The Victual Brothers (the Vitalians or Vitalian Brotherhood) were a companionship of privateers who later turned to piracy. They were hired in 1392 by the Dukes of Mecklenburg to fight against Denmark, because Queen Margaret I of Denmark had imprisoned Albert of Mecklenburg and his son in order to subdue the Kingdom of Sweden. Albert had been King of Sweden since 1364 and Duke of Mecklenburg since 1383.