King Henry III of England first issued what later became known as privateering commissions in 1243.Francis R. Stark, "The Abolition of Privateering and the Declaration of Paris," in Studies in History, Economics and Public Law 221, 270–71 (Faculty of Political Sci. of Columbia Univ. eds., Columbia University, 1897). These early licences were granted to specific individuals to seize the King's enemies at sea in return for splitting the proceeds between the privateers and the Crown.
King Henry III of England first issued what later became known as privateering commissions in 1243.Francis R. Stark, "The Abolition of Privateering and the Declaration of Paris," in Studies in History, Economics and Public Law 221, 270–71 (Faculty of Political Sci. of Columbia Univ. eds., Columbia University, 1897). These early licences were granted to specific individuals to seize the King's enemies at sea in return for splitting the proceeds between the privateers and the Crown.