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Corsairs (french: corsaire) were
privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
s, authorized to conduct raids on shipping of a nation at war with
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, on behalf of the French crown. Seized vessels and cargo were sold at auction, with the corsair captain entitled to a portion of the proceeds. Although not
French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...
personnel, corsairs were considered legitimate combatants in France (and allied nations), provided the commanding officer of the vessel was in possession of a valid letter of marque ( or , the latter giving ''corsairs'' their name), and the officers and crew conducted themselves according to contemporary
admiralty law Admiralty law or maritime law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between priv ...
. By acting on behalf of the French Crown, if captured by the enemy, they could in principle claim treatment as
prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...
, instead of being considered
pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
. Because corsairs gained a
swashbuckling A swashbuckler is a genre of European adventure literature that focuses on a heroic protagonist stock character who is skilled in swordsmanship, acrobatics, guile and possesses chivalrous ideals. A "swashbuckler" protagonist is heroic, daring, ...
reputation, the word "corsair" is also used generically as a more romantic or flamboyant way of referring to privateers, or even to pirates. The
Barbary pirate The Barbary pirates, or Barbary corsairs or Ottoman corsairs, were Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. This area was known in Europe ...
s of
North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
as well as the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
were sometimes called "Turkish corsairs".


Etymology

The word "corsair" comes directly from the French phrase 'lettre de course',the word 'corsaire' borrowed from the
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
''corsaro''. This derives from the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
''cursus'', meaning "course" (as in journey or expedition). The French word ''corsaire'' may have originated as a mispronunciation of the
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
word ; the term ''pirate'' had been in use in French since the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
. However, Sayyid Sulaimān Nadvī, an Indian Muslim scholar of Islamic studies, says that "Qarsan ...
ay be Ay, AY or variants, may refer to: People * Ay (pharaoh), a pharaoh of the 18th Egyptian dynasty * Merneferre Ay, a pharaoh of the 13th Egyptian dynasty * A.Y. (musician) (born 1981), a Tanzanian "bongo flava" artist * A.Y, stage name of Ayo Maku ...
the arabicised form of 'Corsair'."


History

The corsairs were privateers working for the
King of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the fir ...
attacking the ships of France's enemies. In France they did not need to fear punishment for piracy—being hanged—as they were granted a licence as combatants, the ''lettre de marque'' or ''lettre de course'', a document which legitimised their actions to the French justice system and which they hoped gave them the status of a war prisoner in case they were ever captured. The corsair was ordered to attack only the ships of enemy countries, theoretically respecting those of neutral nations and his own nations. If he did not respect this rule, he was then treated as a pirate and hanged. The corsairs' activities also provided the King with revenue as the licence required them to hand over a part of their booty to the King. In common with privateers of other nationalities, however, they were often considered pirates by their foreign opponents, and might be hanged as pirates if captured by the foreigners they preyed on. The "corsair" activities started in the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
the main goals really being to compensate for the economic problems in war periods; and the ship owners did not accept that the war was an obstacle to their trade. Jean de Châtillon, who was a bishop, in 1144 gave the town of
Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the All ...
the status of rights of asylum which encouraged all manner of thieves and rogues to move there. Their motto was "Neither Breton, nor French, but from Saint-Malo am I!". Saint-Malo, however, progressed and in 1308 the town was made into a free commune to encourage the commercial activities of craftsmen as well as merchants and ship owners. This did not really work out and later in 1395 the town became a free port. This situation continued until 1688. Between the early 1500s and 1713 when the signing of the
treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne ...
effectively put an end to the French corsair raids in the Caribbean, the ''
guerre de course Commerce raiding (french: guerre de course, "war of the chase"; german: Handelskrieg, "trade war") is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than enga ...
'', as the French called it, took a huge toll on the Spanish treasure fleet's efforts to ship the gold and silver from Peru to Santo Domingo and Havana and then on to Spain. During this period, there was an intense drive to improve, not only the speed of the ships involved in this contest, but also their maneuverability and ability to sail into the wind (the close haul). It was a matter of life or death, and immense wealth was at stake. Jean d'Ango, father and son, came to be among the wealthiest and most influential men in France. In addition to those listed below,
Giovanni da Verrazzano Giovanni da Verrazzano ( , , often misspelled Verrazano in English; 1485–1528) was an Italian ( Florentine) explorer of North America, in the service of King Francis I of France. He is renowned as the first European to explore the Atlanti ...
(namesake of the
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge ( ) is a suspension bridge connecting the New York City boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn. It spans the Narrows, a body of water linking the relatively enclosed New York Harbor with Lower New York Bay and t ...
) and
Jean Fleury Jean Fleury (or Florin) (died 1527) was a French naval officer and privateer. He is best known for the capture of two out of the three Spanish galleons carrying the Aztec treasure of Hernán Cortés from Mexico to Spain and one ship from Santo Do ...
were among the principals in this era. The 1517 travel journal of Antonio de Beatis described the ship of Fra Bernardino, known as the "Great Corsair" (operating against Turkish vessels) in
Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
: ''His
galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch ...
is massively timbered, new and extremely well-fitted out, especially in point of artillery, carrying as it does twelve cannon, twelve falconets and a hundred
arquebuses An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. Although the term ''arquebus'', derived from the Dutch word ''Haakbus ...
.'' The activities of the corsairs were so profitable that the Minister of the Navy used this in his strategy to make money. Moreover, the King used to take one-quarter or even one-third of the booty. The corsairs' activities weakened France's enemies; indeed, English trade losses were very important from 1688 to 1717. In a note based on an examination of ''Lloyd's List'' from 1793 to 1800, the anonymous author showed that British shipping losses to captures exceeded those resulting from the perils of the sea.
Losses to capture: 4314; recaptured 705; Net – 3639
Perils of the sea: 2385 plus 652 driven on shore, of which 70 recovered; Net – 2967.
The relationship between the corsairs and the State changed as the power of the State grew. The rules became stricter and State control more and more present. At the end of the 18th century, the "course" started to decline until its legal death in 1856. The "course" disappeared in France with the Empire in 1804, but was officially ended only by the 1814 Treaty of Paris, where every major northern hemisphere nation except Spain, Mexico, and the United States, was present, and the 1815
Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon ...
.


Famous corsairs


François Aregnaudeau

François Aregnaudeau (1774–c.1813), was a Breton who commanded a number of privateers, most notably ''Blonde'', and ''Duc de Dantzig''. In them he captured numerous prizes. He and ''Duc de Dantzig'' disappeared without a trace around the end of 1812. Their disappearance gave rise to an unsubstantiated gruesome ghost ship legend.


Jean-François Roberval

Jean-François de La Roque de Roberval (c. 1500–1560) was a Protestant French nobleman and adventurer who, through his lifelong friendship with King
Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome * Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) Places *Rural ...
, became the first
Lieutenant General of New France Lieutenant General of New France was the military post that governed early New France (including the early colonies in Acadia and Quebec) from 1598 until 1627. Before 1598, the office was briefly occupied from 1541 to 1543. The office was replaced ...
. As a corsair, he attacked towns and shipping throughout the
Spanish Main During the Spanish colonization of America, the Spanish Main was the collective term for the parts of the Spanish Empire that were on the mainland of the Americas and had coastlines on the Caribbean Sea or Gulf of Mexico. The term was used to ...
, from Cuba to Colombia. When his appointment as the first
Lieutenant General of New France Lieutenant General of New France was the military post that governed early New France (including the early colonies in Acadia and Quebec) from 1598 until 1627. Before 1598, the office was briefly occupied from 1541 to 1543. The office was replaced ...
did not work out, he attempted to repay his debts through privateering. The Spanish Caribbean was his main target, since at that time France and Spain were at war. Known to the Spanish as Roberto Baal, in 1543 he sacked Rancherias and
Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta ("Touristic, Cultural and Historic District of Santa Marta"), is a city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena ...
, followed by an attack in 1544 on
Cartagena de Indias Cartagena ( , also ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, bordering the Caribbean sea. Cartagena's past role as a link ...
. In 1546, ships under his command attacked
Baracoa Baracoa, whose full original name is: ''Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Baracoa'' (“Our Lady of the Assumption of Baracoa”), is a municipality and city in Guantánamo Province near the eastern tip of Cuba. It was visited by Admiral Christop ...
and
Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.
. The next year, he retired from pirating. He died a
Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
martyr.


René Duguay-Trouin

René Duguay-Trouin René Trouin, Sieur du Gué, also known as René Duguay-Trouin, (10 June 1673 – 1736) was a French naval officer, nobleman, slave trader, and privateer best known for his career during the War of the Spanish Succession. He had a brillian ...
was born in Saint-Malo in 1673, and the son of a rich ship owner took a fleet of 64 ships and was honoured in 1709 for capturing more than 300 merchant ships and 20 warships. He had a brilliant privateering and naval career and eventually became "Lieutenant-General of the Naval Armies of the King", ''i.e.,'' admiral, (French:Lieutenant-Général des armées navales du roi), and a Commander in the Order of Saint-Louis. He died peacefully in 1736.


Robert Surcouf

Robert Surcouf Robert Surcouf (12 December 1773 – 8 July 1827) was a French privateer and slave trader who operated in the Indian Ocean between 1789 and 1801, and again from 1807 to 1808, capturing over 40 prizes. He later amassed a large fortune as a ...
was the last and best-known corsair of the Saint-Malo. Born there in 1773, his father was a ship owner and his mother the daughter of a captain. Ship's boy at 13 and corsair captain at 22 years old, and then — very much against his licence — for several years attacked ships including those of the
French East India Company The French East India Company (french: Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales) was a colonial commercial enterprise, founded on 1 September 1664 to compete with the English (later British) and Dutch trading companies in th ...
, or ''Compagnie Française des Indes''. During the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
, the ''convention'' government disapproved of ''lettres de course'', so Surcouf operated at great personal risk as a pirate against British shipping to India. Surcouf was so successful that he became a popular celebrity in France. After a brief early retirement Surcouf again operated against shipping to the Indies. Surcouf became a ship owner himself and died in Saint-Malo in 1827. There is a statue of him on public display there, and his house is now a small museum.


Jean Bart

Jean Bart (21 October 1650 – 27 April 1702) was a French naval commander and privateer. He achieved his greatest successes during the
Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between Kingdom of France, France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by t ...
(1688–1697).


See also

*
Corsairs of Umbar In J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy ''The Lord of the Rings'', Harad is the immense land south of Gondor and Mordor. Its main port is Umbar, the base of the Corsairs of Umbar whose ships serve as the Dark Lord Sauron's fleet. Its people are the ...


References


External links

* A Swiss-German page showing financial documents related to corsairs
"''Die sehr geehrten Freibeuter''"
(the honorable buccaneers) {{Pirates Piracy by country Privateering