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A timeline of events as depicted and mentioned in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. A specific date for the placement of the first three films has not been given, though the film's scriptwriters, while making the first film, placed them in a "floating thirty-year environment" set in the 18th century, sometime around the 1720s to 1750s.[1] However, On Stranger Tides was said to be set in the year 1750[2][3] and the official comic book adaptation of Dead Men Tell No Tales shows the film's events are set in 1751. Those two dates also help to set the events of the first three films around 1728/1729 though that still has to be officially confirmed by The Walt Disney Company.
The Aztecs deliver to Cortés a stone chest containing 882 identical pieces of Aztec gold, as blood money to appease his slaughter. When Cortés refuses to stop his conquest, the Heathen Gods place a curse upon the treasure, so that anyone who took but one coin from the chest would become undead skeletons. The treasure ultimately ended up on Isla de Muerta.[5]
Hernán Cortés died. However, his spirit remained in the Sword of Cortés, and would be unleashed by anyone who spoke an incantation over both the Sword and its scabbard.[7]
At an unknown date, a sailor named Davy Jones and the sea goddess Calypso fall in love with each other. Calypso rewarded that love by giving Jones captainy aboard the Flying Dutchman and the sacred task of ferrying souls who died at sea to the afterlife. Because of that love, Davy Jones agreed to set foot on dry land once every ten years; and if this love was true to him, his task would be complete, and a new captain of the Dutchman would be found. Jones would spend the following decade in this duty, at the end of which he could be reunited with Calypso for a single day.[8][9]
Ten years after pledging to serve as ferryman aboard the Dutchman, Davy Jones returns to land for one day to be with his love, Calypso. But whenever Davy Jones came ashore, Calypso was nowhere to be found. Around this time, the First Brethren Court convenes at Shipwreck Cove, where Davy Jones plotted with the Brethren. With his help, the Brethren bound Calypso into human form with the Nine Pieces of Eight, so that the rule of the seas would belong to men. These Pieces of Eight would be passed down through the generations as each Pirate Lord names his or her successor to the Court.[8][10]
Shortly after the First Court, Davy Jones' grief and guilt at what he had done became so great, he literally carved out his heart and locked it in the Dead Man's Chest, which he buried on Isla Cruces.[11] Refusing to continue his duty, Jones returned to the seven seas; only now sailors everywhere would fear him to the death. Because of this, Jones became cursed, in which he and his crew slowly transform into sea creatures the longer they serve aboard the Flying Dutchman.[9]
Henry Morgan was believed to have died because of liver failure in Port Royal. However, Morgan actually retreats to a remote island where he begins to study alchemy.[22]
1689
The Spanish dons attack and burn Don Rafael's estate, killing Esmeralda's parents. Don Rafael becomes a pirate, eventually rising to the position of a Pirate Lord of the Caribbean.[23]
Torrents is captured by Davy Jones, and strikes a bargain with him, vowing to bring Jones the Sword of Cortés in exchange for his freedom. Jones marks Torrents' body with the sign of Quetzalcoatl, found on the Sword's scabbard. This angers the heathen gods, who curse Torrents with storms that follow him constantly.[4]
Jack Sparrow is granted an audience with the mermaids at Isla Sirena, and negotiates the lives of his crew in exchange for his freedom.[41]
Jack Sparrow locates Isla Fortuna and the Sword of Cortés. Left-Foot Louis is defeated by the Sword, and the spirit of Hernán Cortés is released by Sparrow.[7] Jack later releases the spirit of Montezuma to defeat Cortés.[42]
East India Trading Company employee Jack Sparrow saves the ship he's serving on from falling into the hands of the pirates. His superior Cutler Beckett promotes him to captain and gives him command of his own merchant ship Wicked Wench.[49]
1716
East India Trading Company employee Jack Sparrow refuses to transport a cargo of slaves for Cutler Beckett, so he sets them all free. In response, Beckett had Jack branded as a pirate and Jack's ship, the Wicked Wench, burned and sunk. Jack makes a deal with Davy Jones to raise the ship from the depths, allowing him to serve as Captain and to sail it for thirteen years before he must serve for a century aboard the Flying Dutchman. Jack renames his ship the Black Pearl.[50]
Jack Sparrow becomes the Pirate Lord of the Caribbean Sea.
Captain Barbossa and the crew sail the Black Pearl to Isla de Muerta, where they find the treasure. After spending all the treasure, Barbossa's crew became cursed and set about returning all 882 pieces of the treasure.[5][52]
Bootstrap Bill Turner speaks out against the decision to mutiny against Jack and sent off his gold coin to his son, saying the crew deserved to remain cursed. Upon learning of Bootstrap Bill's actions, Barbossa has Turner strapped to a cannon, and sent to the bottom of the ocean. It is only after this point the crew learn they needed Turner's blood to lift the curse.[5][52] Bootstrap Bill began living out a tortured existence on the seabed, unable to die; until he eventually makes a bargain with Davy Jones, at an unknown time, agreeing to serve one hundred years aboard the Flying Dutchman.[11]
James Norrington is promoted to the rank of Commodore. Jack Sparrow arrives in Port Royal prior to the Black Pearl's attack. Elizabeth Swann is kidnapped, and Will Turner recruits Jack to help save her. Jack assembles a crew at Tortuga, who set sail in the commandeered HMS Interceptor.[58][59]
During the voyage to Isla de Muerta, Jack and his crew sack the Earl King, with Jack and Will posing as members of the Royal Navy.[60]
Jack ultimately confronts Barbossa at Isla de Muerta. Turner lifts the curse, allowing Jack to kill Barbossa and his crew to be killed or captured by Norrington's men. Jack escapes a hanging with Will's help, and rejoins his crew. Will and Elizabeth pledge their love to one another. Jack the monkey takes a coin from the chest and becomes cursed once more.[5]
Will begins to train Elizabeth how to handle a sword.[11]
1729
One year after the battle of Isla de Muerta,[59] the marriage of Will and Elizabeth is interrupted by LordCutler Beckett, who arrests them both and takes control of Port Royal. Jack Sparrow escapes from the Turkish prison with a drawing of the key. Will sets off to obtain Jack's compass for Beckett, and Elizabeth later escapes prison to track him down. Ragetti and Pintel escape from Port Royal prison. Jack, Will and the rest of the crew seek Tia Dalma who tells them the history of Davy Jones and Calypso. Will is press-ganged aboard the Flying Dutchman, but escapes with the key. Jack arrives at Isla Cruces and unlocks the Dead Man's Chest, though Norrington later steals the heart. Jack and the Black Pearl are dragged down to Davy Jones' Locker by the Kraken. Norrington presents Beckett with the heart, and is reinstated as admiral. Davy Jones falls under Beckett's command.[61]
After about two months[62], the East India Trading Company calls a state of emergency, and carries out mass hangings at Fort Charles. While the Flying Dutchman, sailing under the Company, becomes the scourge of pirates in the Caribbean. Meanwhile, Jack Sparrow's crew, now under Barbossa's command, sail to reach World's End and rescue Jack Sparrow in Davy Jones' Locker. Sao Feng is killed onboard the Empress, and names Elizabeth Swann as Pirate Lord in his stead. James Norrington dies protecting Elizabeth as she escapes from the Flying Dutchman. The Fourth Brethren Court was called by Barbossa, convening as the EITC were advancing with an armada to destroy the world of pirates. Barbossa was eager to release Calypso, while Jack was eager to declare an act of war against the EITC, after which Elizabeth Swann was elected as the new Pirate King. Calypso is released from her human form and forms a maelstrom, where a battle raged at the center of it. During the battle, Will Turner and Elizabeth are wed by Barbossa, while Jack fights Davy Jones for the Dead Man's Chest. Jones is killed by a dying Will Turner, who replaces him as captain of the Dutchman, and Cutler Beckett dies aboard the Endeavour.[9]
After the battle with Beckett and the EITC, Will and Elizabeth spend their one day together before Will begins his duty aboard the Dutchman, and conceive a child. Barbossa steals the Black Pearl, Gibbs stays in Tortuga, and Jack Sparrow steals the navigational charts and begins the search for the Fountain of Youth.[9]
August - Elizabeth Swann and her son Henry await the return of Will Turner. It is believed that because Will has carried out his duty for the past decade, and Elizabeth remain faithful, Will's curse is broken and he is freed from service.[65] However, Will Turner returns to his wife and son for just one day before returning to his duty.[66]
A cursed Will Turner with his son Henry aboard the Flying Dutchman.
A twelve-year-old Henry Turner attempts to drown himself in order to see his father, Will Turner, aboard the Flying Dutchman. Now cursed, Will tries to tell Henry to go back home to his mother, while Henry tells his father about the Trident of Poseidon being the treasure with the power that may free him from the Dutchman and break his curse. Although Will resigns to his fate and tells Henry to forget him, Henry begins his search for the Trident.[68]
Carina Smyth abandons the orphanage and finds employment as a maid at Hanover Hall.[70]
1749
Carina Smyth sneaks into a university disguised as a man to attend a discourse about planetary satellites. Her ruse is discovered and she has to escape, causing a riot.[71]
The quest for the Trident of Poseidon, beginning with the Monarch chasing the Ruddy Rose, leading to an attack by Armando Salazar's ghostly crew of the Silent Mary.[74] Salazar's crew escape from the Devil's Triangle, determined to kill every pirate at sea. Jack Sparrow, Henry Turner, and Carina Smyth search for the Trident of Poseidon, which led to the Black Pearl released from the bottle and the destruction of the Trident. Hector Barbossa sacrifices himself to save Carina, his daughter, by killing Salazar. With the Trident destroyed, Will Turner is freed from his duty aboard the Flying Dutchman, and is reunited with Elizabeth Swann. With Barbossa's death, Jack once again assumes command of the restored Black Pearl, and adopts "Jack" the monkey as his own.[75]
Jack Sparrow sails the Black Pearl into Tortuga, seeking a crew to find the Isla de Muerta and the Treasure of Cortés. He sets sail with Hector Barbossa as his first mate, who leads a mutiny three days into the voyage after Jack discloses the location of the treasure. Barbossa maroons Jack on Rumrunner's Isle, but Jack is rescued by merchants, although he later claims to have escaped on sea turtles.
Crossing from England to Port Royal, a young Elizabeth Swann sees William Turner adrift in the water. After hauling the boy aboard, she and the crew witness the flaming wreckage of a ship destroyed by the Black Pearl. At some point following the voyage in the crossing of England, Joshamee Gibbs leaves the British Royal Navy and turned pirate once more, ultimately ending up in Tortuga.[82]
Jack and his crew embark on a series of adventures in the Caribbean Sea. During this time, his former crew become cursed again, and vow revenge on Jack.[84]
Commodore Norrington resigns his commission after losing his crew in a hurricane while chasing the Black Pearl off Tripoli.[11]
Isla de Muerta is claimed by the sea before Jack's crew can claim its treasure. Jack the monkey stows aboard the Black Pearl at this point.[11]
At some point prior to [-10y], the pirate Joshamee Gibbs befriends Jack Sparrow[85] He ultimately joins the Royal Navy[82], though was later persuaded by Jack to turn pirate.[86]
At some point prior to [-10y] Jocard killed his master and went from being a slave to a pirate.
At some point prior to [0y], Jack Sparrow is believed to have vanished under the eyes of seven agents of the East India Company, sacked Nassau Port without firing a single shot, as well as impersonating an officer of the Spanish Royal Navy and a cleric of the Church of England.[5]
↑"The idea was to take the Pirates of the Caribbean world a few steps beyond, with our new characters engaged in a thrilling and sometimes hilarious search for the fabled Fountain of Youth that takes them from the teaming streets of mid-18th century London to mysterious and dangerous ships and islands inhabited by zombies and mermaids." - Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: The Visual Guide Foreword by Jerry Bruckheimer
↑Estimation based on the Sins of the Father, Chapter One, where Grandmama is described as 82 years old. The narration there indicates that Jack run away from home not long before he met Arabella, which is further supported by the words "one of the first things Jack did upon securing his freedom was find a boat", specifically the Barnacle, from the same chapter and by the The Coming Storm, Chapter Two, where it is stated that Jack was new to Tortuga as he didn't know that place at all yet.
↑In a possible backstory, at some point after the Jack Sparrow series, Arabella Smith returned to Tortuga to take over as the owner and operator of the Faithful Bride, which would be renamed "Tortuga Tavern". The Tortuga Tavern sign says that the tavern was established in 1673. However, the canonicity of the story is unknown.
↑That happened approximately 10-11 years before Arabella joins Jack in his search for the Sword of Cortés, as stated by Arabella in the novel Jack Sparrow: Silver, Chapter Three.
↑James "Jim" Carson's calendar of Henry Turner's waiting for Will Turner's return from Dead Men Tell No Tales sets the main events of The Curse of the Black Pearl in 1728. The mutiny occurs ten years prior to the main action of The Curse of the Black Pearl as evidenced by Barbossa's line to Jack Sparrow: "Ten years you carry that pistol, and now you waste your shot."
↑Quote about the incident shows that Blackbeard's death never happened and it was just a legend, "And what of you? The mighty Blackbeard. Beheaded, they say. Still, your body swam three times around your ship and climbed back onboard."
↑ 54.054.1"I recognize this ship, I saw it eight years ago on the crossing from England" - Elizabeth Swann on the Black Pearl (The Curse of the Black Pearl)
↑ 59.059.1Dead Man's Chest takes place a year after The Curse of the Black Pearl as evidenced by Jack Sparrow's line about being captain of the Black Pearl for only "two years" before the mutiny, which was ten years before the first film. Davy Jones confirms their deal occurred thirteen years prior to DMC, leaving another year to account for the time between films.
↑In the previous movies, there seemed to be quite a wide range in terms of historical accuracy, and I think they did, 'as long as it made sense, find out what's the most fun thing to use.' We picked a date of 1750, we all got together in a room, and said, 'right, let's have a date we can pick and choose from, so we said 1750… and if it was a bit earlier, or just a hair later, maybe we'd do what was most fun for the storytelling, but we're in that range, we're saying mid-1700s. - John Myhre
↑It is unknown when most of these events took place, whether it was in the same year Curse of the Black Pearl took place or the year Dead Man's Chest took place.
↑"That was before I met him, back when he was captain of the Black Pearl." - Joshamee Gibbs. The Visual Guide also states Gibbs and Jack were old pirate friends, and Gibbs later left to join the Navy.
