Piracy (Civ3)/Civilopedia

When great nations began to collect wealth from around the globe, commerce raiding became a standard tactic in war. Capturing the enemy's ships and treasure could hinder or cripple his war effort. However, medieval and Renaissance navies were far too small to patrol the shipping lanes looking for targets. The solution was the letter of marque, a paper authorizing a private ship owner to attack enemy vessels and keep a portion (and sometimes all) of the booty. Often, however, ship captains would raid any ship that looked vulnerable and fell into their sight. Famous pirates such as Edward Teach ("Blackbeard") and Jean Lafitte took dozens of prizes and amassed huge hoards of wealth, although the good times rarely lasted long. When peacetime came, and letters of marque ceased to apply, European navies pursued pirates ferociously, seizing pirate ships and hanging entire crews.