Pirates in Period - Was [Ansteorra] Apology from Nasir al-Fayyid
Eadric Anstapa
eadric at scabrewer.com
Thu Sep 8 20:57:01 PDT 2005
Stefan li Rous wrote:
> And the English and the Spanish had rather different opinions of Sir
> Francis Drake. To one, a hero. To the other, an evil pirate.
I think the difference, and the reason some people have problems with
"pirates", and no problem with Sir Francis Drake, is that Sir Francis
Drake didn't go around proclaiming himself as a "pirate". He certainly
had a rapacious appetite for treasure, particularly Spanish treasure,
but he would have described himself as a Navigator, a Sea Captain, a
hero in the fight against the Armada, and at times as a Privateer of the
Queen of England.
Never would you call yourself a pirate in front of law abiding citizenry
for piracy was a criminal act, but privateering was not only legal, it
was commissioned by the government. The actions they carried out may
have been virtually the same but the consequences faced by a pirate in
court (courts of law or courts of nobles) were very different than those
of a privateer.
Even Gráinne O'Malley who was no doubt one of the greatest pirates
(individuals) of the late SCA period (male or female) and never had the
legitimacy of being a privateer was described by Lord Deputy Sir Henry
Sidney, when she appeared before him in 1576 in Galway, as a 'most
famous feminine sea captain' and 'a notorious woman in all the coasts of
Ireland'. A rose by any other name does not smell half as sweet.
Having confessed pirates around would be considered unseemly, but having
notorious sea captains and privateers around might be considered
somewhat daring.
-EA
// <mailto:eadric at scabrewer.com>
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