Pirate code

A pirate code is a set of articles governing conduct, discipline, and the division of shares aboard a pirate vessel. Its rules were agreed among crew members and varied between ships.

Articles of agreement: A written agreement specifying the rights, duties, and shares of people in a joint enterprise. Pirate articles adapted this contractual form to set terms among crew members.
Pirate articles: Written rules adopted by a particular pirate crew to govern conduct, discipline, and shares. These ship-specific documents were the practical form the pirate code took.
Bartholomew Roberts: A Welsh pirate captain active in the Atlantic and Caribbean from 1719 to 1722. Articles associated with Roberts’ crews provide a detailed example of written pirate rules.
Buccaneer: A raider or privateer active in the Caribbean, especially during the seventeenth century. Buccaneer crews used written agreements that helped shape later pirate articles.
Privateer: A privately owned vessel authorized by a government to attack enemy shipping during wartime. Privateers operated under state commissions, unlike pirates governed by their own articles.
Pirate articles of Bartholomew Roberts: The articles recorded for the pirate crews commanded by Bartholomew Roberts in the early eighteenth century. Their provisions show how a surviving set of articles handled order and compensation.
John Phillips: An English pirate captain whose crew’s articles were recorded in the early eighteenth century. His articles offer a distinct example of rules governing discipline and shares.
Piracy in the Caribbean: Maritime robbery and raiding carried out in or around the Caribbean Sea. The region’s pirate crews provide much of the historical setting for surviving codes.
Maritime law: The body of law governing navigation, shipping, and other activities at sea. Pirate articles governed shipboard matters beyond the reach of ordinary maritime enforcement.
Pirate democracy: A system in which pirate crews used collective decisions and elected officers to limit a captain’s authority. Some articles formalized crew participation in decisions and constraints on captains.

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