来源：《BBC历史》2023年一月号
The golden age of piracy was very much fuelled by the turbulent relationship between Spain and England. Nowhere was this more evident than in the waters around the island of Jamaica. By the 1650s, this hotbed of English piracy found itself at the centre of escalating tensions between England and Spain. The rivalry between the two nations was so intense that war broke out in 1654. The conflict ended in 1670 with the Treaty of Madrid, in which Spain acknowledged English ownership of Jamaica.
西班牙和英国之间动荡的关系在很大程度上推动了海盗的黄金时代。这一点在牙买加岛周围的水域表现得最为明显。到了17世纪50年代，这个英国海盗的温床成为了英国和西班牙紧张关系升级的中心。这两个国家之间的竞争非常激烈，战争于1654年爆发。1670年，随着《马德里条约》的签订，冲突结束，西班牙承认英国对牙买加的所有权。
That may have been good news for the English state but it didn't look that way for pirates, because one of the stipulations of the Treaty of Madrid was the promise to protect Spanish ships from their raids. That meant it was very much in London's interests to end the pirates' reign of terror across the Caribbean.
这对英国来说可能是个好消息，但对海盗来说却不是这样，因为《马德里条约》的一项规定是承诺保护西班牙船只免受海盗劫掠。这意味着终结海盗在加勒比地区的恐怖统治非常符合伦敦的利益。
The English developed a two-pronged approach to eradicating piracy. First, they passed the Act for the More Effectual Suppression of Piracy in 1700, which promised a pardon to all men who turned themselves in. This was not as successful as the authorities hoped, however. Pirates did not trust that the conditions of the pardon would be upheld – and, sure enough, sometimes they found themselves pressed into the Royal Navy.
英国人采取了双管齐下的方法来根除海盗。首先，他们在1700年通过了《更有效地镇压海盗法案》，承诺赦免所有自首的海盗。然而，这并不像当局希望的那样成功。海盗们不相信赦免的条件会得到维持——果不其然，有时他们发现自己被迫加入了皇家海军。
London's second tactic was much more aggressive. That was to establish Admiralty courts in the Caribbean and North American colonies with the express aim of trying and executing pirates using the same, harsher penalties imposed in English courts. Until then, colonial courts had been able to operate more or less autonomously, punishing convicted pirates as they saw fit. And, as the colonies were frequently reliant on piracy to fill their coffers and bring in desirable goods, those punishments were often light to non-existent. Such laxness, London decreed, had to be stopped.
伦敦的第二个策略要激进得多。那就是在加勒比和北美殖民地建立海军部法庭，其明确目标是使用与英国法庭相同的更严厉的惩罚来审判和处决海盗。在此之前，殖民地法院或多或少能够自主运作，在他们认为合适的时候惩罚被定罪的海盗。而且，由于殖民地经常依赖海盗来充盈自身的财政并带来他们想要的商品，这些惩罚往往很轻，甚至根本不存在。伦敦下令，必须制止这种松懈。
Yet no sooner had this new era of zero tolerance come into effect than a sharp deterioration in Anglo-Spanish relations reset the relationship between the English authorities and pirates once again. In 1701, the War of Spanish Succession broke out, embroiling most of Europe in a conflict over who would control the Spanish throne. Much of the war was fought at sea and England found itself in need of skilled seamen and fighters.
然而，这一零容忍的新时代刚刚开始，英西关系的急剧恶化就再次重置了英国当局与海盗之间的关系。1701年，西班牙王位继承战争爆发，欧洲大部分地区都卷入了谁来控制西班牙王位的冲突。战争的大部分时间是在海上进行的，英国发现自己需要熟练的水手和战士。
Suddenly pirates had the upper hand. The English authorities issued a proclamation promising all pirates a pardon if they agreed to fight as privateers for the government against the Spanish and its allies. Under their contract, the privateers would be allowed to keep much of the loot they stole from enemy ships. Most pirates took advantage of this proclamation because they were able to continue their operations without fear from persecution. It was a win-win situation for everyone involved.
海盗突然占了上风。英国当局发布了一项公告，承诺如果所有海盗同意以私掠船的身份与西班牙及其盟友作战，他们就会得到赦免。根据他们和英国政府的合同，私掠船将被允许保留他们从敌舰上偷来的大部分战利品。大多数海盗利用了这一公告，因为他们能够继续从事海盗活动，而不用担心受到迫害。这对每个参与者来说都是双赢的局面。