Brethren Court

"As he who issued summons, I convene this, the Fourth Brethren Court!"

- Hector Barbossa

The Brethren Court, also known as the Brethren of the Coast, Order of the Brethren , Pirate Conclave or Pirate Council, was the formal organization of the nine Pirate Lords and their followers, intended to serve as a ruling council for pirates across the world in matters of emergency.

The First Brethren Court
"The first Brethren Court made the alliance with Captain Jones, and that right has been passed down through the ages, to the assembled Pirate Lords."

- Mistress Ching

The First Brethren Court consisted of the Nine Pirate Lords who bound the sea goddess Calypso in her human form, on the instruction of Davy Jones, who revealed them secrets from the Journal of the Ancient Seas. They sealed Calypso's fate with Nine Pieces of Eight, so that the rule of the seas would belong to men. According to a legend, this Court was in the times of Ancient Greece, however this cannot be true. The Brethren would convene a further three times before her eventual release.

Known members

 * First Pirate Lord of the Atlantic Ocean
 * Calypso
 * Davy Jones
 * Unknown Pirate King

Known ships

 * Flying Dutchman
 * First Pirate King's flagship

The Second Brethren Court
"At any rate, the second Brethren Court drew up the Pirate Code which has served us well. Two of the Pirate Lords, Morgan and Bartholomew, figured it out and wrote it down, and that's what we've all lived by ever since."

- Hector Barbossa

On the Second Brethren Meeting the Pirates' Code was set down by the Captains Morgan and Bartholomew and recorded in the Pirata Codex. In addition to the Nine Pirate Lords new Members of the Court were appointed: the Keeper of the Code and the carriers of the Code.

Known members

 * Bartholomew
 * Henry Morgan
 * Grandmama

Known ships

 * Henry Morgan's flagship
 * Bartholomew's ship

The Third Brethren Court
"The Court has not met in my lifetime." "Nor mine." "And when last it did, my father told me, it ended...badly."

- Sao Feng and Hector Barbossa During the Third Brethren Court, a pirate thief named Tartaglia attempted to use the Timekeeper as a false Piece of Eight to fool the assembled Pirate Lords into thinking he was one of them. His plan failed and the third Brethren Court ended in violence.

Known members

 * Sao Feng's father
 * Tartaglia.

The Fourth Brethren Court
"And it was the very first meeting that gave us no less than rule of the sea herself, didn't it? And now that rule is being challenged." "The East India Trading Company." "Lord Cutler Beckett is a pox on us all."

- Hector Barbossa and Sao Feng

The Fourth Brethren Court was called when the song was sung by convicted pirates and pirate associates at Fort Charles, initially sent forth by Hector Barbossa. The majority of the Brethren assembled in the Pirate Hall on Shipwreck Island, joined later by the recently-resurrected Jack Sparrow and Barbossa, and Elizabeth Swann, who replaced Sao Feng. Barbossa chaired the meeting, noting that the Brethren had not gathered in either his or Sparrow's lifetime.

The Brethren assembled to discuss their course of action against Lord Cutler Beckett and the East India Trading Company, finally decided following the election of Elizabeth Swann to the position of Pirate King. She elected to go to war, upon which the Pirate Lords agreed. Their nine pieces of eight were burned as part of a ritual that saw the release of Calypso, and the ultimate defeat of Lord Beckett.

Known members

 * Ammand
 * Chevalle
 * Sumbhajee Angria
 * Ching
 * Jocard
 * Elizabeth Swann
 * Hector Barbossa
 * Eduardo Villanueva
 * Jack Sparrow
 * Edward Teague
 * Ragetti
 * Prison Dog

Pirate fleet
"Prepare every vessel that floats. At dawn, we're at war."

- Elizabeth Swann to the Brethren Court

The fleet of the Brethren Court numbered less than the three hundred ships Cutler Beckett marshalled against it, but was comprised of every vessel available at Shipwreck Cove. The fleet, prepared following the fourth meeting of the Brethren, brought together pirate vessels from around the world. The armada that witnessed the battle of Calypso's maelstrom included ships as diverse as galleons, ketches, sloops, boutres, schooners, frigates, galleys, brigs and junks. Ching commanded a vast fleet of pirate junks, while Sao Feng's Empress made an appearance, helmed by Tai Huang.

Known ships

 * Black Pearl
 * Centurion
 * Troubadour
 * Ranger
 * Fancy
 * Empress
 * Ching's flagship
 * Seref
 * Otter

Structure
"There's not been a gatherin' like this in our lifetime." "And I owe them all money."

- Hector Barbossa and Jack Sparrow

The Brethren Court was led by the Pirate King, chosen by popular vote by the nine Pirate Lords, each lord hailing from a different region spread across the Four Corners of the Earth. This system of election was known to be flawed, as the pirates would commonly vote for themselves, making a decision difficult. The title was non-gender specific, though Elizabeth Swann was believed to be the first female Pirate King.

Pirate Lords were required to each carry a piece of eight, signifying their status as a member of the Brethren Court. It was initially suggested that the Pirate Lords carry actual silver coins, though the pirates, finding themselves short on money, opted for holding various items and trinkets that would be instantly recognizable and linked to the individual Lord.

Meetings of the Brethren Court were convened by means of a "call" intended to draw all nine Lords to a single location. This call took the form of a sea shanty, Hoist the Colours, known to all pirates.

Behind the scenes

 * The Brethren Court was based on the real-world organization known as the "Brethren of the Coast".
 * The original opening of 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.
 * While the second and third meetings of the Court were only mentioned in a deleted scene from At World's End, they were put in official POTC material. The second meeting was mentioned in The Pirates' Guidelines, while the third meeting appeared in Dance of the Hours, the ninth book of the Jack Sparrow series.

Appearances

 * Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow: Dance of the Hours
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game)
 * LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game