Crimson Sword Pirates (Part-3)
The existence of piracy in these times was due to a variety of factors.
For one- there were various actors all wishing to pull their enemies down by straggling their trade and thus revenue.
Two- for many, this was a major source of their revenue as the cost of acquiring the stolen goods was much, much less lower than their original selling price. The poorer lords lived on these 'cheap imports'.
Three- there was a great, thriving industry surrounding the servicing and catering to the needs of these pirates, which made scaling down these activities now all the more impossible. There were not just cities, but entire regions related to the 'services' these pirates provided.
And four, and perhaps the most important of all- the vast majority of the slave trade was done by these pirates.