Monday 5 December 2016

Marque And Reprisal In 10 AE

"The old custom of Marque and Reprisal had been revived with a vengeance for this war, and wherever Islander merchantmen met Tartessian, they fought."
-SM Stirling, On The Oceans Of Eternity (New York, 2000), Chapter Twenty-One, p. 429.

A letter of marque and reprisal authorizes a private military expedition. Stirling's time travelers apply the custom to combat at sea as Poul Anderson's space travelers apply it to combat in space. See here.

It is all one universe - or at least one multiverse.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I know there was a treaty signed by the great powers of Europe in which they agreed to no longer issues Letters of Marque and Reprisal. But since the US was not a signatory to that treaty she could still legally issue such Letters. But the fact the US has never issued such Letters since then indicates the Washington government tacitly accepted the ban. And, of course, not ratifying that treaty keeps more options open.

Sean