Piracy of the Middle Ages Compared to the 'Golden Age of Piracy'

When people think of pirates, they often think of the buccaneers that plundered the seas from roughly 1650 to 1730. This time period is also known as the ‘golden age of piracy’. These pirates included the infamous Blackbeard, Henry Morgan, and Captain Kidd. However, piracy has existed long before these swashbucklers. In Medieval Europe, many towns were terrorized by pirates, but eventually pirates began to be used as mercenaries and privateers. The pirates of the middle ages, and the tactics that they used can be compared and contrasted to the piracy that took place in the late 17th to mid 18th centuries. This comparison is important because it shows how many of the tactics used during the ‘golden age of piracy’ were actually taken from preexisting methods of piracy.

            The Middle Ages spanned from the 5th century to the 15th century, and the first acts of piracy that can be seen in this period were the Vikings, who, beginning in the 8th century, would dock their ships on land and attack communities near the ocean. These towns would be pillaged, and many civilians would be brutally raped and killed. The violence and unpredictability of the Vikings stirred fear throughout many coastal communities, many of whom would not even put up a fight because they were so afraid. The most famous of these groups was the Narentines who raided for profit and were very active in the slave trade. They would often capture many civilians to be later sold as slaves. Every person on the ship was viewed as an equal and got an equal share of the wealth, with the exception of the owner of the ship who got a slightly bigger share. The captain of the ship was viewed as the first among equals.

            Many characteristics of Viking pirates can be seen as similar to the pirates during the ‘golden age of piracy’. This is especially true of the way the ship was organized. Both saw equality among shipmates and an equal share of the loot that was important in maintaining order and preventing mutiny. While Vikings mostly attacked towns instead of other ships, the tactics used in both cases were characterized by extreme violence that incited fear into many. Similarly, both era’s saw pirates that were mainly motivated for monetary gain. In both cases piracy was viewed as an alternative to trading, and more economically rewarding.

            The age of the Vikings started to wane in the 11th century but was replaced by a mercenary style of Piracy. Waring European countries started hiring naval mercenaries. However, when their mercenary contracts were over, and they were out of work, many mercenaries would resort to piracy. These pirates would target and attack trade ships, making trade impossible in certain sea channels. The use of mercenaries of the sea is viewed as the predecessor to privateering, which is considered to have started in the 13th century. Privateering involved a country giving licenses to ships to attack foreign vessels. The profits of these attacks were then split between the king and the privateers. However, many privateers turned to piracy and simply kept the goods for themselves as well as attacked ships that were supposed to be considered neutral or under the authority of the country that they were hired to. European countries could not control the people to whom they had granted licenses.

            The beginning of the ‘golden age of piracy’ was characterized by similar problems. European countries would hire privateers to attack enemy ships in American waters, but many of these privateers would attack ships that they were not authorized too, and were often more oriented to making money than to actually help the country to which they were hired. The breadth of similarities between piracy of the Middle Ages and piracy under the ‘golden age of piracy’ is exceedingly interesting. Why did European countries continue to use tactics that were out of their control? Why is the ‘golden age of piracy’ so revered when roughly the same events were occuring hundreds of years earlier? What makes the ‘golden age of piracy’ so special? 

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