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Informationen zum Autor David F. Marley is a writer, teacher, and naval historian, and is an internationally known expert in the history of imperial conflicts in the New World. Klappentext Drawing on new research, this fascinating volume looks behind the myths to offer detailed insights into the real lives and activities of pirates-for better or worse-during the golden age of piracy in the Caribbean, from the mid-17th century to 1720.Over the past decade, research in Spanish, French, and Dutch archives, as well as in traditional English repositories, has resulted in a clearer picture of the activities and lives of the pirates who roamed the seas during the "Golden Age of Piracy" from 1650 to 1720. That is the picture shared in Daily Life of Pirates . The book describes how pirates actually lived, touching on their food and drink, their hideouts, and their humor. It also examines their ships, weapons and seamanship, their plunder-and their use of torture. The book's detailed coverage is made possible by newly uncovered interrogations of pirates and by official depositions given by their victims, both of which provide insights that go well beyond simple recountings of famous exploits. The result is a tantalizing, true picture of pirates' daily lives that reveals many surprising facts, such as the reality that most of their time was spent upon land as actual piracy was a seasonal occupation.Drawing on new research, this fascinating volume looks behind the myths to offer detailed insights into the real lives and activities of pirates-for better or worse-during the golden age of piracy in the Caribbean, from the mid-17th century to 1720. Inhaltsverzeichnis Throughout this book, all dates are given in the modern Gregorian style, unless specifically marked as O.S. to designate the old-style English dates that were still in use in Britain and its overseas colonies during the great age of piracy, from 1650 to 1720. This older version of dating was also known as the Julian calendar, in honor of its ancient Roman reviser, Julius Caesar, and lagged 10 days behind those of other European nations. This divergence had emerged from the political antagonisms and prejudices prevailing at the time of this changeover, during the late 16th century. Because the Julian calendar had become so outdated as to no longer coincide with the seasons or new moons, the Catholic Church spearheaded a drive to revise and universally apply a corrected alternative. After lengthy studies by the Neapolitan astronomer Aloysius Lilius and debates among many other leading scholars, Pope Gregory XIII issued a bull in March 1582 that declared that a new calendar was to be introduced: in practical terms, the day following the feast of Saint Francis in church rituals-which fell on October 4, 1582. But rather than being reckoned as October 5, the feast day was instead designated as October 15 to restore all subsequent equinoxes to their proper cycle. This shift was accepted and implemented in most of Italy, Spain, Portugal, and their overseas empires. France adopted it two months afterward, and the French dates passed from December 9 to 20, 1582. Most of the provinces of The Netherlands and Germany introduced this new Gregorian calendar as of 1583, and in fact it remains the version that we still recognize and use throughout the modern world today. Protestant England, however-being at that time deeply opposed to any hint of Catholic suzerainty-refused to comply, so that, as of 1582, its old-style Julian calendar would continue to lag behind and remain out of sync with the new-style Gregorian calendars coming into common usage among the Spanish, French, Dutch, and Portuguese. And as a further complication, English calendars would moreover retain their ancient observance-especially in legal or financial documentation-of the new year as falling on March 24-25, necessitating a double indication in ordinary correspon...
