We continue our look at female pirates with Jeanne de Clisson.
Topics Related to Pirate Profile
When studying maritime history, the presence and impact of women is seemingly less well-documented than that of men.
In 1485, a young girl named Lalla Aicha bib Ali ibn Rashid al Alami was born into a wealthy Muslim family. These were turbulent times in Granada.
In about 1698, a young woman found herself in jail for stealing, pregnant with her married employer’s illegitimate child and no husband to support her. Despite these grim circumstances, Anne Bonny’s mother was soon released from jail, raising her daughter disguised as a boy and living as the lady of the house with her still married-to-another-woman former employer. The three of them eventually moved from Ireland to the Carolinas, where Anne’s father bought a plantation and started a business of his own.
This year marks the centennial of women’s suffrage, and we wanted to participate in DNCR’s She Changed the World Campaign by highlighting female pirates through the ages. Follow along throughout the year as we further explore these lesser-known figures in piracy, and take a look at other notable female contributions to maritime history.