief, a gambler, and a thug. Soon Low turned to a life of piracy, and he and his men captured and robbed dozens of vessels on a number of coasts. Low developed a reputation for cruelty and ruthlessness. He is believed to have been executed by hanging. Wikimedia Commons
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Grace O'Malley
Grace O'Malley was an Irish pirate queen and chieftain who commanded a fleet of ships along Ireland's western coast. Born into a powerful seafaring family, she became a formidable leader, conducting raids on rival clans and English ships. O'Malley twice met with Queen Elizabeth I to negotiate for her family's rights. She defied gender conventions of her time, continuing her maritime activities well into her 60s. Wikimedia Commons
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Hayreddin Barbarossa
Hayreddin Barbarossa began his naval career as a pirate alongside his brothers, raiding Christian coastal villages and seizing ships across the Mediterranean. Barbarossa was so successful that he managed to become the ruler of Algiers, and even the chief admiral of the Ottoman Turkish navy under Suleiman the Magnificent.Wikimedia Commons
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Henry Avery
During just two years prowling the seas, Henry Avery and his band captured roughly a dozen vessels and made off with tens of millions of dollars in booty. However, what's most impressive is that he did it all without ever getting captured or killed.Wikimedia Commons
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Howell Davis
Howell Davis was a Welsh pirate who operated along the West African coast and in the Caribbean during the early 18th century. Known for his cunning and strategic deceptions, he often posed as a legitimate merchant or privateer to approach unsuspecting vessels. Davis captured numerous ships through clever ruses rather than brute force. He mentored the infamous Bartholomew Roberts, who would become one of history's most successful pirates. Davis was killed in 1719 during an ambush while attempting to capture the Portuguese governor of Príncipe island off Africa.Wikimedia Commons
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Mary Read
Mary Read was the best mate of Anne Bonny. She had a long history of cross-dressing as a man for the majority of her life and even successfully joined the British military as a man called Mark Read. She was eventually captured in the same battle as Bonny and Calico Jack. She managed to avoid execution due to pregnancy, but she died later in her prison cell due to disease. Wikimedia Commons
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Queen Teuta Of Illyria
Queen Teuta of Illyria was one of the earliest recorded instances of a pirate queen. She utilized piracy as a means of controlling her kingdom. However, it eventually fell to Roman rule and any mention of Queen Teuta of Illyria was lost to history. Wikimedia Commons
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Samuel Bellamy
Born to a poor English family in 1689, Bellamy joined the British navy at age 13. Bellamy later turned to a life of piracy, gathering a crew, acquiring a couple of sailing canoes, and heading out into the open seas. He had a real knack for the work as Bellamy captured more than 50 ships from 1716 to 1717. That same year, he died during a storm in a tragic shipwreck. Wikimedia Commons
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Sir Francis Drake
Francis Drake participated in a number of English slaving voyages to Africa and earned a reputation for his piracy against Spanish ships and possessions. Sent by Queen Elizabeth II to South America in 1577, he returned home via the Pacific and became the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe. The queen later rewarded him with a knighthood.Wikimedia Commons
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Stede Bonnet
Stede Bonnet was a retired British army major with a large sugar plantation in Barbados. Tired of his nagging wife, he abandoned her, his children, land, and fortune, bought a ship and turned to piracy on the high seas. His crew and fellow pirates judged him to be an inept captain. Bonnet’s adventures earned him the nickname “the Gentleman Pirate,” and he later died by execution.Wikimedia Commons
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Thomas Tew
Thomas Tew was an English pirate active in the 1690s who became famous for his incredibly profitable voyages in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. He pioneered the "Pirate Round," a route from the Americas to the rich trading waters near Madagascar and Arabia. Tew's first major raid netted enormous wealth, making him and his crew wealthy men. He was known for treating his crew democratically and maintaining friendly relations with corrupt colonial governors in Rhode Island and New York. Tew was killed in 1695 during a battle with an Indian Mughal convoy.Wikimedia Commons
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William Kidd
Captain William Kidd was a British sea captain during the 17th century. In 1695, he was given a royal charter by the British government to apprehend any pirates that molested the ships of the East India Company. However, as the tide turned against any form of piracy, Kidd was later executed for being a pirate himself. Wikimedia Commons
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Yermak Timofeyevich
Yermak Timofeyevich was the leader of an expeditionary force during Russia’s initial attempt to annex a part of Siberia. He was successful and ruled over the unruly region. He later died in battle as resistance forces began to overthrow the Russian yoke. Wikimedia Commons
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Awilda
Largely considered to be a legend, Awilda was the daughter of a fifth-century Scandinavian King. Refusing to marry her father’s choice of husband, Awilda ran off and became a pirate. The King of Denmark sent a ship manned by the crown prince to bring back Awilda. The prince fought with such valor that Awilda agreed to wed. The pair soon married and became King and Queen of Denmark. Wikimedia Commons
The Golden Age emerged from a perfect storm of historical circumstances.
The expansion of European colonialism had created lucrative trade networks across the Atlantic, with ships laden with sugar, tobacco, silver, and slaves crossing between the Old World and the New. Simultaneously, various European wars — including the War of Spanish Succession and conflicts between England, France, Spain, and the Netherlands — had produced thousands of experienced sailors who suddenly found themselves unemployed when peace treaties were signed.
These men and women, skilled in naval warfare but facing poverty and harsh conditions in legitimate maritime employment, turned to piracy as a more profitable and, paradoxically, more egalitarian alternative.
As historian Mark Cartwright explains in the World History Encyclopedia, the Caribbean became the epicenter of pirate activity, with Nassau in the Bahamas — known at the time as New Providence Harbour — serving as an unofficial pirate republic from approximately 1706 to 1718. Here, pirates operated with near impunity, creating their own society governed by codes that were shockingly democratic for their time.
Wikimedia CommonsCapture of the Pirate, Blackbeard by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1718).
Unlike the strict hierarchies aboard naval and merchant vessels, pirate crews often elected their captains and quartermasters, and distributed plunder according to agreed-upon shares. Every crew member had a vote in major decisions, and many pirate codes included provisions for compensation if sailors were injured in battle — an early form of workers' compensation that didn't exist in legitimate maritime employment.
Of course, many tales of pirates and the notorious captains were heavily exaggerated, even at the time. "Pirate adventures and courtroom trials made good press stories," writes Dr. Robert Blyth in Buried Treasure: A Pirate Miscellany.
"They featured regularly in early eighteenth-century newspapers and helped shift copies to a public keen to learn the grisly details of the latest pirate heist or the most recent death sentences. But journalists and editors also exaggerated their stories to make pirates appear even more violent and destructive. The 'golden age of piracy' was no stranger to fake news!"
The Golden Age had to come to an end eventually, though. At the end of the day, pirates were still thieves and criminals, and their widespread presence was a constant threat to the European empires which relied on naval transport and shipping to supply their colonies.
The Decline And Lasting Legacy
The Golden Age began to wane in the 1720s as European powers finally coordinated effective responses to the pirate threat, and the appointment of former privateer Woodes Rogers as Governor of the Bahamas in 1718 marked a major turning point.
Rogers offered pirates the King's Pardon — amnesty in exchange for abandoning piracy — while simultaneously bringing military force to bear against those who refused. Many pirates accepted pardons, while others were hunted down by increasingly aggressive naval patrols.
The execution of pirates became public spectacles designed to deter would-be outlaws.
"Hanging was a grisly affair during the 'golden age' of piracy," Blyth writes. "Unlike in the nineteenth century – when the 'drop' was calculated to break the neck, leading to near-instant death – a short rope was used, which left the condemned to strangle slowly to death, which could take up to 45 minutes."
Wikimedia CommonsCaptain William Kidd, gibbeted, following his execution in 1701.
Improved naval coordination between European powers, better-armed merchant vessels, and the gradual establishment of more robust colonial governance made piracy increasingly unsustainable. By the early 1730s, the Golden Age had effectively ended, though piracy itself would never entirely disappear from the world's oceans.
The legacy of the Golden Age of Piracy extends far beyond its historical moment, though.
Pirates represented a form of proto-democratic rebellion against imperial authority and maritime exploitation, creating egalitarian communities in a deeply hierarchical age. Their codes, their elections, and their systems of sharing wealth offered an alternative model of social organization that would later be studied as by historians for insights into class struggle and resistance movements.
Even today, there is a certain appeal to the idea of old-fashioned piracy. Despite some of the negatives associated with it, the life of a pirate was also a life of freedom, independence, and self-sufficiency — ideals that many people today may feel they are lacking.
It's not difficult to see why popular culture has been so captivated by tales of swashbuckling and seafaring adventure.
Established in 2010, All That's Interesting brings together a dedicated staff of digital publishing veterans and subject-level experts in history, true crime, and science. From the lesser-known byways of human history to the uncharted corners of the world, we seek out stories that bring our past, present, and future to life. Privately-owned since its founding, All That's Interesting maintains a commitment to unbiased reporting while taking great care in fact-checking and research to ensure that we meet the highest standards of accuracy.
A staff writer for All That's Interesting since 2022, Austin Harvey has also had work published with Discover Magazine, Giddy, and Lucid, covering topics including history, and sociology. He has published more than 1,000 pieces, largely covering modern history and archaeology. He is a co-host of the History Uncovered podcast as well as a co-host and founder of the Conspiracy Realists podcast. He holds a Bachelor's degree from Point Park University. He is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
