Elizabethan Privateers 1

SAİLORS AND
PRİVATEERS DURİNG THE

ELİZABETHAN AGE
Project by:
• Mocanu Ana-Maria
• Pricochi Cristina Anamaria
Queen Elizabeth I
◦ Elizabeth I was born at Greenwich on 7 September 1533, the
daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn.
◦ Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558, at the age of 25, having
survived imprisonment in The Tower of London during the
reign of her half-sister, Queen Mary I. Elizabeth was 25 years of
age and ruled England for almost 45 years. Her reign is known
as The Golden Age, a time that saw the birth of Shakespeare,
the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and the emergence of
England as a world power.
◦ Queen Elizabeth, known as The Virgin Queen because she
never married or had children, was the last Tudor monarch.
When she died in 1603, deeply mourned by her people who
called her Good Queen Bess or Gloriana, a new dynasty
came to the throne, the Stuarts.
QUEEN
ELIZABETH
I
Elizabethan Privateers
◦ The term of "Privateers" was used for those who
were lawful pirates who were authorised by
their government and sovereign to attack the treasure ships
of enemy nations.
◦ Catholic Spain was considered the enemy of Protestant
Nations such as England and the Netherlands. Prince William
of the Netherlands funded Protestant Privateers to attack
Spanish ships.
◦ Being the queen of a small country, Elizabeth I was afraid of
the possibility of being attacked of the greatest empires in the
world.Given this situation, Queen Elizabeth allowed the Dutch
Privateers a safe harbour in English ports.The English seamen
such as Francis Drake or Walter Raleigh joined their Dutch
comrades as Elizabethan "Privateers".
SIR
FRANCIS
DRAKE
SIR
WALTER
RALEIGH
Explorers or Pirates?
◦ The Elizabethan Explorers gained the reputation of
being pirates. A pirate is a person who robs at sea or
sometimes the shore, without a commission from a
recognised sovereign nation.
◦ The English government issued ‘letters of marque’ to the
famous Elizabethan pirates which licensed these sailors
to plunder enemy ships. Letters of marque and reprisal,
commissioned by the government, distinguished it from
unauthorised pirate ships. The 'letters of marque'
prevented privateers from being charged with piracy,
which was an offence ordinarily punishable by death.
Heroes or Villains?
◦ Queen Elizabeth's "pirates" brought wealth and power to
England. When twenty five year old Elizabeth I ascended the
throne in 1558, England was in a weakened state ,both
financially and militarily. At that time she only had a fleet of
approximately 21 ships. Because of King Phillip II and Spain
which were threatening England, Elizabeth relied upon the
use of Privateers.
◦ Privateers were able to transform her navy and command it
with the help of privately owned ships to repel
the Spanish Armada, not once, but on three diffrent
occasions thereby securing the nation.
◦ Regarding financial matters, Elizabeth was facing a
shortage of treasury that stopped her to further the
expansion of the English realm. Again, she was helped
by her privateers: in exchange for the letters of
marque which provided them safety, they had to offer
half of their plunder. This meant a lof for England,
furthermore Elizabeth was able to finance further
explorations.
◦ The global expansion of England was possible thanks
to Elizabeth's explorers. It was needed to provide
protection and to trade goods to support England's
economy. The "pirates" discovered the north-west
passage, which was seen as the opportunity of a
lifetime for trade in the Atlantic. After some hazards that
the privateers faced there, they turned their interests
toward East.
History of the Spanish Main
◦ The term of the "Spanish Main" is often associated with famous
Elizabethan "pirates". During the Elizabethan Era, Spain began
to establish a Spanish Empire which covered all of the new
lands which were discovered by the Spanish Explorers .The
Spanish Main reffered to the coastal region of the America's
surrounding the Caribbean Sea and South America. The
Spanish territories opened up paths to new wealth from the
gold, silver and precious gems. They loaded their ships with
their treasure to send back to Spain. These Spanish fleets were
attacked by Elizabeth's "pirates" who used many of the
Caribbean Islands as their bases. The Pirates of the Caribbean
were the pirates of the Spanish Main.
◦ The enmity between England and Spain resulted in
the Enghlish war with Spain from 1585-1604 and the same
famous Elizabethan pirates fighting, and defeating the
Spanish Armada in 1588.
The Golden Age of
Pirates
◦ The famous Elizabethan Pirates, or Privateers shared
their profits with the government and Queen Elizabeth.
Raiding the Spanish treasure fleet who sailed around
the Spanish Main was highly profitable. And England
received some much need wealth. The pirates
operated around the Caribbean and the Spanish Main
were also referred to as Buccaneers.
Bibliography
◦ http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/famous-elizabethan-
pirates.htm
◦ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privateer
◦ https://perspectivesofthepast.com/history-of-pirates/the-
significant-role-that-privateering-played-in-the-formation-of-
the/
◦ http://www.elizabethi.org/
◦ https://www.royal.uk/elizabeth-i

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SAİLORS AND

PRİVATEERS DURİNG THE

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