Scaramelli had with him a letter concerning the Serene Republic’s [Venice] latest tribulations at the hands of a pirate, William Piers of Portsmouth. Piers was in his late twenties and captained a stocky man-of-war of medium tonnage, with twenty or thirty guns and a crew of around sixty men. Piers had recently attacked the Venetian ship the Veniera and had captured booty worth around 100,000 ducats. There were no Venetian galleys able to follow in pursuit of Piers because the crews were infected with what the Provveditore at Zante, Piero Bonumier, described as “repulsive diseases.”

Bonumier had therefore applied to three English ships in the area for help. Their commanders refused, claiming that their merchantmen were unsuited to the task, so Veniera’s crew hired a vessel to go after Piers themselves. They then encountered another English pirate who stole everything that Piers had left them.

The whole farce had “greatly annoyed” the [Venetian] Senate and Scaramelli handed Elizabeth the letter asking that Piers “or others who commit such villainous deeds” be punished and their booty restored to their rightful owners as soon as possible.

Source:

Lisle, Leanda De. "Westward… Descended a Hideous Tempest" After Elizabeth: The Rise of James of Scotland and the Struggle for the Throne of England. New York: Ballantine, 2005. 88. Print.

Original Source Listed:

Alberto Tenenti, Piracy and the Decline of Venice 1580-1615, pp. 64, 68.

Further Reading:

Elizabeth I of England / The Virgin Queen / Gloriana / Good Queen Bess