Elizabeth I Was Pretty Soft on Pirates
As seen above, the fondness of Queen Elizabeth I for Francis Drake was indicative of a soft spot for pirates and piracy – at least of the legalized kind. Another example of her softness on pirates – of the outright illegal kind – can be seen in how the Virgin Queen dealt with female pirate Lady Killigrew. A strong, fearless, and independent woman, Mary (sometimes Elizabeth) Wolverston, better known to history as Lady Killigrew (circa 1525 – circa 1587), was an English gentlewoman from Suffolk who led a double life as a pirate. She was accused and convicted of organizing a piracy ring that preyed on English ships that passed through the coastal waters of Cornwall.
The rocky coast of Cornwall, where Killigrew carried out her piratical activities, had long been a home to smugglers, wreckers, and pirates. Piracy was in Mary’s blood, as her father, Phillip Wolverton, Lord of Wolverton Hall, had been a gentleman pirate for years. It was an era when piracy was almost an English pastime, often abetted or outright encouraged by the authorities. Particularly in the wars against Catholic Spain, when the line between English pirates and the English navy was often indistinguishable.