Women

History is steeped in pirate lore, but what tends to get overlooked is the role women played in this history. Yes, there were women pirates who carved out a notorious reputation among their fellow citizenry, from Anne Bonney and Mary Read to Grace O'Malley and Ching Shih, who terrorized the China Sea in the early 19th Century. Shih commanded about 1,800 ships and 80,000 pirates. Then there was Jeanne de Belleville, who in the 1300s manned three ships with her three teen-age sons after her husband was executed for siding with the English in England's war against France. She and her sons cruised the coast of Normandy, attacking French vessels and killing everyone in sight. It was said that she could often be seen, sword in one hand and torch in the other, standing in the ruins of villages she and her sons pillaged. So, should it come as any surprise that pirate costumes are a popular Halloween tradition with the ladies?