Children’s books are truly wonderful, as they continuously unveil new things that I’d never considered before. Plus, they usually manage to explain things in a manner that’s easy to understand.
That was exactly the case today when we delved into a book about pirates. I’d always thought of a “privateer” as just another term for a “pirate”. But it turns out, there’s a subtle but important difference: privateers were essentially authorized by the state to seize loot. They held a letter of marque, which served as proof of this authorization. However, this also meant they were obligated to share a portion of their plunder with the royal house. They were also restricted to only attack ships sailing under different national flags – those specified by their own state.
This approach was a commonplace practice among several countries for a period of time. According to Wikipedia, it gradually fell out of use following the Declaration of Paris on April 16, 1856, effectively leading to the outlawing of privateering or legalized piracy.
In contrast, piracy has always been deemed illegal, given that pirates generally acted on their own whims, deciding freely which ship they wanted to attack.
So, there you have it, another lesson learned. However, there are bits of information that make me question their appropriateness for a children’s book. A little further into our reading session, my five-year-old son learned about the compensation pirates received for various body parts they lost in battle. Apparently, a right leg would earn them 500 pieces of eight, but an eye, a mere 100. And just to give you an idea of the worth of these sums: back then, you could buy a cow for just two pieces of eight.