<![CDATA[It’s the image of Johnny Depp that comes to my mind, when I hear the term pirate. Yes, that is correct, this is the after effect of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’. Visualizing a female pirate is difficult for me and I am sure there would be many like me. Albeit there have been very few female pirates, but they have existed from before the Christ era.
Queen Teuta of Illyria
Image Source : Invest-In-Albania.Org
There was a time in history when a queen promoted piracy; it was Teuta of Illyria. The king of Illyria Agron, her husband died in 231 BC. She had to take over, as Agron’s son and Teuta’s stepson Pinnes was not old enough for the throne.In order to counter the bullying neighbors Teuta encouraged piracy.She deployed her pirates to terrify the trading routes from the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea. They looted the vessels bound to Italy and Greece. The Romans took down the pirate queen and her accomplices.
Rachel Wall
Image Source : Bust.Com
She got her name in the history books in bold letters for two reasons, for being the first American woman to be a pirate and the last woman in Massachusetts to be hanged until death. She wasn’t a legend, so her story is not documented like that of a President or something. Rachel ran away from home and married a fisherman, George Wall. They had a difficult time surviving so they turned to crime.
In 1781, they collected some like-minded people in a boat and began their work near the coast of New England. Whenever there was a storm in the region, they made their ship look like it has been ravaged by the storm. Rachel stood on the deck of the boat and cried for help. When people reached them, they looted and murdered them. George died in a storm the following year, while Rachel continued the life of crime on land. Later in 1789, she was caught and executed, despite her confessions to all the crimes.
Anne Bonny
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Daughter of an Irish lawyer, Anne Bonny shifted to the US and married a sailor in 1718.With her husband, she travelled to New Providence. The area was a den of the pirates, she got tremendously influenced by Jack Racham “Calico”, a fierce pirate. She left her husband and joined Calico.
Anne did all the things that the pirates do, including cursing, beating and drinking rum. There was another female pirate on her ship, Mary Read. Together they wrecked havoc on the traders and fishermen. Later pirate hunters over powered their ship, all the males were executed, Read and Anne were spared, as they were pregnant.
None of these ladies, survived for long, which is the expected fate of a pirate. May be this is the reason there weren’t many female pirates. Getting a fortune in divorce settlement is a safer bet (heehee).]]>
