Pirate rules. Along the Waves of Pirate Ethics: The Pirate Code from A to Z. Misunderstandings with Negotiations

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Pirate code or Articles of agreement- a code of conduct for pirates. Their codes were written by Henry Morgan, George Lauter, Bartolomeo of Portugal, Bartholomew Roberts and other captains. Before the code came into force, each team member had to sign it. After that, the rules were placed prominently on everyone.

The mention of the codex dates back to the first half of the 17th century. Several codes have survived to this day. Most of them are collected in the book by Charles Johnson "The General History of Robberies and Murders Perpetrated by the Most Famous Pirates."

1. Every True Pirate should be proud of his big name.

2. For a pirate, there is only one law - the Pirate Code of Honor.

3. For a pirate, there is only one family - the Pirate Brotherhood.

4. There is only one home for a pirate - a pirate ship.

5. For the pirate, there is only one role model - his great predecessors.

6. The life of a pirate is an incessant chain of battles.

7. The worst crimes for a real pirate are betrayal and cowardice.

8. A pirate must always be willing to risk his life.

9. Every pirate must be desperate and brave, cowardice in battle is punishable.

10. Every pirate is obliged to obey the superior in rank.

11. Pistols, sabers and other weapons must be kept clean and ready.

12. The pirate is prohibited from using obscene language on the ship.

13. To express his thoughts and feelings, a pirate can use words from pirate jargon that are allowed on the ship.

14. If any member of the team is convicted of theft or foul play, he must be punished.

15. Women are allowed to become pirates only if they are not inferior to men in the following qualities: determination, courage and willpower.

16. When a pirate goes through a certain number of battles, acquires the necessary experience and skills, he gets a promotion according to the Pirate rank.

In culture

In the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean", pirates are governed by a single code, the custodian of which is Captain Teague, although they refer to it more as a "set of instructions, not strict laws", but this is actually the harshest disregard for the code and is punishable by death ( as shown by the keeper of the code in the 3rd film).
IN computer game Risen 2 also has a pirate code. It contains seven points.

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Excerpt from the Pirate Code

- The Karagins, Julie and Boris are with them. Now you can see the bride and groom. - Drubetskoy made an offer!
“How did I find out today,” said Shinshin, who was entering the Rostovs' box.
Natasha looked in the direction in which her father was looking, and saw Julie, who with pearls on her thick red neck (Natasha knew, sprinkled with powder) was sitting with a happy look, next to her mother.
Behind them with a smile, with an ear bent over Julie's mouth, could be seen the smoothly combed, beautiful head of Boris. He looked at the Rostovs from under his brows and said something to his bride with a smile.
"They talk about us, about me with him!" thought Natasha. “And he surely soothes his bride's jealousy of me: they needlessly worry! If only they knew how I don't care about any of them. "
Behind was sitting in a green current, with a devoted to the will of God and a happy, festive face, Anna Mikhailovna. In their box there was that atmosphere - the groom and the bride, whom Natasha knew and loved so much. She turned away and suddenly everything that was humiliating in her morning visit came to her mind.
“What right does he have not to want to accept me into his kinship? Ah, it's better not to think about it, not to think about it before his arrival! " she said to herself and began to look around the familiar and unfamiliar faces in the stalls. In front of the parterre, in the very middle, with his back to the ramp, stood Dolokhov with a huge, combed up shock of curly hair, in a Persian suit. He stood in the very sight of the theater, knowing that he attracted the attention of the entire hall, as freely as if he were standing in his room. Near him stood the most brilliant youth of Moscow, and he apparently excelled among them.
Count Ilya Andreich, laughing, pushed the blushing Sonya, pointing to her former adorer.
- Did you find out? - he asked. - And where did he come from, - the count turned to Shinshin, - he disappeared somewhere?
- Lost, - answered Shinshin. - I was in the Caucasus, and there I fled, and, they say, some sovereign prince was a minister in Persia, he killed Shakhov's brother there: well, all the Moscow ladies are going crazy! Dolochoff le Persan, [Persianin Dolokhov,] and it's over. We now have no word without Dolokhov: they swear to him, they call him like a sterlet, - said Shinshin. - Dolokhov, yes Kuragin Anatol - all our ladies were driven crazy.
A tall, beautiful lady with a huge braid and very bare, white, full shoulders and a neck on which there was a double string of large pearls entered the neighboring benoir, and sat down for a long time, rustling with her thick silk dress.
Natasha involuntarily looked into this neck, shoulders, pearls, hairdo and admired the beauty of the shoulders and pearls. While Natasha was peering at her for the second time, the lady looked round and, meeting her eyes with Count Ilya Andreich, nodded her head to him and smiled. It was Countess Bezukhova, Pierre's wife. Ilya Andreevich, who knew everyone in the world, bent over and spoke to her.
“Have you come long ago, Countess?” He said. - I’ll come, I’ll come, kiss the handle. But I came here on business and brought my girls with me. They say that Semyonova plays incomparably, - said Ilya Andreevich. - Count Pyotr Kirillovich never forgot us. He's here?

The opinion that anarchy reigned among pirates is erroneous. The life of pirates was subject to certain laws - the pirate code, the requirements of which had to be strictly followed. Each of the sailors put his signature under the agreement, which was concluded between all members of the crew. The most respected and experienced sailor was elected at its head, who acted as captain and was also obliged to adhere to the rules determined by the agreement.

In many ways, the pirate agreement resembled a letter of marque. Here is one example of a real-life piracy agreement drawn up by members of John Phillips' crew aboard the Avenger:

Each of the team members has equal decision-making rights, an equal share of the loot and is free to use this share as he pleases, unless the team is experiencing hunger or other deprivation.

Each team member must contribute a share in the total production and then has the right to participate in its division. Whoever tries to hide part of the captured will be landed on a desert island.

Playing cards or dice for money is prohibited.

Lights and candles must be extinguished at eight o'clock in the evening. If someone wants to continue drinking alcohol, then he should only do so on the upper deck.

Pistols, sabers and other weapons must be kept clean and ready.

Women are not allowed on the ship. Anyone who brings a woman to the ship will be executed.

Anyone who leaves the ship during the battle will be executed or landed on an uninhabited island.

Fights on the ship are prohibited, duels with swords or pistols can only take place on the shore.

If someone decides to leave the team, then he must pay a ransom at the rate of one thousand doubloons for each of the remaining ones.

Each of the team members must obey the requirements of this agreement. Everyone has the right to his own share of the total spoils. The captain and the quartermaster receive a double share. The boatswain, the gunner and the owner of the ship receive one and a half shares, the assistant, the carpenter and the rest of the officers receive a share and a quarter.

If any of the team shows cowardice, tries to hide part of the common loot from others, or tries to escape, the team must land the culprit on a desert island with a bottle of gunpowder, a bottle of rum, a bottle of fresh water and a loaded pistol.

If any of the team is convicted of theft or foul play, he must be landed on an uninhabited island with only a loaded pistol.

If a man, sailor or pirate is found on a desert island, he must sign this agreement, but only with the consent of the entire crew and the captain.

If one of the team hits the other, then the offender is punished with 40 blows with rods.

Whoever fires a pistol, smokes a pipe or lights a candle at the ship's gunpowder is punished with 40 blows of the rods.

Anyone who does not keep weapons clean or does not carry out the assigned ship work is deprived of his share of the total loot, even if it is the captain himself.

If any of the team loses an arm up to the elbow, they are paid 400 ducats in compensation. If the arm is not up to the shoulder, the compensation is doubled. If a leg up to the knee is lost, 400 ducats are paid out of the total loot, if the leg is completely cut off, the amount is doubled.

If anyone tries to take possession of a woman without her consent, he will be sentenced to death.

Division of loot

Depending on the situation, the division of the booty could take place in different proportions. If the captain acted under the guise of a letter of marque, he was obliged to pay a commission to the state in the amount of 10 to 90% of the production, for example, according to the rules of Queen Elizabeth, the production was divided at the rate of 50/50. All the rest of the loot was divided into parts between the team members. Each part was called a stock. The captain was usually entitled to two shares, the most important members of the crew: the quartermaster - 1 3/4, the rest of the officers (ship owner, carpenter, boatswain, gunner) - 1 1/4 share. The rest of the team members received a whole share, newcomers - 1/4. Members of the boarding team received an additional 1/4 share as a bonus. This division of the booty concerned goods and gold, while the weapon belonged to the one who took possession of it in battle and was not subject to redistribution.

One of the very interesting topics related to piracy is pirate code... On board pirate ship in a sense, equality reigned. Pirates were a kind of elite compared to other thieves and bandits. This behavior was a direct reaction to the lawlessness that many pirates experienced the hard way, when they were still sailing ordinary sailors on merchants or served on navy... Historian Paul Gilbert notes: “ Almost a century before the American and French revolutions, an experiment to introduce egalitarian democracy was staged aboard hundreds of pirate ships«.

Fairness and equity were the watchwords of the pirate life. Everyone got their fair share of the booty, and everyone on the ship was equal.

True, in exchange for this freedom, all pirates were bound by the code, and the perpetrator of violating it faced severe punishment, and sometimes death. In his book “ Piracy history"Angus Constam cites Black Bart Roberts' pirate code as a typical example:

Everyone should have an equal voice in any day-to-day business. Everyone should have equal access to food and alcohol at any time and can use them for their intended purpose, unless suddenly there is a shortage of them and there is no need to save.
Everyone has the right to freely familiarize themselves with the list of prizes available on board. But if he shelters at least one dollar from the crew in the form of silver and gold dishes, jewelry or coins, he will be planted on. If one team member steals something from another, his nose and ears will be cut off and he will be disembarked, where he will no doubt have to face great difficulties.
It is forbidden to play dice and cards for money.
The extinguishing of lamps and candles should take place at eight in the evening, and if someone from the crew wants to drink after this hour, he should do it on the deck in the dark.
Everyone should keep their pistols and boarding sabers clean and always ready for battle.
There should be no boys or women on board. If someone from the crew is seen forcing the latter to have a sexual relationship, and then in disguise will lead her to the ship, he is subject to death.
Anyone who leaves the battle during the battle will be punished with death or landed on an uninhabited island.
No one can kill another person on board the ship, the quarrel must be resolved on the shore by a duel with pistols or sabers.
No one can even talk about changing this way of life until his share is 1,000 pounds sterling. Everyone who becomes a cripple during the service, loses an arm or a leg, will receive eight hundred coins from the general treasury, and for a lighter injury, accordingly, less.
The captain and quartermaster each receive two shares of the prize; boatswain and senior gunner - one and a half; the rest of the officers - one at a time; privates - a share for each.
The legal day for the musicians to rest is Saturday, on other days - only with the permission of the team.

If a pirate was seriously injured, the crew was thrown off for compensation on a sliding scale, depending on the severity of the wound. Exquemelin in his book "Pirates of America" writes that the highest compensation - 600 coins - was given for the loss right hand; left hand or the right leg was worth 500 coins; left leg - 400; eye - 100 coins.

“Fifteen people for a dead man's chest, yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! Thousand devils, whistle all up! " - so, in the opinion of many, the pirates among themselves and communicated. At the same time, in one hand the pirate had a bottle of rum, in the other a woman, with one eye he watched the game of dice, and the second he did not have at all.

Maybe some pirates had a green parrot on their shoulder that knew a couple of swear words, maybe someone had a wooden leg or one eye, but pirate life is the complete opposite of the intoxicating chaos that is associated with it.

Each pirate ship had its own code on board, which was signed by all crew members before launching the ship. And it was not just a piece of paper with a couple of prohibitions, but a real set of rules, we can say that this set characterized the pirates as valiant and fair. True, not in relation to merchant ships.

The complete set of rules of any of the captains has not reached us, but there are excerpts from the code that Sir Bartholomew Roberts compiled, for his own - Black Bart, or the author was no less famous pirate John Phillips is the captain of the Avenger.

1. Each of the team members has equal decision-making rights, an equal share of the loot and is free to use this share as he pleases, unless the team is experiencing hunger or other deprivation.

By the way, pirate codes are considered one of the brightest examples of people's democracy. On the ship, everyone was equal. The captain was chosen by voting, like the headman at the school, hands were stretching. At any moment, the captain could be removed from his post and a new one could be chosen.

2. Each team member must contribute a share in the total production and then has the right to participate in its division.

Regarding the division of the spoils, everything was strict, but honest. The captain received twice as much as an ordinary sailor, and in general, the share depended on the degree of responsibility of the pirate, which lay on him. The quartermaster was in charge of the division. This is the second person on the ship after the captain, his assistant. He was also elected by voting and was often a counterweight to the captain in order to maintain a balance of justice. The quartermaster had a great deal of responsibility, he monitored the condition of the ship and the situation on it, decided what to take from the trophies, what not, what to leave to the crew, what to sell, which ships to pick up, which to bury on seabed... Appraiser, economist, secretary - they are all Quartermaster. Aby who did not trust to share the loot. By the way, the pirates with severe wounds were the first to receive their share; for the loss of an arm or leg, they paid extra from the common cauldron. Everything was fair, in general.

The romantic picture of how at sunset, under the palm trees, pirates divide the stolen gold from the chest, crumbles to smithereens, because this could not be. The main prey was usually goods such as sugar, gunpowder, cereals, rum, fruits and textiles. Therefore, first some "Black Pearl" sailed to the port, where the crew was selling everything that the quartermaster had distributed for sale, and after that the money was divided. The code provided for all expenses: a carpenter, fresh water, food, ship rent and even a surgeon.

Rum is a separate story. The holds have always been filled with this drink, but this does not mean that the pirates drank it without knowing when to stop. Firstly, rum was needed to quench one's thirst, secondly, to give courage in battle, and thirdly, it was drunk for fun. But few and rare. For example, Black Bart did not like alcohol at all, although he was a real pirate, because in three years of sailing he robbed almost 500 ships. A real storm of the seas.

3. Drunkenness on the ship is prohibited. The punishment is 40 blows with rods.

This point was not because the captain did not want to share the rum, but because a sober crew should operate the ship. The pirates had to be always ready, because at any moment they could stumble upon good prey.

4. If one of the team hits the other, then the offender is punished with 40 blows with the rods.

One point follows from the other, a sober team - no fights. After all, pirates are a wayward, hot-tempered people, and rum, as you know, warms up blood and ardor. Senseless fights were punished with rods, but duels were allowed as a noble solution to the dispute, but there were also rules.

5. Fights on the ship are prohibited, duels with swords or pistols can only take place on the shore.

Pirates were punished not only with rods, the punishments were much worse.

6. If any of the team shows cowardice, tries to hide from others part of the common loot or tries to escape, the team must land the culprit on a desert island with a bottle of gunpowder, a bottle of rum, a bottle of fresh water and a loaded pistol.

7. If any of the team is convicted of theft or foul play, he must be landed on an uninhabited island with only a loaded pistol.

"A pirate landed on a desert island" Artist G. Pyle

But the pirate did not always die from such an execution, so such an item appeared.

8. If a man, sailor or pirate is found on a desert island, he must sign this agreement, but only with the consent of the entire crew and the captain.

By the way, on the board itself, gambling for money was also prohibited. And on some courts it was forbidden even to use foul language. The code contained not only the rules of conduct and communication between team members, but also the attitude towards cargo and personal belongings.

9. Whoever fires a pistol, smokes a pipe, or lights a candle near the ship's gunpowder will be punished with 40 strokes of the rods.

10. Anyone who does not keep weapons clean or does not carry out the assigned ship work, is deprived of his share of the common booty, even if it is the captain himself.

As you know, a pirate without love for a woman is not a pirate. So there were several rules on the topic of relationships with a woman, some of them show that the fair sex was still treated with respect.

11. Women and children are forbidden to be on the ship, if someone disguises a woman and takes her to the ship, he will be sentenced to death.

12. If anyone tries to take possession of a woman without her consent, he will be sentenced to death.

Well, and a little more about the behavior in battle.

13. Anyone who leaves the ship during the battle will be executed or landed on an uninhabited island.

14. Pistols, sabers and other weapons must be kept clean and ready.

The pirate ship even had a daily routine.

15. Lights and candles must be extinguished at eight o'clock in the evening.

This, of course, is not the whole pirate code, but only a small part of it. But a real pirate had to comply with all his points. After everyone signed the code, he took an oath, and at the same time his hands were either on the Bible with a pistol, or on a human skull, or the pirate had to say this oath, sitting on the cannon.

The Pirate Code is an important historical document that proves not only the nobility, justice and, in some way, the honesty of pirates, but also testifies that people with almost complete freedom of action can create their own society that will work harmoniously for themselves. where everyone will get what they deserve. Either doubloons or a bullet.

Pirate Code.

Compiled by Morgan and Bartholomew at the dawn of the great age of filibusters, the Pirate Code is a collection of "recommendations" revered by all "gentlemen" to help resolve disputes and do without carnage. One of the key articles contained in its pages is the right to negotiate, which allowed many sea robbers to bargain themselves freedom instead of taking a short walk on an even shorter board. The Pirate Code is rarely referred to: the provisions of this book are usually transmitted orally, since still only a few pirates can read.

In the care of Captain Teague.

The Keeper of the Code is none other than the man believed to be Jack's father, Captain Teague. he keeps the book shut, and the Prison Dog carries the key around his neck. Tig reiterates that the code is binding and that he will shoot anyone who speaks out against it. However, deep down, he understands that the real law is in the pirate's heart, and it boils down to one thing: either a person is able to do something, or he is not able to do it.

The right to negotiate.

One of the most important "recommendations" of the code is the right to negotiate, given to every pirate and giving him the opportunity to address a message important to him directly to the enemy commander himself, who threatens his life.

Protected by law.

After recourse to the right to negotiate, the prisoner cannot be killed, tortured, or deprived of any body parts until he speaks. pirates really dislike this law - but only until the situation changes for the worse and they do not need it themselves.

Misunderstandings with negotiations.

Honest people, confronted, in their misfortune, with the Irats, may be disappointed by calling for the right to negotiate in the hope of delaying their doom. To our regret, we note that in order to enjoy the privileges provided by the Code, you must yourself be a pirate. As Barbossa says, the code is just a recommendation.

How to land on a desert island.

The code of laws even contains instructions on how to land people on a desert island. Finding the right place is very important. The island should be away from sea routes, on which a constant trade wind blows, and it is desirable that this piece of land is not on nautical charts. Each landed is entitled to a rifle or a pistol, one cartridge and enough dry powder to be able to end his miserable existence.

Information taken from the book "Pirates Caribbean... Guide to the World of Pirates "by Richard Platt and Glenn Daikin)))