As with all human intercourse over the length of recorded history, there are laws governing adventure at sea. The laws discussed here are the legal laws as set by the Nations of the Caribbean. There is also another set of laws, and that is the laws of the sea, which is a set of generally accepted principles governing the actions of sailors at sea as set by themsleves. Pirate ships or merchantmen may also have Ships Articles, which is a set of principles agreed upon by the crew of a ship which may cover compensation for wounds, behaviour in action, and forms of punishment peculiar to that ship.
Spain
From the early incursions of the French in the 16th century, and the heavy losses they inflicted, the Spanish government came to treat any foreign shipping in the Caribbean as pirates. Even during the wars with France, captured ships were treated as pirates, rather than privateers and hence military prisoners. The Spanish took the position that any foreign ship in their seas was upto no good, and therefore were treated so. Captured ships holding cargo from the Americas were then also treated as smugglers. Law within Spanish control was maintained by the local governor, who was expected to control rampant piracy, smuggling and foreign shipping in general. His ability to do this was hampered by a poor nation in desparate need of the steady gold & silver flow returning to its shores. The War of Spanish Succession was expensive and ultimately costly. Besides the loss of numerous territories, Spain had also spent vast sums of money on her army. From neglect, many colonies in the Americas were simply shanty and tent towns, except for the embarkation ports for the Treasure fleets. Due to prior invasions, these at least were well fortified and provisioned. Spanish garrisons were a mixed bunch, some particularly martial and stout defenders, others no more than a collection of sad, broken men. Governors had to make due with what they had, and Spanish merchants had to accept they were the most hunted species on the sea. Where governors had the power, they were quite pro active in the pursuit of piracy, occassionally commanding fleets of local merchants in the pursuit of rascally trouble makers.
Pirates and privateers captured by Spanish authorities could expect very little sympathy. Noted pirates were simply hung, their vessels and cargoes confiscated. Captured naval vessels would have their crews thrown into jail, their ships confiscated. On rare occassions a prisoner swap was held between various nations, but otherwise captured naval men were condemned to a life in jail. I don't have any literature on Spanish pirates, but I assume they behaved exactly as the pirates of any other nation.
France
France outlawed piracy in 1713, at the end of the Spanish War of Succession (I guess). She was in the rather unusual situation of being a fading power in the Caribbean, with French ships being more the victim of piracy than the perpetrators, in reverse of their position in the previous century where they were the seed from which piracy sprouted.
Britain
Piracy Act of 1721
England introduced the Piracy Act of 1721 over the failing Piracy Act of 1686, in an attempt to stress the evils of piracy and mete out serious punishment. It was also quite strict on those collaborating with pirates, treating them exactly as though they were pirates themselves. It was a bolster to the Admiralty Courts to try and kerb the rampant and populist piracy of the time.
Pirates were judged under this act, and were required to plead guilty or not guilty and mostly they were represented by themselves, while the crown might have been represented by career judges, lawyers, captains and men of note well versed in the law. Pirates who refused to plead guilty or not were tortured into pleading. The only legal form of torture of the time was called pressing, and involved laying the prisoner flat and placing a large weight upon their body, effectively squashing them until they grew weak and could breathe no more or pleaded.
Pirates found guilty were generally hanged, usually quite publicly. Of course female pirates carrying a child were not hanged. Bodies of famous or vicious pirates could also be removed from the inital hanging place, covered in tar to preserve them, and placed in a an iron hanging cage called a gibbet at a place on a prominent headland or beach where the body would be seen by passing ships. Here it was left to rot as a testament to the misdeeds of the pirate.
The British Admiralty Court
The formal Admiralty Court was established in the early 1400's. In the 1500's the judge became an official appointed by the king. In 1875 this court and others were rolled together to form the High Court of Justice. Their symbol was a silver stylised oar representing their authority on the water.
The Admiralty Court had authority over everything at sea and as far inland as the first bridge crossing over a river. In Civil Law the court enforced shipping and insurance contracts as well as wage agreements between owners and sailors. During the 1500 and 1600's the court dealt with passes in other theatres of operations in the Mediterranean. They also judged contracts involving foreigners and between Englishmen operating overseas. In criminal law, the court punished all offenses at sea or relating to shipping. The Admiralty was the proper place to sue when a ship or cargo was damaged by another ship or the negligence of the crew.
The Admiralty Court also handled all aspects of privateering and piracy. The court granted letters of marque, and reprisal. It guided the vice admirals who appraised booty and collected the courts own fees as well as shares due to the king and country. From 1589 the court regulated prizes and decided whether ships had been seized legally. Foreign merchants and diplomats sued to return their property, and English privateers turned to the court to settle disputes over booty.
The court enforced its decrees by issuing orders to lower royal officials. The court could command them to recover stolen goods and arrest alleged pirates, but it did not try pirate cases. Under the 1536 law, the Admiralty issued a commission to a special court in London, which convened a trial jury.
Despite its enormous powers, the court failed to control privateers in the 1500's. The privateers of the time were local heroes and well within royal circles. It was next to impossible for the court to enforce judgements favouring foreigners. By the 1700's this had been reversed and the court was judging thousands of cases involving seizures by naval vessels.
The court failed to control piracy, and English pirates with influential friends bought their freedom. When the buccaneers became a problem after 1650, colonial officials refused to send pirates to London for trial. Many pirates were acquitted by colonial jurors who did not consider piracy a serious crime. To ensure tht they would be punished, the government bought William Kidd and Jospeh Bradish back to England in warships for trial.
The first effective laws against piracy came about in 1700. The government set up a system of vice-admiralty courts in nearly all the colonies, and it allowed panels of officials and naval officers to try pirates remote form the governors.
Vice Admiralty Courts
Beginning with the Spanish War in 1585, Vice Admirals were placed in charge of privateers and their doings. They held the bonds for captains and ships, and appraised the booty and collected the kings share of the spoils. They also enforced the decisions of the Admiralty Courts. Besides looking fter privateers, they were also charged with stopping piracy. In theory they checked all incoming ships for legal cargo and arrested suspected pirates, returning cargoes to rightful owners. In England, the Vice Admirals had fallen into corruption, and it was only the lure of the Caribbean that drew the pirates away from the shores of England. The laxity of Caribbean Governors over the deprivations of pirates caused the king to set up Vice Admiralty courts in the colonies by 1700. Some early Vice Admirals were as lax or in league with the pirates as the governors, but by 1720 most were doing their proper work conscientiously.
An example of the opening niceties of the Vice Admiralty court to try Major Stede Bonnet - Pirate, from Capt Johnson's book (slightly modified):
"The King's commission to the judge was read, and a grand jury sworn for the finding of several bills, and a learned charge given them by the said judge, wherein:
The indictments being found, a petit jury was sworn and the pirates were arraigned and tried"
Legal Punishment for Piracy
English laws of the time dictated hanging for most major felonies and even minor ones. Particularly vicous criminals and murderers were chained up near where they had committed the crime. Like most thieves, pirates were usually hanged immediately after a trial - the day after sentencing. The first recorded hanging for piracy occuring in 1228, the practice continuing until 1840. The Admiralty Court gained power to hang pirates in 1536, the place of hanging being Execution Dock, at Wapping on the left bank of the Thames. After execution the body was left hanging, chained up in a way to preserve its form for recognition from a distance as it rotted. The corpse was placed at the low water mark with the toes just touching the water. The symbology was such that the pirate was displayed near the water on which he committed his crime, and above the low water mark where the Admiralty Court had jurisdiction. The hanging corpse was also meant to be a reminder to passing sailors of the fate awaiting breakers of the law.
By the 1700's, hanging was reserved for officers and ringleaders. Although sentenced to death under the law, many sailors were acquitted or reprieved prior to hanging. For example, when Bartholomew Robert's small pirate navy was captured in 1722, 70 blackpirates were returned to slavery, 54 Europeans hanged, 37 received some other form of punishment and 74 were acquitted of piracy.
Letters of Marque
A variant on the Letter of Reprisal, the letter was a government license to seize enemy property in any quantity for any reason. In the Caribbean the letters were issued by Governors as representatives of the Vice Admiralty Courts. Some pirates had letters from different countries so they could maintain the pretence of acting under someones law depending on whose ship theyhad captured, and others simply collected them from prizes they captured and used them as their own as needed.
Letters of Reprisal
A government license allowing a private individual to seize persons and property from a specific foreign country to the value of some previous harm done to the recipient. Letters were supposedly granted to someone harmed by citizens of a particular country only. In England, they became a convenient legal fiction that encouraged piracy. The Admiralty Court and Colonial governors gave licenses to anyone promising to attack the enemy, whether or not they have suffered personally at their hands. Private warships were not regulated and also attacked friendly and neutral shipping.
Reprisals originally could take place on land or at sea, in peace or in wartime. The legalities of Reprisal stretched back beyond the middle ages into ancient custom. By the time of these rules the Letter of Reprisal had not long fallen out of use and was replaced by the general Letter of Marque - an open invitation to assault the enemy irregardless of circumstance. Still, many letters were written as 'Letters of Marque and Reprisal.'
Privateering
Ships or captains authorised by a Letter of Marque & Reprisal were known legally as privateers, or corsairs in France. The letters harnessed the might of the merchant navy to supplement the meagre royal navies in the 16th & 17th centuries, and also made legal the practice of commerce raiding. Privateering became a major strategy of the French. Privateers made money from the ventures, the crown also gaining by the taxes they imposed on the practice. Unfortunately for the law, the men licensed as privateers did not always follow the concept of privateering, and ransacked whatever vessels they came across, be they ally or neutral or enemy. This made them pirates and outside the law. There were also times when countries had signed treaties, making the letters of Marque redundant, and the men operating under them became pirates. How they were meant to know when a treaty had been signed in Europe was open to debate.
When France and Spain signed their Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1688, the French buccaneers claimed it did not apply to them as they had not signed it, and continued on as though nothing had happened. The governor of Tortuga simply sent to Portugal for commisssions instead.
In time the governments of the day realised privateering was doing more harm than good. In the 1500's and 1600's the privateers were bringing in huge wealth from the Spanish Main, and bringing notoriety and glory to their nations. However, by the 1680's the revenue from trade was a prize no government could over look, and the confiscating of it by privateers and pirates was more nuisance than it was worth. Governors in the Caribbean were instructed to stop or minimse privateering commissions. Varying Jamaican governors still issued them, and the officials in the Bermudas, Bahamas, St Thomas and Tortuga happily wrote out commissions without any real authenticity.
Here is an example of a privateering commission for a Captain Daniel Plowman in 1703
Jospeh Dudley, Esq; Captain General and Governor in Chief, in and over Her Majesties Provinces of the Massechusetts Bay, and New Hampshire in New England in America, and Vice Admiral of the same. To Capt Daniel Plowman, Commander of the Briganteen Charles of Boston, Greeting.
Whereas Her Sacred Majesty ANNE by the Grace of GOD, of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, QUEEN, Defender of the Faith, etc, Hath an Open and Declared War against France and Spain, their Vassals and Subjects. And forasmuch as you have made Application unto Me for Licence to Arm, Furnish and Equip the said Briganteen in Warlike manner, against her Majesties said Enemies, I do accordingly Permit and Allow the same; And Reposing special Trust and Confidence in your Loyalty, Courage and good Conduct, Do by these presents, by Virtue of the Powers and Authorities contained in Her Majesties Royal Commission to Me granted, Impower and Commissionate you the said Daniel Plowman, to be Captain or Commander of the said Briganteen Charles, Burthen Eighty Tuns or thereabouts: Hereby Authorising you in and with the said Briganteen and Company to her belonging, to War, Fight, Take, Kill, Suppress and Destroy, any Pirates, Privateers, or other Subjects and Vassals of France, or Spain, the Declared Enemies of the Crown of England, in what Place soever you shall happen to meet them; Their Ships, Vessels and Goods, to take and make Prize of. And your said Briganteens Company are Commanded to Obey you as their Captain: And your self in the Execution of this Commission, to Observe and Follow the Orders and Instructions herewith given you.
And I do hereby Request all Governors and Commanders in Chief, of any of Her Majesties Territories, Islands, Privinces or Plantations, where the said Captain or Commander shall arrive with his said Captain or Commander shall arrive with his said Vessel and Men: And all Admirals, Vice Admirals, and Commanders of Her Majesties Ships of War, and others, that may happen to meet him at Sea; Also all Officers and Subjects of the Friends or Allies of Her said Sacred Majesty, to permit him the said Captain or Commander with his said Vessel, Men and the Prizes that he may have taken, freely and quietly to pass and repass, without giving or suffering him to receive and Trouble or Hindrance, but on the contrary all Succour and Assistance needful. And this Commission is to continue in Force for the Space of Six Months next ensuing (if the War so long lasts) and not afterwards.
Given under my Hand and Seal at Arms at Boston the Thirteenth Day of July : In the second Year of Her said Majesties reign, Annoque Domini, 1703. By His Excellencies Command, Isaac Addington, Secr.
Interestingly, the privateer also got a set of instructions for his duties. An example is listed below, which accompanies the commission detailed above.
Province of the Massechusetts Bay in New England. By His Excellency Joseph Dudley, Esq; Captain General and Governor in Chief etc.
Instructions to be observed by Capt Daniel Plowman, Commander of the Briganteen Charles of Boston, In Pursuance of the Commission herewith given him.
First, You are to keep such good Orders among your said Briganteen's Company, that Swearing, Drunkenness and prophaneness be avoided, or duly Punished; and that GOD be duly worshipped
Secondly, You are upon all Occassions to Endeavour the maintaining of Her Majesties Honour, and to give Protection to Her Subjects, by endeavouring to secure them in their Trade, and in no wise to hurt or injure in any of Her Majesties Subjects, Friendly or Allies
Thirdly, you are to take, seize, sink or destroy any of the Ships, Vessels or Goods belonging to France or Spain, their Vassals or Subjects, the Declared Enemies of the Crown of England. And all such Ships and Vessels with their Lading, Goods, and Merchandises, which you shall happen to seize or take, you are to carry or send into some Port or Ports within Her Majestoes Kingdoms or Dominions, to be proceeded against and adjudged: And if near this Coast , then to bring or send them to Boston, your Commission Port.
Fourthly, You are to take effectual Care, That no Money, Goods, Merchandises, or what else shall be taken by you in any Ship, Vessel, or otherwise, be Imbezelled, Purloyned, Concealed or Conveyed away. And that Bulk be not broken until the same be first adjudged to be Lawful Prize: And Order given for the landing and securing thereof, as by Law is directed. And likewise you are carefully to preserve all Books, Papers, Letters and Writings which shall be found in any Ship or Vessel to be by you taken, to the intent a more clear Evidence and Discovery may be made to what Persons such ship or Vessel and her Lading did belong.
Fifthly, You are to take care, That no Person or Persons taken or surprised by you in any Ship or Vessel as aforesaid, though known to be of the Enemies side, be in cold Blood killed, maimed, or by Torture or Cruelty inhumanely treated contrary to the Common Useage or Just Permission of War.
Sixthly, You are to keep a fair Journal of all your Proceedings, That so you may be better enabled to give a Copy thereof when youshall be thereunto duly required.
Seventhly, You may not at any time wear on Board your said Briganteen, by Virtue of the said Commission, and other Jack than that ordered by Her Majesties Royal Proclamation, of the Eighteenth of December 1702, to be worn by such Ships as have Commission of Mart or Reprisal; and upon meeting with any of her Majesties Ships of War, you are to pay all Customary Respect unto them, according to the Laws and Orders of the Sea.
Eightthly, You maynot enter or retain on Board your said Briganteen and Mens Sons under Age, or Servants, contrary to the law of this Province: And before you depart with your said Briganteen from the same, you are to deliver into the Secretaries Office a List by you signed of the Names of the Company belonging to your said Briganteen with the place of their Respective Dwellings, or Aboad, as near as you can learn; and such of them as are Inhabitants, or belonging to this Province, you are to bring back with you to the same, or use your best Endeavours so to do, not willingly leaving any of them behind in other Parts.
Ninethly, You are to take care, That the Prisoners which you shall take in any Prize Ship or Vessel, or so many of them as youmay be able to keep under Command (especially the Officers or more Principal of them) be brought or sent into your Commission Port, or where else within Her Majesties Dominions you send your Prizes: To the intent there may be the more full Evidence for Condemning the same, and also an advantage for the Exchange of Prisoners.
Lastly, You are carefully to observe and keep all the foregoing Articles and Instructions, and not to make any breach thereof, or of Her Majesties Laws, respecting Letters of Reprisal, and Prize Ships and Goods; and to see that the full and just parts and Shares of all such Vessels and Goods as shall be taken and seized by you, by Law accruing unto Her Majesty, and the Lord High Admiral, be duly and truly answered and paid.
Given under my Hand at Boston, the Thirteenth Day of July, in the Second Year of Her Majesties Reign, Annoque Domini, 1703. Register J Dudley
Copy of the Instructions given unto me, Signed Daniel Plowman
Acts Of Grace
From time to time, the English King or Queen granted amnesty to pirates in exchange for them giving up their pirating ways. Anyone who visited an English governor and turned themselves in at such a time was granted a pardon for previous deeds. Captain Henry Every was one of the few men to be exempted from the pardon, the crown wished his head at all costs. Many pirates took up the offer of pardons, such as Stede Bonnet, and a visible proportion of these men returned to their former ways as Stede did.
Here is an example of an Act of Grace from King George, 1717
By the King, A PROCLAMATION for the Suppressing of Pyrates
"Whereas we have received information, that several Persons, Subjects of Great Britain, have, since the 24th Day of June, in the Year of our Lord, 1715, committed divers Pyracies and Robberies upon the High-Seas, in the West Indies, or adjoyning to our Plantations, which hath and may Occassion great Damage to the Merchants of Great Britain, and others trading nto those Parts; and tho' we have appointed such a Force as we judge sufficient for suppressing the said Pyrates, yet the more effectually to put an End to the same, we have thought fit, by and with the Advice of our Privy Council, to Issue this our Royal Proclamation; the said Pyrates, shall on, or before, the 5th of September, in the year of our Lord 1718, surrender him or themselves, to one of our Principal Secretaries of State in Great Britain or Ireland, or to any Governor or Deputy Governor of any of our Plantations beyond th eSeas; every such Pyratee and Pyrates so surrednering him, or themselves, as aforesaid, shall have our gracious Pardon, of, and for such, his or their Pyracy, or Piracies, by him pr them committed, before the fifth of January next ensuing. And we do hereby strictly charge and command all our Admirals, Captains, and other Officers at Sea, and all our Governors and Commanders of any Forts, Castles, or other Places in our Plantations, and all other our Officers Civil and Military, to seize and take such of the Pyrates, who shall refuse or neglect to surrender themselves accordingly.
And we do hereby further declare, that in Case any Person or Persons, on, or after, the 6th day of September, 1718, shall discover or seize, or cause or procure to be discovered or seized, any one or more of the said Pyrates, so refusing or neglecting to surrender themselves as aforesaid, so as they may be brought to Justice, and convicted of the said Offence, such Person or Persons, so making such Discoevry or Seizure, or causing or procuring such Discovery or Seizure to be made, shall have and receive as a Reward for the same, viz. for every Commander of any private Ship or Vessel ,the Sum of 100 l. for every Lieutenant, Master, Boatswain, Carpenter and Gunner, the sum of 40l. for every inferior officer, the Sum of 30. and for every private Man the Sum of 20 l. And if any Person or persons, belong to, an being Part of the Crew, of any Pyrat Ship or Vessel, so as he or they be brought to Justice, and be convicted of the said Offence, such Person or Persons, as a Reward for the same, shall receive for every such Commander, the Sum of 200 l. which said Sums, the Lord Treasurer, or the Commissioners of our Treasury for the time being, are hereby required, and desired to pay accordingly."
Given at our Court, at Hampton-Court, the fifth Day of September 1717, in the fourth Year of our Reign. George R. "God save the King"
Crimes requiring death [ie bringing women disguised on board, interfering with women, desertion in battle]
Refer Ships Articles examples.
Moses Law (39 lashes across the back)
Refer Ships Articles examples.