View source for Letter of marque

A '''letter of marque''' is a letter from one [[nation]] or [[crown]] giving permission to raid [[ship]]s of other nations, generally as long as a percentage of the spoils were paid to that nation.  Letters of Marque are particularly associated with [[Pirate]]s.

Permission to capture foreign ships was often implicitly given - everyone knew it was fine to do so, and by late [[period]] times it was accepted [[navy|naval]] practise.  Many of the earlier [[medieval]] letters exist to grant the ship's owner or [[captain]] permission to restock at certain suppliers, with a glancing mention that they happen to be pirates.  Or a letter might confirm the distribution of shares of spoils of a raid (between [[lord]] or [[government]] and crew) or describe a ship's duties with mention of sacking foreign ships as a normal part of ship life.


==External Link==
* [http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Garden/5213/marque2.htm Example letters of Marque]