Brigandage is the life and practice of highway robbery and plunder.[1] It is practiced by a brigand, a person who is typically part of a gang and lives by pillage and robbery.[2]
The word brigand entered English as brigant via French from Italian as early as 1400. Under the laws of war, soldiers acting on their own recognizance without operating in chain of command are brigands, liable to be tried under civilian laws as common criminals. However, on occasions brigands are not mere malefactors, but may be rebels against a state or union perceived as the enemy.
Bad administration and suitable terrain encourage the development of brigands. Historical examples of brigands (often called so by their enemies) have existed in territories of France, Greece and the Balkans, India, Italy, Mexico and Spain, as well as certain regions of the United States.
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary second edition, 1989. "Brigandage" The first recorded usage of the word was by "[Clive] Holland Livy XXXVIII. xlv. 1011e, A privat brigandage and robberie."
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary second edition, 1989. "Brigand.2" first recorded usage of the word was by "H. LUTTRELL in Ellis Orig. Lett. II. 27 I. 85 Ther ys no steryng of none evyl doers, saf byonde the rivere of Sayne..of certains brigaunts."