In der Geschichte des Seehandels unterscheidet man traditionell zwischen erlaubtem Handel und illegalen Praktiken. Doch was wir heute als "unerlaubt" ansehen, wurde bis zur Durchsetzung des souveränen Staates oft als legitim wahrgenommen, weil es innerhalb der Spielregeln des Wirtschaftslebens erfolgte. Je nachdem, wie gut ein Akteur seine Vorstellung durchsetzen konnte, wurde er als Pirat, Schmuggler, Kaufmann oder Admiral wahrgenommen.

ContentsIntroduction9Thomas Heebøll-Holm, Philipp Höhn, and Gregor RohmannI. Between Criminalization and Compromise:Dealing with Maritime Violence in Medieval Legal PluralismPiracy, Patriotism, and Profit in England around 140033Thomas Heebøll-HolmThe Family Business: Royal Embargo and the Smugglers, Captains, and Councilors of Barcelona's Marquet Family57Marie KelleherPopes and Pirates: Vatican Sources Regarding Violence at Sea(12th-15th Centuries)75Tobias DanielsCargoes, Courts, and Compromise: The Management of MaritimePlunder in the Burgundian Low Countries107Bart LambertII. Islands, Ports, and Markets: Connectivity and Marginalization in the Maritime WorldPirate Places, Merchant Spaces? Distribution and Criminalization in the Late Medieval Baltic Sea127Philipp HöhnConceptualizing Danish "Piracy", c.1460-1525: A CriminalizedEconomy or a Circular Exchange of Goods, Money, and People?145Frederik Lynge VognsenPirates on the Coast: Littoral Expansion and Maritime Predationin Liguria and Dalmatia, 1300-1600165Emily Sohmer TaiIslands and Maritime Conflicts: Gotland around 1500189Michael MeichsnerThe Making of Connectivity: How Hamburg Triedto Gain Control over the Elbe River (13th-16th Centuries)207Gregor RohmannIII. Enforcing Markets, Economics of Violence, and the Formation of PowerMaritime Violence between Legitimising Discourses, Politics, and Economic Interests: Genoa's Conquest of Chios and Phocaea247Christoph DartmannThe Venetian Coast Guards: Staple Policy, Seaborne LawEnforcement, and State Formation in the 14th Century.269Georg Christ"To Make Good Peace or Total War": Trade, Piracy, and the Constructionof Portugal's Maritime State in the Later Middle Ages (1350-1550)297Flavio Miranda & Amândio BarrosFrom the Baltic to the North Sea: Gda?sk City Councillor BerndPawest's Maritime Service in 1471-72313Beata Mo?ejkoPolicing the Sea: Enforcing the Papal Embargo on Tradewith "Infidels"329Mike CarrHenning II of Putbus, "Piracy", the Øresund-fortresses, andthe Right of Salvage. 343Alexander KreyWorks Cited371Authors429