Pirate Lord

"The Brethren Court is composed of the nine Pirate Lords, the greatest pirates in all the Seven Seas."

The Pirate Lords were nine powerful pirate captains who each claimed territories around the world. They were known for creating the Pirate Code^[1] and binding the Sea Goddess, Calypso in human form. They again united against the threat of Lord Cutler Beckett.

Pirate Lords

ThePiratesGuidelinesBrethrenCourtMapOfficial

The nine Pirate Lords as of the meeting of the Fourth Brethren Court.

Ammand - Pirate Lord of the Black Sea
Hector Barbossa - Pirate Lord of the Caspian Sea
Chevalle - Pirate Lord of the Mediterranean Sea
Ching - Pirate Lord of the Pacific Ocean
Jocard - Pirate Lord of the Atlantic Ocean
Jack Sparrow - Pirate Lord of the Caribbean Sea
Sumbhajee Angria - Pirate Lord of the Indian Ocean
Elizabeth Swann - Pirate Lord of the South China Sea (later voted as Pirate King)
Eduardo Villanueva - Pirate Lord of the Adriatic Sea

Former Pirate Lords

First Court

Second Court

Grandmama - Pirate Lord of the Atlantic Ocean
Henry Morgan
Bartholomew

Third Court

Sao Feng's father - Pirate Lord of the South China Sea

Other Lords

Edward Teague - Pirate Lord of Madagascar^[2] (later Keeper of the Code)^[3]
Ching's husband - Pirate Lord of the Pacific Ocean, deceased, succeeded by Ching.
Boris Palachnik - Pirate Lord of the Caspian Sea, succeeded by Barbossa, died in the explosion of his ship.
Don Rafael - Pirate Lord of the Caribbean Sea, killed by Christophe-Julien de Rapièr, succeeded by Esmeralda.
Lady Esmeralda - Pirate Lord of the Caribbean Sea, fate unknown.
Liang Dao - Pirate Lord of the South China Sea, overthrown by Sao Feng, killed by Benedict Huntington.
Sao Feng - Pirate Lord of the South China Sea, title given to Elizabeth Swann after his death.
King Samuel - Pirate Lord of the Atlantic Ocean, overthrown by Jocard.
Ammand's predecessor - Pirate Lord of the Black Sea, killed and succeeded by Ammand.

Prospective Pirate Lords

Jolly Roger - Considered for the position of Lord of the Caribbean, but was beaten by Jack Sparrow.^[4]
Tartaglia - Attempted to trick the Third Brethren Court into making him a Pirate Lord using the Timekeeper.^[5]
Stupid Barnaby - Attempted to make himself a Pirate Lord by stealing Sumbhajee's piece of eight.^[6]

Becoming a Pirate Lord

"Pirate Lords never do anything together. Make a point of it, in fact. If you catch one Pirate Lord doing something, the other eight will find eight different ways to do eight opposite things. That’s just the way it’s always been."

―Jack Sparrow to Alex^[src]

The title of Pirate Lord was bestowed when a former Lord gave his piece of eight to a successor. Generally one had to be a pirate captain, usually a powerful and/or famous one, to be considered worthy of the position. Pirate Lords tended to be the most powerful captains of their respective regions and commanded the respect of their fellow pirates. However, some Pirate Lords, such as Jack Sparrow and Barbossa, retained their titles even when they didn't have so much as a single ship to their name. There were also a few cases when the new Pirate Lord overthrew or even killed his or her predecessor to take their place.

Behind the scenes

"The Pirate Lords, from the four corners of the Earth, must stand together."

―Hector Barbossa^[src] (trailer)

The original opening of the 2007 film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was to be a montage depicting the Pirate Lords each receiving a piece of eight from Hector Barbossa as a sort of invitation announcing the convening of the Brethren Court. However, the scene of the hanging at Fort Charles, in which Hoist the Colors was sung, ended up being the opening in the final cut of the film. All that remained of the original opening was a shot of Barbossa with a piece of eight in his hand, which only appeared in the opening clip of the At World's End deleted scenes.^[7]