Page "Letter of marque" Paragraph 5

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed.

( Clarendon Press, 1989 ) ( def.

1 of " marque " & def.

2a of " marque " defining " letter of marque "), the first recorded use of " letters of marque and reprisal " was in an English statute in 1354 during the reign of Edward III.

The phrase referred to " a licene granted by a sovereign to a subject, authorizing him to make reprisals on the subjects of a hostile state for injuries alleged to have been done to him by the enemy's army.