In honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day, here is a much-overlooked bit of pirate history: the long-standing presence of female pirates and pirate leaders.
While people may know the names of Anne Bonney and even Mary Read, how many know about Johanna Hård or Cheng I Sao?
I am only covering a few of the many women pirates through history and across the world. For more information on women pirates, check the Wikipedia entry.
Jeanne-Louise de Belleville, 1343-1356
A French woman, known as the "Lioness of Brittany," who became a pirate to avenge the execution of her husband.
Sayyida al-Hurra ibn Banu Rashid al-Mandri al-Wattasi Hakima Tatwan, 1510-1542
al Hurra controlled the western Mediterranean Sea, and became the last woman in Islamic history to legitimately hold the title of “al Hurra” or Queen, as prefect of Tétouan following the death of her husband. She later married the King of Morocco, but refused to leave Tétouan to do so, marking the only time in Morrocan history a King has married away from the capital.
Gráinne Ní Mháille a.k.a. Grace O'Malley, Early 1560s-1603
This Irishwoman, called the "Sea Queen Of Connemara," commanded three ships and 200 men.
Jaquotte Delahaye, 1650s-1660s
A Caribbean pirate known as "Back from the Dead Red" because the redhead faked her own death and hid dressed as a man for several years before her return to piracy.
Cheng I Sao aliases Ching Yih Saou and Ching Shih, 1807-1810
Operated in the South China Sea, commanding six fleets consisting of 800 large ships, about 1,000 smaller vessels, and between 70,000 and 80,000 men and women.
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