In contrast, the term privateer generally referred to a fast and weatherly fore-and-aft rigged vessel, well armed and carrying more crew, intended exclusively for fighting.

In this context, a letter of marque was a lumbering, square-rigged cargo carrier that might pick up a prize if the opportunity arose in its normal course of duties. In addition to referring to the license, the terms 'letter of marque' and 'privateer' were sometimes used to describe the vessels used to pursue and capture prizes. In practice, the differences between privateers and pirates were often at best subtle and at worst a matter of interpretation. Such privateering contrasted with individuals conducting unlicensed attacks and captures of random ships, which was known as piracy piracy was almost universally reviled. Popular among Europeans from the late Middle Ages up to the 19th century, cruising for enemy prizes with a letter of marque was considered an honorable calling that combined patriotism and profit. A letter of marque and reprisal would include permission to cross an international border to conduct a reprisal (take some action against an attack or injury) and was authorized by an issuing jurisdiction to conduct reprisal operations outside its borders. After capturing, the privateers could bring the case of that prize before their own admiralty court for condemnation and transfer of ownership to the privateer. Moved by the lady's distress, intrigued by the Letter, and goaded by an opposing solicitor, Snopes takes the case.Letter of marque given to Captain Antoine Bollo via the shipowner Dominique Malfino from Genoa, owner of the Furet, a 15-tonne privateer, 27 February 1809Ī letter of marque and reprisal ( French: lettre de marque lettre de course) 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 nation at war with the issuer. And the Letter-the sole proof his actions were legal-has mysteriously vanished. Yet when the Padget returns to London, her crew is met by soldiers ready to take possession of their goods and arrest the captain for piracy.

The ship was granted a rare privilege by the king's regent: a Letter of Marque authorizing the captain to seize the cargo of French traders operating illegally in the Indian Sea. In a last-ditch effort to save her faltering estate, Lady Jameson invested in a merchant brig, the Padget. That changes the day a struggling heiress, Lady Madeleine Jameson, arrives at his door. As a barrister in 1818 London, William Snopes has witnessed first hand the danger of only the wealthy having their voices heard, and he's a strong advocate who defends the poorer classes against the powerful.

The barrister and the letter of marque