7 Real Facts About Pirates That May Change Your Opinion of Jack Sparrow

Jack Sparrow, or, in fact, Captain Jack Sparrow, if he really existed, would’ve actually looked quite glamorous, as pirates adored trendy clothes and accessories. And most likely, he would’ve valued a piece of an old map more than a chest full of gold. But it’s not very likely that Davy Jones would be the head of a crew of pirates. Actually, he would’ve most likely been an innkeeper or a simple sailor that would often fall overboard because of his vision problems.

We at Bright Side love pirate movies and learning new things about them. So here’s a new compilation of cool and unexpected facts about pirates. And at the end of the article, there’s a bonus about how Julius Caesar acted when he was kidnapped by pirates.

Jolly Roger could have been red.

Historians still don’t understand the origin of “Jolly Roger,” which is the name of the pirate flag with the skull and bones image on it. Some people believe the term comes from the French “Joli Rouge,” which can be translated as “pretty red.”

In fact, black and red were the 2 most popular colors for flags. They would use symbols that reminded opponents of the consequences they would face if they resisted their attacks. Skeletons, skulls, a bloody heart, an hourglass, and wings were the most used symbols on their flags.

For pirates, maps were more valuable than treasure.

Of course, pirates loved treasure — who doesn’t? But the most valuable things for them were maps. Many pirates were literate and described their “feats.” For example, at the end of the seventeenth century, Bartholomew Sharpe wrote in his reports that his most valuable treasure was not gold or silver, but rather, an atlas of Spanish sailing charts. Sharpe later commissioned a colorfully illustrated English copy of the stolen atlas and presented it to the king of England.

Pirates of the Caribbean were named after smoked meat.

Pirates of the Caribbean were named “buccaneers” for their love for meat, smoked or grilled on a wooden frame that the indigenous people of South America and the Caribbean called “buccan.” Spaniards would call this process “barbacoa,” a word that later became “barbecue.” So the scary pirates were named after smoked meat.

In the beginning, landless hunters of wild boars and cattle were named “boucaniers” on the island of Hispaniola. In the largely uninhabited areas of Tortuga and Hispaniola, they smoked the meat they caught and sold it to pirates. Later, people started calling pirates “buccaneers.”

Life on pirate ships was much more civilized than on merchant ships.

The sailors that worked on merchant ships were often caught in very difficult conditions. A lot of times, there wasn’t enough food on ships, and people were fed with bad food. More than that, by the end of the journey, many were not even paid.

The life of pirates was more attractive. For example, one of the codes stated that every crew member had the right to vote on discussed matters. And if someone got seriously injured during a trip, they got very good money as compensation.

Blackbeard was the scariest pirate in history.

Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard, had a terrible reputation. The hair on his face reached his very eyes and was incredibly long. Before fights, he would put fuses into his beard and set them on fire to scare the enemies. But this was mostly for show. There’s no evidence that he ever actually killed someone or harmed his prisoners.

And his colleague, Stede Bonnet, escaped from his wife to be with pirates.

Stede Bonnet, also known as “The Gentleman Pirate,” didn’t know anything about the sea, but he hired some workers at the shipyard to build him a ship. Then he hired some sailors and became a pirate. Some people believe that his wife’s constant nagging pushed Bonnet to such behavior.

The many Davy Jones theories

Researchers have a few versions about who the prototypes of Davy Jones were. According to one of the legends, it was a pirate that sailed in the Indian ocean in the 1630s. But according to historians, he wasn’t famous enough to be remembered for that long.

According to another version, Davy Jones was a pub owner that held his clients hostage and sent them to serve on random ships. According to one more version, it was a short-sighted sailor that would fall overboard very often because of his poor vision.

Bonus: Julius Caesar made pirates listen to his poems.

When Julius Caesar was 25, he was kidnapped by pirates. The future emperor felt great. He commanded the pirates and demanded them to let him sleep. More than that, he made pirates listen to his speeches and poems and called them illiterate if they didn’t seem impressed enough.

What do you think about pirates? Do you think that writers and directors shouldn’t romanticize their lives so much?