Pirates: What Was Life Really Like During the Golden Age?

Ever wondered what life was REALLY like for pirates during the Golden Age of Piracy in the late 17th and early 18th century?

Historian Luke Tomes is on a mission to find out, boarding a 17th Century replica Spanish Galleon to learn more about the world of trade in which piracy was born and what conditions were like for sailors at the time.

Luke then is given behind-the-scenes access to the National Maritime Museum's new exhibition on Piracy, seeing some of the most priceless artefacts relating to the Golden Age, including one of the first editions of 'A General History of Pyrates', published in 1724 and written by Captain Charles Johnson. In it we see some of the first depictions of the most notorious pirates in history, like Blackbeard, Bartholomew Roberts, Anne Bonny and Mary Read.

Finally, Luke travels to AC Sporting Targets in North London, where he meets up with John Hargreaves to test some of the weapons that would have been used by and against pirates during a raid at sea.

Visit the National Maritime Museum to see their new exhibition on 'Pirates': https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/national-maritime-museum/pirates

Check out the El Galeon Andalucia: https://www.fundacionnaovictoria.org/el-galeon/

and AC Sporting Targets: https://www.acsportingtargets.com/



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#pirates #goldenageofpiracy #realhistory

00:00 Introduction
01:45 Pirate Ship: El Galeon Andalucia
06:15 Below Deck
08:17 Pirate Raids
11:30 Who Were Pirates?
13:09 Pirate Objects: Pipes, Dice, Gambling Tokens
14:59 The Pirate Code: Bartholomew Roberts
16:44 Pirate Objects: 17th C. Flintlock Pistol
18:58 Pirate Weapons
21:22 Captain Willian Kidd
22:39 Firing Flintlock Pistol
28:23 Firing Musket
32:21 Firing Blunderbuss
37:16 Firing Swivel Gun
42:42 The General History of Pyrates (1724)
45:44 Anne Bonny and Mary Read
47:35 Edward Teach (aka 'Blackbeard')
49:22 Conclusion