The Fowey Gallants or the Gallants of Fowey, was group of

privateers A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

and pirates who operated out of the port of

Fowey Fowey ( ; kw, Fowydh, meaning 'Beech Trees') is a port town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town has been in existence since well before the Norman invasion, with the local ch ...

, in Cornwall, during the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...

in the 14th and 15th centuries. The port was given licences to attack and seize French vessels in the English Channel, following the assistance the port had given during the Siege of Calais and the

Battle of Agincourt The Battle of Agincourt ( ; french: Azincourt ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected English victory against the numerica ...

. Many foreign vessels and some English vessels were seized and these activities became very profitable for the corrupt port. Notable privateers included

Mark Mixtow Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

, who was a licensed privateer with a flotilla of three ships, the Dutch pirate Hankyn Seelander was given a privateers licence by The Crown in 1442 and tasked with patrolling the coast. Others involved in piracy included John Trevelyn, Thomas Tregarthen, Nicholas Carminow and

Sir Hugh Courtenay Sir Hugh I Courtenay (after 1358 – 5 or 6 March 1425), of Haccombe in Devon, was Sheriff of Devon for 1418/19 and was thrice elected knight of the shire for Devon in 1395, 1397 and 1421. He was a grandson of Hugh de Courtenay, 2nd/ ...

owner of the Boconnoc estate. John Wilcock's ship ''Barbara'', seized fifteen ships in two weeks in 1469. Following peace with France, the piracy continued.

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

asked the “willing men from

Dartmouth Dartmouth may refer to: Places * Dartmouth, Devon, England ** Dartmouth Harbour * Dartmouth, Massachusetts, United States * Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada * Dartmouth, Victoria, Australia Institutions * Dartmouth College, Ivy League university i ...

” to stop the piracy. A meeting was arranged in Lostwithiel and while the Gallants were there, their ships were seized and the

harbour chain A boom or a chain (also boom defence, harbour chain, river chain, chain boom, boom chain or variants) is an obstacle strung across a navigable stretch of water to control or block navigation. In modern times they usually have civil uses, such as ...

removed. Several pirates were hanged.

References

English privateers Medieval Cornwall Hundred Years' War Fowey {{cornwall-stub