Pirata Codex

This article is about the book with the code's bylaws written in it. You may be looking for the rules and guidelines among pirates.

Pirata Codex
Object information
Made	During the Second Brethren Court
Owner(s)	Edward Teague Auctioneer
Affiliation	Code of the Pirate Brethren Keeper of the Code Brethren Court
Behind the scenes
First appearance	At World's End
Latest appearance	Wedlocked

"That book is the Pirate's Code. Some of it goes way back."

―Jack Sparrow to Esmeralda

The Pirata Codex, also referred to as the Code of the Pirate Brethren book, Pirate's Code, Pirate Code or more commonly the Code, was a large book containing the entire Code of the Pirate Brethren set forth in the classic Age of Piracy by the Pirate Lords Morgan and Bartholomew. It was comprised of one thousand textured parchment pages.

History

"The Code."
"As set forth by Morgan and Bartholomew."

―Pintel and Ragetti upon looking at the Pirata Codex.

The book had embossed covers and weighed around eighty pounds. It remained padlocked while not in use, with the key guarded by the Prison Dog. Captain Edward Teague served as the Keeper of the Code at Shipwreck Cove. The Code was commonly passed on by word of mouth, so the Codex itself was rarely consulted.

The book was brought into the Great Chamber when Captain Teague organized the Court of Inquiry. The Pirate Lord of the Caspian Sea, Boris Palachnik, was accused of being one of the rogue pirates who deliberately broke the Code by slaughtering their prisoners and knowingly attacking other pirate ships. Despite several witnesses, Teague could not determine if Palachnik was guilty or not, so the assembled Pirate Lords decided to magically summon Davy Jones, the supernatural ruler of the sea, who could give them the definitive answer.

Teague and Jack escape with the book.

In unknown circumstances, the book was stolen by the Indian pirate Akshay, who took it to the island of Great Goa in the Indian Ocean. Since the book contained all the secrets of the Pirate Brotherhood, Akshay intended to give it to the East India Trading Company in exchange for the undisputed rule over the Indian Ocean. Teague followed Akshay but was captured and thrown into a pit at the bottom of Akshay's palace. Some time later Teague's son Jack Sparrow was also thrown into the pit and they managed to escape. Though Jack briefly abandoned Teague, leaving him to try to retreive the Codex on his own, he eventually came back, and the two of them escaped with the book.

The Auctioneer holds the Code.

At some point after Jack Sparrow's departure from Shipwreck Island for Port Royal, the Auctioneer held an auction of numerous attractive wenches in Shipwreck City. The Pirata Codex book was lying on a table nearby. Scarlett and Giselle quickly rose to be the favorites of the lusty pirate crowd, eventually winning the price of seven hundred pieces of silver and two goats. However, the Auctioneer shackled the two women, stating that he owned them, as Jack had apparently sold both of them to him, and as per the Code he was free to resell them at profit. The self proclaimed guardian of the Code Mungard appeared and declared that the Code was the law as always, pushing the Auctioneer's hands from the book. Giselle then caused a great confusion which resulted in Mungard shooting at the Auctioneer. Fortunately for the Auctioneer, the bullet hit the Codex in his hands. At Mungard's orders, the book was quickly removed from the scene.

Captain Teague reads from the Code.

During the Fourth Brethren Court, Jack Sparrow disagreed with Captain Hector Barbossa's statemend that an act of war could be declared only by a Pirate King, Barbossa called on Teague. Sri Sumbhajee's aide Askay then declared that they should ignore the Code, but he was immediatelly shot dead by Captain Teague. The Codex was then brough into the Hall, the Prison Dog brought the keys, and Teague uncloked the book. After a short search through the book Teague confirmed that Barbossa was right.

Notable articles

"Code is the law."

―Edward Teague

Articles of the Pirata Codex included:

• The Right of Parley
• Artycle II, Section I, Paragraph VIII (sharing of the spoils)
• Artycle II, Section II, Paragraph I (whoever first spotted a treasure-laden ship could choose the best pistol for themselves)

The Codex also contained numerous rules and guidelines, including amendments for governing piracy in the South China Seas, on how marooning should be done, useful rum-based recipes, and a passage which mentioned mythic weapons, like the Trident of Poseidon, and strictly forbid pirates possessing such weapons, because they were too powerful and too dangerous. Trading among pirates was also regulated in the Codex, which said that any pirate could buy something and resell it at profit. The Codex was also filled with most unusual instructions, like recipes for beer, how to attack a ship, or where to find the best brothel in Singapore.

Behind the scenes

• While the Pirate's Code was first mentioned in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, the Pirata Codex or Pirate Code book first appeared in At World's End. The names "Pirata Codex", "Pirate Code" or simply "the Code" used for the book first appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide. Along with the aforementioned names, "Pirate's Code" and the "Code of the Brethren book" was used to describe the book in A. C. Crispin's The Price of Freedom.
• Although Captain Teague and the Pirate Code book were absent in the 2007 junior novelization for At World's End, they did appear in the Special Edition version of the novelization. However, the Code was described as "set down by the First Court" rather than the Second Court, which was previously established by Hector Barbossa to Sao Feng.
• In the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the At World's End video game the "Captain's log" which documents the player's progress through the game is modeled like the Pirata Codex book.

Appearances

• The Price of Freedom (First identified as Code of the Brethren book)
• Legends of the Brethren Court: Rising in the East (Mentioned only)
• Tears of the Goddess
• Tales of the Code: Wedlocked
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (First appearance)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (junior novelization) (Special Edition)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Penguin Readers)

Sources

• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide (First identified as Pirata Codex or Pirate Code)