Pirates

The Golden Age of Piracy: Everything You Wanted To Know

The golden age of piracy

A pirate ship flying the Jolly Roger closes in on another vessel during a storm

The golden age of piracy: when pirates ruled the waves

Map showing Sir Francis Drake's privateering fleet attacking Ribeira Grande the capital of Santiago

Privateers, buccaneers and corsairs: why not all pirates were created equal

Captain Edward Teach, better known as 'Blackbeard', a pirate who plundered the coasts of the West Indies, North Carolina and Virginia. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The most famous and despicable pirates from history

Henry Avery stands on the shore holding a cutlass, while his ship Fancy battles the Ganj-i-Sawai in the background

The real pirates of the Caribbean: your guide to Nassau's pirate republic

Gentleman pirate Stede Bonnet is hanged from the gallows

Hunting pirates: how piracy's golden age came to an end. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The golden age of piracy: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Explore a timeline of piracy's golden age

Famous pirates

Blackbeard, real name Edward Teach, seen standing on a dock with fuses in his beard

Blackbeard: dastardly sea-devil or kind pirate?

Female pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read holding cutlasses

Anne Bonny and Mary Read: the deadly female pirate duo

Barbary pirates Oruç and Hayreddin Barbarossa, the siblings who famously captured Algiers from the Spanish in 1516

Barbary pirates: the Muslim corsairs and their role in the slave trade

Illustration of pirate John Ward

Pirate John Ward: the real Captain Jack Sparrow

'Pirate queen' Grace O'Malley. (Illustration by Sue Gent for BBC History Revealed)

Grace O’Malley: the fearless pirate queen of Ireland

Queen Anne’s Revenge: why was Blackbeard's flagship named after the Stuart queen?

More famous pirates

Pirate myths

A 17th century sketch of a peg-legged pirate walking with the aid of crutches

Q&ADid any real pirates wear eyepatches or have peg legs?

Pirates burying a treasure chest on a beach as their captain looks on

Q&AX marks the spot: did pirates bury their treasure?

A pirate uses his cutlass to force a bound and blindfolded man to walk the plank

Q&AWas walking the plank a real pirate punishment?

The Jolly Roger, a black flag showing a skuyll and crossbones. (Photo by Henry Guttmann Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Q&ADid all pirates fly the Jolly Roger?

(Illustration by Glen McBeth for BBC History Magazine)

Q&AWhat is the origin and meaning of the pirate expression ‘shiver me timbers’?

The capture of the pirate Blackbeard, 1718. Painting by JLG Ferris. One of history’s most notorious pirates, Edward ‘Blackbeard’ Teach almost certainly had a West Country twang because he was born in Bristol in around 1680. (Photo by Bettmann via Getty Images)

Q&ADid most English pirates really talk with a West Country accent?

Henry Morgan on ship's deck in battle taking a hostage

Q&ADid pirates really live on the island of Tortuga?