reply to post by Bananarama
Hi. I'm a Freemason. You probably hate me but I will share what knowledge and opinions I have regardless... because while I am an evil man hellbent
on ruining everyone's day, I also love history, so alas, you get the best of me.
Pirates have been around since .. well since ever, but they were immortalized by the Pirates of the New World .. It's mostly an American fixation, as
we love a bad guy .. but Pirates really came into their own in the New World because the leading powers could hire a Privateer (Pirate) ship to
assault cargo vessels, trade routes, bombard ports, harass islands and so on .. the Privateers would take a large percentage of the loot they
gathered, and the Crowns (heads of state) would get the satisfaction that they ruined their rivals day at minimum cost and the threat of instigating
wider wars.
However.. You should dispell the notion you have that Pirates lived "outside the system" .. We know from written accounts that Privateer was, for
the most part, mercenaries on the high seas .. paid for by private companies, heads of States, even other Privateers.. There were actually far fewer
"rouge" Pirates that assaulted anyone and everyone, especially as naval powers increased, bigger faster ships were far harder to take over, and
going head on into a fleet of Spanish or English Ship of Lines well .. even a Pirate knew when to stand down.
As far as Masonry goes, it is believed (of course not proven, but most likely true) that the Knights Templar became Pirates after their execution at
the hands of the French King Phillip in 1307 .. The Knights Templar DID own a vast navy, the largest private navy ever operated, and it was the only
Navy in Europe permitted to operate outside of Papal control (and the only one who had no Papal colors) .. So the legend goes (and all legends have a
base in fact) that the Knights who survived fled to the French North Coast and took to the seas.. Legend again tells us they went to Scotland .. Let
me go into the legend a bit:
The year is 1314, 7 years after the persecution and murder of many Templar Knights. King Edward I was at war with Scotland, and he dispatched Prince
Edward II to the North to fight the Scots.. He had massed a massive army, intending to crush the Scots and force them into submission .. it was,
historical evidence suggest, a pivotal moment.. if Scotland lost this battle they would have had nothing left to defend against an English take over,
and the crown would have lost it's power.
The battle ensues, Bruce is outnumbered by a considerable amount, but was heroic on the first day of battle. The English came at them again at
daybreak on the second day, and the Scots were folding under the weight of the English army. But then another force moved in from the North, which
was presumed to be a Scottish reinforcement, but flew no colors, they obviously knew how to fight, because within a few hours they routed the entire
English army.
I would say that Templars based operations in Scotland, and harassed French trade routes in European waters, as well as English .. some legends say
they flew the skull and cross bones, I've read others say it was a red flag with a sword, either or, the navy was never fully accounted for. There
were also legends that Templars used their navy to venture to the New World, if I can remember the name of an excellent book on the topic I'll edit
it in. But another legend supports it, that the Templar in Portugal who changed their name to the Knights of Christ (Portugal refused to persecute
them), provided the coordinates to Columbus to find the New World .. which perhaps makes more sense than boarding a boat and floating into nothingness
with no charts.. Who knows, it's all legend, but I believe all legends have some merit of truth.
Anyways. Templar are not Freemasons, but some, myself included, hypothesis that it's entirely possible Freemasonry originated our of the ruins of
that old order, so perhaps their history is our history, perhaps not, no one can say for sure. The Skull and Crossbones are not a strictly Masonic
symbol, nor was it a Templar, and was used as far back as ancient Greece.. always in some representation .. bones, skulls, swords, all inspire fear,
common theme.
Hope my rambling helps, if anything, gives you some legends to look up.