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Benjamin Hornigold
Captain Benjamin Hornigold was a British pirate active in the Caribbean and North Atlantic from 1716 to 1717. Hornigold’s greatest claim to fame (or infamy) is that he taught the pirating ropes to Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard (d. 1718). Giving...
Definition
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea
The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea is an eyewitness account of ancient travel to Africa and India via the Red Sea written by an unknown Greek-speaking Egyptian author in the 1st century CE. In this detailed account, the conditions of the...
Collection
The Real Pirates of the Caribbean
The real pirates of the Caribbean operated during the Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1730) terrorizing merchant ships and colonial ports to grab gold, liquor, and any cargo they fancied during their adventurous but almost always short careers...
Definition
Zheng Yi Sao
Zheng Yi Sao (aka Ching Shih, Cheng I Sao, Ching Yih Saou or Mrs Cheng, d. 1844) was the chief of a massive pirate confederation which plundered the South China Sea in the early 19th century. She inherited the role from her late husband...
Definition
Tulum
Tulum, on the east coast of the Yucatan peninsula in southern Mexico, was an important Mesoamerican centre which displayed both Maya and Toltec influence. Tulum was a major trading and religious centre between the 11th and 16th centuries...
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Periplus of the Euxine Sea by Arrian
Beginning of the Periplus of the Euxine Sea by Arrian of Nicomedia, Johann Froben and Nicolaus Episcopius, Basel 1533. Basel University Library. The Periplus of the Euxine Sea (Latin: Periplus Ponti Euxini, Greek: Períplous toû Euxeínou...
Image
Dancing Scene in the Caribbean
Dancing Scene in the Caribbean, oil on canvas by Agostino Brunias, sometime between 1764 and 1796. The painting depicts men and women of African descent dancing on a Caribbean island, most likely St. Vincent or Dominica, where the Italian-born...
Image
The Spanish Main & the West Indies c.1720
A map illustrating the changing balance of colonial power among the Spanish, English, and French Empires in the 1700s along the coastlines of the Americas, specifically in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. This region, referred to...
Definition
Buccaneer
The buccaneers were privateers who attacked enemies of their state, namely Spain, in the Caribbean and on the American coast (the Spanish Main) throughout the 17th century. Initially hunters and then seamen and soldiers, the buccaneers successfully...
Article
Sugar & the Rise of the Plantation System
From a humble beginning as a sweet treat grown in gardens, sugar cane cultivation became an economic powerhouse, and the growing demand for sugar stimulated the colonization of the New World by European powers, brought slavery to the forefront...