List of pirates

This is a list of known pirates, buccaneers, corsairs, privateers, river pirates, and others involved in piracy and piracy-related activities. This list includes both captains and prominent crew members. For a list of female pirates, see women in piracy. For pirates of fiction or myth, see list of fictional pirates.

Ancient World: 315 BC–197 AD

Name	Life	Years active	Country of origin	Comments
			Pontus	Was the leader of an unsuccessful anti-Roman uprising in Pontus in 69
Gannascus	d. 47	AD 41–47	Cananefates	Deserted Cananefate soldier. Leading pirate raids of the Chauci into province Gallia Belgica between AD 41–47, when he was captured by the Romans.
			Pharos	His actions precipitated the Second Illyrian War.
			Greece	Phocaean admiral active against Carthaginian and Tyrsenian merchants in the years following the Greco–Persian Wars.
		190–197	China	His party carried bells as their trademark to frighten the commoners.
			Illyria	Queen regent, fostered the pirates among her people, and had a Roman diplomat killed by them.
			Illyria	Was accused by the Romans of organizing and aiding pirate raids in Italy.
			Greece	Greek inscriptions of the Athenian navy raiding his base on Kynthnos Island and capturing him and his men read "making the sea safe for those that sailed thereon."
			Rome	He was the last focus of opposition to the Second Triumvirate.

Middle Ages: 400–1585

Name	Life	Years Active	Country of origin	Comments
	1516–1576	1540s	England	An English privateer. Raided Spanish ports with James Logan and William Cooke.
		1190s	Cyprus	A Cypriot Greek pirate. Raided Cypriot coasts and abducted the royal family.
	1340–1408	1380s	England	An English mayor, privateer and alleged pirate. Raided in the English Channel.
		1432–1448	England	English pirate active in the Thames and English Channel. Associate of William Kyd.
	1480–1551		France	A French ship-owner who provided ships to Francis I for exploration of the globe.
	1474–1518	1503–1518	Ottoman Empire	An Ottoman privateer and Bey of Algiers and Beylerbey of the West Mediterranean.
			Scandinavia	She and some of her female friends dressed like sailors and commandeered a ship.
		1504–1545	Ottoman Empire	An Ottoman privateer and later Admiral who dominated the Mediterranean for decades.
		1394–1405	Germany	A Pomeranian duke supporting privateers in the Baltic Sea region and later going on pirate raids himself.
	1370–1415		Procida	Antipope during the Western Schism, John XXIII was accused of—among other crimes—piracy, incest and sodomy.
	1300–1359	1343–1356	Brittany	A French-Breton pirate. She raided French towns and ships in the English Channel.
		1305–1332	Flanders	Flemish pirate known for his successful use of a ship-mounted catapult. Once won the favor of Robert the Bruce and acted as a naval officer for England during the Hundred Years' War
			Netherlands	From Arum, Friesland. Known as Grutte Pier 'big Pier' because of his length. Another nickname was 'Cross of the Dutchmen'. A Frisian warrior, pirate, freedom fighter, folk hero and rebel. Mainly active with his band De Arumer Zwarte Hoop 'Arum's Black Heap' at the Zuyderzee, the Netherlands.
		1445–?	Norway	A nobleman from Norway, plundered German ships in the Sognefjord.
			Germany	The first king of the Nordic Kalmar Union, he spent his last years living on the island of Gotland and "sent forth piratical expeditions against friend and foe alike".
			Norway	He was a favorite of the Queen, yet committed countless acts of piracy throughout his life
			France	He was a mercenary for both England and France.
			France	French privateer and naval officer under Jean Ango. Seized three Spanish ships carrying Aztec treasure from Mexico to Spain in 1523.
			County of Boulogne	Boulognese pirate who played a role in the First Crusade.
	1545–1589		Faroe Islands	Faroese naval hero and privateer. Was executed for piracy, though charges were later dropped.
		1560–1573	Germany	A 16th-century pirate who raided shipping in the North Sea until his defeat and capture by a fleet from Hamburg
			Germany	The nephew of Pier Gerlofs Donia, fought along his side against the Saxon and Hollandic invaders.
			England	English pirate active in South West England during the early-to-mid-15th century.
		1392–1402	Germany	A German pirate and one of the leaders of the Likedeelers, a combination of former Victual Brothers
	1480–1526		Germany	Died in Mandal, Norway. One of the most feared pirates in his time
			Germany	A pirate and privateer operating in the North Sea. Often partnered with Hans Pothorst.
			Germany	A pirate and privateer operating in the North Sea. Often partnered with Didrik Pining.
			Ottoman Empire	A Turkish privateer and Ottoman admiral.
	1485–1565		Ottoman Empire	A Turkish privateer and Ottoman admiral as well as Bey of Algiers; Beylerbey of the Mediterranean; and first Bey later Pasha of Tripoli.
	1360–1401	1392–1401	Germany	A German pirate and one of the leaders of the Likedeelers, a combination of former Victual Brothers
			Russia	A leader of a gang of river pirates, along the Don River region, of Russia and later, led an expedition, in the Russian conquest of Siberia, in the reign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible.
			Norway	A Norwegian nobleman-turned pirate and privateer. Operated in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Gave up piracy in 1542 and eventually, became admiral of the Danish-Norwegian Fleet.
			Germany	Second leader of Victual Brothers, plundered and burned down the Norwegian city Bergen in 1429
	1370–1402	1392–1402	Germany	A German pirate and one of the leaders of the Likedeelers, a combination of former Victual Brothers
		1404–1447	Germany	A pirate active during political conflicts between Dithmarschen and North Frisia in the early 15th century.
	1365–1402	1392–1402	Germany	A German pirate and one of the leaders of the Likedeelers, a combination of former Victual Brothers
			England	He was a bishop who became a seafaring warlord adventurer.

Rise of the English Sea Dogs and Dutch Corsairs: 1560–1650

Name	Life	Years Active	Country of origin	Comments
	1519–1587	1536–1550	Turkey	An Italian-born Muslim corsair, who later became an Ottoman admiral and Chief Admiral of the Ottoman Fleet in the 16th century.
	early 17th century	1603	England	Active in the Ionian Sea.
	1519–1574	1565	Spanish	A Spanish Admiral and pirate hunter, de Aviles is remembered for his destruction of the French settlement of Fort Caroline in 1565.
	early 17th century	1629–1645	England	An English privateer in Dutch service, Axe served with English forces in the Dutch Revolt against Habsburg rule.
	1466–1511	to 1511	Scotland	Served under a Scottish letter of marque, but was described a pirate by English and Portuguese.
	d. 1663	1640–1663	Netherlands	One of the last Dutch corsairs of the mid-17th century, Blauvelt mapped much of South America.
		1550s–1560s	France	Known for his sacking of Santiago de Cuba in 1554
	early 16th century	1559–1572	France	Active in the Caribbean Sea. He attacked Santa Marta, Cartagena de Indias, Rio de Hacha and Margarita island.
	early 17th century	1602	Netherlands	de Bouff served as a Dunkirker in Habsburg service during the Dutch Revolt.
	c. 1630–1671?	c. 1654–1671	Netherlands,Brazilian	Pirate born in the town of Groningen, long residence of Dutch colony of Brasil. Active in the Caribbean and captain of pirates of Jamaica. Known for his fury and great cruelty and sadism, especially against Spaniards.
	1581–1643	1600, 1643	Netherlands	Brouwer was a privateer who fought the Habsburgs during the Dutch revolt, holding the city of Castro, Chile hostage for a period of two months.
	b. 1578	1639	England	Despite a comparatively unsuccessful career as a privateer, Butler was later colonial governor of Bermuda.
	c. 1558–1587?	c. 1574–1587	England	Welsh pirate active along the southern coast of Wales.
	1560–1592	1587–1592	England	The first man to intentionally circumnavigate the globe, Cavendish also raided numerous Spanish towns and ships in the New World.
	17th century	1625–1635	Netherlands	A Flemish admiral who served as privateer and one of the Dunkirkers in Spanish Habsburg service during the Dutch Revolt, responsible for the destruction of at least 150 fishing boats.
	1587–1660	1621–1627	Netherlands	Former Dutch corsair and privateer, he later became a pirate and was successful in capturing hundreds of ships in Europe, the Barbary coast and West Africa.
	d. 1601?	1598–1601	Netherlands	A Dutch corsair who fought against the Spanish during the early 17th century.
	d. 1611	1600s–1610s	Netherlands	Dutch corsair and privateer who later became a Barbary corsair based in Algiers and Tunis during the early 17th century. He and John Ward dominated the Western Mediterranean during the early 17th century.
	1540–1596	1563–1596	England	Known as "el Draque", he was an Elizabethan corsair who raided Spanish merchant shipping on behalf of Queen Elizabeth I.
	1570–1619	1602	England	A privateer, then pirate, who was able to retire in Villefranche, Savoy with an estimated worth of two million pounds.
	fl. 1622	1620s	Spain	One of the Spanish privateers who accompanied Jan Jacobsen on his last voyage in 1622.
	c. 1565–?	c. 1584–1603	England	Elizabethan Sea Dog active in the West Indies up until the turn of the 17th century.
	1568	1628	Wales	From 1600 to 1603, Griffith was active against Spanish shipping.
	1532–1595	1554, 1564, 1567	England	An Elizabethan corsair active off the coasts of West Africa and Venezuela. His work in ship design was important during the threat of invasion from the Spanish Armada.
	1577–1629	1628	Netherlands	After serving as a Spanish galley slave for four years, Hein later captured 11,509,524 guilders of cargo from the Spanish treasure fleet.
	early 17th century	1620s and 1630s	Netherlands	Dutch pirate of Portuguese Sephardic Jewish origin active in the Caribbean against Spain and Brazil against Portugal
	1609–1653	1644–1653	England	Maryland privateer and pirate. In an extension of the English Civil War in the Catholic colony of Maryland he and the Puritan settlers raided ships belonging to Catholics and the colonial governor Lord Baltimore. Ingle seized control of the Maryland capital briefly and was later hanged for piracy.
	fl. 1628–1630	1620s	Netherlands	Dutch corsair and privateer. Commanded one of the earliest and largest expeditions against the Portugal and Spain in the Caribbean during 1628.
	d. 1622	1610s–1620s	Netherlands	Flemish-born privateer in English service during the Eighty Years' War.
	fl. 1624–1625	1620s	Netherlands	Dutch corsair who accompanied Pieter Schouten on one of the first major expeditions to the West Indies.
	fl. 1600	1600s	Netherlands	Dutch corsair based in Duinkerken and one time officer under Jacques Colaert.
	1570–after 1641		Republic of Salé	Known also as Murad Reis, originally Dutch, he was a fighter captured by the Algerian corsairs who converted to Islam in 1618. He began serving as a Navy fighter in Algiers, then after gaining experience there, he was invited to join the 17th-century "Salé Rovers".
	1643–1682	1662–1682	China	Chinese pirate and warlord. The eldest son of Koxinga and grandson of Zheng Zhilong, he succeeded his father as ruler of Tainan and briefly occupied Fujian.
	1597–1641	1630s–1640s	Netherlands	Dutch corsair successful against the Spanish in the West Indies. One of the first to use a wooden peg leg.
	16th-early 17th centuries		Japan	Japanese pirate and one of the first Japanese with whom the southern Vietnamese kingdom of the Nguyễn Lords made contact.
	fl. –1618	1595/1596–1617	England	Lawrence Keymis was a seaman and companion of Sir Walter Raleigh in his expeditions to Spanish colony of Guayana in 1595 and 1617 to search for England El Dorado. In another expedition in 1596 led a force inland Guayana along the banks of the Essequibo River, reaching what he wrongly believed to be Lake Parime.
	1554–1618	1591–1603	England	Elizabethan Sea Dog active in India during the late 16th century. Later a chief director for the East India Company.
	d. 1610		England	An English pirate who set up base in the Outer Hebrides and was active around Ireland and Scotland. He was betrayed by the outlaw Neil MacLeod and executed in 1610.
	1583–1627	1627	Netherlands	Hendrick captured 1.2 million guilders from a Honduran treasure fleet, but was mortally wounded in the process.
	1587–1653	1610–1616	England	English privateer and pirate hunter. His pirate fleet nearly broke the truce between England and Spain following the Anglo-Spanish War.
	mid-16th century	1572–1576	Albania	Active in the Narrow Sea. He was the squadron admiral and the supreme commander of all Islamic vessels in North Africa and Pasha Algiers, known as the most formidable corsair of that period.
	b. Late 1500	Early 1600	Spain or Netherlands	Plundered the water between Iceland and Norway, and the coast of Finnmark and Nordland. Hunted down and captured by Admiral Jørgen Daa and explorer Jens Munk by order of King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway. Mendoza was executed by hanging in Copenhagen. The king recovered 8 treasure chests of gold coins, each chest requerd 10 man to lift.
	1558–1627	1598–1601	Netherlands	Despite his venture being of limited success, it was the inspiration that led to the formation of the Dutch East India Company.
	1585–1652	1617	England	Roger North was a seaman and companion of Sir Walter Raleigh in his expeditions to Spanish colony of Guayana in 1617 to search for England El Dorado. North in 1619 petitioned for letters patent authorising him to establish the king's right to the coast and country adjoining the River Amazon; to found a plantation or settlement there, and to open a direct trade with the natives.
		1620–1623	England	An English pirate active in Newfoundland.
	1530–1603	1560s–1600s	Ireland	An important figure in Irish legend who is still present in popular culture today.
	1536–1580	1570s–1600s	England	Elizabethan Sea Dog and associate of Sir Frances Drake during the early years of the Anglo-Spanish War. First English privateer to enter the Pacific though Panama.
	d. 1617	1590s–1600s	England	Elizabethan Sea Dog active in the West Indies. Successfully captured Porto Bello and Margarita island in 1602 without firing a shot. He also captured and held for ransom the Cubagua pearl-boats and captured a Portuguese slave ship.
Ali Pegelin		c. 1605–1645	Netherlands	Also known as Pisselingh, from Vlissingen. Was for 40 years one of the most prominent pirates of Algiers. Settled in 1645 in Algiers with great fortune.
	fl. 1622	1620s	Spain	He and Juan Garcia who joined Jan Jacobsen on his final voyage in 1622.
	c. ?–1609	c. 1595–1597	England	Elizabethan Sea Dog as part of expedition of Walter Raleigh in 1595 sacked Caracas and Coro with George Somers.
	fl. 1554–1618	1595–1617	England	Elizabethan corsair who commanded two expeditions to search for England the fabled "El Dorado" in the Spanish colony of Guayana.
	fl. 1626	1620s	Netherlands	Former Dutch privateer turned Barbary corsair. He attacked the Dutch ship St. Jan Babtista under Jacob Jacobsen of Ilpendam on March 7, 1626.
	1506–1608	1534–1608	Rhodes	An Ottoman Albanian privateer and Ottoman admiral who took part in all of the early naval campaigns of Turgut Reis.
	17th century	1630s	England	A lieutenant on the ship Warwick, then part of a fleet under the command of Nathaniel Butler, he later took part in a privateering expedition between May–September 1639.
	1500–1560	1623–1645	France	French nobleman and adventurer who, through his friendship with King Francis, became the first Lieutenant General of New France. As a corsair he attacked towns and shipping throughout the Spanish Main, from Cuba to Colombia. He died in Paris as one of the first Huguenot martyrs.
	1607–1640		England	English privateer in the English West Indies.
	1631–1710	1660s–1670s	Netherlands	A Dutch corsair active against the English during the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch War. His capture of The Falcon, an East India Company merchantman, was one of the most valuable prizes captured during the late-17th century.
	fl. 1636	1630s	Netherlands	Dutch corsair in the service of Spain. Was part of a three ship squadron under Jacques Colaert and was captured with him after a five-hour battle with Jan Evertsen.
	fl. 1636–1645	1630s–1640s	Netherlands	Dutch corsair and privateer based on Providence Island. He was involved in privateering expeditions for the Providence Island Company and later commander of Fort Henry.
	d. 1627	1620s	Netherlands	Dutch corsair active in the West Indies. Reportedly killed with a number of colonists attempting to establish one of the first colonies on the Wiapoco in Dutch Guiana.
	fl. 1624–1625	1620s	Netherlands	Dutch corsair who led one of the Dutch expeditions to the West Indies.
	c. 1564–1610	c. 1595–1607	England	Elizabethan Sea Dog in 1595 sacked Caracas and Coro with Amyas Preston. Active in the West Indies up until the turn of the 17th century.
	16th century	1555	France	A French pirate whose sole documented act was his attack and burning of Havana in 1555.
	1529–1599		Japan	One of the most powerful feudal lords of Kyūshū and one of the first lords to allow trading with Europeans
	1509–1573	1560s–1570s	France	French privateer, explorer and cartographer. First navigator to chart Australia in 1531.
	fl. 1628–1629	1620s	Netherlands	Dutch corsair who commanded a Dutch West India Company expedition to Brazil bringing back over 12 Portuguese and Spanish prizes.
Nicholas Valier	middle 16th century	1567	France	A French hugonote privateer that plundered Borburata, Coro and Curazao
	d. 1620	1600s–1610s	Netherlands	De Veenboer meaning the Peat Bog Farmer. Former Dutch corsair and privateer. Later became a Barbary corsair under Simon the Dancer and eventually commanded the Algiers corsair fleet.
	1584–1615	1608–1610	England	English nobleman who left behind his inheritance to become a Barbary corsair.
	fl. 1634	1620s–1630s	Netherlands	Dutch admiral and corsair. Captured Curaçao in 1634 and later served as governor.
	1552–1622	1603–1610s	England	A notorious English pirate around the turn of the 17th century who later became a Barbary Corsair operating out of Tunis during the early 1600s.
	1571–1633	1590s–1630s	Netherlands	Dutch admiral who led Dutch corsairs on the first major privateering expedition to the West Indies.
	fl. 1622	1620s	Netherlands	Dutch corsair in Spanish service. In February 1622, attacked a fishing fleet from the Veere and Maasmond sinking several ships and bringing back the survivors to ransom in Duinkerken.
	fl. 1624	1620s	Netherlands	Dutch corsair who accompanied Pieter Schouten in his expedition to the West Indies.
	16th century	1551–1555	China	One of the chief figures among the wokou of the 16th century.
	1604–1662	1623–1645	China	A convert to Christianity, Zhilon collaborated with Dutch forces, helping to create a monopoly on trade with Japan.
	fl. 1624	1620s	Netherlands	Dutch corsair active against the Portuguese in West Africa.