Famous Female Pirates.

While researching famous female pirates for my next new writing project I’ve stumbled upon some fascinating information about female pirates who made their mark on the high seas.

Women were not the simpering characters often depicted in novels and movies, clutching their silk dresses and pearls or fainting with shock and horror.

Here’s a taste of the fascinating world of female pirates throughout history. The ancient Persian Queen Artemisia 1 of Halicarnaussus, who fought the Greeks in 480 B.C. and Jeanne de Clisson, who took to piracy in the 14^th century after her husband was executed. There’s the infamous American pirate Rachel Wall during the 18^th century too. These women have been among the ranks of the most revered and feared pirates in the world.

They proved themselves to be as capable as their male peers, from fighting to scrubbing decks. In some instances, they even outperformed their male counterparts. The most successful pirate in history was a woman!

Chen I Sao, a Chinese female pirate ran a fleet of ships sixty times larger than the infamous Blackbeard. Her activities nearly brought the Chinese Government to its knees in the 19^th century. Her legacy as a pirate queen has endured for centuries and is explored in more detail by Laura Sook Duncombe, Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas, which explores the lives of these extraordinary women in a world mostly populated by men.

All I have for my new book project is a working title, “Isabella” set in Spain and Sicily in 1500’s.  I’m Excited about learning more of the history around famous female pirates and bringing Isabella to life on the high seas in a novel.

Subscribe to my monthly newsletter to learn more about my new project as it develops in the coming months.