How pirates spent their stolen wealth (7 photos)

Some of the "gentlemen of fortune" became very wealthy people.





The heyday of piracy is considered to be the period from 1650 to 1730, when these guys were especially active in the North Atlantic and Indian Ocean.



There was a nuance: anyone could buy a corsair license and legally rob ships. European powers were constantly at war with each other, and these showdowns also took place at sea. And corsairs were attracted to them - they constantly harassed enemy merchant ships and disrupted supply chains. For example, the British robbed the ships of the French and vice versa. And part of the loot was officially given to the state.

Convenient and profitable for everyone. Well, except for those who were robbed.





There is a popular myth that pirates' loot included chests of gold, precious stones and jewelry. This is nonsense - if a ship did go with such a cargo, it was only with a powerful convoy of military vessels, no pirate could even approach them. Even if he had a small flotilla, the forces were still not equal.



But corsairs/pirates valiantly robbed single merchant ships with cargoes of fabrics, tea, spices, alcohol, building materials and supplies. This stuff was most often brought to Nassau (the capital of the Bahamas) and sold to local traders. And they resold the goods to those for whom they were originally intended. Naturally, with a big markup. Unwitting buyers grunted, puffed, but still laid out money - because the next ship with cargo would not arrive soon. And it was not a fact that it would not be captured and plundered, too.

In general, business flourished.



Most deals were made in taverns - these were a kind of business centers of that time. All public life revolved around them, and money was spent there. As a rule, on alcohol and prostitutes. Another significant expense item was the purchase of weapons for the upcoming raid, but this was already done by the captains. And the average pirate spent the lion's share of the money he received on girls and heavy drinking. And he never had much money: he lived from "case to case", then either died or was caught and hanged on the gallows. Therefore, his life was short, but eventful.

By the way, about wealth - most of the "gentlemen of fortune" were not beggars, of course, but they never had any extra money. The rich among them are an exception. Such was Henry Morgan:



He had a whole flotilla of 30 ships and sometimes robbed entire cities. At the peak of his career, he was considered the most powerful and successful sea robber - some merchants sooner or later realized that it was useless to fight him and simply paid tribute. Others realized this truth when their ship was captured by Morgan's team again. But in the end, everyone understood this, so the pirate drove under his "roof" all the entrepreneurs he could reach and got terribly rich on this. In today's money, Morgan had a fortune of more than 200 million dollars. And he invested the money in buying ships, real estate and hiring guys for his brigade.



In general, Morgan could buy everything and everyone, except death - he did not come to an agreement with it and died at 53 from cirrhosis of the liver. Although in general, he is still a lucky man - the rest died in battle, in a drunken brawl or in a quarrel over a woman of easy virtue, on whom they had previously spent their last money.