Medieval Pirates and Privateers

Medieval pirates and privateers were different types of sea raiders, though a pirate could become a privateer, and vice versa.

Pirates and privateers, the subject of this week's article, are often seen as interchangeable, but they're not. The loyalty of pirates lay only with themselves and their own crew. They lived short, hard lives of a few years and frequently ended up strung from the gallows or drowned at sea. Privateers were commissioned by a government to prey on the ships and ports of rival governments. They could have quite long careers, gain government posts and commissions and even die in bed. Corsairs were a particularly religious form of 16th century privateers who worked for either the Ottoman Empire or Christian orders like the Hospitallers (Knights of St John).

The fortunes of war (and peace) could make a man or woman frequently switch between piracy and privateering. Margarito of Brindisi's exploits made him a favorite of the King of Sicily in 1192. But when Henri VI conquered the island in 1194, he cut Brindisi's career short by blinding him.

Similarly, the probably legendary Alvilda, who lived sometime between the fifth and 14th century, became a pirate after her father tried to force her into a marriage she didn't want. She ravaged the Danish coast in disguise until her erstwhile suitor, Alf, caught up with her. The both of them being Vikings, the story has a happy ending. Alf so impressed her with his valor in battle that she promptly unmasked herself and agreed to marry him.

The infamous Victual Brothers of the late 14th century, and their successors the Likedeelers of the early 15th century, were originally privateers and allies of the Hanseatic League. But they got too greedy and turned pirate. The Hanseatic League finally drove them out of the Baltic Sea around 1440 after piracy nearly destroyed the trade there.

The early corsairs of the 15th century frequently switched back and forth between privateering and piracy, though the Muslim corsairs of the Barbary Coast may actually have been more careful in their targets than their Christian counterparts. One of the biggest differences between a pirate and a privateer was that the privateer avoided attacking ships on his own side and sought to capture ships as prizes with little or no loss of life. Pirates were rather less scrupulous. But in cases like the notorious Kirke brothers and their rival, Charles La Tour, of 17th century Canada, their victims often could not tell the difference.