Did the East India Trading Company really brand pirates?

Question

Is there a real connection between pirates and Trading Company?

That is brand their skin with a branding iron as in the movie.

Answer 1

It's feasible, as branding was the punishment for many crimes, and in the British Empire some forms of branding lasted until the late 19th century.

"The punishment was adopted by the Anglo-Saxons, and the ancient law of England authorized the penalty. By the Statute of Vagabonds (1547) under King Edward VI, vagabonds and Gypsies were ordered to be branded with a large V on the breast, and brawlers with F for "fravmaker"; slaves who ran away were branded with S on the cheek or forehead. This law was repealed in England in 1636. From the time of Henry VII, branding was inflicted for all offences which received Benefit of clergy (branding of the thumbs was used around 1600 at Old Bailey to ensure that the accused who had successfully used the Benefit of Clergy defence, by reading a passage from the Bible, could not use it more than once), but it was abolished for such in 1822. In 1698 it was enacted that those convicted of petty theft or larceny, who were entitled to benefit of clergy, should be "burnt in the most visible part of the left cheek, nearest the nose." This special ordinance was repealed in 1707. James Nayler, a Quaker who in the year 1655 was accused of claiming to be the Messiah, convicted of blasphemy in a highly publicized trial before the Second Protectorate Parliament and had his tongue bored through and his forehead branded B for 'blasphemer'."

"In the Lancaster criminal court a branding iron is still preserved in the dock. It is a long bolt with a wooden handle at one end and an M (malefactor) at the other. Close by are two iron loops for firmly securing the hands during the operation. The brander, after examination, would turn to the judge and exclaim, "A fair mark, my lord." Criminals were formerly ordered to hold up their hands before sentence to show if they had been previously convicted."

"In the 18th century, cold branding or branding with cold irons became the mode of nominally inflicting the punishment on prisoners of higher rank. "When Charles Moritz, a young German, visited England in 1782 he was much surprised at this custom, and in his diary mentioned the case of a clergyman who had fought a duel and killed his man in Hyde Park. Found guilty of manslaughter he was burnt in the hand, if that could be called burning which was done with a cold iron" (Markham's Ancient Punishments of Northants, 1886)."

"Such cases led to branding becoming obsolete, and it was abolished in 1829 except in the case of deserters from the army, which were marked with the letter D, not with hot irons but by tattooing with ink or gunpowder. Notoriously bad soldiers were also branded with BC (bad character). The British Mutiny Act of 1858 provided that the court-martial, in addition to any other penalty, may order deserters to be marked on the left side, 2 inch below the armpit, with the letter ii), such letter to be not less than an inch long. In 1879 this was abolished."

"Human branding : Branding in Britain" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_branding#Branding_in_Britain

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Did the East India Trading Company really brand pirates?
Is there a real connection between pirates and Trading Company?

Answer 3

Yes and no
Yes there were Pirates in the Far East and they were much more violent then the Pirates in the West Indies. The East India Company spent allot of time trying to put them down.

Pirates were centered manly in the Straits of Malacca, Java and Borneo, The Sulu Sea in the Philippines and the coast of China and Japan. The Honorable East India Company usually just hung the pirates when they caught them . They didn't even show up on beaches to do it it was from the yardarm at sea.

Or the Factors would pay them off and give thema cut of the money.

Answer 4

For a while, the East India Company had pretty much complete control of the parts of India where they had a presence - the British government let them do the governing, so yes, they would have been responsible for punishing pirates. However, pirates were a danger to shipping, which the company relied on, so they would almost certainly have been hung, unless they had contracts with the company.

Answer 5

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Jack Sparrow's tattoo is a picture of waves and a sunset with a sparrow flying in front of it. (by the way, bit of usless info. Johnny Depp actually has that tattoo!) Or did you mean the brand that all the pirates have? Thats just a black "P" on they're fore arm. And as for what the East India Trading Company used to brand them, I think I remember in the second movie them showing like a cattle prod type of thing, but don't take my word on that part. Sorry I couldn't find any pictures :(

Answer 6

Historical Pirate Tattoos

Answer 7

Good Question! I caught that too. But it was never exlpained how Captain Jack Sparrow marked the uber-snob Cutler Beckett. Too bad Lord Beckett died in Pirates III. Though this issue might be an excellent precedent for Pirates IV?

Answer 8

wqhere can you buy that brand of pirate