Privateer
A privateer was a privately organised maritime raider authorised by a government to attack enemy shipping, usually during wartime. The permission was given in a commission or letter of marque. The owner or captain supplied the vessel and crew and could receive a share of the captured goods.[1]
Relationship to piracy
Government authorisation distinguished privateering from piracy. It was permission for specified wartime operations, rather than an unrestricted right to rob any vessel. In the Atlantic world, experience gained in wartime raiding could later be used in peacetime piracy.[2]
The word buccaneer describes another, partly overlapping historical group associated with the Caribbean. Buccaneers could operate as either pirates or privateers.[3]
References
- ↑ Whitenton, Brian (20 September 2012). The Difference Between Pirates, Privateers and Buccaneers, part 1. The Mariners’ Museum and Park.
- ↑ Royal Museums Greenwich. History of pirates: the Golden Age of Piracy. Accessed 9 October 2026.
- ↑ Whitenton, Brian (4 October 2012). The Difference Between Pirates, Privateers and Buccaneers, part 2. The Mariners’ Museum and Park.