Privateering - Lawful Piracy Which Troubled the Nations for a Long Time

Privateering has troubled a number of countries for a long time. Do you know who the privateers were? They were the lawful pirates, who were not actively involved in the act of piracy, but they were authorized to do so by the governments. In simple words, they were the lawful freebooters. But, they were not authorized to plunder the ships of any sea merchants. They were only allowed to loot the treasure ships of the enemy nations. Their lifestyles and outfits were different from those of the freebooters. Some of the privateer dresses were also part of the fashion trends, in the same was we find the pirate costumes.

England was the major hub of the privateering. “Letter of Marque” was issued by the government in England in order to authorize of the freebooters. A number of famous privateers also belonged to England. Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh etc. were some famous names in this regard. They would serve as government officials when they would not be on privateering expeditions.

Similar letter was also issued by the government of France, which was sometimes termed as “lettre de marque”. The evidences of privateering were found in many other nations also. It was not so prevalent in the eastern countries, but we find a bit of their existence on those nations also. For instance, Kanhoji Angare was a famous Maratha privateer from India, who worked in the ships between Mumbai and Goa. He raided the ships of East India Company, a British firm, which colonized India.

This lawful piracy created a huge problem for a long time. There is no place of this act today in the international laws. But, as we mentioned above also, the outfits of the privateers are also part of the fashion trends in the recent times. A number of websites are offering the privateer and pirate shirts, pants, skirts and many other items in different styles.

Wokous - The Chinese Pirates

The problem of piracy is being faced by the people since the ancient times irrespective of the areas. They were not only they were not only active in places like Caribbean and Mediterranean, but the Asian countries were also not untouched with them.

China was a prominent Asian country were piracy flourished. The raiders of China would wear different type of pirate shirt and other dresses, but their intent was similar to those of the western raiders. The word ‘wokou’ was used in Chinese language for the raiders. These wokous have created a great trouble for the government. Some of the famous Wokous of China were Ching Shih (female), Cheung Po Tsai, Cai Qian and more. China also faced the golden era of piracy due to these raiders. There were around 7000 pirates in China.

The influence of the wokous can be estimated with the fact that they created a parallel economy in china, which was the trouble for the mainstream economy.  There was a pirate market in China, where looted material was sold at cheaper prices. Moreover, these raiders would collect the taxes also, which were known as ‘tribute’. These taxes were paid by the people to the raiders to avoid their attacks.

There is no doubt that the piracy was more dangerous in China as compared to the western world. As we mentioned above, there were 7000 raiders in China. But, as a matter of the fact, the western world comprises of 5500 pirates even in its golden age. On the other hand, the shadow economy of piracy was being proved much dangerous.

Interestingly, the people of China do not seem to be so interested in the pirate boots and pirate costumes despite such a wide influence. On the contrary, these dresses have become the fashion statements in the western world. Moreover, a number of pirate festivals are organized in order to enjoy the lifestyles of the raiders.

Pirate Costumes That You Can Wear in Pirate Festivals

The medieval era provides us a lot of things to adopt, which do not exist in the modern times. One of the things that can be taken today is the medieval fashion trend. There are a number of popular trends of the medieval times, but the pirate styles are becoming more and more popular today.

The popularity of the pirate costumes is on the heights in the present scenario. These are the costumes of the sea rovers of the medieval era. We cannot take inspiration from the pirates in terms of morals, but there is no doubt that their dresses are no more the outlaw costumes. Their styles are gaining popularity among the both men and women as the perfect fashion-statements. The historical raiders like Blackbeard and Calico Jack etc. and the fictional freebooters like Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean series) are influencing the dressing styles of the male. On the other hand, there were several female raiders also in the medieval era, among which Mary Read and Anne Bonny were the most popular ones. These female provide the unique ideas to females.

Such dresses are perfect to be worn in the medieval pirate festivals and the renaissance fests. You can have a lot of fun in these fests, along with wearing the pirate clothing. Entertainment performances, foods, and there are many other things to enjoy in this festival.

If you don’t on the perfect dresses for these festivals, then you are required to be prepared before 2 or 3 weeks ago. White color dresses are very popular in the recent times. The shirts and blouses of loose fittings with frill designs are most popular today. The pants to be worn in these fests should be loose.  Pants are popular among both men and women. But, the women can replace the pants with skirts also.

Other accessories to get the perfect pirate style include the hats and boots. Swashbuckler hat and black or brown boots provide the perfect raider look.

There is no doubt that the aforesaid pirate costumes provide a brilliant looks to the visitors of the recent times. You can acquire these dresses from a number of sites, such as http://www.tobeapirate.com/.

Sailor-Like Lifestyles of Medieval Pirates

There was a time when dressing like pirates was supposed to something sinister. But, in the recent times, the outfits of the medieval raiders have become the fashion statements despite the fact that no one wants to be a pirate in the real world. This fantastical version of raiders has perhaps been come due to their sailor-like lifestyles.

It is true that the major purpose of the freebooters was to plunder the treasure ships. But, it is equally correct that these people would live like a sailor, which has fascinated the people. The medieval freebooters would work in the crew and had a ship. They had a captain also, who would lead them. All the crew members used to obey the orders of the captain. Sometimes, captain was expelled also through voting, when the crew members would feel him to be weak. For instance, Charles Vane was removed from his post of captain because of his cowardice by the voting of the crew members, and his place was given Calico Jack Rackham.

Other crew members would also enjoy the sailor like lifestyles. They would play, dance and enjoy in many other ways in their leisure time. These crews had both male and female members. Mary Read and Anne Bonny are two popular names in this respect. On the other hand, female could also be a captain. For instance, Chinese female raider, Ching Shih became the captain of the crew after the death of her freebooter husband.

This lifestyle has inspired the film industry and gaming world also, and a number of films and games on the raiders’ lifestyle are in the market of today. The famous film series “Pirates of the Caribbean” with a notorious but funny pirate – Captain Jack Sparrow is very popular. On the other hand, in the animation film “Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas”, famous Arabian Nights character Sinbad the Sailor has been depicted as a raider, who has a crew. But, the purpose of Sinbad’s crew is not to loot any ship, but is to steal a magic book of peace.

This sailor like lifestyle has inspired the people up to the extent that the trend of the pirate festivals has been started in the western world. The lifestyle of the raiders is shown in these fests. You can watch a plenty of participants as well as visitors in the pirate Shirts, in these fests. On the other hand, various activities of the freebooters have also been displayed, such as treasure hunts etc.

The sailor lifestyles of the freebooters have become the youth icon in the recent times without any doubt. Bravery, clothing styles, and there are many other aspects in the lifestyles of the sea rovers, which influence the people.

Raids of Privateers and Real Sea Robbers in Medieval and Elizabethan Era

Pirates were the real robbers of the medieval era, who had a lot of weapons in their hands like buckler, cutlass, dagger and dirk. They were willing to rob other transporting goods on the water during the early 1650-1720 which we call ‘golden age of piracy’; however, other eras were also not free from piracy.

Pirates always targeted ships and threatened the people who were in the vessels. Some of them were authorized by the government to attack the treasures ships of enemy nations. The government-authorized raiders were known as privateers. In early sixteenth and seventeen century, there had been different types of privateers, who had some share with the government.

Francis Drake was one of the most famous sea robbers in the 17th century, and he belonged to England. He was very dangerous, and he attacked Spanish ships so many times. Moreover, he shared profits with Elizabeth who provided full support to him. The life of such raiders in a ship was so easy and attractive, and they had their own laws. The crew was treated much better than normal sailors and price money was shared equally. They had their ships, which were very powerful and fast. They were needed to navigate in shallow coastal waters.

Besides, there were some real robbers also, which used to wear unique style pirate costumes, shirts, boots and other outfits. Jolly Roger was one of the most famous pirates in early 17th century, and he used death symbols in ship logos. He gained the fame quickly at that time, and he designed his own version of the flag. He was always ready to flow the flag high, which consisted of the design of the human skull along with two long bones. This design was also used by several pirates like Captain Edward of England and John Taylor.  Moreover, black symbol always used to frighten other enemies. The life of such real pirates used to be very hard.

In the modern times, a number of films were also made, which are inspired by these raiders. For instance, “Pirates of the Caribbean” is a series of adventure, which is focused on the sea robbers of early 17th century. The inspiration of the raiders can be further witnessed in the modern-age pirate clothing also, which is made using the combination of medieval style and modern Hollywood style of the aforesaid films. This clothing has become the fashion-statement for the people in the modern age. click here for more info about pirates clothing.