the.com/privateer
a pirate with a permission slip from the king, plundering enemy ships entirely on-brand.
means A privateer was a private ship owner (or crew) authorized by a government to attack and plunder enemy vessels during wartime, keeping a share of the spoils.
from From 'private' plus the agent suffix '-eer' (as in 'mountaineer'), a 17th-century English coinage marking these raiders as privately owned and operated, unlike the navy proper. The license that turned piracy into patriotism was the 'letter of marque' — and that 'marque' traces back through Old French to a Germanic root meaning 'boundary' or 'reprisal,' the idea being permission to cross a border and take what's owed. So a privateer was, quite literally, a private citizen handed a legal grudge.
- legal name
- letter of marque turned piracy into patriotism
- profit split
- crown took a cut of every prize
- famous one
- Francis Drake was knighted for it
- war tool
- navies on a budget hired freelance raiders
- thin line
- caught by enemies, they hanged as pirates anyway
henry morgan — welsh privateer who sacked panama city in 1671 with commission from england
jean lafitte — french privateer operating from barataria bay, louisiana, fought at battle of new orleans 1815
captain kidd — scottish privateer turned pirate, executed in london 1701