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My name is Greg Jackson.

I'm a PhD holding historian, a professor and the creator of history that doesn't suck.

A podcast that makes legit seriously researched

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chronological telling of the United States story. From the revolution to

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With more than 100 episodes, you can already binge a listen to your way from 1776 to the early 20th century.

Listen to history that doesn't suck on Spotify. The Hello and welcome to the Pirate History Podcast. My name is Matt. Thank you for listening. In March 1569, at the French port of La Rochelle, a group of 18 sea captains met and conferred.

Some of these men had spent their entire lives as outlaws, raiding shipping in the North

Sea and English Channel.

Others were more recently brought into the trade.

They were men who had been pushed from their lives and as talented mariners,

people who decided to take up piracy.

They were talking about a new development in their lives.

Each of these 18 men was in possession of what was called a letter of reprisal, better known as a letter of Mark.

They had just received it from Louis of Nassau, the brother of William the Silent.

For these men who had always been outlaws, on the run, on the high seas, from the authorities, be they Spanish,

French, or from the low countries, they now had a measure of legitimacy and they had to decide exactly what they wanted to do with that.

To many in Europe they were still outlaws.

They would have to run from the Spanish just as they always had and from most of the Dutch authorities. However, in the ports that were friendly to them,

be they the port they were currently in at La Rochelle in France, a Huguenot port, or any of the ports in England,

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