Privateering has troubled a number of countries for a long time. Do you know who the privateers were? They were the lawful pirates, who were not actively involved in the act of piracy, but they were authorized to do so by the governments. In simple words, they were the lawful freebooters. But, they were not authorized to plunder the ships of any sea merchants. They were only allowed to loot the treasure ships of the enemy nations. Their lifestyles and outfits were different from those of the freebooters. Some of the privateer dresses were also part of the fashion trends, in the same was we find the pirate costumes.
England was the major hub of the privateering. “Letter of Marque” was issued by the government in England in order to authorize of the freebooters. A number of famous privateers also belonged to England. Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh etc. were some famous names in this regard. They would serve as government officials when they would not be on privateering expeditions.
Similar letter was also issued by the government of France, which was sometimes termed as “lettre de marque”. The evidences of privateering were found in many other nations also. It was not so prevalent in the eastern countries, but we find a bit of their existence on those nations also. For instance, Kanhoji Angare was a famous Maratha privateer from India, who worked in the ships between Mumbai and Goa. He raided the ships of East India Company, a British firm, which colonized India.
This lawful piracy created a huge problem for a long time. There is no place of this act today in the international laws. But, as we mentioned above also, the outfits of the privateers are also part of the fashion trends in the recent times. A number of websites are offering the privateer and pirate shirts, pants, skirts and many other items in different styles.
