Pirates, Outlaws & Privateers on Playing Cards

Pirates, opportunistic sailors and “sea bandits” flourished where lucrative trade routes and weak controls coincided, especially in the Caribbean region, after Columbus’ voyages of discovery, when XVI century Spanish ships returned home carrying gold, silver and precious cargos. Some of Columbus' original seamen, such as Bernardino de Talavera (fl. 1490s–1500s), became disillusioned with dismal colonial conditions, fell out with the authorities and turned to piracy in an attempt to get rich quicker. He was eventually captured and hanged. Such events gave rise to the modern pirate myth: “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies are mostly fantasy loosely inspired by such events.