Revenge and World's First Female Pirates
May 14, 2021 5:43 AM   Subscribe

 
I love this story. I got my wife the Cratejoy Escape Room package for Christmas so we could have some different at home stuff to do, and the first one we got centered heavily on Anne Bonny as a female pirate, which we thought was really great.

This entire narrative puts that life in perspective. Can you imagine being in jail in 1720?!
posted by glaucon at 6:27 AM on May 14, 2021


Most feared woman pirate in the world: goals. Thank you for sharing this!

For a sci-fi take on two queer women pirates, try Barbary Station by R.E. Stearns.
posted by Flight Hardware, do not touch at 7:52 AM on May 14, 2021 [1 favorite]


There's a relevant MeFi's own book, but I'm not sure if the author is out or not on her username/IRL, so I'll just leave it here.
posted by The Bellman at 8:00 AM on May 14, 2021 [3 favorites]


Not to take away from Read and Bonny’s accomplishments, but they are not even in competition for the most feared women pirate in the world. Please see Zheng Yi Sao.
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:05 AM on May 14, 2021 [22 favorites]


Also see: Black Sails.
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:11 AM on May 14, 2021 [3 favorites]


Was just coming in to recommend Black Sails, but someone beat me to it.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 8:16 AM on May 14, 2021


And don’t forget Gráinne O'Malley
posted by fizban at 8:27 AM on May 14, 2021 [10 favorites]


Black Sails is one of the best TV shows I've ever watched and doesn't get nearly enough love.
posted by Mavri at 8:37 AM on May 14, 2021 [2 favorites]


Was going to mentions Grainne O'Malley, Irish pirate queen, but fizban beat me to it.
posted by mermayd at 8:58 AM on May 14, 2021


There's also the graphic novel Tell No Tales which came out earlier this year and is all about Anne Bonny and her crew.
posted by Peccable at 9:04 AM on May 14, 2021 [3 favorites]


They are two of the six pirates you play as in the excellent pirate racing board game, Jamaica!
posted by etc. at 9:32 AM on May 14, 2021


There's also Roy Metté's excellent song about her.

And the latest episode of American Shadows was about her too.

And I love her.
posted by Katemonkey at 10:38 AM on May 14, 2021 [1 favorite]


Dr. Rebecca Simon earned her PhD from King’s College London in 2017 with a specialization in the history of pirates and piracy.

Now there's a field of study!
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 11:12 AM on May 14, 2021 [4 favorites]


This would be an amazing movie.
posted by freakazoid at 12:41 PM on May 14, 2021


Another amazing movie waiting to made: the life of Jeanne de Clisson, the lioness of Brittany.

Think Kill Bill meets Braveheart meets Pirates of the Caribbean. I'm amazed that Alexandre Dumas never thought to write about this woman.
posted by LeRoienJaune at 1:55 PM on May 14, 2021 [5 favorites]


I'll submit Sayyida al Hurra for consideration:

"Sayyida al Hurra (which translates as "Lady who is free and independent") (Arabic: السيدة الحرة‎), real name Lalla Aicha bint Ali ibn Rashid al-Alami, Hakimat Titwan (1485 – 14 July 1561),[1] was a queen of Tétouan in 1515–1542 and a pirate queen in the early 16th century.[2] She is considered to be "one of the most important female figures of the Islamic West in the modern age". . .

Allied with the Turkish corsair Barbarossa of Algiers,[4] al Hurra controlled the western Mediterranean Sea while Barbarossa controlled the eastern.[5] She was also prefect of Tétouan. In 1515, she became the last person in Islamic history to legitimately hold the title of al Hurra (Queen) following the death of her husband, who ruled Tétouan. . ."
posted by os tuberoes at 2:12 PM on May 14, 2021 [8 favorites]


Piracy has been romanticized to the point where the word conjures a very specific image, that of the charming rogue, in full 18th century regalia with the obligatory Robert Newton West Country accent.

Unlike the Hollywood version, in reality pirates were simply waterborne criminals, and they’ve always been around, and still are, and there is little about their careers that could be called admirable. The impact of piracy on its victims would make a much less engaging film than one where Errol Flynn buckles swash with impeccably groomed facial hair. I suppose it’s heartening to know that women could also embrace a lawless, violent life but cringe when the life of pirates is viewed as something romantic.
posted by kinnakeet at 6:36 AM on May 15, 2021 [1 favorite]


^To some degree, piracy is anti-colonialist resistance.
posted by No Robots at 11:48 AM on May 15, 2021 [2 favorites]


Piracy as anti-colonialist resistance is a major theme in the aforementioned television series Black Sails (which I am now watching and enjoying for the second time).
posted by No Robots at 11:50 AM on May 15, 2021 [4 favorites]


in reality pirates were simply waterborne criminals,

In the golden age of piracy, as I understand it, pirates were trying out some pretty radical (for the time) social experiments, with ships sometimes run as a democracy that also sometimes included people of color and women. They are romantic. You have to have passion and fire and commitment to say F*** You to the entire British empire, the Spanish empire and all the new Americans, then go start a new society based on robbing the rich and giving equal shares to all your crew mates.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 2:45 PM on May 15, 2021 [6 favorites]


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