Letter of marque
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A letter of marque and reprisal was a government license in the Age of Sail that authorized a private person, known as a privateer or corsair, to attack and capture vessels of a foreign state at war w
Copy of a letter of marque and reprisal issued by Maurice, Prince of Orange to Captain Johan de Moor from Vlissingen for South America, 1 June 1618, page 1
Drake viewing treasure taken from a Spanish ship, print courtesy New York Public Library
The body of Captain William Kidd hanging in a gibbet over the Thames, the result of confusion over whether Captain Kidd took prizes legally under a letter of marque, or illegally as a pirate.
Gari Melchers War Highsmith
William Kidd
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William Kidd, also known as Captain William Kidd or simply Captain Kidd, was a Scottish privateer. Conflicting accounts exist regarding his early life, but he was likely born in Dundee and later settl
Letter of marque
…spent some months off the coast of Sierra Leone hunting slave-trading vessels. Applying for, and legal effect of, a letter of marque The body of Captain William Kidd hanging in a gibbet over the Thames, the result of confusion over whether Captain Kidd took prizes legally under a letter of marque, or illegally as a…
Portrait by James Thornhill
Captain Kidd in New York Harbor, in a c. 1920 painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris
The Charles Galley, a contemporary vessel of a comparable design to Adventure Galley
Howard Pyle's painting of Kidd in New York Harbor