Editing Privateer (section)

===England/Britain===
In [[Kingdom of England|England]], and later the [[Kingdom of Great Britain|United Kingdom]], the ubiquity of wars and the island nation's reliance on maritime trade enabled the use of privateers to great effect. England also suffered much from other nations' privateering. During the 15th century, the country "lacked an institutional structure and coordinated finance".<ref name="Loades, D. M. 2009. p. 53">{{cite book |last=Loades |first=D. M. |title=The Making of the Elizabethan Navy, 1540–1590: From the Solent to the Armada |location=Woodbridge |publisher=Boydell |date=2009 |pages=1, 53}}</ref> When piracy became an increasing problem, merchant communities such as Bristol began to resort to self-help, arming and equipping ships at their own expense to protect commerce.<ref>{{cite book |last=Loades |first=D. M. |title=The Making of the Elizabethan Navy, 1540–1590: From the Solent to the Armada |location=Woodbridge |publisher=Boydell |date=2009 |page=3}}</ref> The licensing of these privately owned merchant ships by the Crown enabled them to legitimately capture vessels that were deemed pirates. This constituted a "revolution in naval strategy" and helped fill the need for protection that the Crown was unable to provide.

During the reign of [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth]] (1558–1603), she "encouraged the development of this supplementary navy".<ref>{{cite book |last=Loades |first=D. M. |title=The Making of the Elizabethan Navy, 1540–1590: From the Solent to the Armada |location=Woodbridge |publisher=Boydell |date=2009 |page=121}}</ref> Over the course of her rule, the increase of Spanish prosperity through their explorations in the [[New World]] and the discovery of gold contributed to the deterioration of Anglo-Spanish relations.<ref>{{cite book |last=Loades |first=D. M. |title=The Making of the Elizabethan Navy, 1540–1590: From the Solent to the Armada |location=Woodbridge |publisher=Boydell |date=2009 |page=113}}</ref> Elizabeth's authorisation of sea-raiders (known as [[Elizabethan Sea Dogs|Sea Dogs]]) such as [[Francis Drake]] and [[Walter Raleigh]] allowed her to officially distance herself from their raiding activities while enjoying the gold gained from these raids. English ships cruised in the Caribbean and off the coast of Spain, trying to intercept [[Spanish treasure fleet|treasure fleets]] from the [[Spanish Main]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Andrews |first=Kenneth R. |title=Trade, Plunder and Settlement 1480-1630 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |publication-date=1984}}</ref> During the [[Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)|Anglo-Spanish War (1585-1604)]] England continued to rely on private ships-of-war to attack Iberian shipping because the Queen had insufficient finance to fund this herself.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Andrews |first=Kenneth R. |title=Trade, Plunder and Settlement 1480-1630 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |publication-date=1984}}</ref> After the war ended many unemployed English privateers turned to piracy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Senior |first=Clive M. |url=https://archive.org/details/a-nation-of-pirates-clive-senior |title=A Nation of Pirates: English Piracy in its Heyday |publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbot, UK |publication-date=1976}}</ref>

Elizabeth was succeeded by the first Stuart monarchs, [[James I of England|James I]] and [[Charles I of England|Charles I]], who did not permit privateering. Desperate to fund the expensive [[War of Spanish Succession]], [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Queen Anne]] restarted privateering and even removed the need for a sovereign's percentage as an incentive.<ref name="Craze, Sarah 2016"/> Sovereigns continued to license British privateers throughout the century, although there were a number of unilateral and bilateral declarations limiting privateering between 1785 and 1823. This helped establish the privateer's persona as heroic patriots. British privateers last appeared ''en masse'' in the [[Napoleonic Wars]].<ref>{{cite book |last=McCarthy |first=Matthew |title=Privateering, Piracy and British Policy in Spanish America 1810–1830 |location=Woodbridge, UK |publisher=Boydell Press |date=2013}}{{page needed|date=October 2022}}</ref>

[[File:Privateer Captain Woodes Rogers.jpg|thumb|[[Woodes Rogers]]' men search Spanish ladies for their jewels in [[Guayaquil]], 1709]]
[[Kingdom of England|England]] and [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]] practiced privateering both separately and together after they [[Acts of Union 1707|united]] to create the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] in 1707. It was a way to gain for themselves some of the wealth the Spanish and Portuguese were taking from the [[New World]] before beginning their own trans-Atlantic settlement, and a way to assert naval power before a strong [[Royal Navy]] emerged.

Sir [[Andrew Barton (privateer)|Andrew Barton]], [[Lord High Admiral of Scotland]], followed the example of his father, who had been issued with letters of marque by [[James III of Scotland]] to prey upon English and Portuguese shipping in 1485; the letters in due course were reissued to the son. Barton was killed following an encounter with the English in 1511.

Sir [[Francis Drake]], who had close contact with the sovereign, was responsible for some damage to Spanish shipping, as well as attacks on Spanish settlements in the Americas in the 16th century. He participated in the successful English defence against the [[Spanish Armada]] in 1588, though he was also partly responsible for the failure of the [[English Armada]] against Spain in 1589.

Sir [[George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland]], was a successful privateer against Spanish shipping in the [[Caribbean]]. He is also famous for his [[Battle of San Juan (1598)|short-lived 1598 capture]] of ''[[Fort San Felipe del Morro]]'', the citadel protecting [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]]. He arrived in Puerto Rico on June 15, 1598, but by November of that year, Clifford and his men had fled the island due to fierce civilian resistance. He gained sufficient prestige from his naval exploits to be named the official [[Queen's Champion|Champion]] of Queen Elizabeth I. Clifford became extremely wealthy through his buccaneering but lost most of his money gambling on horse races.
[[File:Willem van de Velde de Jonge - Een actie van een Engels schip en schepen van de Barbarijse zeerovers.jpg|thumb|An action between an English ship and vessels of the [[Barbary corsairs]]]]

Captain [[Christopher Newport]] led more attacks on Spanish shipping and settlements than any other English privateer. As a young man, Newport sailed with Sir [[Francis Drake]] in the attack on the Spanish fleet at Cadiz and participated in England's defeat of the Spanish Armada.  During the war with Spain, Newport seized fortunes of Spanish and Portuguese treasure in fierce sea battles in the [[West Indies]] as a privateer for Queen Elizabeth I. He lost an arm whilst capturing a Spanish ship during [[Watts' West Indies and Virginia expedition|an expedition]] in 1590, but despite this, he continued on privateering, successfully [[Blockade of Western Cuba|blockading Western Cuba]] the following year. In 1592, Newport [[Battle of Flores (1592)|captured]] the Portuguese carrack ''[[Madre de Deus]]'' (Mother of God), valued at £500,000.

Sir [[Henry Morgan]] was a successful privateer. Operating out of Jamaica, he carried on a war against Spanish interests in the region, often using cunning tactics. His operation was prone to cruelty against those he captured, including torture to gain information about booty, and in one case using priests as [[human shield]]s. Despite reproaches for some of his excesses, he was generally protected by Sir [[Thomas Modyford]], the governor of Jamaica. He took an enormous amount of booty, as well as landing his privateers ashore and attacking land fortifications, including the [[Henry Morgan's Panama expedition|sack of the city of Panama]] with only 1,400 crew.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/captain-morgan-and-sack-of-panama-2136368|title=The Legendary Captain Morgan Raids Panama!|work=ThoughtCo|access-date=2017-10-19}}</ref>

Other British privateers of note include [[Fortunatus Wright]], [[Edward Collier (buccaneer)|Edward Collier]], Sir [[John Hawkins (naval commander)|John Hawkins]], his son Sir [[Richard Hawkins]], [[Michael Geare]], and Sir [[Christopher Myngs]].  Notable British colonial privateers in [[Nova Scotia]] include [[Alexander Godfrey]] of the brig {{ship||Rover|privateering ship|2}} and [[Joseph Barss]] of the schooner {{ship||Liverpool Packet}}. The latter schooner captured over 50 American vessels during the [[War of 1812]].