When you think of pirates, you probably imagine bearded men, warrior heads and wooden legs with names like Blackbeard, Barbarossa or Calico Jack. But even if most pirates are men, there are women among these plunderers of the seas! Some are just as ruthless and feared as their male counterparts…
Young scoundrel of the oceans, welcome aboard! As the skull and crossbones enthusiasts of our online store, we owe it to you to draw up a portrait of history’s most famous female pirates to satisfy our darkest desires. ☠️
In this article, we’ll explore the history of women aboard ships plundering the world’s seas. Did they really exist? How did they attain this position? And above all, we’re going to present you with a list of 15 of them, along with their respective portraits. After reading this article, you’ll know exactly how to become a modern pirate! Let’s get started. 🔥THE MOST POPULAR PRODUCTS🔥
History of Pirate Women
Few historical figures spark the imagination as much as pirates. Rum, talking parrots, big hats and coats, treasure… It all adds up to dramatic and theatrical narratives of the grandest kind. Whether it’s the Moroccan pirate queen Sayyida al-Hurra (who wreaked havoc in the Mediterranean in the 16th century) or Lady Mary Killigrew, Queen Elizabeth I’s “sea dog”, women also have their place in the history of the plunderers of the seas…
Until now, history has largely ignored these women warriors. They sailed alongside – and sometimes led – the great male pirates. They came from all walks of life, but had one thing in common: a burning desire for freedom. Whether they actually lived such stories is irrelevant. The idea is to make us dream, of course, but not only that! Identifying with these barbaric women gives us the strength they possessed. The strength to fight for our own freedom.
These Legendary Pirate Women
One of the fascinating aspects of maritime law is that it’s practically self-contained. In other words, at sea, all laws change! Crimes committed on board cruise ships are treated differently from crimes committed on land. The idea that the sea is a place of limitless opportunity is seductive. There’s an immense sense of freedom. For women, this was attractive because they could completely shed the repressive roles imposed on them in their own society. They could reinvent their lives. 👊
For example, Cheng I Sao, who commanded a fleet larger than many male pirates of his day. Some women led male pirates and were surprisingly successful. This is where the feeling of freedom comes into its own. With their hair blowing in the wind, nothing could stop these legendary female pirates.
Women’s Pirate Clothes
Contrary to popular belief, many of them dressed as women. They didn’t dress up as men to impose their authority. Grace O’Malley, a 16th-century Irish pirate, even gave birth to her youngest son aboard a pirate ship. A perfect illustration of the ideology of these women warriors… Holding a sword in one hand and a baby in the other. ⚔️
Legend even has it that some of these pirates were very attractive. After all, a commander doesn’t always have to get his hands dirty. At the helm, hair blowing in the wind… A picture to dream about!
Let’s move on to our top 15 most famous female pirates in ocean history.
15) Sadie Farrell (The Goat)
Sadie Farrell, a 19th-century American pirate, nicknamed herself “The Goat”, an unusual moniker. Sadie earned a reputation as a ruthless aggressor by violently beating her victims. It’s said that she was driven out of Manhattan when a woman, Gallus Mag, got into a fight with her and bit off an ear. 👂
Sadie and her crew became pirates who plied the Hudson and Harlem rivers in search of booty. She led raids on the farms and elegant mansions lining the riverbanks, sometimes kidnapping people for ransom.
Now dubbed the “Queen of the Waterfront”, legend has it that she bought back her ear from her enemy to wear it in a medallion around her neck for the rest of her life.
14) Queen Teuta of Illyria
One of the first female pirates was actually a “pirate queen”. After the death of her husband Agron in 231 BC, Teuta of Illyria became queen, as her stepson Pinnes was too young to rule. During her four-year reign over the Ardiaei tribe in what is now the western Balkans, Teuta encouraged piracy as a means of fighting her enemies. This meant not only plundering Roman ships, but also capturing their captains. ⛓
His pirates extended their territory from the Adriatic to the Ionian Sea, spreading terror along the trade route between Greece and Italy. While Teuta’s sailors brought great wealth and power to his kingdom, they also brought him many enemies.
The Romans sent representatives to Teuta for a diplomatic meeting. She rejected their demands, insisting that her tribe considered piracy a legitimate business activity. Diplomacy gave way to war. Thus began the war between Rome and Illyria, which lasted from 229 to 227 BC.
13) Jacquotte Delahaye
Born in the 17th century, the daughter of a Frenchman and a Haitian woman, Jacquotte Delahaye amassed immense fortunes and captured the imagination of many seafaring storytellers. This buccaneer lost her mother in childbirth, as well as her brother. After her father’s murder, Delahaye was left to fend for herself. Legend has it that it was through piracy that she managed to survive. 🙌
Her nickname “Back From The Dead Red” comes from the most popular story about her. According to this story, this red-haired pirate faked her own death to escape the government forces hunting her down in the 1660s. She then adopted a new identity, living for several years as a man.
12) Jeanne de Clisson
Jeanne de Clisson’s story is one of tragedy, revenge and spectacle. As the wife of Olivier III de Clisson, Jeanne was the mother of five children and a lady of Brittany, France. But when land wars between England and France led to her husband being accused of treason and beheaded, she vowed revenge on the French king, Philippe VI. 😡
Clisson’s widow sold all her lands to buy three warships, which she dubbed her “Black Fleet”. These ships were painted black, draped in blood-red sails and crewed by ruthless privateers. From 1343 to 1356, the Lioness of Brittany sailed the English Channel, capturing ships belonging to the King of France, massacring their crews and beheading with axes any aristocrats unfortunate enough to be on board.
Remarkably, despite all her looting and violence, Jeanne de Clisson retired peacefully. She even remarried, settling down with English lieutenant Sir Walter Bentley. She is believed to have died in 1359, but some say she has since returned to the Château de Clisson in Brittany, where her gray specter haunts the corridors.
11) Anne Dieu-Le-Veut
This French woman originally from Brittany arrived on the Caribbean island of Tortuga in the late 1660s, and endured difficult years that left her twice widowed and the mother of two children. But as fate would have it, her second husband was killed by the man who was to become her third husband. 🗡
Dieu-Le-Veut set sail with her crew, which was considered strange at the time, as many sailors considered women on board ship to bring bad luck.
The legend of Dieu-Le-Veut has it that the woman took command of the squadron when Captain De Graaf was hit by a cannonball. Others suggest that the couple fled around 1698 to the Mississippi, where they may have continued to practice piracy. And some even claim that Dieu-Le-Veut’s fighting spirit survived in his daughter, who is said to have provoked duels in Haiti by demanding satisfaction from a man.
10) Sayyida Al Hurra
An ally of the Turkish pirate Barbarossa, Sayyida Al Hurra was a pirate queen and was the last woman to receive the title after the death of her husband, who had ruled Tetouan, Morocco. In fact, her real name is unknown. Sayyida Al Hurra translates as “noble, free and independent lady; the sovereign woman who submits to no higher authority”. 💪
She ruled from 1515 to 1542, controlling the western Mediterranean with her pirate fleet while Barbarossa plied the eastern side. Al Hurra’s inspiration to take up piracy stemmed from a desire for revenge against the “Christian enemy” who had wronged her Muslim family years earlier, when Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella had expelled her family from Granada. She was a feared figure among Spaniards and Portuguese, whose historical archives are replete with tales of her exploits and ransoms.
At the height of her power, she remarried the King of Morocco, but refused to relinquish her power in Tetouan. In 1542, she had no choice but to be overthrown by her son-in-law. The Yemen Times explores her final chapter in life and writes: “She was stripped of her possessions and power, and her subsequent fate is unknown.”
9) Ching Shih
One of the most feared pirates of all time was Ching Shih, a real menace sailing the China Sea. Born into a modest family as Shi Xiang Gu, she was working as a prostitute when pirates captured her. In 1801, she married the famous Chinese pirate Zheng Yi. Yi’s Red Flag fleet was immense, comprising 300 ships and some 20,000 to 40,000 men. But it was all in danger of collapsing when he died on November 16, 1807. 🧐
It wasn’t long before she enlisted the support of her in-laws to take charge of the Red Flag fleet. To face the daily challenges of this sprawling army of pirates, Ching Shih enlisted the help of Chang Pao, the son of a fisherman adopted by Yi. Together, they formed an exceptional team, and by 1810, the Red Flag fleet was said to number 1,800 ships and 80,000 crew.
To manage such an ensemble, Ching Shih set up her own government, establishing laws and even taxes. However, she was not merciful. Violation of her laws led to beheading. She was revered and feared, even in Britain.
8) Teuta d’Illyria
One of the earliest known female pirates was Teuta d’Illyria. Not only was this powerful woman a pirate, she was also a queen! After her husband’s death in 231 BC, Teuta became queen regent. She encouraged piracy as a means of defending her country against more powerful neighboring nations.
After the death of her husband, King of the Ardiaei, Teuta took his place. She was known to support plundering and raids against Roman and Greek ships, as well as coastal settlements.
When two Roman ambassadors asked her to stop her hostile activities, Teuta is said to have replied, “It has never been the custom of royalty to prevent its enemies from profiting from the sea.” In short, nothing and no one could stand in the way of her mission: to avenge her husband.
7) Maria Lindsey
Maria Lindsey met the famous pirate captain Eric Cobham, and it was love at first sight. Cobham revealed to her his profession as a pirate, but this didn’t deter Maria, as legend has it they were married the very next day! The couple left Maria’s hometown of Plymouth, and spent some twenty years sailing the seven seas. 🌊
She made an impressive career of plundering and murdering, although this was not her original vocation. But according to the stories about her, when she was on board, she was the ship’s most formidable fighter…
6) Grace O’Malley
Grace O’Malley was an incredible rebel, born in Ireland in 1530. She was known both as a pirate and a merchant… She even met Queen Elizabeth I! Unlike most pirates, she lived a long life, spending most of it at sea. She died around the age of 70, an impressive age for the time! 😵
The “pirate queen” is one of the most infamous murderers. It is said that she was raised among a clan of sailors of which her father was the leader. She married (twice) and spent most of her time defending her possessions by any means necessary… and appropriating those of others, like any self-respecting pirate.
Ruthless and fearless, legend has it that Grace gave birth to one of her sons aboard ship, then engaged in battle the next day to defend the ship. As if that weren’t enough, Grace was bold enough to request an audience with none other than Queen Elizabeth and demand that her brother and sons, who had been captured, be set free. The Queen agreed.
5) Aethelflaed
Aethelflaed was the first woman to rule an Anglo-Saxon kingdom. She became the military leader and chief strategist of the Anglo-Saxons after the death of her husband in battle against the Vikings in 911. She is credited with playing a key role in the defeat of the Viking invaders and the reconquest of English lands lost to Danish pirates. 🇬🇧
She features in many pirate stories and legends. Its name is familiar to even the most fervent enthusiasts of this very special world.
4) Ladgerda
Ladgerda (also spelled Lagertha) was a Danish Viking pirate said to have lived in the 9th century. She was known as the “Shieldmaiden”, a sword-and-shield-wielding Viking woman renowned for her ferocity and fighting skills on land and at sea. 🛡
With only a few accounts of her life (mainly from Saxo Grammaticus’s 13th-century Gesta Danorum), there is controversy among historians as to whether Ladgerda is a legendary figure and a surrogate for the actions of a group of women.
One story suggests that she saved her husband’s fleet from a warring tribe, but in saving him, she murdered him with a knife and took his place as tribal chief.
3) Madame Cheng
One of the most successful pirates of the 19th century, Madame Cheng (Ching Shih) commanded over 300 ships with around 3,500 pirate followers, among whom were men, women and even children. Quite simply, it was the largest pirate army in the world… Like Grace O’Malley, Cheng also lived to a ripe old age. She retired from piracy and finally died in 1844, aged 69.
Having begun her life in China as a prostitute, Cheng I Sao became involved in piracy thanks to her husband, the powerful pirate Cheng I, who led a considerable fleet. His fleet numbered 400 ships and over 70,000 sailors. After seven years of marriage, her husband died, leaving the fate of his pirate army uncertain. In a bid to keep her crew together and retain power, she married her adopted son, enabling her to become the new leader of the fleet. 💀
Over the years, she led many successful expeditions across Southeast Asia and quickly became a major enemy of China. In 1810, the Chinese government enlisted the help of the British and Portuguese navies to capture the ship and her crew.
2) Mary Read
Mary Read was an English pirate who, alongside her companion Anne Bonny, became a true legend. Her widowed mother used to dress her as a boy to raise money. She eventually enlisted in the British army, disguising herself as a boy. She married a Flemish soldier, but was left penniless after his death. On a voyage to the West Indies, their ship was attacked by pirates. After fighting them, she eventually joined their ranks. 🤝
Mary found herself aboard the ship of the famous Calico pirate Jack Rackham, alongside Anne Bonny. According to legend, she became the lover of both Rackham and Bonny. When the three were captured in 1720, Mary and Anne managed to delay their execution because they were both pregnant. However, Mary fell ill in prison and died in 1721.
1) Anne Bonny
Topping the list of the best female pirates of all time is Anne Bonny, probably the most famous female pirate of the Golden Age. She was a member of Calico Jack’s crew, alongside Mary Read, but it’s said that both women fought with more skill than any man on board the ship. They were even entrusted with the defense of the drunken crew when their ship was attacked by pirate hunters.
Born Anne Cormac in 1698, this young Irish woman with flaming red hair and a dangerous temperament became an icon of the golden age of piracy (1650-1730) after her marriage to pirate James Bonny. Her respectable father disowned her when she married, prompting her to move with her husband to a part of the Bahamas nicknamed the Pirate Republic, a veritable haven. 😈
They separated shortly afterwards, and it was here that she met Calico. In October 1720, she and the rest of Rackham’s crew were captured despite Bonny and his companion Mary Read’s valiant attempts to repel the English forces. She died a few years later in prison, while pregnant. 🔥THE MOST POPULAR PRODUCTS🔥
