Apprentice to a Pirate

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Apprentice to a Pirate

Piracy in the Late Period of the SCA

Don Antionio di Rienzo, ODS, Drachenwald

Mka Tom McKinnell

vs.



A life not bad for a hardy lad,

Though surely not a high lot,

Though I’m a nurse, you might do worse

Than make your boy a pilot .

I was a stupid nurserymaid,

On breakers always steering,

And I did not catch the word aright,

Through being hard of hearing;

Mistaking my instructions,Which within my brain did gyrate,

I took and bound this promising boy

Apprentice to a pirate.

The Pirates of Penzance: Gilbert and Sullivan

One of the few rules about the setting of the SCA is its cut off date- we are told that we are in a game

whose end point is 1600 (or 1650 if you’re in some areas of some kingdoms). In general this is a very minor

restriction, but one particular area of Late Period roleplay sometimes creeps into the late 17th century, the 18th,

or even the Hollywood versions of them. This is the Pirate, and it is sad, because whilst the Golden Age of the

Pirate was post period, within the time era depicted by the SCA piracy was alive and well, being performed

by some of the leading lights of the English Navy Royal, and even in a few cases, ruling nations.

This article will aim to look at piracy from the time of the rise of what we categorise as ‘fencing

weapons’ (the mention of the Espada Ropera in 1468) until the end of the ‘extended SCA period’ in 1650.

Within this time period there is plenty of scope for almost any persona type which is desired, and

considerable opportunities for different weapons and fighting styles.

Piracy, of course, has existed at least for the entire recorded length of human history, from those who

took Julius Caesar captive, through to the modern Somalians, but the image of the pirate that we carry in our

head is distinct from these much earlier pirates, and does begin to develop during the closing decades of the

SCA time period, although predominantly is defined in terms of the Hollywood view of the Golden Age of

Piracy (2nd half of the 17 th century onwards). How many can identify the second pair of pirates on the cover of

this handout, compared to the first two?

I will categorise piracy into 4 basic types, but it's important to note that these are not self-limiting, and

individuals moved with ease from legitimate trade, through the four types of piracy, and sometimes back to

respectability and official employment with an ease which was not seen in later timeframes, where 'turning

pirate' tended to be more of a one way event.

I will limit this arbitrarily by geography or social type of pirate- you can argue instead for looking by

period within the two centuries I’m considering, but as many personae are defined as of a particular

nationality or class, looking at each region is perhaps the most useful to the SCA. I have not really touched

upon Far Eastern piracy, nor really upon that in the Indian Ocean, opened to Europeans by Vasco de Gama in

the 15th

century, but long traded in by arab merchants. Although India, Cathay and Ciypangu were in contactwith European Nations by the end of the SCA period, it is not our main focus. The interested scholar can gain

basic details in 'Pirate Wars' and ' 'Unknown Seas'.

We will then look at the careers of two particularly illustrative pirates, to gain some understanding of

their movement between the groups of pirates we're discussing.

The main headings then for this article are:

1: ‘A Nation of Pirates’- Piracy in the English Channel, the North and Irish Seas and the North Atlantic

2: The Corsairs- Piracy and Terror as a weapon of Crusade and Jihad

3: Pirates of the Caribbean- Deniable Warfare, and the Bulls of 1493 and 1506

4: War by other means- The Sea Beggars, and Privateers during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms



1) A Nation of Pirates- the 'Cottage Industry' of piracy

In much the same way as later Napoleon would remark 'Wherever wood can swim, there I am sure

to find this flag of England1.' an earlier generation called England a Nation of Pirates. That is not entirely

fair, for England was by no means the only offender in Northern Waters, nor, as we shall see later in this

article, was she entirely immune from the Depredations of Corsairs.

Whilst the concept of Privateers (private captains holding a government commission to attack the

enemies of the state) had not yet developed, there were similar concepts, namely the uptake of ships from the

merchant fleet into the Navy Royal (for which a retainer was paid in most instances- an early form of Naval

Reserve, and in some cases conscription of whole vessels occured), and the issuing of ‘Notes of Reprisal’ to

permit merchants to make good the depredations of foreign Governments against the shipping of that nation.

This sometimes provided a wafer thin veneer of respectability to the act of piracy- it was a matter of

reparation, but truth be told, these commissions were routinely exceeded, either in amount, or indeed in the

nationality of the ships attacked. Sometimes these wrongfully taken ships were returned to their owners, with

the cargo, but often one, or both remained with the pirates. Complicity for this extended throughout the

Elizabethan Regime, when the Letter was issued by it, but often even if the perpetrators were English, the

letter was issued by a foreign government- the Hugenot authorities, or the rebel Dutch under William the

Silent being particular offenders. The Elizabethan regimes response to this varied, through the period from

quietly ignoring it, to threatening to execute as pirates those who took up these commissions- although there

is little evidence they proceeded with such threats.

Instead both locally and nationally there was an (unofficial) policy of 'live and let live' to pirates as well

as privateers, especially during the Elizabethan regime. This appears to have been for several reasons. Firstly,

at a local level, the ships were often owned and operated by the local landowners- the very men, in fact, who

in their role as Justices of the Peace would be called upon to enforce any edicts from central Government

against Piracy. Secondly, local juries were reluctant to convict (and indeed some jurors were themselves

imprisoned by royal decree in the Tower for acquitting a suspected pirate). This is because piracy

underpinned the economies of whole areas of the country, most particularly in Cornwall and the West of

Ireland, and in neither of these locations was Government present in enough strength to act against the

preferences of the community. On a larger level, the Elizabethan (and earlier Tudor) Governments were

reluctant to proceed to vigorously against a community which, in times of war, would also provide their own

fighting seamen. An example of this is (Late Sir) Martin Frobisher's brush with the law for alleged piracy,

which resulted in his brief imprisonment in the Tower, followed by rapid release and return to his pirate ways.

Additionally, the rather rural nature of some of the loot (Barley and Wheat in especial) sometimes provided a

relief to famine in the relatively isolated communities from which pirates worked.

Occasionally political matters made it expedient to proceed against some of these 'cottage industry'

pirates, but many escaped by offering to serve the Crown instead, with a varying degree of truthfulness.

2) The Corsairs

Piracy is one of those areas of human endeavour where the boundaries start to blur. A pirate might gain

a legitimate Letter of Reprisal and become a legitimate Privateer, or more usually vice versa. One classic area

of this blurring is in the ‘Corso’- the centuries long naval war fought between forces of the Islamic and

Christian States of the Mediterranean basin. On the Christian side the most piratical were the Knights of Saint

John, based first at Rhodes, and then in Malta, as well as the naval forces of Venice, whilst on the Moslem

side the piratical states of Tunis, Algiers and Morocco, raiding most of the shorelines of the Mediterranean,

but sometimes venturing as far afield as the Southern English coast, Ireland, or even Iceland. Within this

setting the culture started as relatively small and isolated- the Reconquista of Spain, with its expulsion ofMorriscos led to a series of private, but carefully guided, reprisal raids on Southern Spain. Whilst the degree

of tie in between the corsairs and the Sultan in Istanbul varied tremendously from only theoretical to

appointing corsairs to his admiralty, this comprised another 'Front Line' in East/West struggles, which were

tement at Rochfort, 1815



carried throughout the Mediterranean, and continued on until the 19th century. Each side in this struggle, of

course, saw themselves as 'not piratical', but the difference between being taken captive and sold as a slave by

a Warrior of God, and by a pirate is pretty theoretical.

3) Pirates of the Caribbean

The Papal Bull of 1493, Inter caetera ("Among other [works]" divided the New World between the

two Iberian powers- initially all new land to the west and south of a line 100 miles from the Azores or Cape

Verde islands belonged to Spain- this was renegotiated by the two powers at Tordesillas in 1494 to 370

leagues west of the Cape Verde islands (allowing Portugal a toehold legally in Brazil). This was ratified by

Julius II in 1506 as Ea quae. The Spanish position, therefore was that anybody from any other nation west of

'The Line' was a pirate, by definition, a view not shared by the French (especially the Huguenots) or the

English. Nor, in fact, was the monopoly of trade to Spanish vessels entirely in the interests of the Spanish

settlers, who could often acquire trade goods (and particularly slaves) more cheaply from other sources.

This led to the almost farcical situation of trading ships arriving, with guns run out, so that the Spanish

settlers had 'plausible deniability' to authorities in Spain, so they could say, 'The English Pirates forced us to

trade with them'. This was also the basis for the transatlantic slave trade, which was begun by the Portuguese,

but really raised to a fine art by some of Elizabeth's 'Sea Dogs', in a way which is really not mentioned by

their eventual Mythologisers. Sir John Hawkins, the builder of the 'Race Built' galleons and reorganiser of

Elizabeth's fleet made his fortune in this way.

4) War by Other Means.

Pirates are, by their very nature, violent takers of other peoples properties. As we have seen there was a

legal element to this ('notes of reprisal and marque'), which were issued. In a similar way, such notes were

issued by cash and ship impoverished regimes, offering a legal figleaf for a nasty trade, which seldom

confined itself to either its theoretical targets, or to the value which had been theoretically lost. In particular,

William the Silent, and other leaders of the Dutch Calvinists, who in 1566 signed the 'Compromise of Nobles'

binding themselves to defend their liberties against the Spanish crown. The title of 'Beggars' was taken upfollowing a chance comment by a Spanish courtiers. The original league was rapidly crushed by the Duke of

Alva, but William the Silent issued 18 letters of marque in 1569 to ships operating from the French port of La

Rochelle (Huguenot), initially under the command of William de La Marck, and using English ports to

resupply, repair, and sell their booty. In 1572, Spanish political pressure caused Elizabeth to close her ports to

these 'Sea Beggars', and given little other choice, they launched a desperate (and surprisingly successful)

attack on Brielle, which they seized as a base, followed by Flushing. The capture of these two towns led to

revolts in the surrounding area, and eventually the general revolt, and the independence of the Netherlands.

Although little known of, the French Wars of Religion also had a noted naval component- although the

Admiral of France, de Coligny, was a Huguenot, and was assassinated in the St Bartholomew's day massacre,

most of the fleet was in the normal sense, merchant vessels taken up as needed. During the wars of religion,therefore, most ships were privately owned, and effectively pirates, especially since Spanish ships were

increasingly seen as 'fair game', as well as Royal/Catholic ships by the protestant vessels.

In an English and British context, all of Elizabeth's 'Sea Dogs' were technically pirates, since they

operated during peacetime against a Spanish target, both 'beyond the line', and in closer waters, and without a

commission (Drake claimed to have one for his circumnavigation, but refused to ever show it to anyone).

However, the fact is, they did so with the connivance of the regime throughout the 1570's and 1580's, and

essentially it was this behaviour which made war in the late 1580's inevitable- a war which lasted until both

Phillip II and Elizabeth were dead. In the time of her 2nd successor, during the War of the Three Kingdoms,

the Navy declared for Parliament, and again, the Royalists relied heavily on Privateers for naval service,

including running of guns, and prevention of Parliamentary weapons imports. The last holdout of the Royaliststruggle were privateers operating from the Scilly Isles.

Pirate 1: Hayreddin Barbarossa approx 1478-1546

Born in the 1470's on the Greek island of Lesbos (insert jokes here), the son of a retired Turkish (or possibly



Greek) Siphai, who had taken part in the capture of the island, then settled there, and the widow of a Greek

priest. The couple had 2 daughters, and 4 sons (Ishak, Aruj, Khizr and Ilya), with the father working as a

potter, with a boat purchased to help with the business. On the way back from a trading mission to Lebanon,

the boat, carrying Aruj and Ilya was attacked by the Knights of St John, Ilya was killed, and Aruj imprisoned

at the Knights castle of Bodrum. It is not entirely clear if the brothers had turned corsair before this, but

certainly after it, they did. After learning of Aruj's location, Khizr went to help him escape. Aruj and Khizr

went north to Antalya where the governor entrusted a fleet of 18 (presumably small) galleys to Aruj in order

to allow him to fight the Knights. When the governor moved to the more important post of Izmir, he increased

the fleet size to 24, which participated on the larger Ottoman raid on Apulia in Italy. On his return, however,

he learned the governor had fled to Egypt due to a political dispute. He therefore followed his patron to

Egypt, and was granted a ship by the Mamluk sultan, again to raid, this time on Italy. In 1503, along with his brother Khizr, he managed to seize 3 more ships, and made a base at the island of Djerba in modern Tunisia,

paying a tithe of his captures to the local sultan. He was now essentially in business for himself, and in the

Western Mediterranean. They then moved (with the sultans permission) to La Goulette (the port of Tunis), a

much more strategic base. Despite the small size of the galleys (technically galleots) they used, they managed

to capture 2 large papal galleys and a Spanish ship, containing 380 soldiers and 60 knights. By 1505 their

fame had spread, and other Corsairs were coming to join the brothers. They were involved in the shipment of

moslems from Spain to North Africa, and these Moriscos became very useful to the brothers. In 1512 the

exiled Moslem ruler of Bougie in North Africa invited the brothers to drive out the Spanish. In this they were

successful, although Aruj lost his left arm, having it replaced with a silver prosthetic. They then raided

Minorca, capturing ships, and a costal castle. The Genoese sent a fleet. The brothers captured the flagship of

that, too. After capturing 23 ships in a month, they returned to la Goulette. In 1514, with 12 ships and 1000Turkish troops, they destroyed 2 fortresses at Bougie and when the Spanish fleet arrived they simply left,

raiding Ceutra, and then capturing Jijel in Algeria from the Genoese. In 1516 the brothers were involved in a

plan to reliberate Jijel and capture Algiers from the Spanish, but they assumed control themselves, forcing the

previous ruler to flee. In 1517 Aruj offered Algiers to the Turkish Sultan, and was appointed its Governor.

However the previous sultan, with Spanish support was landed. He was killed when Aruj and Ishak caught up

with him, but those two brothers were themselves killed when the Spanish under Charles V in person arrived.

Khizir was then appointed to his brothers position (as well as his name, 'Barbarossa') by the Ottoman sultan,,

supplied with fresh troops, and given the same mission- to reacquire Algiers, and to carry warfare to the

Christians in the mediteranean. In this he was successful, destroying a relieving Spanish force at sea. In 1519

he raided Southern France, and the North African port of Bone. In 1521 he raided the Balearics, anddestroyed ships returning from the New World off Cadiz, and contributed ships to the campaign of 1522,

which resulted in the capture of Rhodes. 1525 and 6 seem to have primarily been dedicated to terrorising the

coast of Italy, burning villages, and capturing ships. His corsair raids continued, with the extent that in 1531

the great Genoese naval condottioro, Andrea Doria, employed by Charles V as his admiral, was sent to attack

him. Khizr repulsed the attack, and then raided the Spanish and Italian coasts. His association with the Sultan

(previously a technical if not actual overlord, and supplier of troops) became closer after 1532 when during

the Sultan's balkans campaign, Andrea Doria captured a series of coastal castles and towns. It became clear to

Sultan Suleiman he needed a stronger naval command, and summoned Khizr to Istanbul. On his way there, he

captured 18 galleys near Messina, and learned from the prisoners that Doria would be near Preveza. He

headed there and after a brief engagement, Doria withdrew, losing 7 galleys in the process. He then proceeded

to Istanbul, where the Sultan appointed him Grand Admiral (Kapudan-i Derya) and Chief Governor of NorthAfrica. Not bad for a Greek pirate on the make, but more was to come.

In 1533 the King of France sent an embassy to Khizr, asking for his aid against Charles V at sea! This he was

all too happy to do! Further raiding happened, resulting in a Spanish/Italian joint recapture of Tunis on behalf

of Mulei Hassan, the son of the previous Sultan of Tunis. Barbarossa recognised this was not defeatable, and

with his fleet, fled to Capri, where he captured and rebuilt a fortress, continued to the Balearics, and hit

Spanish posessions in North Africa. Further raids followed in 1534, including an usuccessful raid 10 miles

inland, to capture the city of Fondi between Rome and Naples, with the aim of capturing the beautiful Gulia

Gonzago to be carried off to the Sultan's Seraglio. In 1536, he was campaigning for the Sultan again,

commanding a fleet which landed in Otranto in Italy, capturing the town, as well as the city of Ugenta in

Apulia.

Although these were recaptured in due course by Neopolitan and Papal forces, Barbarossa had moved on,

capturing a vast swathe of Venetian owned islands and costal fortresses, then defeating a combined Venetian,

Papal, Genoese and Spanish fleet at Prevezia (almost precisely on top of the site where Anthony was defeated

by Octavian). Finally, Barbarossa was contacted by Charles V, who offered him command of Spains Fleet,

and rulership of her North African possessions. Obviously, he refused. This resulted in Charles' disasterious

1541 attack on Algiers, far too late in the season for navigation to be safe. In 1543-4 he operated from



Toulon , in alliance with the French (with the Cathedral of St Mary acting as a mosque!)He retired to

Constantinople in 1545 and died the following year, after dictating his memoirs, which have survived. His

Mausoleum became a place of pilgrimage (or cannon salute) for Ottoman seamen, and the lack of this visit is

attributed with part of the cause of the loss at the Battle of Lepanto.

Pirate 2: Sir Francis Drake 1544 (probably)-96, knighted 1581, portrait around 1590

Born in Devon, but brought up near London, ostentibly as a result of the Prayer Book Revolt in Devon when

he was a child resulting in the family fleeing to the Medway. Drake obtained command of the Judith when he

was 22, a ship owned by his cousin Sir John Hawkins, and was part of Hawkins slave trading enterprises to

the Spanish Main. In 1568 he was with Hawkins at San Juan de Ulua (an island just outside the modern cityof Vera Cruz). They had been driven there by storm damage, but took the opportunity to engage in a little

gunboat trading. Unfortunately, whilst they were doing so, an escort fleet for the annual Spanish Treasure

ships, along with the incoming Spanish Governor arrived. Initially a truce held, but then the spanish launched

a surprise attack, quickly taking the gunbatteries on the island of San Juan, and then capturing or destroying 4

of Hawkins 7 ships, with the loss of 500 lives, including one of the Queens ships (the aging Jesus of Lubbeck,

which had been part of the Anthony Roll presented to her father 20 years earlier), and almost the entire years

profits from trading and naked piracy. Hawkins returned to England with a crew of only 15, and Drake's

numbers were only 50 or so. This defeat provided a massive motivator for both men, and essentially marked

the beginning of the 'unofficial war' by Elizabeth's mariners, and later herself.

He clearly started further expeditions to the Carribean, of which we don't have details, but by 1572 he was

back in the Carribean, and captured the city of Nombre de Dios, on the Panama isthmus, the end of the gold

and silver trail from Peru, including its vast treasure. Unfortunately, Drake was badly injured, and his men

insisted on withdrawing with him to the ships, abandoning the cash. The following year, along with Le Testu,

a French pirate, he captured 20 tons of Gold and Silver in the jungle, but had to bury and abandon much of it,

before withdrawing to the beach, to find their boats were gone. The remaining gold was buried, and Drake

and 2 volunteers sailed 10 miles by raft to where the flagship was. He recovered men and gold, and by 1573

was back in England.

In 1577, Drake moves to the category of 'deniable warfare', being dispatched in the royal ship, 'Pelican' to raid

Spanish Gold convoys on the Pacific coast of South America. As the Pelican was a symbol of Elizabeth, she

was renamed (to aid deniability) en-route south, and it as 'The Golden Hind' that we now know her. By the

time the Cape was rounded, Drake's ships had been reduced from six to one, but Drake's luck held. He sailed

north, attacking Spanish ships and towns, and then near Lima he came across a ship laden with 37,000 ducats

of gold (approx £7million by todays standards). He captured it, then got word of another ship, the Nuestra

Señora de la Concepció sailing west towards Manilla. Again, near modern Equador he came across this

ship, and captured it. We don't know precisely what was on board, but the manifest reflected 80lb gold, 13

chests of Royals of plate, and 26 tons of silver. In addition her captain estimated 400,000 pesos of

unregistered gold (approx £12 million by todays prices) on board.

Sailing further north, he claimed Nova Albion 'New Britain', which is believed to be in California, before

turning west. After further adventures in the East Indies, he finally reached Plymouth by september 1580,

with 59 crew left. The Queens official share of the treasure surpassed the rest of the Crowns income for that

year, and other investors got a 4700% return on their money, despite clearly some cash not being declared.

The following year, Drake was knighted (with the dubbing actually done by a visiting French diplomat, giving

implicit French approval for Drake's action).

Drake was now part of the establishment, serving as mayor of Plymouth, and MP, and then as an officer of

Elizabeth (officially) first raiding Cadiz to 'Singe the King of Spain's Beard', and then being 2nd in command

of the English fleet during the armada campaign. Further expeditions (to the Azores in 1589 and Lisbon) were

less successful, and finally, during an ill fated campaign in the carribean in 1595 (with his cousin, John

Hawkins), he died of dysentry, and was buried at sea of Nombre de Dios, entering folklore/English

mythology.



We can see from these two examples, amongst many others (Frobisher, Hawkins, Dragyut etc), that the life of

the 16th century pirate was every bit as dramatic and adventure filled as his later 'Golden Age of Piracy'

companions, but differed from it in its relationship to authority- existing within the context of official and

unofficial war with other states, local business and local fealties, and offers a rich and diverse source for

personas, as well as inspiring deep elements of national mythology. We see movement from the poor

(Barbarossa) or at least working class, or middle class or younger sons of minor gentry (Drake, Frobisher) up

to landed gentlemen, with the pirate re-entering the acceptable 'law abiding' segments of society. We can see a

wide variety of dress, from the ottoman fashions of the Barbarossas, through all periods of 16th century

clothing, from the early Henricians to the late Elizabethans, and from a variety of nationalities, and religiousaffiliations. We can see pirates who fought with heavy war swords, those with scimitars, and those with pikes

and half pikes, as well as those carrying complex hilt transitional swords, and later rapiers. We can see pirates

who believed themselves Warriors of God, pirates who believed themselves pillars of the local community, as

well as the frankly nasty. The main thing that unites these disparate men is their taste for adventure, and

profit, and their seamanship in a variety of vessels, as well as a general refusal of history to see them as 'real

pirates'. But the art of 16th century shipbuilding, navigation, and handling is a talk for another day.

Bibliography:

Appleby J (2011) Under the Bloody Flag: Pirates of the Tudor Age. History Press, Stroud

Bradford E (1969) The Sultan's Admiral: The Life of Barbarossa. History Book Club, London

Crowley R(2008) Empires of the Sea: The Final Battle for the Mediterranean 1521-80. Faber&Faber, London

Earle P (2004) The Pirate Wars. Methuen, London

Moorhouse G (2005) Great Harry's Navy. Phoenix, London

Watkins R (2003) Unknown Seas: How Vasco da Gama opened the East. Murray, London

Apprentice to a Pirate

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