Pirates and Privateers – a Linguistic Conundrum of the 15th Century Baltic

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In this interview, Gregor Rohmann, Professor for Regional Cultural History, University of Rostock, talks about his research into Pirates and Privateers – a Linguistic Conundrum of the 15th Century Baltic. Gregor considers how pirates, and the concepts and semantics related to piracy emerged in the Baltic. He links the emergence of specific actors who engaged in armed violence at sea to the need for both merchants and nobility to protect their legitimate interests. In addition, he notes how the frequent inter-state conflicts within the region gave rise to the use of sea-based privateers and mercenaries commissioned by the states engaged in conflict. Gregor also describes the number of terms used to describe the actors involved, and these terms vary partly according to how the ‘pirates’ were paid or rewarded and by whom, and party according to the view point of the person using the terms. However, there are no records of what terminology the ‘pirates’ used to describe themselves.Finally Gregor explains how the semantics influenced the development of the rule-of-law and thus state building, and he notes how these developments were, effectively undertaken by merchants to protect their economic interests and trade within the Baltic region.This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Department of Historical Studies.

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