Pirate names nicknames for women are cool. Pirate party for adults: away from boredom in full sail! Competition “Sea Mummy. Ladies of the seas: the main female pirates in history (3 photos) The most famous pirates in history

Basically, in history, male pirates were most often known, although in fact women were also quite successful corsairs. They were distinguished not only by intelligence, but by excessive cruelty towards enemies. They instilled fear in the most powerful empires. We offer 10 of the most famous and fearless female pirates.

Sadie Farrell was a famous river pirate in the 19th century. She spent her childhood on the streets of New York, roaming and stealing, and she got her nickname for the habit of hitting her enemies with her head. After she lost her ear in a fight with her enemy Gallus Meg, Sadie ran away from New York and organized a gang of robbers, which soon began to trade in piracy. The gang traveled along the Hudson and robbed farms, houses, and was engaged in theft of people, followed by a ransom demand. Sadie returned to New York later and made a truce with Meg.

9. Queen Teuta of Illyria

One of the earliest known pirates is Teuta, queen of Illyria, who lived in the 3rd century BC. e. The ruler of the Ardiaea tribe extended her power to the entire Adriatic Sea, attacking Roman and Greek ships. The Romans tried to negotiate with the militant queen, but all negotiations were in vain. During one of the negotiations, the queen killed the ambassadors, as a result, a war broke out that lasted from 229 to 227 BC. Teuta was defeated in the war, although she was allowed to continue to rule Illyria, but was forbidden to go by sea.

8. Grace O'Malley

Also known as Granual, Grace O'Malley was a pirate by birth. In the 1560s, she became the leader of the Irish pirates and turned into a real "headache" for British and Spanish merchant ships. In 1574, she was captured by British troops. Grace spent 18 months in prison, after her release she again took up piracy. She was captured again, but on the orders of Elizabeth I, she Grace received her fleet back. Grace died in 1603.

7. Jacotte Delae

Jacotte Delae was born in the 17th century and was a famous pirate. She chose this job because she had to raise her brother herself after the death of her mother, who died in childbirth. In order to disappear from the sight of the authorities, Jacotte Delae staged her death and changed her appearance, became like a man. After a while, she again became involved in piracy and turned into a thunderstorm of merchant ships in the Caribbean, paired with another female pirate, Anna, nicknamed "God's Will". Jacotte Delae was killed while defending the island she captured.

6. Rachel Wall

Rachel Wall, one of the first American pirates, was born in the 1760s as Rachel Schmidt. She married George Wall and began pirating with a few of his friends. Their base was an island in the Gulf of Maine. Pirates hijacked ships and killed sailors. After the death of her husband and his friends in a shipwreck, Rachel returned to Boston and worked as a maid, occasionally stealing. During one of the robberies, she was caught and hanged in 1789. She became the last woman to be hanged for crimes in Massachusetts.

5. Saida al-Hurra

A pirate queen and ally of the Turkish pirate Barbarossa, Saida al-Hurra was the ruler of the Moroccan city of Tetouan. By the way, Saida al-Hurra is a title, and the real name of this woman is not known. From 1515 to 1542 she controlled the western Mediterranean. She became a pirate to take revenge on the Christian rulers. She later married a Moroccan king, who was soon dethroned by his son-in-law. Nothing further is known about her fate.

4. Jeanne de Clisson

Known as the Lioness of Brittany, Jeanne was the wife of the nobleman Oliver III Clisson and the mother of five children. She became a pirate to take revenge on Philip VI, King of France, for the death of her husband. Jeanne de Clisson sold all her property and acquired three warships. Her pirate crew terrorized the English Channel, seizing French ships and killing sailors. She retired in 1356 and later married Lieutenant Sir Walter Bentley.

3. Mary Read

The female captain, Mary Read, was Ann Bonnie's companion. She was known for her art of dressing up as men and posed as her brother Mark for years. Reed joined the British Army and fell in love with a soldier. After his death, she went to the Caribbean and became a sailor. There she fell into the hands of pirates and joined their ranks. This is how she met Ann Bonnie and became a member of Calico Jack's gang. Only a few people knew that she was a woman. In 1720 Reid and Jack were arrested by the English army. Although she managed to escape execution, she died in prison a few years later of a fever.

2. Ann Bonnie

Anne Bonny was the daughter of an Irish lawyer. After she married a pirate, James Bonny, she moved to the Bahamas in 1718. Here she fell in love with Calico Jack and separated from her husband. Having remarried, she became a member of the team of her new husband. Paired with Mary Read, they kept the Caribbean at bay. In 1720, Calico Jack and his crew were arrested by English troops and executed. Anne and Mary escaped execution because they were pregnant. Anne's fate is not fully known.

Often called the most feared female pirate in history, Jing Shi was a Chinese pirate who dominated the waters of the China Sea in the early 19th century. In the past, she was a prostitute. She was kidnapped by pirates in 1801 and married Captain Zheng Yi. Jing Shi leads a fleet called "Red Flag" after her husband's death and attacks British and Chinese shipping. Her fleet grew rapidly. The Chinese government was forced to negotiate and make peace with her in 1810. Until her death in 1844, she ran a brothel.

My grandmother smokes a pipe in her Khrushchev room,
My grandmother smokes a pipe and sees the waves of the seas through the smoke.
All the pirates in the world are afraid of her and are rightfully proud of her.
Because grandma robs and burns their frigates,
But spares the elderly and children!
Sukachev Garik and the Untouchables

M ama is a pirate ... what could be more authoritative for a child, and it helps to keep her husband within limits.
For most people, the word "pirate" is associated with the image of a bearded sea robber with one leg and a boarded up eye. However, among the successful famous pirates, there were not only men, but also women. This post is about some of them.

Listen or download My grandmother smokes a pipe for free on Prostopleer

Scandinavian pirate princess Alvilda

One of the first pirates is Alvilda, who robbed in the waters of Scandinavia in the early Middle Ages. According to legend, this medieval princess, the daughter of a Gothic king (or a king from the island of Gotland), decided to become a "marine Amazon" in order to evade a marriage forced on her by Alf, the son of a powerful Danish king.

Having gone on a pirate voyage with a team of young women dressed in men's clothes, she became the number one "star" among the sea robbers. Since the dashing raids of Alvilda posed a serious threat to merchant shipping and the inhabitants of the coastal regions of Denmark, Prince Alf himself set off in pursuit of her, not realizing that the desired Alvilda was the object of his persecution.

Having killed most of the sea robbers, he entered into a duel with their leader and forced him to surrender. How surprised the prince of Denmark was when the pirate leader took off his helmet and appeared before him in the guise of a young beauty, whom he dreamed of marrying! Alvilda appreciated the perseverance of the heir to the Danish crown and his ability to brandish a sword. The wedding was played right there, on board a pirate ship. The prince swore to the princess to love her to the grave, and she solemnly promised him never again to go to sea without him.

Everyone is dead... Hallelujah! Is the story told true? The researchers found that for the first time the tale of Alvilda was told to readers by the monk Saxo Grammatik (1140 - c. 1208) in his famous work “The Acts of the Danes”. Most likely he learned about it from the ancient Scandinavian sagas.

Jeanne de Belleville

The Breton noblewoman Jeanne de Belleville, who was married to the knight de Clisson, became a pirate not out of a love of adventure and wealth, but out of a desire for revenge.

In the period 1337-1453, with several interruptions, there was a war between England and France, which went down in history as the Hundred Years' War. The husband of Jeanne de Belleville was accused of treason.
King Philip II of France ordered his arrest, and without any evidence or trial, on August 2, 1943, he was handed over to the executioner. Known for her beauty, charm and hospitality, the widow Jeanne de Belleville-Clison vowed cruel revenge. She sold her property and bought three fast ships. According to another version, she went to England, achieved an audience with King Edward and, thanks to her beauty, received three fast ships from the monarch for corsair operations against France.

She commanded one ship herself, the others - her two sons. The small fleet, dubbed the "Vengeance Fleet in the English Channel", became the "scourge of God" in French coastal waters. Pirates mercilessly sent French ships to the bottom, devastating coastal areas. They say that everyone who had to cross the English Channel on a French ship, first of all, wrote a will.

For several years, the squadron robbed French merchant ships, often even attacking warships. Zhanna participated in battles, excellently owned both a saber and a boarding ax. As a rule, she ordered the crew of the captured ship to be completely destroyed. Not surprisingly, Philip VI soon gave the order to "catch the witch dead or alive."

And once the French managed to surround the pirate ships. Seeing that the forces were unequal, Jeanne showed real deceit - with several sailors she launched a longboat and, together with her sons and a dozen rowers, left the battlefield, leaving her comrades-in-arms.

However, fate cruelly repaid her for betrayal. For ten days, the fugitives wandered the sea - after all, they did not have navigational instruments. Several people died of thirst (among them - younger son Jeanne). On the eleventh day, the surviving pirates reached the coast of France. There they were sheltered by a friend of the executed de Belleville.
After that, Jeanne de Belleville, who is considered the first female pirate, left her bloody craft, remarried. Popular rumor said: she began to embroider with beads, got a lot of seals and settled down. This is what the life-giving cross does, which means a successful marriage ...

Leat kiligra

About two hundred years after Jeanne de Belleville, a new female pirate appeared in the English Channel: Lady Kiligru. This lady has led a double life: in society she is the respected wife of the governor, Lord John Kiligru, in the port city of Falmet, and at the same time secretly commands pirate ships that attacked merchant ships mainly in Falmet Bay. Lady Kiligru's tactics proved successful for a long time, as she never left living witnesses.

One day a heavily loaded Spanish ship entered the bay. Before the captain and crew could recover, the pirates attacked and captured him. The captain managed to hide and with great surprise discovered that the pirates were commanded by a young and very beautiful woman who could compete with men in cruelty. The Spanish captain made it ashore and quickly headed for the city of Falmet to inform the royal governor of the attack. To his new surprise, he saw a pirate sitting next to the governor, Lord Kiligru. Lord Kiligru controlled two fortresses, the task of which was to ensure the unhindered navigation of ships in the bay. The captain said nothing about what had happened, and immediately left for London. By order of the king, an investigation began, which brought unexpected results.

It turned out that Lady Kiligru carried violent pirate blood, as she was the daughter of the famous pirate Philip Wolversten from Sofolk, and as a girl she participated in pirate attacks. Thanks to her marriage to the lord, she gained a position in society, and at the same time created a large pirate company that operated not only in the English Channel, but also in neighboring waters. During the process, many mysterious cases of the disappearance of merchant ships were revealed, which until now were attributed to "supernatural forces".

Lord Kiligru was condemned to death and executed. His wife also received a death sentence, but later the king commuted it to life imprisonment.

Mary Ann Blyde

Irish Mary was exceptionally tall for her time - 190 cm and unearthly beauty. She became a pirate quite by accident, but she devoted herself entirely to this dangerous activity. One day she was heading on a ship to America and was captured by the most famous sea pirate in history - to Eduard Ticciu, nicknamed the Blackbeard. Thanks to her good upbringing, Mary Ann Blyde stayed with the kidnapper. Soon she proved herself to be an excellent student of Ticci and received her ship. Her passion was jewelry and precious stones. She and Ticch are said to have amassed $70 million worth of treasure, and together they buried it somewhere on the shores of North Carolina. Treasures have not been discovered so far.

All pirates, both men and women who did not die in battle, end their lives ingloriously: they are usually condemned to death or life imprisonment. Mary Ann, however, had a different fate. In 1729, during an attack on a Spanish ship, she fell in love with young man who was on this ship. The young man agreed to marry her, but on the condition that she abandon her occupation. Together they run away to Peru, and there their traces are lost...

Ann Bonnie

Ann Cormac (her maiden name) was born in a small Irish town in 1698. This red-haired beauty with an exuberant temperament became an icon of the Golden Age of Piracy (1650-1730s) after she secretly threw in her lot with a simple sailor named James Bonney. Ann's father, a respected person, having learned about his daughter's marriage, disowned her, after which she and her newly-made husband were forced to leave for the Bahamas, which at that time were called the Pirate Republic, a place where loafers and idlers lived. Happy family life Bonnie didn't last long.

After her divorce from her husband, Ann met the pirate Jack Rackham, who became her lover. Together with him, she went to the open sea on the ship "Revenge" to rob merchant ships. In October 1720, members of Rackham's crew, including Anne and her bosom friend Mary Read, were taken prisoner by the British. Bonnie blamed her lover for everything. On the last date in prison, she told him the following: "It's a pity to see you here, but if you fought like a man, you wouldn't be hanged like a dog."

Rackham was executed. Bonnie's pregnancy allowed her to get a reprieve from her death sentence. However, the fact that it was ever put into action is nowhere in the historical records. Rumor has it that Anne's influential father paid a huge amount of money to have his unlucky daughter released.

Mary Reid

Mary Read was born in London in 1685. Since childhood, by the will of fate, she was forced to portray a boy. Her mother, the widow of a sea captain, dressed an illegitimate girl in the clothes of an early deceased son in order to swindle money from a wealthy mother-in-law who did not know about her grandson's death. Pretending to be a man in the Renaissance was easy, because all men's fashion was very similar to women's (long wigs, big hats, puffy outfits, boots), which Mary managed to do.

At the age of 15, Mary was enrolled in the ranks british army under the name Mark Reed. During her service, she fell in love with a Flemish soldier. Their happiness was short-lived. He died unexpectedly, and Mary, dressed again in a man's dress, went on a ship to the West Indies. On the way, the ship was captured by pirates. Reid decided to stay with them.

In 1720, Mary joined the crew of Jack Rackham's ship The Revenge. At first, only Bonnie and her lover knew that she was a woman, who often flirted with "Mark", making Ann wildly jealous. A couple of months later, the whole team knew about Reed's secret.

After the ship "Vengeance" was captured by pirate hunter Captain Jonathan Barnet, Mary, like Ann, managed to get her death sentence suspended due to pregnancy. But fate still overtook her. She died in her prison cell on April 28, 1721 from puerperal fever. What happened to her child is unknown. Some suspect that he died during childbirth.

Sadie Goat

Sadie Farrell, a 19th-century American pirate, got her rare nickname because of the strange way her crimes were committed. On the streets of New York City, Sadie gained a reputation as a merciless mugger who attacked her victims by headbutting them hard. Sadie is said to have been kicked out of Manhattan after she got into a fight with a fellow criminal, Gallus Meg, which resulted in her losing part of her ear.

In the spring of 1869, Sadie joined the Charles Street gang and became its leader after stealing a moored sloop on a bet. Farrell and her new black-flagged crew with the Jolly Roger sailed the Hudson and Harlem rivers, plundering the farm estates and mansions of the wealthy along the way, and sometimes kidnapping people for ransom.

By the end of the summer, such a fishery became too risky, as farmers began to defend their holdings, firing at the approaching sloop without warning. Sadie Farrell was forced to return to Manhattan and make amends with Gallus Meg. She returned a piece of her ear, which she kept for posterity in a jar with a special solution. Sadie, since then known as the "Queen of the Port", placed him in a locket, which she did not part with for the rest of her life.

Illyrian queen Teuta

After Teuta's husband, the Illyrian king Agron, died in 231 BC, she took over the reins of government, since her stepson Pinnes was then too young. In the first four years of the reign over the Ardiai tribe, which lived on the territory of modern Balkan Peninsula, Teuta encouraged piracy as a means of fighting against the powerful neighbors of Illyria. The Adriatic sea robbers not only robbed Roman merchant ships, but also helped the queen recapture a number of settlements, including Dyrrhachium and Phoenicia. Over time, they expanded their influence into the Ionian Sea, terrorizing the trade routes of Greece and Italy.

In 229 BC, the Romans sent ambassadors to Teuta, who expressed dissatisfaction with the scope of the Adriatic pirates and urged her to influence her subjects. The queen derisively reacted to their requests, stating that piracy, according to Illyrian ideas, is a legitimate trade. How the Roman ambassadors reacted to this is unknown, but apparently not very politely, since after meeting with Teuta one of them was killed and the other was sent to prison. This was the reason for the start of the war between Rome and Illyria, which lasted two years. Teuta was forced to admit defeat and make peace on extremely unfavorable terms. Ardiei pledged to pay an annual burdensome tribute to Rome.

Teuta continued to oppose Roman rule, for which she lost her throne. There is no information about her further fate in history.

Jacotta Delaye

Jacotta Delaye was born in the 17th century to a Frenchman and a Haitian mother. Her mother died in childbirth. After Jacotta's father was killed, she was left alone with her younger brother who suffered from mental retardation. This forced the red-haired girl to take up piracy.

In the 1660s, Jacotta had to fake his own death in order to escape the persecution of government troops. She lived for several years male name. When everything calmed down, Jacotta returned to her previous activities, taking the nickname "Red-haired, returned from the other world."

Breton lioness

Jeanne de Clisson was the wife of the wealthy nobleman Olivier III de Clisson. They lived happily, raised five children, but when the war broke out between England and France, her husband was accused of treason and executed by beheading. Jeanne vowed revenge on King Philip VI of France.

The widow de Clisson sold all her lands in order to buy three warships, which she dubbed the Black Fleet. Their crew consisted of merciless and cruel corsairs. Between 1343 and 1356, they attacked the ships of the French king, sailing across the English Channel, killed crew members and beheaded with an ax all the aristocrats who had the misfortune to be on board.

Jeanne de Clisson hunted for sea robbery for 13 years, after which she settled in England and married Sir Walter Bentley, a lieutenant in the army of the English king Edward III. She later returned to France, where she died in 1359.

Anne Dieu-le-Veu

Frenchwoman Anne Dieu-le-Veu, whose last name translates as "God wants it", had a stubborn and strong character. She arrived on the island of Tortuga in the Caribbean in the late 60s or early 70s of the 17th century. Here she twice became a mother and a widow. Ironically, Ann's third husband was the man who killed her second husband. Dieu-le-Veu challenged Lawrence de Graaf to a duel to avenge the death of her late lover. The Dutch pirate was so mesmerized by Ann's courage that he refused to shoot himself and offered her his hand and heart. On July 26, 1693, they got married and had two children.

After her marriage, Dieu-le-Veu went to the open sea with her new husband. Most of his crew members believed that the presence of a woman on the ship meant bad luck. The lovers themselves laughed at this superstition. How their love story ended, no one knows for sure.

According to one version, Anne Dieu-le-Veu became the captain of de Graaff's ship after he was killed in a cannonball explosion. Some historians suggest that the couple fled to Mississippi in 1698, where they may have continued to engage in piracy.

Saida Al-Hurra

A contemporary and ally of the Turkish corsair Barbarossa, Saida al-Hurra became the last queen of Tetouan (Morocco); she inherited power after the death of her husband in 1515. Her real name is unknown. “Saida Al-Hurra” into Russian can be roughly translated as “noble lady, free and independent; a woman overlord who does not recognize any power over herself.

Saida al-Hurra ruled Tetouan from 1515 to 1542, controlling the western Mediterranean with his pirate fleet while Barbarossa terrorized the eastern. Al-Hurra decided to engage in piracy in order to take revenge on the "Christian enemies" who in 1492 (after the conquest of Granada by the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile) forced her family to flee the city.

At the height of her power, Al-Hurra married the King of Morocco, but refused to hand over the reins of Tetouan to him. In 1542, Saida was overthrown by her stepson. She lost all power and property; nothing is known about her further fate. She is believed to have died in poverty.

Grace O'MailBald Greine"

Grace was also called the "Queen of the Pirates" and the "Witch of Rockfleet" . ABOUT it is impossible to write briefly for this woman))) everything in her life was so interesting and confusing. Dumas smokes nervously. She was so famous that the Queen of England Elizabeth I herself met with her.

Grace was born around 1530 in Ireland, in the family of the leader of the O`Malley clan, Owen Dubdara (Umall-Uakhtara). According to legend, she “lost her hair” by cutting off her hair in response to her father’s remark that a woman on a ship was a bad omen, and after her father’s death, she defeated her brother Indulf in a knife fight, becoming a leader.

By marrying O'Flaherty's tanist Domhnall the Warlike, Granual became the head of her husband's fleet. Three children were born in the marriage - Owen, Murrow and Margaret.
In 1560, Domhnall was killed, and Granual, with two hundred volunteers, went to Claire Island. Here she (continuing piracy) fell in love with the aristocrat Hugh de Lacy, who, however, was killed by the MacMahon clan, which was hostile to him. Granual, in response to this murder, took their fortress and killed the entire clan.

A year later, she announced a divorce and did not return the castle; however, she managed to give birth in this marriage to a son, Tibbot. According to legend, on the second day after giving birth, her ship was attacked by Algerian pirates, and Granual inspired her people to fight, declaring that giving birth is worse than fighting. Considering that men will not have to give birth anyway, this is a dubious motivation. Apparently, female logic was the most logical then ....

Gradually capturing the entire coast of Mayo, except for Rockfleet Castle, Granual married (according to Irish tradition, in the format of a “trial marriage” for a year) Iron Richard from the Burke clan.

In the life of Grania there were defeats; one day the British took her prisoner and placed her in Dublin Castle. Somehow, the pirate managed to escape, and on the way back she tried to spend the night in Howth. They didn't let her in; the next morning, she kidnapped the burgomaster's son, who went hunting, and released him free of charge, but on the condition that the doors of the city were to be open to everyone looking for an overnight stay, and there should be a place for them at every table.

Queen Elizabeth hosted her twice and wanted to enlist her in her service. The first time at the entrance, a hidden dagger was taken away from Grace and Elizabeth was very worried about the fact of his presence. Grace then refused to bow before the Queen because she "did not recognize her as the Queen of Ireland".
As Grace took a puff of snuff, one of the noble ladies handed her a handkerchief. Using it for its intended purpose, that is, blowing her nose, she threw the handkerchief into the nearest fireplace. Responding to Elizabeth's astonished look, Grace stated that they, in Ireland, once used a handkerchief are thrown away.

This meeting was captured in an engraving, the only lifetime image of a pirate; even the color of her hair is unknown, traditionally considered black, according to her father's nickname, but in one of the poems called red. Why her name was bald history is silent.

The pirate queen died in the same year as the queen of England - in 1603.

Zheng Shi

Zheng Shi has earned fame as the most merciless sea robber in history. Before meeting the famous Chinese pirate Zheng Yi, she made a living as a prostitute. In 1801, the lovers got married. The Yi fleet was huge; it consisted of 300 ships and about 30 thousand corsairs.

On November 16, 1807, Zheng Yi died. His fleet passed into the hands of his wife, Zheng Shi ("Zheng's widow"). Zhang Bao, the son of a fisherman, whom Yi kidnapped and adopted, helped her manage everything. They turned out to be a great team. By 1810, the fleet consisted of 1,800 ships and 80,000 crew members. Zheng Shi's ships were subject to strict laws. Those who violated them paid for it with their heads. In 1810, Zheng Shi's fleet and authority weakened, and she was forced to conclude a truce with the emperor and go over to the side of the authorities.

Zheng Shi became the most successful and richest pirate of all time. She died at the age of 69.

Madame Shan Wong

200 years after the death of the first Chinese "pirate queen" in the same waters where her fleets robbed, a completely worthy successor to her work appeared, who rightfully won the same title. Shang, a former Cantonese nightclub dancer who became famous as China's most seductive diva, married no less famous person. His name was Wong Kungkim, he was the largest pirate chieftain in Southeast Asia, who began robbing merchant ships as early as 1940.
His wife, Madame Wong, as her friends and foes called her, was faithful friend and an intelligent assistant to a pirate in all his operations. But in 1946, Wong Kungkit died. The story of his death is mysterious, it is believed that the pirate's competitors are to blame for it. When, in the end, two of Wong Kungkit's closest assistants came to the widow, so that she, purely formally (since everything had already been decided by these two), would approve the candidate they had named for the post of head of the corporation. “Unfortunately, there are two of you,” Madame replied, not looking up from the toilet, “and the company needs one head ...” After these words, Madame turned around sharply, and the men saw that she was holding a revolver in each hand. This is how the “coronation” of Madame Wong took place, because after this incident there were no hunters to talk with her about power in the corporation.

Since then, her power over the pirates has been unquestioned. Her first independent operation was the attack on the Dutch steamer Van Heutz, which was boarded at night at the anchorage. In addition to the seizure of the cargo, everyone who was on board was robbed. Mining Madame Wong amounted to more than 400 thousand pounds. She herself rarely took part in the raids and in such cases she always wore a mask.
The police of the coastal countries, knowing that the pirates were led by a woman named Madame Wong, could not publish her portrait, which negated the possibility of her capture. It was announced that there was a £10,000 reward for her photograph, and whoever caught or killed Madame Wong could name the amount of the reward, and the authorities of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines would guarantee him the payment of such an amount.
And one day, the head of the police of Singapore received a package with photographs, on which it was written that they were related to Madame Wong. They were photographs of two Chinese men cut into pieces. The caption read: They wanted to take a picture of Madame Wong.

That's almost all...

The theme of beautiful women among pirates is glorified by cinema... and every year it will only gain popularity.

Pictures (C) on the Internet. If they are highly artistic and colored, then they have nothing to do with the described pirate. I apologize to them and to you, I am sure of real life they looked better...

Nothing sounds as good as a firm, stern, and easy-to-remember pirate's name. Having succumbed to the sea robbers, people often changed their names in order to complicate the authorities' ability to identify them. For others, the change of name was purely symbolic: the newly minted pirates mastered not only new activity, but also absolutely new life, which some preferred to enter with a new name.

In addition to many pirate names, there are also many recognizable pirate nicknames. Aliases have always been an integral part of gangster culture, and pirates were no exception in this regard. We will talk about the most common pirate nicknames, analyze their origin and provide a list of the most popular ones.

Blackbeard. The origin of the nickname is very trivial. had a thick black beard, and, according to legend, before the battle he wove burning wicks into it, the smoke of which made him look like the devil himself from the underworld.
Calico Jack. The nickname of the pirate, so he was christened for his love for various calico decorations.
Spaniard killer. That is what they called the cruel and ruthless towards the Spaniards famous.
Redhead, Bloody Henry. Two nicknames owned famous pirate. The first nickname is directly related to the color of his hair, and the second - to his far from merciful deeds.
Pirate Gentleman. A nickname given to him due to his aristocratic origin.
Vulture. Nickname for a French pirate. It is not entirely clear why this nickname stuck to him, apparently, after all, it better reflected his character and temper.
Lanky John. Pirate nickname for a fictional pirate. In addition to this nickname, he had one more - Ham.
Black Corsair. The nickname of the protagonist in the novel of the same name by Emilio Salgari.

These were the nicknames of the most famous real and fictional pirates. If you need unique thematic names, then in the game Corsairs Online, when creating a character, you have at your disposal a pirate nickname generator, you can try to pick up something interesting for yourself.

Pirate nicknames for the party

If you're hosting a pirate-themed party and need to name everyone in attendance, the list below should help you with that.

A little over 100 years have passed since women first seriously declared their equality with men: the desire to do men's work, wear trousers, smoke and get married when they themselves want it. Until the middle of the 18th century, there was no talk of any equality. The mistress of the hearth, maid, secretary, saleswoman and governess - this is a small list of professions in which women could be involved.

The exception, perhaps, was the ladies of the Wild West, and even then only because the conditions of life did not endure ceremonies. The rest of the representatives of the weaker sex led the life that was imposed on them by men. But not all of them willingly put up with the fate prepared for them.

The girl became a pirate

There are legends in the history of seafaring and navigation that women, dressed in men's clothes, went to sea and even became captains of pirate ships.

The legend about Alvilde- a girl from Scandinavia, who opposed the will of her kind, prophesying her a profitable marriage. She went to sea, where she became a pirate. Alvilda, who lived more than a thousand years ago, is considered the first girl who ventured on a sea voyage. She endured all the hardships of the journey along with the men, for which she was elevated to the rank of captain of the ship.

Famous female pirates

A few centuries later, a Frenchwoman repeated the feat of a Scandinavian woman and went to sea already as the commander of a squadron of three ships. The reason for such a decisive step was the execution by the French king of her husband, who was a supporter of one of the contenders for the throne. The disappointed and heartbroken woman, instead of mourning her husband and moving on, went with her two children to England.

French Jeanne de Belleville

There, having got an appointment with the monarch, she asked him for permission to stand at the head of a squadron of corsair ships that fought the French. Since the action took place during Hundred Years War, the English king did not refuse the request and indeed appointed the woman as the captain of the squadron. Jeanne fulfilled her obligation to the king. She not only more than avenged her husband's death, but also became a real threat to any ship that tried to enter the English Channel under the French flag.

Nicknames for female pirates

Three centuries ago, at the end of the 17th century, another woman earned the fame of a bloodthirsty pirate - Mary Read, better known as Bloody Mary. This girl, at the age of 15, ran away as a sailor on a warship. From there it got into infantry regiment, and only after becoming a dragoon was she forced to reveal her gender, falling in love and marrying her comrade. The marriage, which did not last long, ended with the death of her husband in one of the skirmishes.

Mary, however, did not despair, but remembered her love for the sea and went on a trip on a privateer ship. Soon Mary's ship was in the hands of pirates, led by another woman named Ann Bonnie, who was just as young and courageous. Pirates, oddly enough, found mutual language and began to swim together. Despite the fact that they were female, their cruelty knew no bounds. Even the most notorious villains and those froze at the mention of names Mary Reid And Ann Bonnie. But fate, so cruel to many pirates, did not pass these women. Mary died in childbirth, and nothing is known about Ann's history. Most likely, she shared the fate of her team, hanged for piracy.

Mary Read and Ann Bonnie

It should be noted that, despite the above, the likelihood of a woman being included in a pirate ship was low. Especially when she reveals her true gender. The well-known prejudices about the presence of a woman on a ship existed among sailors, regardless of the legality of their activities.

Nowadays, the situation has changed dramatically and the crews of many ships in the world also include women. They serve not only in the surface, but also in the submarine fleet, performing their duties no worse than men.

After we have discussed and learned about let's move on to the topic of female pirates.

It is believed that piracy is the privilege of harsh men. There are many tales of weathered rulers of the seas, ships flying black flags, and treasures hidden on uninhabited islands. But it turns out that there were female pirates too! With their audacity, they often surpassed the famous male corsairs and participated in the most incredible pirate adventures.

Let's find out more about them...

Scandinavian princess

One of the first pirates is considered Alvilda, who robbed in the waters of Scandinavia in the early Middle Ages. Her name is often found in popular books on the history of piracy. According to legend, this medieval princess, the daughter of a Gothic king (or a king from the island of Gotland), decided to become a "marine Amazon" in order to evade a marriage forced on her by Alf, the son of a powerful Danish king.

Having gone on a pirate voyage with a team of young women dressed in men's clothes, she turned into the number one "star" among the sea robbers. Since Alvilda's dashing raids posed a serious threat to merchant shipping and the inhabitants of the coastal regions of Denmark, Prince Alf himself set off in pursuit of her , not realizing that the object of his persecution was the desired Alvilda.

Is the story told true? The researchers found that for the first time the legend of Alvilda was told to readers by the monk Saxon Grammaticus (1140 - c. 1208) in his famous work “The Acts of the Danes”. He drew it either from the ancient Scandinavian sagas, or from the myths about the Amazons.

Breton noblewoman Jeanne de Belleville

Refuting the well-known thesis that there is no place for women on a ship, pirates were a real thunderstorm of the seas. Jeanne de Belleville born in Brittany around 1315. During the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453), she became a widow and decided to take revenge on the French king Philip VI, who executed her husband.

Together with her two sons, the pirate went to England and soon obtained an audience with King Edward. Perhaps due to her beauty, the woman managed to get three high-speed ships from the monarch for corsair operations against France. However, it is possible that she had the gift of persuasion. Jeanne commanded one ship herself, others were commanded by her sons. The small squadron, called the "Vengeance Fleet in the English Channel", became a real scourge of God in French coastal waters.

And once the French managed to surround the pirate ships. Seeing that the forces were unequal, Zhanna showed real deceit - with several sailors she launched a longboat and, together with her sons and a dozen rowers, left the battlefield, leaving her comrades-in-arms.

However, fate cruelly repaid her for betrayal. For ten days, the fugitives wandered the sea - because they did not have navigational instruments. Several people died of thirst (among them the youngest son of Jeanne). On the eleventh day, the surviving pirates reached the coast of France. There they were sheltered by a friend of the executed de Belleville.

After that, Jeanne de Belleville, who is considered the first female pirate, left her bloody craft, remarried and settled down ...

The Double Life of the Governor's Wife

After about two hundred years, a new female pirate appeared in the English Channel - Lady Mary Killigrew. This lady truly represented the two-faced Janus. In society, she was known as the wife of the governor of the port city of Flamet, and it never occurred to anyone that this respected lady secretly commanded pirate ships that attacked merchant ships. Lady Killigrew remained elusive for a long time, since the people whom the pirates took prisoner were not left alive, thereby getting rid of the witnesses of their bloody "exploits".

Anthony Van Dyck - Pirate Woman: Lady Mary Killigrew

Everything was revealed when a heavily loaded Spanish ship entered the strait. The pirates attacked him. The Spanish captain managed to escape - wounded in the chest, he pretended to be dead on deck, and when the sea robbers began to celebrate the victory, without even sending the dead bodies overboard, he swam to the shore.

Once in safety, the captain immediately went to the governor to inform him of the daring attack of the pirates. Among other things, he told that the filibusters were commanded by a young and very beautiful woman. Imagine his surprise when the governor decided to introduce his wife to the unfortunate captain. It turned out that this is the bloodthirsty mistress of the pirates! But the governor managed two fortresses, the task of which was to ensure the unhindered navigation of ships in coastal waters. The captain did not betray his surprise, and certainly did not say that he recognized the sea robber. After receiving the Governor Flamet, he immediately went to London, where, having obtained an audience with the king, he informed him of what had happened.

By order of the king, an investigation began, which brought unexpected discoveries. It turned out that hot pirate blood flowed in Lady Killigrew's veins. She was the daughter of the famous pirate Philip Wolversten of Sophocles, and as a girl she robbed with her father. Thanks to a successful marriage, Mary gained a position in society. Her husband's money allowed her to create a pirate team that operated in the English Channel and neighboring waters. Governor Killigrew was convicted and executed as an accomplice of sea robbers. His wife was also sentenced to death, but the king later commuted the sentence to life imprisonment.

Curiously, after about ten years, merchant ships, whose route lay near the coast of Cornwall or across the English Channel, again began to be plundered, and already from a flotilla of four thirty-gun ships, led by Lady Killigrew. Only another - Lady Elizabeth Killigrew, wife, and later widow of Sir John (son of Lady Mary) and, accordingly, sister-in-law of Lady Killigrew Sr. However, this flotilla did not last long - it was defeated, and Lady Elizabeth was killed in a naval battle.

Under a man's dress...

By the age of sixteen, an Irish woman Anna Bonnie, born in 1690 in the Irish town of Cork, showed a penchant for all kinds of adventures. Her father, lawyer William Cormac, tried to keep his daughter strict, but Anna, barely waiting for her to turn eighteen, secretly married a simple sailor James Bonnie. Mr. Cormac could not bear this and drove his disobedient daughter out of the house.

The newlyweds, not at all upset, went to the Bahamas, to the pirate capital of New Providence. There, Anna met a sea robber named Calico Jack and immediately forgot about James. Soon a team gathered around Calico Jack and Anna. Now they needed a suitable ship.

Anna, dressed in men's clothes and posing as a sailor who wants to get a job, visited several ports. She tried to figure out how it would be easiest for her accomplices to sneak aboard this or that ship unnoticed. Shortly thereafter, taking the crew by surprise, the pirates made their way aboard the ship Anna liked at night.

They raised the sails and went out to the open sea directly under the guns of the fort, covering the entrance to the harbor. The ship was named "Dragon" and raised a black flag over it. By the way, while on the ship, Anna continued to impersonate a man. Unsuspecting accomplices called her Andreas.

Anna Bonnie. Ancient engraving.

This went on for several months, until a new sailor appeared on the ship - Mac Reid. Calico Jack, the only one who knew that his wife was hiding under the name of Andreas, was jealous of Anna for Mack. However, there was no trace of his jealousy when it turned out that Mac ... was also a woman. And her name is Mary Reid.

Mary told Anna and Jack that she was born in London, and at the age of 15, disguised as a boy, entered the warship as a cabin boy. However, she soon got bored with sea life, and she switched to military service to one of the French infantry regiments in Flanders. Participated in several battles. In French army she married a cavalry officer, but the newlyweds decided to keep Mary's secret, meeting only furtively. And soon Mary's husband died, and she, having deserted, returned to the sea ...

But all the secret becomes clear. And the secret of Anna and Mary, too, once ceased to be a secret. However, since both women fought better than many men, they were allowed to remain on the Dragon.

Mary Reed. Ancient engraving.

November 2, 1720 "Dragon" was attacked by the English royal frigate. Anna and Mary fought desperately. Before they were captured, they managed to kill three attackers and wound seven more. But the rest of the team offered almost no resistance, relying on the mercy of royal justice. Upon arrival in Jamaica, a trial took place, and all the pirates were sentenced to death penalty through hanging. Everyone - except for Anna and Mary.

Anna Bonnie and Mary Read. Engraving from 1724.

Both women uttered the phrase, standard for the then legal proceedings: "Mr. Judge, my womb asks for me." In other words, they asked for pardon because of the pregnancy. The fact that the two pirates turned out to be women was completely unexpected for the court. Even more surprising was the fact that the doctors confirmed the pregnancy of both. Anna and Mary received a reprieve.

The further fate of Anna Bonnie is shrouded in darkness. It is known that she had a child in prison, but no one knows what happened after the birth. Perhaps she managed to escape or pay off, or maybe the sentence was carried out ...

Mary Reid was less fortunate: shortly after giving birth, she died of a fever.

hot blooded lady grene

Pirate Woman Grain (or Grace) O'Malley was born in 1544.

The name Grace was given to her by the British, with whom the queen of pirates either quarreled or reconciled all her long life. At birth, she was named Grein, and then given the nickname Granual, which means Bald Grein. She "bald" at the age of thirteen, when she asked with men at sea. She was told that a woman on a ship was a bad omen. Then she took scissors and cut her dark curls short: “That's it, now I'm a man!” The father laughed and took his daughter for a swim.

She came from an old Irish family, many of whose representatives became famous as corsairs. From a young age, Grain showed character: she was unusually brave, but at the same time cruel. When she was eighteen, she, with a group of selected thugs, began to rob villages belonging to feudal lords hostile to her family.

Grain later married the corsair O'Fleherty, who came from another Irish family. Widowed at an early age, she joined her fate with the famous in the world of corsairs, Lord Burke, nicknamed Iron Richard. Lady Berkey kept both her husband and the crew of his ship under her heel. After one unsuccessful sortie, she told her husband: “Get ashore,” which meant the end of their family relationship.

The English queen, trying to attract Grein to the royal service, twice invited her to the palace, but the proud woman preferred not to obey anyone. Then for "violating the law on piracy" she was imprisoned for a year and a half. And released after a promise not to rob again. However, Lady Grein continued to piracy until her death.

Ms. Qing

Zheng Shi (Lady Jing)(1785-1844) - Chinese sea robber who gained fame as one of the most successful female pirates in history. This short, fragile woman, leading the battle, held a fan in her hand instead of a saber. She was a contemporary of Napoleon and Admiral Nelson, but no one in Europe had heard of her. But on Far East, in the expanses of the South China seas, her name was known to the very last poor man and the very first rich man.

She went down in history under the name of "Lady Jing", the uncrowned queen of Chinese pirates. late XVIII – early XIX centuries. She commanded a fleet of 2,000 ships and had over 70,000 sailors under her command.

It is believed that the key to Zheng Shi's success was the iron discipline that reigned on her ships. She introduced strict regulations that put an end to the traditional pirate freemen:

it was forbidden to plunder allied pirates fishing villages and the rape of captive women was punishable by death;

for unauthorized absence from the ship, the pirate's left ear was cut off (according to some versions, the ears were pierced with a hot iron rod) in the presence of the entire crew, which was then presented to the entire crew for intimidation. In case of relapse - the death penalty;

it was forbidden to appropriate any things (small, large) that were obtained by theft, robbery. The pirate received only two parts (20%) from the proceeds of the booty, the rest of the booty (80%) became the common property, which, like any other extracted value, went to the warehouse. If someone tried to appropriate something from the general fund, then he was threatened with capital punishment - death.

The story of Madame Zheng has attracted the attention of writers more than once. She is the heroine of Jorge Luis Borges' short story "The Widow of Ching, Pirate" (1935). Based on Borges' story, a film was made that loses all connection with the real events of The Legend of Vengeance (2003). According to the preliminary script for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Zhang Bao, Madame Zheng's stepson-husband, became the prototype for one of the characters in this film.

Zhang Bao's name is also associated with several romantic places in Hong Kong, where they even show the cave where he supposedly hid his treasures. It is said that one of the local attractions, Tunzhong Fort on Lantau Island, was used by a pirate as a transshipment base for the opium trade.

Retiring from piracy, Madame Zheng settled in Guangzhou, where she maintained a brothel and a brothel for gambling until his death at the age of 60.

The Elusive Madame Wong (1920-?)

200 years after the death of the first Chinese "pirate queen" in the same waters where her fleets robbed, a completely worthy successor to her work appeared, who rightfully won the same title. Shang, a former Cantonese nightclub dancer who became famous as China's most seductive diva, has married an equally famous man. His name was Wong Kungkim, he was the largest pirate chieftain in Southeast Asia, who began robbing merchant ships as early as 1940. His wife, Madame Wong, as her friends and foes called her, was a faithful friend and smart assistant to a pirate in all his operations. But in 1946, Wong Kungkit died. The story of his death is mysterious, it is believed that the pirate's competitors are to blame for it. When, in the end, two of Wong Kungkit's closest assistants came to the widow, so that she, purely formally (since everything had already been decided by these two), would approve the candidate they had named for the post of head of the corporation. “Unfortunately, there are two of you,” Madame replied, not looking up from the toilet, “and the company needs one head ...” After these words, Madame turned around sharply, and the men saw that she was holding a revolver in each hand. This is how the “coronation” of Madame Wong took place, because after this incident there were no hunters to talk with her about power in the corporation.

The police of the coastal countries, knowing that the pirates were led by a woman named Madame Wong, could not publish her portrait, which negated the possibility of her capture. It was announced that there was a £10,000 reward for her photograph, and whoever caught or killed Madame Wong could name the amount of the reward, and the authorities of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines would guarantee him the payment of such an amount.

And one day, the head of the police of Singapore received a package with photographs, on which it was written that they were related to Madame Wong. They were photographs of two Chinese men cut into pieces. The caption read: "They wanted to take a picture of Madame Wong."
According to the police, Madame Wong already at that time visited Tokyo, Singapore, Macau and Manila, where she collected information about the flights of merchant ships, met with potential buyers of stolen goods. And besides, she indulged in her only passion - casino games. And since no one knew her by sight, the visits were completely unpunished.

When the Vice President of the Philippines hosted a reception at his palace in June 1962, among the distinguished guests was Madame Senkaku, introduced as a Japanese banker. She did not leave the gambling table all evening, losing huge sums in cold blood. The vice president complimented her: "Only Madame Wong herself could play like that." Madame laughed: "Do I look like her?" A week later, the vice president received a letter thanking him for a pleasant evening. Signed: "Madame Wong."

According to the Japanese police, by the end of the 60s of the last century, the fleet of the filibuster queen consisted of about 150 speedboats, a third of which were armed with rapid-fire guns. Up to 8 thousand sailors and attack aircraft served in the crews. However, already in the 70s, information about the actions of this predatory fleet ceased to flow to the police in Southeast Asia.

Piracy did not stop there, but Madame Wong no longer had any relation to its manifestations. According to unverified reports, she disbanded the crews of the boats, sold them and disappeared.