Criminalia

We recently talked about Stede Bonnet, a wealthy landowner who ditched it all for a life of piracy. Bonnet though was not the only aristocrat to turn his back on his life for a life plundering the high seas. Jeanne de Clisson is another noble-turned-pirate who got into the revenge business - upon her husband Olivier's execution by the King of France.

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Sayyida al-Hurra -- which translates roughly as "Lady who is free and independent" in Arabic -- was born as Lalla Aicha bint Ali ibn Rashid al-Alami. Aicha was queen of Tétouan from 1515–1542 -- and she was a pirate queen. And she is considered to be one of the most important female figures of the Islamic West in the modern age.

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Stede Bonnet was not really your typical pirate, if there is such a thing. Many pirates, such as unemployed sailors or laborers, chose the lifestyle because they didn't have many options. But Bonnet chose piracy over a wealthy and a respectable life. Was he was just looking for something bigger and more adventurous, or was there more to it?

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When Mary Wolverston married Sir John Killigrew, she married into a pirate family, and was very hands-on with the family business. She would ultimately be accused of preying on shipping vessels that passed along the coastline, arrested, and convicted -- yet not executed. Holly and Maria talk about why.

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Sometimes, and it happens with all scurvy sea dogs, male or female, there just isn't enough evidence left behind to know for certain that a person was a real part of history, or if they're just a fictional composite of several people. And because of that, there are just four confirmed female pirates from the Golden Age of Piracy – and one on that list is marginal.

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As long as there have been pirates, there have been people hired to make them stop what they're doing. And, sometimes, those individuals hired to catch pirates are, themselves, pirates. From Woodes Rogers to Benjamin Hornigold, Holly and Maria tell the stories of the influential pirate hunters of the Golden Age of Piracy.

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Sir Francis Drake was a politician, a naval officer, a sea captain, an English explorer, and the second person to circumnavigate the globe. He was also a pirate -- disguised as a privateer. Drake considered King Phillip II, the King of Spain, a life-long enemy, and he especially targeted their possessions and colonies. There was a rumor among Spaniards, and especially sailors who fought in the Spanish Armada, that Francis Drake had supernatural powers, and nicknamed him El Draque, or The Dragon. 

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Henry Every, also known as Henry Avery, Jack Avery or John Avery, as well as Benjamin Bridgeman or Long Ben OR The Arch Pirate or The King of Pirates, was an English pirate who apparently looted names. But he also became the most prosperous pirate when he took down the Gunsway -- it's estimated his treasure would be at least $60 million if not considerably more after inflation.

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Hayreddin Barbarossa was a pirate and a privateer. But he wasn't just looting ships and enslaving people. He was a skilled warrior, and an admiral in the Ottoman navy. And he had a certain political sensibility that helped him navigate not just alliances but kingdoms as well.

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Valkyrie, she-warrior, pirate, shield-maiden – whatever the name you call her, stories about strong women including Lagertha are mentioned in lore dating centuries back. But, as we'll see, history can get in the way of itself.

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