Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Galloglaich" data-source="post: 5093363" data-attributes="member: 77019">Samurai vs. PiratesOne of the topics which has recieved nearly endless speculation on the internet, on shows such as 'Deadliest Warrior', and all across Geekdom, are the eternal quesions of whaat would happen if a warrior of this part of the world met one of that part.  Samurai and Pirates both feature high on this list... wouldn't it be interesting if they had ever crossed paths? How many debates have there been as to who would win? How about Samurai vs. Conqustadors, or Samurai vs. French Musketeers? Well of course in fact, it is quite interesting to read about... in history books. Because of course, it did indeed happen many times. During the early Euriopean exploration of the Pacific, European soldiers, sailors, merchants, missionaries, explorers and indeed pirates of many European nationalities crossed paths with Japanese numerous times, often coming to blows. Throughout the 16th Century due to their harsh acts in the past, the Japanese were banned from China, but they had a huge demand for Chinese silk. The trade town of Nagasaki in Japan was built up by Portuguese silk traders. The Dutch meanwhile, used Ronin samurai as hired muscle by the tens of thousands primarily in Indonesia, as did Chinese Waco pirates operating especially out of the Philippines, which were also falling under the control of the Spanish. Duels and even pitched land and naval battles in the Pacific took place numerous times between Japanese Samurai and Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch sailors and soldiers, and even occasionally with the English and French.  One of the earliest violent encounters betweenn the British and the Japanese occured in 1603 AD, when a pirate vessel comprised of Ronin Samurai encountered a British vessel commanded by a rogue British Captain named Sir Edward Michelborne who, due to being snubbed by the recently formed British East India company, had himself become a pirate who had been busy ravaging the "spice islands" around Malaysia and Borneo. here is the first part of their encounter, transcribed from the book [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Nathaniels-Nutmeg-Incredible-Adventures-Changed/dp/B000LMPLLA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266507129&sr=8-1]Nathaniels Nutmeg[/ame], by Giles Milton:  Next: what happend when the Samurai boarded the Tiger... G.</blockquote>

Verification