Pardon

"Letters of Marque. You will offer what amounts to a full pardon. Jack will be free, a privateer in the employ of England."

- Cutler Beckett to Will Turner

A Royal Pardon, often shortened to a pardon, was the forgiveness of a crime and the cancellation of the relevant penalty; it is usually granted by a head of state (such as a King or Lord) or by acts of a parliament or a religious authority. Clemency means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation (in whole or in part) of the penalty associated with it. A reprieve is the temporary postponement of punishment, often with a view to a pardon or other review of the sentence (such as when the reprieving authority has no power to grant an immediate pardon).

History
"You've brought me this. I owe you a pardon and commission. So I am offering you a job. In the employ of the East India Trading Company. Working for me."

- Cutler Beckett to Jack Sparrow

Blackbeard accepted a Royal Pardon from Governor Charles Eden in 1718. After the Battle of the Isla de Muerta, Governor Weatherby Swann granted clemency to Will Turner, who had engaged in piracy prior to the battle. Around the War Against Piracy, Lord Cutler Beckett attempted to give Jack Sparrow a full pardon with the Letters of Marque, and later did so while meeting with Jack aboard the Endeavour. Hector Barbossa would later accept a Royal Pardon from King George II prior to the quest for the Fountain of Youth, in which Barbossa became a privateer.

Behind the scenes
"Jack Sparrow's reprieve is ended."

- Davy Jones


 * In a deleted scene from Dead Man's Chest, titled "Not So Fortunate", Davy Jones stated that Jack Sparrow's reprieve had ended prior to the attack on the Edinburgh Trader. Jones then dealt with Bootstrap Bill Turner before summoning the Kraken.
 * In the film's junior novelization of At World's End, Cutler Beckett once again attempted to give Jack Sparrow a pardon and commission while Jack was aboard the Endeavour. However, Jack still refused, in which Beckett told him to enjoy the gallows.

Appearances

 * Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides