Pirate Master Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jean Lafitte

Jean Lafitte later became a spy for Spain in Mexico. He then resumed his piracy and attacked Spanish merchant ships off the coast of Texas. Much about his later life is unknown, but it is known that he founded a pirate colony near Galveston, Texas called Campeche. Lafitte is something of a legend. Piracy was dying down during the 19th century and Lafitte disappeared.

He may have died of typhoid, changed his name or something else. One legend states that he rescued Napoleon Bonaparte who was in exile on St.

Helena and brought him back to Louisiana. Ultimately, the circumstances of his death and later life are completely unknown. It is also said that Lafitte has buried treasure still hidden along the shores of Louisiana, including in a place appropriately called Contraband Bayou.

Answer: They were noble people in 16th century England.

Sir John IV Killigrew was a Member of Parliament who was later made Governor of Pendennis Castle, Cornwall. That position gave him and Mary control over docklands from which they used to seize and raid ships. They also bribed any high ranking officials who investigated them.

Interestingly, John IV Killigrew was once put in charge of investigating piracy and was a noted cattle thief. Mary was arrested after she was caught housing stolen loot in Arwenack House (pictured), where she and John lived some of the year.

She was later pardoned by Queen Elizabeth I.

Answer: Argentina

Bouchard also engaged in piracy for Peru and Chile, but mainly for Argentina. Argentina and Spain were enemies following Argentine independence in 1816. Spain continued to control a number or colonies in Latin America for some years after that, particularly on the continent's west coast. Bouchard had traveled to Hawaii where he managed to secure the release of an Argentinian. Later he claimed California for Argentina, but was quickly defeated.

Answer: Benito de Soto

Benito de Soto was particularly gruesome pirate. He once served on a slave ship off the coast of Africa but led a successful mutiny that begin his piracy career. He attacked ships belonging to almost every nation that sailed, including Britain, France, Spain, the United States and India. Often, he would murder everyone on board and take control of the ship.

He was the most feared pirate in the Atlantic during the 19th century. Benito de Soto was finally caught when his ship, the Burla Negra, which translates to the "Black Joke", was shipwrecked off the coast of Gibraltar.

He was captured almost immediately and was hanged in 1830 at the age of 24.

Answer: She married Cheng I, a successful pirate.

Ching Shih was originally a prostitute who was captured by pirates when they ransacked her town. She later married Cheng I, who may or may not have been an opium smuggler. After Cheng I died in 1807, six years after their marriage, Ching Shih quickly rose to power in the Chinese seas along with her second-in-command, Cheung Po Tsai, who fathered her son. Because Ching Shih was so powerful and controlled a crew consisting of 20,000 to 80,000 pirates (the research various) she was unbeatable and the Chinese offered an amnesty against all pirates. Ching Shih accepted the amnesty, claimed all of her loot and opened a gambling house.

Her real name was Shi Xianggu and Ching Shih simply means Cheng's widow.

Answer: Sir Francis Drake

Even before becoming a privateer, Drake was famous in England for being part of the second crew to circumnavigate the world in 1580. For this, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I. He later became a privateer, capturing Spanish ships in the Caribbean and looting them. Forbes magazine estimated that Drake was worth the equivalent of $126 million U.S. dollars in modern terms. Drake's actions angered the Spanish that they called him El Draque and Fracis the Dragon.

Answer: The Barbary Coast

Oruc and Hazir Reis are better known as Oruc Barbarossa and Hayreddin Barbarossa or the Redbeard brothers. Hayreddin was the younger brother who was given the nickname Redbeard when his brother died, although only Oruc had a naturally red beard. Together with their other brothers, they seized Spanish ships for the Ottomans near the Barbary Coast in North Africa.

Oruc was killed by the Spanish in 1518 after he usurped control in Algeria. Hayreddin, who dyed his beard red, was able to dominate the eastern Mediterranean for the Ottomans, essentially controlling the area for decades. He is considered an inspiration to this day for all Turkish sailors, who honor him by firing a cannon whenever their ship passes his tomb.

Answer: Henry Every

Every was an Englishman who was hired to sail on the Charles II in 1693 to attack French ships returning from the New World colonies. However, Every and others mutinied after they were denied wages and Every was named captain of the newly renamed Fancy. He still attacked French ships, but the loot was kept by him and his crew. Every led the Fancy into the Indian Ocean where he raided ships leaving and coming to Africa and the Middle East. Every was also notorious for his brutal treatment of his female captives, often raping them. The women, when captured, would often commit suicide before he could get to them.

Every was something of an infamous pirate, although he only was one for a few years until he vanished around 1686 when a bounty was put out for him.

Answer: Anne Bonny

Anne Bonny had numerous affairs, most famously with Calico Jack Rackham. At some point, Bonny gave birth to a boy but did not raise him. It is unknown if she abandoned him to continue pirating. Bonny, Rackham and his crew were captured by Jonathan Barnet for the Governor of Jamaica.

They were sentenced to be hanged but Bonny was spared because she was allegedly pregnant. There is no record of her execution and it is unknown exactly what happened to her. She may have been ransomed or escaped from prison and continued life under an assumed name.

Answer: Captain Phillips

Muse was portrayed by Barkhad Abdi and the Captain Richard Phillips of the title was played by Tom Hanks. Abduwali Muse made a career attacking ships off of the coast of Somalia. He was tried for piracy in U.S. federal court, although those charges were dropped.

He was convicted of hijacking a ship, kidnapping and hostage taking and sentenced to 33 years in prison. Despite pulling off such a dramatic and dangerous hijacking, it is estimated that Muse was only a teenager at the time of the incident in 2009, although his real age is uncertain.