William Aleyn (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1430–1448) was a 15th-century English pirate. During the 1430s and 1440s, he raided shipping throughout Southeast England and sometimes worked with

William Kyd William Kyd ( fl. 1430–1453) was a 15th-century English pirate active in South West England from the 1430s until the 1450s. He and others, such as John Mixtow, William Aleyn and Clays Stephen, acted under virtual immunity from the law for o ...

in the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

and the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

. Like others of his trade, Aleyn operated freely and without interference from authorities while under the protection of corrupt custom officials.

Biography

In 1431, Aleyn was listed as one of several pirates active in the area according to a public document published that year. He joined

and several others in capturing four ships carrying provisions bound for

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

in 1433. Fifteen years later, he and Kyd began seizing ships in the assisted him in seizing ships in the

and carrying them down to the

. He was particularly active near

Thanet Thanet may refer to: *Isle of Thanet, a former island, now a peninsula, at the most easterly point of Kent, England *Thanet District, a local government district containing the island *Thanet College, former name of East Kent College *Thanet Canal, ...

, although no more is heard of him after this time.Kingsford, Charles Lethbridge. ''Prejudice and Promise in Fifteenth Century England''. London: Routledge, 1962. (pg. 89, 93)

References

English pirates 15th-century English people 1430 births 1448 deaths {{pirate-stub