GC: n

S: Gilderlehrman – https://www.gilderlehrman.org/collection/glc04616 (last access: 14 November 2024); LawCorn – https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/letter_of_marque (last access: 14 November 2024).

N: 1. – letter (n): c. 1200, “graphic symbol, alphabetic sign, written character conveying information about sound in speech,” from Old French letre “character, letter; missive, note,” in plural, “literature, writing, learning” (10c., Modern French lettre), from Latin littera (also litera) “letter of the alphabet,” also “an epistle, writing, document; literature, great books; science, learning;” a word of uncertain origin.

Latin littera also meant “a writing, document, record,” and in plural litteræ “a letter, epistle, missive communication in writing,” a sense passed through French and attested in English letter since early 13c. (replacing Old English ærendgewrit “written message,” literally “errand-writing”). The Latin plural also meant “literature, books,” and figuratively “learning, liberal education, schooling” (see letters).

– of (prep): Old English of, unstressed form of æf (prep., adv.) “away, away from,” from Proto-Germanic *af (source also of Old Norse af, Old Frisian af, of “of,” Dutch af “off, down,” German ab “off, from, down”), from PIE root *apo- “off, away.” Compare off (prep.).

– marque (n): “action or right of seizure of persons or of property of subjects of a foreign ruler or state by way of reprisal for injuries committed by such persons,” early 15c., in letters of marque “official permission to capture enemy merchant ships,” from Anglo-French mark (mid-14c.), via Old French from Old Provençal marca “reprisal,” from marcar “seize as a pledge, mark,” probably from a Germanic source (compare Old High German marchon “delimit, mark;” see mark (n.1)), but the sense evolution is difficult.

2. letter of marque. government commission.

• letter of marque, the name given to the commission issued by a belligerent state to a private shipowner authorizing him to employ his vessel as a ship of war. A ship so used is termed a privateer.

3. Before regular navies were established, states relied on the assistance of private ships equipped for war such as, for example, those from the Cinque Ports in England. The earliest mention of letters of marque issued to English ships is in a patent roll of Edward I dated 1293 which ordered a stay of letters of marque previously granted to his subjects in Aquitaine. In the 14th century admiralty courts were instituted in England to administer prize law, and at the beginning of the 15th century the High Court of Admiralty was established. Local vice-admiralty courts were later set up, the earliest being at Jamaica in 1662. Throughout the Tudor period privateers such as Sir Martin Frobisher, Sir Richard Hawkins, and Sir Francis Drake were encouraged or restrained according to prevailing political conditions. At the same period the Dutch Sea Beggars and French Huguenot privateers were active.

4. Since crews were not paid by the state, privateers were entitled to cruise for their own profit. Admiralty courts in England or equivalent prize courts elsewhere judged the legitimacy of all captures under the prize laws. This method of commerce destruction was adopted by all nations from the earliest times until the 19th century, but it frequently proved impossible to restrain the activities of privateers within the legitimate bounds laid down in their commissions or letters of marque. Hence, in earlier times, it was often difficult to distinguish between privateers, pirates, corsairs, or buccaneers, many of whom sailed without genuine commissions.

5. This state of affairs continued throughout the next century, English buccaneers in the West Indies such as Sir Henry Morgan or William Dampier sometimes sailing under letters of marque and sometimes not. From 1690 French privateers sailing from the Channel ports of Dunkirk and Saint-Malo were particularly active against English commerce. With the growth of the Royal Navy the British Admiralty began to discourage privateering, because it was more popular among sailors than serving in the navy. It also led to trouble with neutral powers, even though a declaratory act was always passed at the beginning of a war that laid down the right to capture enemy vessels at sea and to have such captures adjudicated under prize law. Extensive use of privateers was made in France and in New England throughout the 18th century. During the American Revolution the American colonists found it difficult to form a new navy because over 1,000 letters of marque had been granted to privateers. The popularity of privateering continued in the War of 1812 between Great Britain and the United States. The ships of the U.S. Navy numbered in the dozens, while more than 500 vessels were sailing under letters of marque. Meanwhile, the prospects of French privateers had been ruined by the efficiency of frigates and convoy escorts.

Privateering was outlawed in 1856 by the Declaration of Paris, but the United States declined to accede to the treaty on the grounds that privateering was less expensive than maintaining a standing navy.

6. Cultural Interrelation: Francis Drake (c. 1540–43 – 1596) operated as a privateer under a “letter of marque and reprisal” issued by Queen Elizabeth I. His operations were part of the long-standing and escalating tensions between Protestant England and Catholic Spain. The Boazio illustrations and A Summarie and True Discourse of Sir Francis Drake’s West Indian Voyage were published following the English victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588.

S: 1. Etymonline – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=letter+of+marque, https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=of (last access: 14 November 2024). 2 to 5. EncBrit – https://www.britannica.com/topic/letter-of-marque (last access: 14 November 2024). 6. Gilderlehrman – https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/spotlight-primary-source/sir-francis-drakes-attack-st-augustine-1586 (last access: 14 November 2024).

SYN:
S:

CR: buccaneer, cracker, freebooter, hijacker, piracy, piracy (2), pirate, privateer.