Sails and Cannons

The logic of the English in the 16th–17th centuries was simple: if you don’t have your own, you need to take someone else’s. Thus, under Queen Elizabeth, piracy (that is, maritime robbery, murders, and violence) was elevated to a rank of noble service to the homeland and encouraged in every possible way. The English put the pirate craft almost on an assembly line, turning it into a branch of state industry, actively sponsored by both wealthy merchants and noble lords—and by the queen herself, of course.

In 1562, pirate John Hawkins brought more than a thousand black slaves to England. For his successes in a new business for England, Elizabeth granted him the title of admiral. In addition, she officially allowed him to include in his family coat of arms an image of a man in chains…