Armory Replicas is happy to sell a number of swords and apparel items based on actual historical figures, events, and armies. Here is a bit of history on one such sword, the Lost Caribbean Pirate Saber!

Though commonly associated with such fun themes as the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and by fun rides at amusement parks, piracy was indeed a major concern for seafarers venturing through the Caribbean between the 1600s and the 1800s. Here are some facts you may not have known about piracy in this place and time, and some of the most towering figures of piracy:

-Several Caribbean islands contained major seaports which openly housed pirates between the 17th and 19th centuries: Jamaica’s Port Royal, Haiti’s Tortuga, and the Bahamas’ Nassau.

-Blackbeard was one of the most dreaded pirates of this era. Born in England in 1680 as Edward Thatch, Blackbeard was known for his fiendish appearance, his two hundred ton frigate named the Queen Anne’s Revenge, and his success as a pirate off the coast of the Bahamas. Blackbeard was killed in an extremely violent shootout with a British Royal Navy squadron sent out to capture him.

-Welshman Henry Morgan, though feared as a pirate, was beloved by many of the English. Morgan attacked the Spanish and stole from them whenever he saw a chance to do so. Historians consider Morgan a pirate due to the lack of legal justification for his raids, but he died a death that few pirates could dream of—in his bed, with wealth, fame, and widespread respect.

-Bartholomew “Black Bart” Roberts only operated as a pirate for three years, from 1719 to 1722, but he found plenty of success in that time! Black Bart sunk, captured, and pillaged a total of around 400 ships, and he commanded several large ships, all named some variant on the word “Fortune.” The governments of Barbados and Martinique both made efforts to capture Black Bart, though they failed miserably—when the governor of Martinique met Black Bart in person, Black Bart promptly hanged him! Black Bart met his end in Africa in 1722, where he died in a naval battle.

-Anne Bonny and Mary Read were the 18th century’s most feared female pirates. Both were under the command of pirate Calico Jack Rackham, and could fight, curse, and tend a ship as well as any of Rackham’s male pirates! Both were extremely ruthless, and both considered plots to murder witnesses against Rackham and themselves. Both were sentenced to prison—Read died there, and Bonny is believed to have retired into a private life after her marauding days had ended.

As an homage to the Caribbean’s adventurous history, Armory Replicas is selling the Lost Caribbean Pirate Saber at a great price. Take a look!