Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. How Much Captain Jack Sparrow Earned Cursed Gold Coins Pirates of the Caribbean
New "Pirates of the Caribbean" began to be shown in cinemas, which differ from the previous ones only in the name and names of the characters. Time Out clearly shows that there is almost no difference between the five parts of "Pirates".
1. "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"
Some century, tropical islands. The city of the British is home to the brave beauty Elizabeth Swann and the cute young guy Will Turner (then they will have love). Captain Jack Sparrow arrives, behaves ugly, he is almost executed. Then all three climb onto the ship and sail somewhere.
On the way, Will learns that his father is a cursed pirate, overgrown with shells, named Bootstrap (but he will only be in the second part). Jack tells Will about a chest with cursed gold - he must be found on a distant island. If you take a gold coin from the chest, you become an immortal ghost.
The Sparrow's ship "Black Pearl" appears. Its captain is an elderly wise pirate Barbossa, his entire crew are ghosts. They are also looking for a chest - they want to remove the curse and become human again. Everyone swims for a long time to each other: either Barbossa and Elizabeth to a distant island, then Sparrow and Will - to Barbossa. In the end, everyone meets in a cave with a chest. The curse is lifted, Barbossa dies. Jack Sparrow is captured and almost executed. Having survived, he climbs onto the ship and floats somewhere.
After the credits - a meaningless scene with a monkey.
2. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"
Some century, tropical islands. Will and Elizabeth are arrested in the city of the British. The stupid Englishman Beckett sends Will to find Captain Sparrow. Meanwhile, Sparrow found an artifact: a rag with a key drawn on it, and this key supposedly can open something.
Will finds Sparrow. The heroes find themselves on a tropical island with cannibals. They run away from them for a long time. Then they sail to the mysterious fortune teller Tia Dalme - she explains that they need to get on the damned ship "Flying Dutchman". There another artifact awaits them: the heart of the infernal captain of the "Dutchman" Davy Jones, which will give them power over all seas.
Everyone swims for a long time to each other: now Will to the "Flying Dutchman", then Jack to Elizabeth. Will is captured on the Dutchman, where all the pirates are cursed and overgrown with shells (including Bootstrap, his father). At the end, the heroes meet on another island, where they fight for the heart of Davy Jones, which eventually goes to Beckett. Jack dies. Barbossa is resurrected.
After the credits - a meaningless scene with a dog.
3. "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"
Some century there, the tropical island of Singapore. Elizabeth, Will and Barbossa get it from a local Asian villain rare card, which explains how to resurrect Jack Sparrow. Then they succeed - and Jack returns from the other world.
The Asian villain dies, making Elizabeth his successor. Meanwhile, the stupid Englishman Beckett, with the assistance of the captain of the "Flying Dutchman" Davy Jones, wants to kill all the pirates. The pirate lords meet together to discuss the situation. Bottom line: Elizabeth is elected head of the council, who tells everyone to fight Beckett.
Barbossa frees the goddess Calypso - she was trapped in the body of the mysterious fortune teller Tia Dalma. Calypso does not want to help the pirates and makes a giant whirlpool. The sailors are fighting. Davy Jones dies. Will Turner becomes the captain of the Flying Dutchman - now he is also a cursed pirate, overgrown with shells. Elizabeth and the child will wait for him for another ten years (both in the plot take a break for one episode). The sparrow swims away for a new incomprehensible artifact.
After the credits, there is a meaningless scene with Will, Elizabeth and their child.
4. "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides"
Some century there, suddenly - not a tropical island, but London. Sparrow rescues his assistant, who is nearly executed. Barbossa, who now works for the British, invites Jack to sail for a new artifact: a cup that will grant eternal youth. Jack refuses and escapes with the help of his father, played by Keith Richards.
Suddenly it turns out that there is a pirate posing as Jack - this is the brave beauty Angelica. All the heroes get on the ship to the infernal captain Blackbeard, Angelica's father, who owns voodoo magic. It turns out that the artifact, consisting of two bowls, works like this: you need to take bowl-1, in which there is a mermaid's tear, drink from it, and then make another person drink from bowl-2, where the mermaid did not cry. A person who drinks from cup-2 dies.
Blackbeard captivates the mermaid and gets a tear. Everyone comes to a tropical island, runs for bowls for a long time, and fights. As a result, Blackbeard drinks (dies) from cup-2, thanks to Jack Sparrow's deception, and Angelica becomes immortal. Jack Sparrow finds his ship, but he is bewitched.
After the credits - a meaningless scene with Angelica, which was happily forgotten in the fifth part.
5. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales"
Some century, a tropical island. Will's son, young cute guy Henry wants to rescue his father from the Flying Dutchman. To do this, he needs the latest artifact - Poseidon's trident with unclear functionality. Henry goes to prison to the British, where he meets the brave beauty Karina (then they will have love), and also finally meets Jack Sparrow, who had robbed a bank unsuccessfully before.
By Jack's foolishness, a cursed ship sails into the sea with the infernal captain Salazar. To stop him, you need to find a trident. Salazar forges an alliance with Barbossa, who has Jack Sparrow's compass. Two heroes are looking for and find Jack, but it's too late: Sparrow went ashore, where pirates from the cursed ship are not allowed.
Barbossa uses Blackbeard's sword to disenchant Jack Sparrow's ship. The British, who were told about Jack's whereabouts by a fortune-teller, are trying to intervene in the matter, but Salazar drowns them. Henry, Karina, Jack and Barbossa arrive on the island, where they leave a special ruby in a special place. The sea opens before them, in it is Poseidon's trident. Salazar arrives, fights Jack. Henry breaks the trident, all curses are canceled. Salazar becomes normal and dies (before that he was a ghost). Barbossa dies too, again. Will arrives at Elizabeth's house. Jack Sparrow is swimming off somewhere again.
After the credits - a meaningless scene with Will, Elizabeth and Davy Jones, who apparently did not die.
If in any crossword puzzle you come across the question "What was the name of the pirate money?", Then, undoubtedly, without even counting the number of letters, you will say: piastres. Piastres are primarily associated with pirates due to cultural and artistic trends, but historically they have enjoyed the same popularity among pirates as any other coins that have any value. Let's take a look at what kind of money the pirates came across in their loot and what they were.
Piastres
The piastre was also called the Spanish peso. This coin was minted from silver, its weight was about 25 grams. The Pillars of Hercules were depicted on the coin, therefore piastre was also called pillar dollar or piastre with columns... In the East, piastre had a more concise name - colonato... Nowadays, piastre should not be written off, now it plays the role of a bargaining unit for 1/100 Egyptian, Jordanian, Lebanese, Syrian, Sudanese and South Sudanese pounds.
Doubloons
The first doubloon (translated as "double", hence the name) was a Spanish gold coin in denomination of 2 escudos. Coin minting began in 1566 and continued until 1849. Doubloons were widespread not only in Europe, but also in the New World. It was the doubloon that served as the prototype for the creation of many other European coins in other countries. During the colonization of the New World, the doubloon played the role assigned to the dollar in our time - it was he who was considered the reserve currency. For this reason, a large number of coins were hidden. Later, this fact of savings gave rise to many stories about pirate treasures, in which this particular type of coin often appears.
Escudo
Escudo - Spanish gold coin... Years of minting: 1535-1833. The first coinage took place in Barcelona. The coin, as already mentioned, consisted of gold and weighed almost 3.4 grams. During the reign of Philip II, the exudo became the main gold coin in Spain, and its exchange rate, due to the rise in the price of metals, increased. But due to long wars and an illiterate financial policy, Spain defaulted four times in the 16th century. The difficult economic situation was partly due to the large influx of metals from Spanish America, it was their surplus that caused the escudos to fall in price and caused inflation.
Conclusion
Piastres, doubloons and escudos are popular coins in the New World that have become a coveted prey for pirates. This triple does not even make up a tenth of all coins minted at that time, but it is this trio that is often found in fictional and cinematic works on the topic of piracy, therefore, first of all, it is about them that it is worth learning more about those who are interested in the history of sea robbery. and numismatics. I hope this material has expanded your understanding of these topics.
How I love Pirates of the Caribbean! Great music, vivid images, juicy picture! Fights, chases, mysticism, intrigue ... This franchise made me take a fresh look at Hollywood cinema, fell in love with myself and still does not let go. Of the blockbuster episodes, I only love "X-Men". “The Curse of the Black Pearl was a great fairy tale for all ages with a lot of funny, scary and tense moments. "Dead Man's Chest" turned out to be incredibly eventful, dynamic and significantly expanded the universe. "At the End of the World", although it came out a little chaotic, it completed the trilogy with dignity. Well, five years later, the beloved heroes returned to the part "On Stranger Tides".
In May, the fifth film in the franchise, Dead Men Tell No Tales, comes out, which I am looking forward to. But you already understood from the title that not everything is so simple. So here are the top 11 Pirates of the Caribbean annoying moments!
In I deliberately did not mention the flywheel of time, I ignored the eagles. There will be no parenthesis here, because there are simply no such well-known plot holes in the plot. It's a pity.
11. Undead Monkey
A hilarious monkey named Jack is the clearest example of how you can make a character for a comedic unloading, but at the same time non-annoying. In the scene after the credits of the first part, she steals a coin from the chest, turns into walking dead and makes the final screamer to the camera. Of course, Verbinski and company did not abandon such a funny character and included him in subsequent films, and in the third part they also endowed him with incredible ingenuity. But ... in subsequent parts, she repeatedly appears in the frame at night! By the light of the moon! And there are no signs of her "corpse-like nature" at all! That is, the creators initially scored on this detail. It seems like a trifle, but it is very striking!
10. Pintel and Rajetti got good
Another hello from the first part. Most of the immortal crew of Barbossa from The Curse of the Black Pearl were completely unmemorable mordovian thugs. But there was also a pleasant exception. Charming couple Pintel and Ragetti, who somehow reminded me of the duo of robbers from "Home Alone". And in the sequel, they decided not to give up on them and made them good. They even screwed up this moment a little, making one of them a devout person who reads the Bible. How often does it happen that bandits decide to take the true path and find their salvation in sacred books... But damn it, I couldn't just forget the sins of the first part! When they first appear, Pintel shamelessly shoots an innocent butler with the cynical phrase "Walked for a long time!" It is clear that a pirate is, in principle, a lawbreaker. But this scene is very jarring, especially when watching the subsequent parts.
9. Davey Jones' stash
In general, everything that happened to Davy Jones' Cache was some kind of one narcotic trip. As is customary in such cases to write: "So many questions and so few answers." Why, after being eaten by the Kraken, "Pearl" and Jack were intact somewhere it is not clear where? What are these crabs? Why did he "swim out" to the seashore with their help? Do other ships that the Kraken eats also end up in this "cache"? If so, what size is it? And how did it happen that the pirates who came to the rescue immediately found Jack? Although, of course, this cannot be called a strong jamb. Because everything can be answered: "This is magic, shut up and watch!"
8. Silly blackmail from Elizabeth that worked
One of the strangest scenes of the first part. When you first watch it, it does not raise any questions at all, but once you watch the film, and you already start thinking: pirates, what's wrong with you? So, Barbossa's team finds the last coin of damned gold and, as it seems to them, Bill Bootstrap's daughter (why they didn't know Bootstrap had a son, not a daughter, that's another story). And Elizabeth begins to dictate terms to the pirates. How did she do it? She threatened to throw the medallion overboard. But ... But ... But this is completely pointless! Earlier, the pirates themselves say that gold attracts them, especially in the water! In fact, they found the coin when Elizabeth, inadvertently, plunged into the sea with it. And further footage showed that they were walking calmly on the seabed. So what prevented them from going down and calmly picking up the medallion? In addition, in the scene of blackmail, they were standing in the bay, which means that there would be absolutely no problems with this!
7. Physics went out to smoke and did not return
I don’t understand claims in the spirit of “the fact that the wound moves from the left side of the face to the right in Sparrow's face confuses you, but the fact that the living dead are walking around in the film does not.” Because any fairy tale, any fantasy initially sets some laws of the genre, some conventions. But at the same time, a number of things should not differ from her the real world, otherwise there would be zero meaning in the fairy tale and it would be possible to create anything. The only fairy tales that are initially set to break any laws are Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass. And yes, I am not embarrassed by the revived dead pirates, but they will be embarrassed by the banal bloopers and just nonsense. And now I am really confused by the endless violations of the laws of physics in the franchise. As far as we are given to understand, Jack and Will are two ordinary people, like you and me. They weigh - like ordinary adult men. SO WHAT THE FUCK DO THEY KNOW TO GO ON THE BOTTOM AND CARRY A TURNED BOAT LIKE A DIVING DOME ?! This is completely unrealistic, if only they did not weigh 200 kg. And how does Jack in the second part, fleeing from the natives, manage to fall from a gigantic height (albeit with a slightly slower fall) and not break anything? How do the heroes in the third part manage to flip the whole ship, albeit rocking it back and forth? Yes, even the scene of acquaintance with Jack has no physical meaning - he swims to the pier on an almost sunken boat, which, having gone under the water, does not stop, but continues to move, as if it had no sail, but a motor.
6. Useless Calypso
The writers of the third part decided to surprise us with several unexpected moves. And one of them was that the ugly witch Tia Dalma actually turned out to be the locked mistress of the sea Calypso. And so Barbossa had an altercation with the pirate barons for a long time whether she should be released or not. It seems like everyone decided not to do this, but the hero of Geoffrey Rush did his own thing and still released her. In the hope of some goodies. And what did Calypso end up doing? Maybe she took revenge on Davey Jones? Or, on the contrary, helped a former lover? She took revenge on the pirates who captured her? Or helped the pirates who freed her? What did she do? She stupidly turned into a whirlpool. So what? And why? And why? She's such a powerful goddess! Is that all she could do? An absolutely meaningless and ridiculous scene, which was needed solely to show a cool scene of a battle in a funnel.
5. Some game with the curse of the Aztecs
As we remember, the pirates in the first part stole the damned gold of the Aztecs and turned into the living dead. In the moonlight, we saw their true nature - skeletons covered in decayed rags. They became immortal, but instead they lost the joy of food and feminine warmth. Their task was to collect all the lost coins and return them to their original place ... And all this curse raises many questions. Why didn't the rest of the coin holders - Will, Elizabeth - become damned? Are they like they don't count because they didn't want to get rich out of them? But after all, the monkey also hardly thought about buying bananas for these coins, then why did she become cursed? And why were all pirates cursed then? Did they all steal these coins? Surely someone remained on duty on the ship while the others climbed into this cave.
The clothing of the dead raises no less questions. Here she became decayed in the moonlight. And if they changed clothes, would the curse spread to the new clothes, or would it remain on the old ones?
Well, the main question: the pirates clearly did not lead a peaceful life - even in pursuit of one coin, they cut out half a fort. And how many people they put, collecting the previous ones, it's scary to imagine. And didn't they cut off a single limb of any of them? Watch the scene with Governor Swan and the severed hand. It turns out that half of the Caribbean should be in living limbs!
And when Will removed the curse, Barbossa immediately died from the bullet fired by Jack. Why, then, did the other pirates who fought the soldiers not die of their wounds? And they were probably there, and not alone.
4. The curse of Will Turner
The ending of the third part was very dramatic. It seems to be how it all ended with a happy ending: the bad guys were defeated, the good guys won, but ... Everything is not so rosy. Will dies in Elizabeth's arms, but is saved by Jack, making him the captain of the Flying Dutchman. It seems like this is good, but a heavy curse falls on the hero: he can go ashore only one day in ten years. “The main thing is what day it will be,” Will says beautifully. And at the very end, we are first shown that he and Elizabeth are spending time in a film with a children's rating, and 10 years later, a long-haired boy runs to meet the folder.
But nobody put a curse on Elizabeth! Nothing prevents her, for example, to sit down with Jack on the ship, ride to the Flying Dutchman and have mercy on her beloved Will, until his polyps and tentacles have grown! Of course, he is a busy man, but he can find an evening for a sweetheart! Even sea captains see their wives more often than once every ten years!
Moreover, all this ten-year curse is completely nullified by one scene of negotiations on the island. On the one hand, Jack, Barbossa and Elizabeth. On the other - Lord Beckett, Will and ... Davy Jones kicks in the tub! So tree-sticks, then put Will in a barrel and at least take him to the Gobi Desert! And you can also make a bucket for each leg - and let him walk wherever he wants, the main thing is not to spill it! The negotiation scene is really interesting, but this Jones in the barrel completely deprives the curse of any meaning.
3. Pirate Baron Barbossa
The epic trilogy was bound to end epic. And one of the brightest moments of the third part is a massive congress of pirate barons from all over the world. The large gathering is attended by barons from China, France, Turkey, Africa and other walking stereotypes. There is Jack among them, which is strange in itself, given his "isolation" from the pirate fraternity, and - here's a surprise! - Barbossa! This really hurt my eyes very much the first time I saw it. I somehow did not pay much attention to the larger jambs and inconsistencies in the rating below. And this raises questions from the very first second. On what basis did Barbossa become a pirate baron? In the first part we were told in plain text: "He was a cook in Jack's team and started a riot." Cocom, Karl! Why on earth would a pirate lord go to work as a cook? Say: it was his plan to take possession of the fast "Pearl"? Let us suppose. But why didn't Jack recognize him then ?! After all, he should have crossed with him at least once, when all the pirate barons locked Calypso together! It is immediately evident: the creators of the third part did not even bother to revise the first, saying the legendary bad-comedian "SHAAAVAUT!"
2. Merged Kraken
Kraken is one of the brightest monsters in general in world cinema. In the second part, we were shown all its inevitability and indestructibility. The severed tentacles grow back, cannon shots are not taken, and if this beast rushed at you, then we can only hope that a loyal team will find you in Davy Jones' chest. And the creators did everything right: almost to the very end they did not show us in full and pumped up suspense before his next attack. And what will happen to the Kraken in the third part? But nothing, he will roll dead on the shore, and Pintel and Ragetti will ride on it! At the same time, he was killed by Davy Jones himself on the orders of Beckett. It remains only to ask: "Why, was that possible?" Moreover, we were not even shown the murder process itself, because it must have been very epic. But the most incomprehensible - what for Beckett needed to kill the Kraken? This is the most powerful weapon that obeys Davy Jones, who obeys you! It's like voluntarily destroying a nuclear warhead. Somehow I did not notice in Lord Beckett any nobility to deprive myself of such an advantage! The only explanation is that the writers stupidly did not know what to do with the Kraken and how to get him out of the final battle.
As a bonus, today I would like to mention a problem that is not specifically related to this series, but has spread to other films. Namely - the image of Captain Jack Sparrow. Johnny Depp was one hundred percent hit on this look in 2003. They say that many auditioned for this role, including Jim Carrey, but Gore Verbinski managed to find someone who will play the hero of the extravagant, but within certain limits, and not like Jim Carrey. Alas, because of this role, the previously versatile actor Johnny Depp began to play the same character from time to time: "Willy Wonka", "Alice in Wonderland", "The Lone Ranger" ... And even in serious roles like the same Sweeney Todd had a sparrow note. Although it seems like the actor has been improving recently.
1. The whole movie "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides"
There are successful sequels - for example, "Back to the Future" -2 and 3. There are sequels that come out even better than the original ("Terminator-2"). There are bad sequels. There are even terrible ones. But On Stranger Tides is even worse. He's just ... nothing. This is an empty, non-catchy film that does not cause absolutely any emotion from watching. After viewing it, the only question remains: why is it needed? No, of course, to cut the dough on the franchise, but still. The original trilogy came out with a brilliant finished story, with amazing humor, great dialogues and phrases that went to the people. Can you remember at least one phrase from the fourth part? The fourth part came out completely useless, unnecessary. She does not develop the plot of the trilogy in any way, does not expand the universe in any way and does not try to start new story... That is, it seems like in the scene after the credits we were shown Penelope Cruz with a voodoo Jack doll, but even at the first viewing it became obvious: there is no development of the story here and there will not be.
“On Stranger Tides” I remember only because it constantly slipped into quoting old phrases. There is not even new music here. The same theme He’s a pirate and a couple more non-engaging compositions.
Love line? God, she's pointless and wretched. Will and Elizabeth pissed me off in the trilogy, but at least their relationship was interesting. There is also a missionary and a mermaid, who do not have even a billionth share of charisma, who commit meaningless acts (why, for example, did the mermaid want to help the sailors who hunted her sisters?).
The villain? Completely, why should I be afraid of some guy, even if he controls the ropes of his ship? I've seen skeletons come to life, the terrifying Kraken and Davy Jones' crew in previous installments! This is who inspired the real fear - a crowd of immortal monsters from the depths of the sea! And then ... well, some kind of another pirate, who even Barbossa from the first part, let alone Davey Jones, is not suitable for a candle. It is not clear why Jack was suddenly so afraid of him.
Do you remember that post is called “Top 11 Most Annoying Moments”? And what annoys me most about the fourth part is that it ... there is simply nothing to hate! As a separate story, it looks quite tolerable, albeit a little clichéd. But I see no reason to love her (well, other than Penelope Cruz's breasts towering over the corset)! And I'm so damn shameful that such a chic franchise contains such an empty film.
As I wrote above, in May we are waiting for the fifth part of the adventures of Jack Sparrow ... Sorry, Captain Jack Sparrow. Orlando Bloom will return to the franchise, they seem to promise a cameo by Keira Knightley ... Well, the colorful Geoffrey Rush is in place. And although I look forward to her with my heart, I understand with my mind that there is no need to expect any discoveries from her. And the reason for this is the useless fourth part. Keep in mind, however, that no one will take our three great first films away from us. And thanks to Gor Verbinski and the company for that! Do you dare?
In May, the Russian premiere of the fifth film in the series "Pirates of the Caribbean" - "Dead Men Tell No Tales" will take place. Gold, treasures, doubloons and piastres have always played an important role in pirate life. Imagine the world of Captain Jack Sparrow and his comrades in the criminal business from a financial and economic point of view.
ALEXEY ALEXEEV
Cortez's cursed gold
In the first film of the epic, The Curse of the Black Pearl, gold is one of the main springs of the plot.
"This is Aztec gold. One of 882 identical plaques that the Indians presented in a stone chest to Cortez personally. Blood money, payment to stop the massacre unleashed by his army. But Cortez's greed was insatiable. Then the gods of the pagans cast a terrible spell on the gold." Any mortal who takes at least one plaque from the chest will be cursed forever. "
The creators of "Pirates of the Caribbean" greatly overestimated the "dead man's chest" - by the standards of ancient pirates, there was not enough gold in it
Strange, but in the Russian voice acting of the first film of the epic of plaques, for some reason, 663. Where 219 plaques disappeared on the way between the Caribbean Sea and Russia is a mystery shrouded in darkness. Let's assume that the plaques are still 882, as in the original. 881 in a chest, and the latter is used to make Elizabeth Swann's medallion. Pirates from the Black Pearl ship are chasing the medallion to remove the curse of the ancient gods from themselves. In addition, to get rid of it, you need to perform a symbolic ritual. It is necessary to return the bloody debt to the gods of the Aztecs - all 882 plaques stained with the blood of a descendant of the pirate Bill Bootstrap.
881 gold plaques from the Aztec treasure lay in Cortez's chest, and one of them was used to make Elizabeth Swann's medallion
And now a little rebuke to the Walt Disney Pictures film company. 882 gold medallions with a skull are very, very few by the standards of the ancient Aztecs and conquistadors. In 1521, the warriors of historic Cortez captured and plundered the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan. The Spaniards got gold in the amount equivalent to 130 thousand Spanish gold coins. Apparently, this amount seemed extremely insignificant to them. The conquistadors tortured the ruler of the Aztec state, Cuautemoc, hoping in vain to find out where the Indians were hiding the main treasures.
Having plundered the capital of the Aztecs in 1521, the soldiers of Cortez captured only 130 thousand Spanish gold coins - the amount, in their opinion, is not too large
Let's try to roughly estimate what the cost of a stone chest is. One plaque is approximately equal in size to the largest Spanish coin of the 16th century. This is an eight escudo coin. It contained 27.468 grams of 916.7 fine gold (22 carats). Thus, the chest contains 24 kg 227 g of gold. The price of one gram of gold with a purity of 916.7 today is $ 37.05. Thus, in April 2017, a full chest of cursed gold could have cost about $ 900 thousand.Even if one of the pirates grabbed it alone, he would not have reached the title of a dollar millionaire.
Now let's see how rich the pirates became when they divided the Aztec gold among themselves. The exact size of the Black Pearl crew is unknown. Actor Geoffrey Rush, who played Captain Hector Barbossa, named the number from 20 to 50. Suppose there were 22. Roughly speaking, when the treasure was divided, there were 40 plaques per brother. Gold was worth 16 times more than silver. Silver coin The eight reais (half escudos) were known as the peso, dollar, or "eight reais coin", pieces of eight. In the Russian translation of Treasure Island, the parrot calls such coins piastres. So, the members of the damned team got rich on 640 (16x40) similar silver coins.
What did they spend their money on? We know this from Captain Barbossa's complaint addressed to Elizabeth Swann-Turner - "about drinks, food and pleasant company." "But the drink did not quench our thirst, the food turned to ash in our mouths, and the nicest company in the world could not satisfy our lust. We are damned people, Miss Turner."
The creators of "Pirates of the Caribbean" attributed the time of the epic to about 1720-1750 years. The exchange rate of the peso-dollar-piastre to the pound sterling was then in effect, established by a decree of Queen Anne in 1704. One peso was equal to six shillings. £ 1 is 20 shillings, one shilling is 12p, one penny is 4 farthing. Therefore, 640 pesos is 3,840 shillings, which is £ 192.
According to the calculations of the British statistician of the 17th-18th centuries Gregory King, in 1688 (over the next half century, the situation did not change much), a farm laborer earned £ 7 per year. Soldiers and sailors earned £ 14-20 a year. Army and navy officers received £ 5-7 no longer a year, but a month.
After the division of gold from the "dead man's chest", each pirate could get an amount that was only enough "for food and drink"
If we assume that there were not 22 sailors on the Black Pearl, but 44, then each of them would be owed £ 96. And if we take the figure from the piracy historian Mark Rediker, according to which the average pirate crew was 80 people, then the income of each would be almost halved.
So, the money received by the pirates could be lived for quite a long time. Albeit without pleasure, as Captain Barbossa rightly noted.
Eat and drink for a shilling
In Pirates of the Caribbean, we hear the word shilling at the very beginning of the first film. It is the shilling that is demanded from Jack Sparrow for parking the ship in the bay. He offers three, adding for not giving his name.
Unfortunately, not all information about the prices of food, alcohol and escort services in the ports of the Caribbean Sea in the golden era of piracy has reached our days. The prices in the metropolis, in England, are much better known.
However, the cost of rum, "the most disgusting drink, which turns even the most educated people into animals," is no secret. In 1740 in Philadelphia, local rum was sold at 1 shilling 8p a gallon, and better Caribbean rum sold at 2 shillings 5p. It is logical to assume that in the Caribbean, at the place of production, Caribbean swill cost less than on the continent. If we assume that the same 1 shilling 8 pence paid for Caribbean rum where it was considered local, and not imported, then in the more familiar systems of measurement the price of the product will be 4.4 pence per liter. If we assume that a self-respecting pirate needs to drink a liter of rum every day in order to function properly, then every 54 days he would spend £ 1 on drinking.
Another bad habit very popular among pirates, smoking, was also inexpensive. 45 kilograms of Virginia tobacco in 1750 cost £ 1 in wholesale.
Now about the food. What could one buy with a shilling in England at that time (prices in the colonies could not be very different)?
Let's go back to Gregory King's statistics. In 1695, the average Englishman spent £ 3.85 a year on food and drink. Of this amount, £ 0.79 was for bread and flour products, £ 0.61 for meat, £ 0.42 for dairy products, £ 0.31 for fish, game and eggs, £ 0.22 for fruits and vegetables, £ 0.2 for pickles, £ 1.06 for beer and ale, £ 0.24 for spirits. In the middle of the 18th century, a 200-gram piece of wheat flour was called a "penny roll".
The food basket of the pirate of the Caribbean and the average Englishman probably differed in composition, but the price level shows that starvation did not threaten the crew of the Black Pearl for quite a long time. Even if you consider that the average Englishman was often cooked by his wife, and the pirate probably ate in establishments Catering... On the North American continent in the second half of the 18th century it was possible to dine in a tavern on the principle of "eat as much as you like from the common pot" for one or two shillings.
Most expensive was the favor of the girls of easy virtue in London - about £ 2, in ports the prices were much lower - the girls were called two pence
But the cost of a pleasant company in the metropolis and in the Caribbean could differ dramatically. In London, a wealthy client could pay for a meeting and £ 2, and if the counter is a virgin, much more. In ports, the price level was comparable to the lowest price category in the metropolis. The girls were traditionally called two pence, but in reality the standard dachshund was "shilling and booze."
Piracy as a cutting-edge business model
If pirates were content with such modest entertainment, how can one explain the popularity of this profession in the Caribbean in the first half of the 18th century? The number of active sea robbers in the golden age of piracy is estimated at 2,400 people. True, in 1716-1726, about 400-600 of this number were executed by the authorities of different states.
So why did people go to pirates?
With a lucky coincidence, the pirates could "earn" a lot: for example, in 1695, Henry Avery's pirate ships seized the loot worth £ 600,000.
Let's start with the fact that when hiring a pirate, there were no many traditional restrictions on rights at that time.
The black crew members of the Black Pearl are not a tribute to American political correctness (or not only it).
Already at the beginning of the 18th century, among the crew members of pirate ships were immigrants from Africa, while the "civilized world" was still very far from the abolition of slavery. Ordinary ships in that era were also used by dark-skinned sailors, often sold or "leased" by their owners. They did not receive payment for their labor and did not have the right to vote in solving ship problems. On a pirate ship, the crew members were equal. The pirate captain Edward England on the ship only one in five had a white skin.
They became the captain of a pirate ship in a democratic way - through elections, and were also deprived of this position - by the decision of the majority of the crew members (which happened quite often). So the story with Jack Sparrow, removed from the captain's post and landed on a desert island, is quite plausible.
William Snellgrave, a slave trader and ivory trader who was captured by pirates in 1719, recalled in his book the story of the pirate captain Christopher Moody: along with 12 sailors, the rest of the crew forced him into a boat, which was sent to sail freely. "And no one ever heard of them again."
On an ordinary merchant ship, the captain's power was immense. He determined which of the sailors should do what, decided what to feed the crew, how much money to pay to the crew members, had the right to subject any sailor to corporal punishment. Such an atmosphere in the workplace became the basis for someone to move from the merchant marine to the pirate business.
On a pirate ship, the quartermaster shared power with the democratically elected captain (in Treasure Island, John Silver was Captain Flint's quartermaster). The captain was supposed to deal primarily with combat operations, and the quartermaster - with economic issues. On some ships, the quartermaster wielded more real power than the captain.
The fundamental difference between pirate ships, on the one hand, and military and merchant ships, on the other, was in the level of income. On pirate ships, the booty was divided equally among all the sailors. Only the captain received two shares instead of one, the quartermaster - one and a half, sometimes the share and a quarter went to the "leading specialists" - the boatswain, the ship's doctor, the gunner, the first mate of the captain. Anyone who tried to deceive his comrades by hiding part of the prey was threatened with punishment - "such as the captain and the majority of the crew deemed suitable."
On merchant ships, the incomes of the "command staff" were five or more times higher than the earnings of ordinary sailors.
It is amazing (especially from the point of view of a law-abiding sailor) that the pirates care about their disabled comrades. Anyone who lost an arm or a leg in battle received compensation of £ 1,500.
The downside to the pirate pay system was that no loot meant no income. Generally. Whereas on a merchant ship the sailor was guaranteed his beggarly earnings.
A big plus of the pirate system is that with good mining, incomes could be very high. In 1695, several pirate ships led by Henry Avery seized the loot worth £ 600,000. Each of the sailors got at least £ 1,000.
In 1721, the men of John Taylor and Oliver La Bush set a record: £ 4,000 per attack. Unfortunately for the pirates, such good fortunes did not happen often. Many sea robbers were content with more modest incomes. But a free life of crime with the ability to hit the jackpot seemed to many seemed more attractive than law-abiding poverty and lawlessness.
About the thunderous expanses of the seas, the ships plying the waves, filled with countless treasures, rum and whores. Romance, burst my spleen, whistle everyone overboard! I mean a movie about pirates. It has everything a good movie needs, and a beauty, and an epic thieving pirate, and curses, and treasures. The first movie in the Pirate series caribbean... But far from the last.
End of the 17th century. A Royal Navy ship from Port Royal spots a blown up ship in the Caribbean. A girl named Elizabeth Swann, daughter of the governor, is found next to a ship in the ocean little boy Will Turner. When he is hauled aboard, Elizabeth finds a pirate medallion on it and takes it away so that the adults don't think he is a pirate.
10 years have passed since that moment. Elizabeth still keeps the medallion and now decides to put it on. Will works as an apprentice for a blacksmith and has a (noticeably mutual) passion for her, but at this time Commander James Norrington has already proposed to her. Meanwhile, a young pirate and charming rogue - Captain Jack Sparrow - arrives in Port Royal. Upon meeting with the guards, he explains that he intends to requisition the ship and recruit a team in order to reclaim his old ship on black sails - the Black Pearl. He manages to board the fast ship "Interceptor", but at this time Elizabeth, walking with the commander, under the influence of the tightly tightened corset of her new dress from lack of air falls from the rocks into the ocean.
Jack Sparrow notices this, rushes after her, pulls her aboard and rips the corset. The pirate medallion still on it turns out to be familiar to Jack. But at this time the commander finds him and orders him to be executed. Thanks to Elizabeth's attempts to intercede for him, he manages to take her hostage, return his belongings and escape. Jack Sparrow hides in the forge where Will Turner works. The latter has long been going to stab some pirate and starts a fight with him. At the end of the fight, Sparrow pulls out a pistol and aims at Turner, but does not have time to shoot - Jack is stunned with a bottle by Will's ever-drunk mentor, Mr. Brown. As a result, the pirate is taken to jail, and the death penalty is announced to him at dawn along with other pirates. At night, the "Black Pearl" sails into the port, and on it the pirates, led by Captain Hector Barbossa, who 10 years ago raised a riot on this ship against Jack Sparrow. Then Jack was landed on a desert island with a sword and a pistol loaded with one bullet.
According to legend, he got out of there on sea turtles and now intends to return the ship and teach Barbossa a lesson. Pirates, who have long entered this port, are attacking the city. An accidental blow to the prison frees the prisoners - everyone except Jack (the cannonball has broken through the wall, mostly where the other prisoners were sitting), who senses the approach of his ship. It turns out that the pirates arrived at the port for the medallion, but Elizabeth thought they were trying to kidnap her. Therefore, she said that according to the pirate "code", she should be taken to the captain. Under Barbossa, she introduces herself as Elizabeth Turner. The pirates, having learned the name, kidnap her and sail away. The next morning, William finds the commander pondering what course the pirates could take, and invites him to ask Sparrow, but Norrington refuses. Then William turns to Jack Sparrow and frees him. Jack, hearing his name, guesses that he is the son of Bill Turner, known as Bootstrap. Together they quietly get over to the Interceptor and sail to the pirate base - Isla de Muerte.
On the way, Jack reveals that Will's father is a pirate. Turner is indignant, but nothing can be done, you need to get to the Tortuga offered by Jack. There, Jack meets his former boatswain, Josham Gibbs, and informs him that with the help of Will Turner they will be able to return the ship and take revenge on Barbossa. At this time, Barbossa is having dinner with Elizabeth. Meanwhile, he tells her the legend of Aztec gold, which was cursed by the gods many years ago. Among them is Elizabeth's medallion - one of 663 gold plaques stolen from the chest by Barbossa's team.
After that, they become immortal ghosts, and in the light of the moon Elizabeth notices their appearance, even Barbossa's monkey turns into a skeleton. They can neither die nor enjoy life. To regain life and death, they must recover all the gold stolen from the chest and wash it in the blood of every cursed pirate. There was not enough blood from Bootstrap Turner, and since Elizabeth used his last name, they took it with them, mistaking it for the daughter of a pirate. Mr. Gibbs recruited the Interceptor, and Anna Maria, whom Jack had previously taken her brig from without permission, becomes its captain.
On the way, Gibbs tells Will the legend of Jack's imprisonment on the island. After being rescued, he keeps the one-bullet pistol given to him for Barbossa. At this time, the "Black Pearl" reached the designated place, and so did Jack. He asks Will not to go ahead and wait for the right moment, but he disobeys. At the moment of Jack and Will's arrival, the pirates performed the rite of returning the stolen medallion - they doused it with Elizabeth's blood and threw it into the chest with the 662 plaques already there.
Due to the origin of Elizabeth (who, of course, is not Bootstrap's daughter at all), the rite has no effect and does not free the pirates from the curse. Realizing this, Barbossa throws Elizabeth down the hill to the water. Will floats out of the water and takes Elizabeth along with the "bloody" medallion. Barbossa notices the loss, and his team goes in search. At this time, Jack appears, not quite recovered from the stunning, who is taken prisoner. Elizabeth gives the medallion to Will on the Interceptor. According to the law of the pirate code - "Do not wait for those who are left behind" - they sail away, but the "Pearl", known as the fastest ship, overtakes them along with Jack in captivity.
A battle is taking place. Barbossa takes the medallion and captures the entire team. William demands to let everyone go, threatening to commit suicide. This is unacceptable, since in this case the curse will never be lifted. But Barbossa locks the team, and Elizabeth and Jack drops out on the island (the same one from which Jack got out last time), also giving them one pistol with one bullet. On the island, Jack admits that he got out not with the help of turtles, but with the smugglers on the ship. Here they had a stash of food and rum, and by evening Jack and Elizabeth had a lot of fun. But in the morning, Elizabeth burns all the rum and palm forest on the island in order to attract the attention of the Royal Navy. Jack is angry with her, as he loves rum, but soon notices the ship "Shatter" from this fleet. The "smite" saves Jack and Elizabeth, but Jack is still sentenced to death again.
At Elizabeth's request, Jack is offered a deal - to show the way to Isla de Muerte in return for a favor. Two ships arrive on the island. Jack offers the Commander a plan: he lures opponents into the sea, and the "Smite" shoots them. As much as Elizabeth tried to explain that they could not be killed, the governor's people did not listen. Jack Sparrow sails to the island, where Will's blood is about to be sacrificed to the gods, and warns Barbossa that the fleet is approaching and that the spell is better removed later. Team Barbossa goes into battle with the "Smite", and Jack fights with Barbossa. Meanwhile, Elizabeth sails from the ship to the island and fights with the remaining people of Barbossa. Jack, using one of the plaques, himself became immortal, thereby saving himself from certain death when Barbossa stuck a saber in his stomach. During the fight, he throws a plaque to Will, and then shoots Barbossa with the coveted pistol. He says that Jack wasted the bullet, but then sees that Will is throwing plaques along with his blood and Jack's blood into the chest. Barbossa sees that his wound is bleeding and dies. All of Barbossa's team on the Shatter notices that they have lost their immortality, and surrenders to the authorities. (In the second film of the series, two pirates from this team appear - Bald and One-Eyed - in prison they were able to lure a dog with keys and escaped. The fate of the rest is unknown.)
Everyone returns to Port Royal. Jack, despite his help, is re-sentenced to be hanged. When he is already hanged, Will throws the sword at his feet, and Jack escapes. Elizabeth also goes over to Sparrow's side and distracts the Commander and Governor by pretending to have passed out from lack of air. Then Jack escapes, and the impressed commander doesn't protest too much, giving him a head start day. Jack, having said goodbye to the young couple, floats to the "Pearl" that has docked. Anna Maria announces Jack as her captain, and a small part of Barbossa's crew returns to Jack Sparrow.
After the credits, there is a short scene in which the action takes place in a cave on Isla de Muerta. Barbossa's monkey, left on the island, sneaks up on a chest with cursed Aztec gold coins and steals one. In a ray of moonlight, the monkey is again becoming cursed and immortal. For this reason, in all the following films, she is invulnerable.
