Parley

This article is about the term. You may be looking for the musical cue.

Parley aboard the Black Pearl between Captain Barbossa and Elizabeth "Turner".

"Parley. I invoke the right of parley. According to the Code of the Brethren set down by the pirates Morgan and Bartholomew, you have to take me to your captain."
"I know the Code."
"If an adversary demands parley, you can do them no harm until the parley is complete."

―Elizabeth Swann and Pintel

Parley, often stylized as parlay, was a negotiation conference, especially one between enemies over terms of a truce or other matters. The root of the word parley is parler, which is the French verb "to speak"; specifically the conjugation parlez "you speak", whether as imperative or indicative. The term written as "parlay" on the Pirata Codex was known as a right in the Code of the Pirate Brethren, set down by Morgan and Bartholomew, that allowed any person to invoke temporary protection and brought before the captain to "negotiate" without being attacked until the parley is complete.

History

The pirate flag of parley.

"Parley? Damn to the depths whatever muttonhead thought up 'parley'!"
"That would be the French."

―Pintel and Jack Sparrow

Beginning in the High Middle Ages with the expansion of monarchs, a parley, or "talk", was a meeting held between kings and their Chief Retainers. Parleys were part of the many changes in Europe, especially regarding governments. These meetings can be attributed to the formation of parliaments, which are derived from a similar root, parliamentum, simply meaning "talking".

Parley on the sandbar.

In the Golden Age of Piracy, the term "parlay", as written in the Pirata Codex, was known as a right set down by Morgan and Bartholomew in creating the Code of the Pirate Brethren that allowed a pirate or any other individual (i.e. Elizabeth Swann) to be taken by a crew member to the captain of their ship to discuss a treaty, negotiation, etc. without being attacked until the parley is complete. Parleys generally ended successfully, but often pirates, like Hector Barbossa would bend the rules of the Code as "guidelines" to uphold their own ambitions.

Sometimes, to call for parlay on the open sea, pirates would hoist the white flag with the black skull and crossbones, the typical Jolly Roger with the reversed colors. However, by the time of Jack Sparrow's quest for the Heart of Zerzura, the flag wasn't used so much as before, as many pirates just used a white flag with no symbols at all.

Notable Parleys

Official

The following occurred after an individual invoked the right by saying "Parley".

• Jack Sparrow invoked the right of parley when the Venganza's attack on his ship, the Fair Wind, resulted in death of his Captain, Nathaniel Bainbridge, at the hands of the pirate captain, Esmeralda Maria Consuela Anna de Sevilla. Jack negotiated with Esmeralda in the captain's cabin and she agreed to take from the Fair Wind only one third of its cargo of rum, half of the spare canvas, ten hogsheads of fresh water, a quarter of the bosun’s stores, half of the fresh fruit, two bags of biscuit, a cask of salt beef, and half of the gunpowder. Esmeralda also required that Jack joins her for a dinner in her cabin on the Venganza.
• When Jack Sparrow's ship, the Wicked Wench, encountered La Vipère, the ship of the infamous rogue pirate Christophe-Julien de Rapièr, Jack called for a parley with Christophe. They met in boats, halfaway between their ships, and Jack told Christophe about the treasure-filled Zerzuran labyrinth on the island of Kerma, and the three magical wristlets that were needed to enter the labyrinth. Since Jack had two of the wristlets in his posession, and Christophe had the third one, they agreed to work together to find the treasure.
• At the beginning of the Quest for the Shadow Gold a group of slaves led by Gombo escaped from a plantation in Louisiana. Most of the slaves stayed together and stole their former master's ship, the Ranger. However, Gombo ended up separated from the group and joined the crew of the Black Pearl. A few months later the crew of the Ranger caught up with the Pearl and raised the white flag, to which the pirates responded by doing the same. After a short talk, Gombo decided to rejoin his comrades who accepted him as their captain.
• When the Black Pearl approached Suvarnadurg, the island stronghold of Sumbhajee Angria, Sumbhajee's ship, the Otter, opened fire on the Pearl, to which Jean Magliore responded by raising the white flag. The Indian pirates stopped firing and allowed the Pearl safe passage inside Suvarnadurg.
• Elizabeth Swann, threatened by Pintel and Ragetti, invoked the right of parley during the attack on Port Royal and was taken aboard the Black Pearl to meet with Captain Hector Barbossa. Both Barbossa and Elizabeth (introduced as "Elizabeth Turner") agreed that if Elizabeth handed over her medallion, which Barbossa's crew were searching for, then Barbossa would have the Pearl leave Port Royal. This concluded with the pirate crew leaving Port Royal, but having taken Elizabeth with them.
• When he was spotted at Isla de Muerta, Jack Sparrow, with the assistance of Ragetti, invoked the right of parley to Barbossa's crew. This led to a meeting of Jack and Barbossa, who haven't seen each other for 10 years, after Barbossa left Jack to die on a desert island. This concluded with Jack entering failed negotiations aboard the Black Pearl, which ended with Jack being thrown into the Pearl's brig.
• After the crew of the Black Pearl returned from Davy Jones' Locker, Cotton's parrot said "parley" to Jack the Monkey when Jack pulled out a pistol on him. This occurred after when Jack Sparrow, Barbossa, Elizabeth, Will Turner and Joshamee Gibbs had their pistols pointed on each other. The details on his parley are uncertain, as it was merely Cotton's parrot who said it.
• The great parley on the sandbar between the high representatives of the Brethren Court's fleet and the East India Trading Company armada, called upon by Captain Jack Sparrow. In this parley meeting, the leaders of the pirates and Company met to discuss an ending to the on-going war. During the parley, Jack Sparrow was traded with Will Turner in order to supplement his debt to Davy Jones. The direct result of this parley would be the battle of Calypso's maelstrom, in which the pirates achieved victory over the Company's armada as well as the death of Lord Cutler Beckett.

Unofficial

The following occurred between individuals, but without the use of saying "Parley".

• Aboard the Black Pearl, Will Turner negotiated with Hector Barbossa into freeing Elizabeth Swann and Jack Sparrow's crew. This ended with Will becoming Barbossa's prisoner, as Barbossa's crew needed Will's blood, and the marooning of Jack and Elizabeth on Black Sam's Spit.
• At Isla de Muerta, Jack Sparrow entered in negotiations with Barbossa, where Jack coerced Barbossa into letting his crew fight and kill Commodore James Norrington's men of the British Royal Navy before lifting the curse. This ended with Barbossa agree to 25% of Jack's plunder and a hat, though would not get the chance as per the outcome of the battle to come.
• Aboard the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow and Davy Jones entered negotiations regarding Sparrow's debt. This ended with Jones removing the Black Spot from his hand and with the agreement that Jack had to find 100 souls in three days to settle his debt, though because Jones decided to keep Will Turner aboard his ship, the Flying Dutchman, Jack only had to find 99 souls. However, Jack's reprieve ended when Jones realized Jack's intention to find the Dead Man's Chest.
• In Singapore, Barbossa met with Sao Feng in his bathhouse regarding a voyage to Davy Jones' Locker, continuing the attempt to rescue Jack Sparrow, who was taken to the Locker. The meeting ended sourly, as the East India Trading Company attacked the pirates. Fortunately, Sao Feng granted the navigational charts as well as a ship and crew to Will Turner to give to Barbossa; though Feng would betray the two afterwards.
• On an island, Jack Sparrow met with Blackbeard's crew in the jungles. During this meeting, Jack negotiated with Blackbeard for the Chalices by requesting the return of his compass, no harm was to be brought to Angelica, and the freedom of Joshamee Gibbs, who accompanied Jack to this meeting. This ended with Blackbeard accepting Jack's requests and claiming the Chalices.
• When the Silent Mary encountered the Queen Anne's Revenge on the open sea, the Spanish ghost captain Armando Salazar intended to destroy the pirate vessel and slaughter its crew. However, the pirate captain, Hector Barbossa, made Salazar change his mind by promising to lead him to his old enemy, Captain Jack Sparrow.

Behind the scenes

• While first spoken in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, the term was spelled as "parlay" in the screenplay drafts. In Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, it was spelled as "parlay" in the Pirata Codex. This can be viewed as a spelling mistake, though this may simply have been intended as a non-standardized, piratical, and in-universe spelling of the word. Regardless, the word was mostly written as "parley" within the subtitles from DVD/Bluray home video releases, streaming services like Disney+, as well as some promotional material.
• In real life, the parley is a discussion or conference, especially one between enemies over terms of a truce or other matters, and it was also common in shipping. However, unlike the movies' parley, it was not included in any of the preserved ship's articles, the real life inspiration for the Code of the Pirate Brethren; therefore it is unknown if it was observed by pirates.
• In Dead Man's Chest, after the Flying Dutchman emerges from the sea beside the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow taunts Davy Jones with the jar of dirt, believing the heart of Davy Jones was inside. In the film's junior novelization, Jack calls for parlay.
• In Kingdom Hearts II, there was a parley between Jack Sparrow, Sora, Donald, Goofy and Luxord on the Black Pearl which ends with Luxord forcing them onto the Dauntless before destroying it. Another parley would occur between Jack and Luxord in Kingdom Hearts III, this time during the battle on the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman, although Sparrow would stop the parley from happening this time around. Both games are considered non-canonical to the Pirates of the Caribbean series.

Appearances

• The Price of Freedom
• Legends of the Brethren Court: The Caribbean
• Legends of the Brethren Court: Rising in the East
• Legends of the Brethren Court: The Turning Tide
• Legends of the Brethren Court: Day of the Shadow
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (First appearance)
• Pirates of the Caribbean Online
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization) (Mentioned only)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (junior novelization)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: The Movie Storybook
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Penguin Readers)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Tides of War (In flashback(s))
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Mentioned only)
• Pirates of the Caribbean Trading Card Game
• Kingdom Hearts II (Non-canonical appearance)
• Kingdom Hearts III (Non-canonical appearance)
• Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life (Mentioned only) (Non-canonical appearance)

External links

• Parley on Wikipedia