For the history extension project, the topic area I have chosen for the project is the Golden age of Piracy which lasted from 1650 – 1730 AD, and how the time is portrayed in both popular culture and media, as opposed to historians, documentaries and nonfiction. The Golden age of piracy has been a hugely popular time period for lovers of both historians as well as authors, movie makers. The Golden Age of Piracy itself is one of my favourite periods in human history, however, the period itself has been a subject of debate through how its portrayal in popular culture affects the image of how it was actually believed to have been during the period of time itself.

Questions:

1. How has the Golden age of Piracy been told differently in both factual sources and fictional stories.
2. How have historical pirates such as Blackbeard been portrayed in fiction and how has that reflected on his factual legacy
3. What are some of the most popular beliefs and stereotypes portrayed in fiction that were actually never true.
4. How has fiction reflected on the public beliefs on historical pirates and how accurate is its reflection

In terms of finding, collecting and analysing the information available in order to complete the project, I need to do thorough and deep research into historical and fictional sources in order to develop an understanding of the history, the time and how it reflects on the debate of non-fiction vs fictional portrayals of the golden age of piracy. In terms of the historical side, this can include pictures and paintings from the time, due to the time period taking place before the invention of the camera. Notes and documents from possible pirates and those that clashed with them. Historical books that were written by historians at the time, most reliably those that would have seen the events unfold, this can include books written by pirates themselves. In terms of non-fiction and popular culture, there are different forms that can be used, in terms of movies, examples include “The Pirates of the Caribbean” Movies, treasure island, Peter Pan and others. Other examples can be video games such as Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag, which has been known to use a wide variety of historical sources in order to get as accurate of a portrayal of the time as possible.

The Golden age of Piracy was one of the most popular historical times that has been a large source of material for portrayals in fictional stories, movies and books. However, the time itself has been portrayed in a wide variety of different forms throughout fiction, this raises the question about accurate the portrayal of the time and how it actually was is shown and portrayed in the eyes of the majority of the public. Inaccurate portrayals can deceive and mislead the general public as to how the history of the golden age of piracy actually was. Because of this, how has popular culture portrayed different versions of the time of the golden age of piracy and piracy in general and how has this affected the public view of the actual historical recordings account the golden age of pircay. Fiction Writers vs Historians.

In terms of finding the information, before I look into a certain source, I want to look into the historians that either wrote or drew the pictures used in the source, I want to know if they were biased, lived at the time, when they created the source and how reliable they are as a source, as actual photographic evidence of the time is impossible as the camera wasn’t invented until 1816 almost over 100 years after the end of the golden age of piracy, the only possible images are paintings from the time, not able to capture the actual image but instead paint the image into what it should look like, and as a result, can be either incredibly truthful, or heavily fabricated and twisted. In terms of notes, books such as Pirates Fact vs Fiction and documentaries such as The Golden Age of Piracy Terror at Sea by BBC, they should be taken from reliable primary sources such as those who were alive and present at the time period of which the source is talking about or showing.

Sources include –

• Pirates of the Caribbean, a film series released by Disney which consists of five films and tells the story of Jack Sparrow and his crew of pirates
• Assassin’s Creed Black Flag, a video game created by Ubisoft
• Golden Age of Piracy Terror at Sea, a documentary by BBC
• Pirates Fact vs Fiction, a novel written by David Cordingly

The Golden age of piracy always been an area of history that has been interesting and inspired many different authors and artists, making it extremely popular in stories of fiction. Because of this and its many different interpretations, there is much to compare in terms of historical accuracy and fictional portrayal.

Pirates Fact vs Fiction is a novel written by David Condignly and John Falconer. The book tells of the main differences between the reality of piracy and how it is portrayed in fiction.

Pirates Fact vs Fiction traces the history of piracy from the Spanish Main, where Drake and the Elizabethan sea dogs plundered vast quantities of treasure from Spanish galleons returning to the Old World, to the China Seas where, in the early nineteenth century, the female pirate Ching Yih Saou commanded a fleet of over 800 junks. It examines the realities of pirate life through everyday items that would have been used by the pirates themselves, weapons, navigational instruments, charts, and, by contrasting these with fictional portrayals and stereotypes, sets out to dispel some of the myths surrounding this perennially fascinating subject.

Assassins Creed black flag is one of the most recognisable video games to involve pirates and as such, is an important source when it comes to the fictional portrayal of piracy. With Assassins Creed Black Flag, the AC series brought its trademark blend of historical realism, anachronistic parkour and balls-out-insane sci-fi conspiracy nonsense to bear on one of history’s most romanticised, fictionalised and misunderstood eras: the so-called “Golden Age of Piracy.” With the stated goal of showing who these people really were and what their lives were really like, Black Flag promises unvarnished insight into the fascinating, terrifying and very real world pirates inhabited.

The game includes historical characters and events which include, Charles Vane, a pirate with a high reputation for killing and torturing surrendered captives and taking his own crews share of treasure. Blackbeard, one of the most famous pirates of all time. Benjamin Horningold, most well known for being Blackbeard’s Captain, an important pirate chieftain and one of the founders of the pirate republic at Nassau.

Events such at the The Massive Wreck of the Spanish Armada, Assault on 42 Portuguese ships, and locations such as Nassau, Havana and Kingston are present and important parts in the history of the golden age.

While there are some inaccuracies within the game, the creators of the game created an accurate and fitting depiction of the golden age, with historical events and people used to create an important part of piracy portrayed in fiction.

Pirates of the Caribbean – Pirates of the Caribbean is a franchise created by Disney about a crew of pirates led by Jack Sparrow on his adventures against enemy pirates to the British government. throughout the film, the audience is introduced to the British Caribbean during the golden age of piracy and places such as Great Britain, Tortuga, Singapore and others during the Golden era. the films themselves have made billions at the box office and have become the most well known films about piracy throughout the world.

Due to the films worldwide recognition, especially throughout the western world, they are the most recognisable form of pirates in fiction, however there are many inaccuracies with the films. while they got many things correct, such as the stereotype of pirates loving rum, Blackbeard being an actual person, women who did sail the seven seas, the Jolly Roger flag and many others, it got many things inaccurate as well.

Certain myths seen throughout the films were exaggerated or did not exist at all, such as walking the plank, the ships were not as big as many consider, port royal was actually destroyed in an earthquake in 1692, before the main events and the primary enemies of pirates, didn’t sail with the Union Jack or in uniform at the time.

the films are hugely popular and easily recognisable, however, while there are many accuracies, there are many inaccuracies as well

Assassins Creed is a video game released by Ubisoft in 2013 that portrays historical and fictional pirates such as Edward Kenway who was a real person, to Blackbeard, a historical pirate. This is historical fiction, video game style.

while the story of pirates fighting along the seas for slaves may be considered outright ridiculous or believable to some, Blackbeard was known to to a mix of actions when he found slaves, some suggest he freed them, joined his crew or sold them at auctions.

The development team behind black flag sought to create an immersive and realistic depiction of the time of piracy, which included historical figures such as Blackbeard, but it obviously isn’t a hundred percent accurate, as the main character wasn’t a real person nor based of a real person, but acts as a way to create an original story

when looking into specific examples of pirates, one of the most famous was Sir Henry Morgan (1635-1688)

He was born in 1635 in Llanrhymny, then a village between Cardiff and Newport, in South Wales, to a prosperous farming family. It is believed he spent his childhood in Wales but how he came from Wales to the West Indies is uncertain.

By 1662 Henry Morgan had his first command as a captain of a privateer ship involved in an attack on Santiago de Cuba. A privateer was empowered by the British government, or a representative of the government such as the Governor of Jamaica, to raid and attack the Spanish on England’s behalf. Privateers were allowed to keep some of their plunder for themselves. So in a way, privateers could be thought of as ‘legal’ pirates.

The exact cause of his death on August 25th 1688 aged 53 is uncertain; some sources say tuberculosis, whilst others cite acute alcoholism. At the time of his death he was a very wealthy man indeed, with large sugar plantations and 109 slaves.

in order to understand piracy, it is important to look into some of the most recognised individuals, and none are more famous or infamous than Edward Thache, also known as Blackbeard. Blackbeard is commonly associated with the brutality of piracy, however, in reality, there was no witness reports of his dark nature until his final battle. Blackbeard freed a lot of slaves during his piracy career but he was no abolitionist. A number of ships he captured were slave ships, which tended to be larger to account for maximum ‘cargo’. Upon capture, a large proportion of slaves joined the pirates – clearly the better choice rather than life on a plantation. However, reports also account that Blackbeard and his associates also returned slaves to the mainland to be sold at auction. Even up to his death, Blackbeard’s crew were made up of both free men and former slaves. Blackbeard met his fate during a battle with Lieutenant Maynard at Ocracoke. At one point, Blackbeard’s crew had seemingly ‘won’ after killing a few men aboard the other sloop. However, when he went to board Maynard’s vessel he was ambushed by a group of hidden sailors (including Maynard himself) in sword-to-sword combat. Blackbeard was killed and was noted to have received five shots and 20 deep cuts. His body was thrown overboard but not before his head was severed and strung from the bow of the ship.

in terms of finding the fictional side of piracy and its portrayal. Certain films like the Pirates of the Caribbean were watched in order to get an understanding of the portrayal of piracy during the period. While ignoring the heavily fictional parts such as the curse, the Kraken and chests locked with hearts. The films show different sides of piracy, from Jack Sparrow and his crew, to Barbossa and his crew who are willing to pillage and murder in order to achieve what they want. the film gives off a more negative depiction of the Royal Navy and their treatment of piracy, in which one can be hanged for simply being a pirate. In terms of accuracy towards fact, Barbossa and his crew are more closely related to the true nature of piracy as opposed to Jack Sparrow and his crew. In terms of punishments from countries such as the British, the crime of “piracy”, was and still is in some countries that still allow it, punishable by death, most notably by hanging.

It was important to look into this film series as it is easily the most popular and well known depiction of Piracy throughout the golden age, however, moving aside the heavily fictional aspects, it can be considered fairly accurate in certain areas, however, areas such as our main hero, were not fully accurate, most likely so that the main hero was likeable to audiences

One Historian Iv’e looked at was David Cordingly

David Cordingly is a writer and maritime historian. He was on the staff of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich for twelve years where he was Keeper of  Pictures and then Head of Exhibitions. While at the museum he organised a series of major exhibitions including the highly successful Pirates: Fact and Fiction. His books include  Under the Black Flag and Billy Ruffian: the Bellerophon and the downfall of Napoleon.

Pirates: Fact vs Fiction is one particular book I plan to read over the next week, as it relates to the core part of my project and is only 128 pages in length making it fairly short and easy to read and understand

I handed in the draft for the overall project proposal for the project, this includes my topic area, the topic question, 3 of the 4 different questions, areas and sources I plan on looking into detail and studying over the next week