Hector Barbossa's Letter of Marque

"Letters of Marque. You will offer what amounts to a full pardon. Jack will be free, a privateer in the employ of England." "Somehow I doubt Jack will consider employment the same as being free."

- Cutler Beckett and William Turner

A Letter of Marque and Reprisal, commonly known as a Letter of Marque, was a warrant or commission from a national government or monarch usually authorizing a designated agent to search, seize, or destroy specified assets or personnel belonging to a party which has committed some offense under the laws of that nation.

This official document pardons the recipient of prior crimes against the Crown and rants the recipient a commission as a privateer for the East India Trading Company. The document requires the signature of Lord Cutler Beckett and the King of England to be official.

History
Sometime after the War Against Piracy, Hector Barbossa joined the British Royal Navy as a privateer. He served King George faithfully, but that was just part of his plan to get revenge on Blackbeard, a pirate who cost him his right leg and the Black Pearl. After Barbossa killed Blackbeard, he took his sword and his ship for himself. As he sailed for Tortuga, Barbossa triumphantly tore up his Letters of Marque as a sign for his return to piracy.

Behind the scenes

 * It is currently unknown how Barbossa was able to obtain these Letters.

Appearances

 * Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides