6 terrible things that were waiting for real pirates

1. Dragging under the keel

There is a stereotype that pirates forced delinquent crew members or captives to walk on a plank sticking out of the ship's side. Until the poor guy falls and drowns in the sea.

But this is not true. Such an execution has nothing to do with the so-called golden age of piracy - start applyWalking the Plank - Did Pirates Really Walk the Plank? / TheWayOfThePirates it is only in the 18th century. When the sea robbers wanted to throw a prisoner into the sea, they did it right away, without bothering with any boards. If they really needed to punish someone, much more severe methods were used.

For example, dragging throughH. A. Ormerod. Piracy in the Ancient World. under the keel, or keeling. Ropes were tied to the hands of the prisoner, and a load to the feet. Then the poor fellow thrown awayGrim Life Cursed Real Pirates of Caribbean / National Geographic

on one side of the ship and pulled until it appeared on the other. Particularly guilty could keel not from side to side, but along the entire length of the vessel, that is, from bow to stern.

The bottom of the ships was overgrown with all sorts of shells, sea polyps, barnacles and other disgusting representatives of the ocean fauna. Because of their sharp shells, carrying a prisoner under the keel was like pushing him through a vegetable grater. Add to this the irritation of wounds from salty sea water, followed by infection and putrefaction. Few people could survive this.

It would be better just thrown overboard, the right word.

Keeling was one of the most severe punishments for both sea robbers and sailors of the ordinary fleet, and appliedKeelhauling - Royal Navy Punishment Technique / TheWayOfThePirates throughout Europe from at least the ninth to the nineteenth century. There are also intelligenceH. A. Ormerod. Piracy in the Ancient World.that ancient pirates also indulged in this somewhere in 700 BC. e.

2. Unsanitary conditions and livestock on the ship

In the Pirates of the Caribbean series of films, filibuster ships look majestic and stylish. But realC. woodard. The Republic Of Pirates sea ​​robbers huddled on fragile ships that had nothing to do with cine galleons and caravels.

The fact is that a large ship was not very suitable for pirate naval tactics - too slow, too noticeable.

It is impossible to quietly get close to the enemy, board, rob and sail away on a hefty ship. Therefore, I had to be content with those that are smaller. So the sea robbers lived in terrible crowding, which contributed to the spread of a variety of diseases.

The hygienic conditions on the ship were generally deplorable. So, for the recovery of natural needs, one had to go to latrineWhere Does the Term "Head" Come from on Boats? / Catamaran Resource - the bow of the ship, which served as a restroom. Sometimes unlucky sailors sitting on wooden "toilet bowls" were washed overboard by a random wave - what to do, it was necessary to hold on to the railings more tightly.

And because of poor diets and infections, pirates are constantly sufferedC. woodard. The Republic Of Pirates stomach problems, so the latrine was quite a popular place on the ship.

But this is not even the main piquancy of pirate travel. Since sailors did not have refrigerators at that time, most sailing ships tookC. woodard. The Republic Of Pirates live cattle and poultry - as long-term canned food. And all this fun farm was located on the upper deck, in the fresh air.

Where did the waste products of pigs, goats, sheep and calves flow through the cracks in the deck? That's right, by the collar of the ship's passengers living in hammocks in the cockpit.

3. Common wives and arranged marriages

Here is a really intriguing fact about pirates: these guys are among the first in history, back in the 17th century, inventedC. L. Miller. The French Atlantic Triangle: Literature and Culture of the Slave Trade. same-sex marriages. And not simple, but fictitious platonic unions by calculation, here.

The pirates had practiceP. Bohannan. Parararos, nosotros called "materialage". From French, matelotage is translated as "sea custom", and in Dutch, the word mattenoot means "to share a bed." However, the last expression did not mean exactly what you thought.

It’s just that watches on ships at that time lasted as much as 12 hours. And while one pirate slept in the cockpit, his comrade - they called each other matelots - went about his duties on deck. Then they changed. At the same time, the matelot, free from work, also guarded the common belongings.

Having united in such a couple, the pirates fraternized, swore to take care of each other in sickness and health, arranged a procedure resembling a marriage, and exchanged wedding rings.

From now on matelotsP. Bohannan. Parararos, nosotros. shared with each other everything they had: provisions, money, water, housing on land. If one of them died, the second inherited all his belongings and savings.

In addition, if one of the matelots was married, after returning to land, he had to share his wife with his comrade.

The lady was not particularly asked - what a woman can understand in the harsh ship customs. However, especially grated corsairsjoining the team, presented themselvesC. R. Pennell. Bandits at Sea: A Pirates Reader fake names.

On land, this cunning made it possible to avoid suspicions of piracy. And at sea - to shrug off my comrades: “I am not married, I have no home and no property, I am naked like a falcon, but I will share the last crust of bread with a friend!”

Sometimes harsh sea pirate friendship outgrewb. R. Burg. Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition and closer ties. The French governor of the island of Tortuga, Francois le Vasser, for example, was seriously concerned that the privateers who served him were accustomed to materiel and did not pay attention to the opposite sex.

So in 1645 he demandedb. R. Burg. Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition from the government on the mainland to forcibly deport two thousand women to the island in order to... forcibly marry corsairs. The idea was to ward off thieves from sin by an honest marriage and save their souls.

At that wild time, it was believed that piracy, murder, robbery do not harm the soul if you do it with a letter of marque and for the good of the crown. But matelotage - very even.

4. bad water

A typical image of a pirate is a stern one-eyed sailor with a wooden leg, a parrot and a bottle of rum. And this drink is considered traditional among sea ​​robbers not just like that.

Some people think that pirates only drank it all the time, because the water on their ships could not be stored for a long time. But you could carry alcohol with you on long-distance raids as much as you want.

But this not trueH. A. Ormerod. Piracy in the Ancient World: it is impossible to quench your thirst with strong drinks, as it increases dehydration and only worsens the situation. In addition, drinking pure rum on board could be severely punished, because intoxication does not contribute to the coherence of the team. And on a sailing ship, this is critical.

In fact, the pirates diluted the stagnant water with rum.

And this was not done for disinfection. Just stale water that stood for several months in a barrel tasted so disgustingR. Tannahill. food in historythat it was impossible to drink it without splashing rum there. And they mixed not only it, but also beer, and sour wine, and brandy - in general, everything that could beat off the nasty taste.

5. Sitting in a cage

It is believed that the traditional punishmentC. woodard. The Republic Of Pirates for caught pirates - hanging. It really is. However, both in the Middle Ages and in the New Age, not only filibusters were hanged, but in general all criminals sentenced to death, since this is a simple and cheap way of execution.

However, pirates were not only sent to the gallows, but their bodies were also placed in special cages, which were then hung in public places. For the sake of others. For example, said goodbyeThe Gibbet - History's Most Inhumane Punishment / Lessons from History with the life of the famous pirate William Kidd and 400 of his associates.

And especially distinguished robbers were put in a cage alive so that they could sit there and rethink some aspects of their profession. Well, until they die of heat and thirst.

The gallows cages were developedE. W. Pettifer. Punishments of Former Days in such a way as to keep even a very decayed corpse in weight. Remember the scene from Pirates of the Caribbean when Jack salutes his hanged comrades? In reality, they would have crumbled and fallen off the ropes long ago, so cages were used to preserve the remains.

By the way, they are often with living pirates or dead bodies establishedE. W. Pettifer. Punishments of Former Days not at intersections or near roads, but right on residential buildings. Imagine: you are hanging clothes, and a robber sitting a couple of meters below curses you on what the light is, because it is dripping on his head. At the same time, it was forbidden to remove the bodies under pain of severe punishment, so the townspeople had to put up with their appearance.

By the way, it was law to put women in cages forbiddenHanging in Chains / SpringerLink. It was believed that the sight of a lady dying in chains on the gallows was too indecent. So brave pirates like Anne Bonnie and Mary Read could breathe easy.

6. strange superstitions

Pirates, like many other people in risky professions, were prone to a variety of prejudice. Many of them were based on a rational grain - for example, the ban on taking ladies on board.

The fact is that the team could fight for female attention. It got to the point that some of the captains of the captured girls threwC. R. Pennell. Bandits at Sea: A Pirates Reader overboard, so that they would not embarrass the crew once again.

But some of the customs of pirates simply could not be explained logically. For example, in their environment it was highly recommended to pierce their ears, so the cinematic image of a corsair with gold rings-earrings is quite correspondsWhy Did Pirates Wear Earrings? /Live Science reality.

Why did pirates wear earrings? And it was believed that gold helps against seasickness. How exactly is unknown.

In addition, the earrings could keepWhy Did Pirates Wear Earrings? /Live Science lumps of candle wax to cover their ears during cannon salvos. Also, if a pirate died in battle, the decorations served as payment to his teammates to take his body home.

It was consideredC. R. Pennell. Bandits at Sea: A Pirates Readerthat burying the dead in a foreign land is an extremely bad sign. And at sea it's even worse. The offended dead man could resurrect and follow the ship on the water to take revenge. Superstitious corsairs did not want this, so the dead were temporarily buried in ballast - pirates used sand or soil as it. It passed for hallowed ground, so the dead man was pleased.

It would seem that the robbers should be complete atheists. But they were extremely scrupulousC. R. Pennell. Bandits at Sea: A Pirates Reader in such matters. Why, the captains, taking up their post, even swore before the team on the Bible.

Another customC. woodard. The Republic Of Pirates real filibusters - to wear a wren feather on a hat. This talisman protected from shipwrecks for 365 days, provided that the bird was killed strictly on New Year's Eve.

And finally the main thingC. woodard. The Republic Of Pirates. While at sea, the pirates did not cut their hair and nails, even if the business trip lasted for years. These parts were considered gifts to the goddess Proserpina. The god of the sea, Neptune, could be offended that offerings were not made to him on his territory. So put down your manicure set, cabin boy.

True, neither Henry Morgan nor Bartholomew Roberts said anything about the ban on biting these same nails in the pirate codes - there was a good loophole.