Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that can help answer the question.
Query: When was the Golden Age of Piracy?
Rediker, in 2004, described the most complex definition of the Golden Age to date. He proposes a "golden age of piracy, which spanned the period from roughly 1650 to 1730", which he subdivides into three distinct "generations": the buccaneers of 1650–1680, the Indian Ocean pirates of the 1690s, and the pirates of the years 1716–1726.
The Hundred Years' War, which lasted from 1337 to 1453, was the backdrop to their pillaging. The Hundred Years' War was fought between two royal families over control of the French throne: the Plantagenets from England, and the House of Valois from France. The War, which is divided into three stages - the Edwardian War (1337-1360), the Caroline War (1369-1389), and the Lancastrian War (1415-1429) - saw the development of new tactics and weaponry that revolutionised warfare during that time period.
Early Islamic philosophy began in the 2nd century AH of the Islamic calendar (early 9th century CE) and lasted until the 6th century AH (late 12th century CE). The period is known as the Golden Age of Islam, and the achievements of this period had a crucial influence on the development of modern philosophy and science in the Western world; for Renaissance Europe, the influence represented from the Islamic Golden Age was “one of the largest technology transfers in world history”. This period began with al-Kindi in the 9th century and ended with Averroes (Ibn Rushd) at the end of 12th century. The death of Averroes effectively marked the end of a particular discipline of Islamic philosophy usually called the Peripatetic Arabic School, and philosophical activity declined significantly in Western Islamic countries such as Islamic Iberia and North Africa.
Before 1100, Genoa emerged as an independent city-state, one of a number of Italian city-states during this period. Nominally, the Holy Roman Emperor was sovereign and the Bishop of Genoa was head of state; however, actual power was wielded by a number of consuls annually elected by popular assembly. Genoa was one of the so-called "Repubbliche Marinare" along with Venice, Pisa, and Amalfi. Trade, shipbuilding, and banking helped support one of the largest and most powerful navies in the Mediterranean. There is an old saying that says: "Genuensis ergo mercator" which means "Genoese therefore merchants" but the Genoese were skilled sailors and ferocious warriors as well (see also the Genoese crossbowmen). In 1098, it is said the ashes of John the Baptist, now the patron saint of the city, arrived in Genoa. The Adorno, Campofregoso, and other smaller merchant families all fought for power in this republic, as the power of the consuls allowed each family faction to gain wealth and power in the city. The Republic of Genoa extended over modern Liguria, Piedmont, Sardinia (see also Pisan-Genoese expeditions to Sardinia), Corsica, and Nice, and had practically complete control of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Through Genoese participation on the Crusades, colonies were established in the Middle East, the Aegean Sea, Sicily, and Northern Africa. The cronista of the Genoese vicissitudes was Caffaro di Rustico da Caschifellone and the Hero and Military leader was Guglielmo Embriaco called "Testadimaglio" meaning "mallet head" (see also Siege of Jerusalem (1099)). Genoese Crusaders brought home a green glass goblet from the Levant (see also Holy Chalice), which the Genoese have long regarded as the Holy Grail. In his "Golden Legend", the Archbishop of Genoa, Jacobus de Voragine tells about the history of the Holy Grail. Not all of Genoa's merchandise was so innocuous, however, as medieval Genoa became a major player in the slave trade.
The history of the Philippines from 1521 to 1898, also known as the Spanish colonial period, was a period during which Spain controlled the Philippine islands as the Captaincy General of the Philippines, initially under New Spain until Mexican independence in 1821, which gave Madrid direct control over the area. It was also known as Spanish East Indies to the colonialists. It started with the arrival in 1521 of European explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailing for Spain, which heralded the period when the Philippines was a colony of the Spanish Empire, and ended with the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution in 1898, which marked the beginning of the American colonial era of Philippine history.
Ching Shih () (born Shih Yang (; 1775–1844), also known as Cheng I Sao (), was a former pirate who once terrorized the China Seas during the Jiaqing Emperor period of the Qing dynasty in the early 19th century. She commanded over 300 junks (traditional Chinese sailing ships) manned by 20,000 to 40,000 pirates—men, women, and even children. She entered into conflict with the major nations, such as the British Empire, the Portuguese Empire, and the Qing dynasty.
Pease was described as “a satanic looking rascal with a black spade beard – [who] was a more openly piratical operator than [Bully] Hayes”. Pease may have greater claim than Bully Hayes as being a South Sea pirate and "the last of the buccaneers," as Pease appears to have been engaged in filibustering in his activities in the opium trade after China's defeat in the Second Opium War in 1858, when it was forced to legalize opium and allow the importation of opium. However details of Pease’s involvement in this trade is uncertain. There are stories told that he was a captain of a gunboat in the Imperial Chinese Navy; and that he was engaged in action against pirates along the coast of China; as well there are stories of Pease raiding trading junks along the coast of China.
A semi-fictionalized account of Ching Shih's piracy appeared in Jorge Luis Borges's short story "The Widow Ching, Lady Pirate" (part of "A Universal History of Infamy" (1935)), where she is described as "a lady pirate who operated in Asian waters, all the way from the Yellow Sea to the rivers of the Annam coast", and who, after surrendering to the imperial forces, is pardoned and allowed to live the rest of her life as an opium smuggler. Borges acknowledged the 1932 book "The History of Piracy", by Philip Gosse (grandson of the naturalist Philip Henry Gosse), as the source of the tale.
The following is a list of Marvel Comics Golden Age characters and teams that first appeared in Marvel Comics during the Golden Age of Comic Books (late 1930s and c. 1950), under both of Marvel's previous names, Timely Comics and Atlas Comics.
Aside from the theological viewpoint, Islam is historically believed to have originated in the early 7th century CE in Mecca, and by the 8th century the Umayyad Islamic caliphate extended from Iberia in the west to the Indus River in the east. The Islamic Golden Age refers to the period traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 13th century, during the Abbasid Caliphate, when much of the historically Muslim world was experiencing a scientific, economic and cultural flourishing. The expansion of the Muslim world involved various caliphates, such as the Ottoman Empire, traders and conversion to Islam by missionary activities ("dawah").
The first full-time cruise ship was "Ceylon," a P&O liner converted in 1881. Up to this point ship owners had occasionally used liners for off-season cruising. From 1881 the growth of the cruise industry proceeded slowly until the 1970s when major shipping operators became badly affected by the rise in popularity of longhaul jet air travel. Faced with falling demand for their mail and passengers services they turned their business to holiday cruises – voyages that usually end where they begin, providing short leisure visits to other ports on the way. In the case of Southampton at the time ships affected included Cunard's "QE2" and the P&O vessels SS "Oriana" and SS "Canberra": all originally built as fast liners, they began to offer a growing variety of cruises. Through the 1990s cruising's growing popularity saw huge increases in ship size and numbers as well as terminal capacity, with Southampton becoming one of the busiest cruise ports in the world.
Swedish pre-history ends around 800 CE, when the Viking Age begins and written sources are available. The Viking Age lasted until the mid-11th century, when the Christianization of Scandinavia was largely completed when Sweden became the last Norse country to adopt Christianity. Scandinavia was formally Christianized by 1100 AD. The period 1050 to 1350 – when the Black Death struck Europe – is considered the Older Middle Ages. The Kalmar Union between the Scandinavian countries was established in 1397 and lasted until King Gustav Vasa ended it upon seizing power. The period 1350 to 1523 – when king Gustav Vasa, who led the unification of Sweden, was crowned – is considered the Younger Middle Ages.
During the Middle Ages, the island of Lesbos belonged to the Byzantine Empire. In the 1090s, the island was briefly occupied by the Turkish emir Tzachas. In the 12th century, the island became a frequent target for plundering raids by the Republic of Venice. After the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) the island passed to the Latin Empire, but was reconquered by the Empire of Nicaea sometime after 1224. In 1354, it was granted as a fief to the Genoese Francesco I Gattilusio. The Gattilusi also ruled Old Phocaea on the Anatolian mainland and the town of Ainos in Thrace, but by the 1430s, with the precipitate decline of Byzantine power, they had also seized Thasos and Samothrace.
Vikings were members of tribes, originally from Scandinavia, of Norse ancestry, who gained a reputation for their raids and piracy in many parts of Europe, especially England, Ireland, and Frankish territories. The term "Viking Age" refers to the period roughly from 793 AD to the late 11th century in Europe. In this era Viking activity started with raids on Christian lands in England and eventually expanded to mainland Europe, including parts of present-day Russia. While maritime battles were rare, Viking bands proved very successful in raiding coastal towns and monasteries due to their efficient warships, and intimidating war tactics, skillful hand-to-hand combat, and fearlessness. What started as Viking raids on small towns transformed into the establishment of important agricultural spaces and commercial trading-hubs across Europe through rudimentary colonization. Vikings' tactics in warfare gave them an enormous advantage in successfully raiding (and later colonizing), despite their small population in comparison to that of their enemies.
According to the International Maritime Bureau, the pirates are able to bypass authorities and elude detection by taking cover in numerous islands that readily surround the area. The region surrounding Indonesia alone has an estimate of over seventeen hundred islands and a seascape of tropical isles in which pirates are able to seek refuge. In addition, numerous major naval forces that use to patrol high seas has declined by fifty percent and this has adversely propelled the rate of pirate attacks in Indonesia. Many of these crimes are conducted for ransom, but there is a huge risk involved when these pirates are illegal syndicates who hijack tug boats, barges and large tankers. These containers carry explosive natural gases that can be used as weapons. The worry on piracy in Indonesia continues to soar when it was recorded back in 2012 that across the Indonesian archipelago, the number of petty thefts recorded was eighty-one and this accounts to more than one quarter of the world's piracy incidents. In addition, economic drivers such as poverty and corruption also accounts to the high rates of pirate attacks. As supported in a research article by David Rosenberg, the number of crimes has shot up ever since the 1997 currency crisis in Indonesia, driving numerous people to becoming pirates solely to earn a living wage. According to the Bali Times, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are all responsible for patrolling their own regions and they do not have any jurisdiction beyond their water territories, making regional waters vulnerable and easy for pirates to escape. Furthermore, with Indonesia's coastline being twice as long as the perimeter of the earth, patrolling their water territory with slightly more than a dozen vessels is clearly inadequate. Within the first six months of 2012, Indonesia alone is responsible for twenty percent of the pirate attacks that happened globally.
In English history, the ‘Hundred Years’ War’ refers to the 116-year period between 1337 – 1453. In some French accounts, that period of conflict is referred to as the ‘Second Hundred Years’ War’, the first embracing the period of upheaval following the change in the balance of power between the French and English thrones from 1159 to 1259 after Henry II of England married Eleanor of Aquitaine gaining many French territories in the process and achieving territorial superiority over the French Kingdom, until the Treaty of Paris (1259), in which the opposite became true. This period saw many conflicts and battles between the two kingdoms such as the Anglo-French War (1202–1214) or the Battle of Bouvines.
In the Early Middle Ages, through barbarian movements, the waning of the Byzantine Empire influence in the western Mediterranean and the Saracen raids, the island fell out of the sphere of influence of any higher government. This led to the birth of four kingdoms called "Judicates" (Latin: "Judicati"; Sardinian: "Judicados") in the 8th through 10th centuries. Falling under papal influence, Sardinia became the focus of the rivalry of Genoa and Pisa, the Judicates and the Crown of Aragon, which eventually subsumed the island as the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1324. The Kingdom was to last until 1718, when it was ceded to the Piedmontese House of Savoy; later, in 1861, it would thus become the Kingdom of Italy and finally in 1946 the Italian Republic.
In the 1500s an estimated 10,000 gondolas of all types were in Venice; in 1878 an estimated 4000 and now approximately 400.
Lisbon and the neighbor Tagus estuary has always been the largest and most important naval base of Portugal, since the 12th century. During the Age of Discovery, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Lisbon and the Tagus became the major naval base in the World. It was from this base, that Vasco da Gama set out to discover the sea route to India.
P&O first introduced passenger services in 1844, advertising sea tours to destinations such as Gibraltar, Malta and Athens, sailing from Southampton. The forerunner of modern cruise holidays, these voyages were the first of their kind, and have led to P&O Cruises being recognised as the world's oldest cruise line. The company later introduced round trips to destinations such as Alexandria and Constantinople and underwent rapid expansion in the later half of the 19th century, with its ships becoming larger and more luxurious. Notable ships of the era include the SS "Ravenna" built in 1880, which became the first ship to be built with a total steel superstructure, and the SS "Valetta" built in 1889, which was the first ship to use electric lights.
It is estimated that there were eight to ten thousand gondolas during the 17th and 18th century. There are just over four hundred in active service today, virtually all of them used for hire by tourists. Those few that are in private ownership are either hired out to Venetians for weddings or used for racing. Even though the gondola, by now, has become a widely publicized icon of Venice, in the times of the Republic of Venice it was by far not the only means of transportation; on the map of Venice created by Jacopo de' Barbari in 1500, only a fraction of the boats are gondolas, the majority of boats are batellas, caorlinas, galleys, and other boats. Now, only a handful of batellas survive, and caorlinas are used for racing only.
Historians, such as John Fiske, mark the beginning of the Golden Age of Piracy at around 1650, when the end of the Wars of Religion allowed European countries to resume the development of their colonial empires. This involved considerable seaborne trade, and a general economic improvement: there was money to be made—or stolen—and much of it traveled by ship.
The oldest known literary mention of a "Golden Age" of piracy is from 1894, when the Swedish journalist George Powell wrote about "what appears to have been the golden age of piracy up to the last decade of the seventeenth century." Powell uses the phrase while reviewing Charles Leslie's "A New and Exact History of Jamaica", then over 150 years old, and refers mostly to such 1660s events as Henry Morgan's attacks on Maracaibo and Portobelo and Bartolomeu Português's famous escape. Powell uses the phrase only once.
David Cordingly, in his influential 1994 work "Under the Black Flag", defined the "great age of piracy" as lasting from the 1650s to around 1725, very close to Fiske's definition of the Golden Age.
In 1897, a more systematic use of the phrase "Golden Age of Piracy" was introduced by historian John Fiske, who wrote: "At no other time in the world's history has the business of piracy thriven so greatly as in the seventeenth century and the first part of the eighteenth. Its golden age may be said to have extended from about 1650 to about 1720." Fiske included the activities of the Barbary corsairs and East Asian pirates in this "Golden Age," noting that "as these Mussulman pirates and those of Eastern Asia were as busily at work in the seventeenth century as at any other time, their case does not impair my statement that the age of the buccaneers was the Golden Age of piracy."