What is an interesting fact about Corsairs...?

Question

They are a kind of pirate.

Thanks :)

Answer 1

Corsairs were French privateers  located on the northern coast of Brittany. Corsair is a more romantic or flamboyant version of the word privateer, or even of the word pirate.

The name "corsair" derives from the commissioning document received from the king, the Lettre de Course

The corsairs were privateers working for the King of France 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 “neutrals” and his own nation's ships. 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 could be hanged as pirates if captured by the foreigners they preyed on.

The “pirate” activities started in the Middle Ages Jean de Châtillon, , in 1144 gave the town of St. Malo the status of rights of asylum which encouraged all manner of thieves and rogues to move there.

The activities of the Corsairs were so profitable that the Minister of the Navy used this in his strategy to make money. , the King used to take one quarter and even one third of the booty. The Corsairs’ activities weakened France’s enemies

At the end of the 18th century, the “crsairs rights” started to decline until the legal end in 1856.

Robert Surcouf was the last and most well known Corsair Ship's boy at 13 and Corsair Captain at 22 years old, . During the French revolution, the convention government dissapproved 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.

René Duguay-Trouin was born in St-Malo in 1673, was honoured in 1709 for capturing more than 300 merchant ships and 20 war ships. 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

In the 1300s Jeanne de Montfort, nicknamed "The Flame", sailed in the English Channel plundering French ships, fighting with the English for Brittany's independence. She played an important role in the Battle of Morlaix. Another woman, Jeanne de Clisson, was known as "The Lioness of Brittany".