Turns out, it wasn’t just in the movies.
Pirate articles, or articles of agreement, were a code of conduct for governing ships of pirates, notably between the 17th and 18th centuries, during the so-called “Golden Age of Piracy”. The typical pirate crew was an unorthodox mixture of former sailors, escaped convicts, disillusioned men, and possibly former or escaped slaves, among others, looking for wealth at any cost; once aboard a seafaring vessel, the group would draw-up their own ship- and crew-specific code (or articles)…
I’m no expert, but my sense from what I’ve read is that ‘the code’ could be relatively-strictly followed in some circumstances, and in others, followed or honored very little at all. Or could simply vary a lot in the rules.
Also, like all such rules, they could sometimes be adhered to in complete self-interest by various leaders or factions, and at other times, brushed off as ‘unrealistic’ (etc) by the very same groups. So a lot of it came down to the particular personnel who happened to be on a ship, I think?
Barbossa said it best.
Sounds like workplace politics havent changed very much in 400 years
In the sub-arctic tundra, there exists a feisty little rodent that understands.