The illustrious, but somewhat overlooked French Privateers, otherwise known as “Corsaires” were a variety of fighters, authorized to conduct raids and attack other vessels, with any state at war with France, and as a form of maritime war. They would follow a well planned and strategic approach and typically target enemy merchant ships crossing through the Atlantic Ocean of English Channel. Essentially, being state-sanctioned “pirates”, they had the purpose of disrupting trade and wealthy vessels, engaging and overcoming vessels ofother states at war with France. Saint Malo (located at a crossroads of Brittany and Normandy on the coast of Northern France) gradually became the capital for these privateers. With strong coastal fortifications, and an advantageous location, St Malo was the capital for privateers during 17th and 18th century Europe. As the capital of St Malo developed, the influence and power of the Corsairs followed suit, however St Malo faced significant challenges ultimately leading to the final abolition in 1856, formed at the Declaration of Paris. With political adversities and economic instability, the bountiful privateering capital was brimming with risk and reward.
St Malo, situated in the English Channel, and at the right bank of the Rance River, stands on a granite islet joined to the land via an ancient road bridging across the harbour. Upon becoming a major merchant centre in the 12th century, it became heavily fortified, and was kept up as a strategical,strong port, complementing its geographical advantages. Geographical power, combined with idyllic access to trade routes through the Atlantic Passage and English channel is what the St Malo privateers embodied over the 17th and 18thcenturies. It was these strengths and advantages that enabled St Malo to have the capacity to harbour the riches it earnt from raided merchant vessels.
The terms “privateers”, and “pirates” are two not to be confused. Piracy, includes the looting and illegal takeover of vessels through criminal violence. Privateers are authorizedwith an official grant by the state called a “Lettre de Marque”(pictured in Figure 1) from the government. The privateers and corsairs were considered to be legitimate combatants in France, and played an important role in the naval strategy and the in France’s maritime strategy in the 17th and 18th centuries. For other countries, privateers would be given a license by their respective sovereign or state, with the purpose of raiding commerce and merchant ships. However it is all bounded by law, and there are strict regulations on their actions. TheFrench attacks and raids of the privateers steadily thwarted particularly Spanish and British trade across the Atlantic Ocean over the late 1600’s and early 1700’s, and had a poison-like effect on the economies of these Europeanenemies. It had a profound effect on other countries, and a principal example is of the privateers taking control of slave ships passing through the Atlantic. Due to Britain and Spain both relying heavily on the transatlantic slave trade, St Malo corsairs would often intercept these slave ships, both reducing the labour supply for foreign competitors, and increase their own production in turn. Making these interceptions brought resources and riches, and sometimes even the ship as well, all to the port of St Malo, but importantly, they hit the profitability of the plantation economies in the Caribbean and South America, in turn relaying waves of economic damage back towards European powers.
St. Malo’s economy was a major force in France’s maritime wealth, driven by privateering, colonial trade, and fishing industries. At its height in the 17th and 18th centuries, the city’s privateers captured thousands of enemy ships, injecting vast sums into the local economy. Between 1688 and 1713 alone, St. Malo’s corsairs seized over 4,000 vessels, contributing millions of livres to France’s war efforts. This wealth funded a booming shipbuilding industry, with docks producing both commercial and war-ready ships, while merchants expanded trade networks across the Atlantic. The cod fisheries of Newfoundland, supplying Catholic Europe, brought in consistent profits, with annual hauls reaching hundreds of thousands of tons. St. Malo also played a key role in the sugar trade, importing from Saint-Domingue, which by the 1780s accounted for nearly 40% of France’s colonial economy. However, reliance on war and colonial markets made its economy vulnerable. British naval blockades in the early 19th century, combined with the Haitian Revolution, shattered its trade networks, leading to a sharp economic decline from which it never fully recovered.
One particularly notable privateer, René Trouin, Sieur de Gué, is one of St Malo’s most celebrated privateers, and with royal recognition, as a privateer and naval officer, he blurred the lines between the state and corsairing, encouraging an influx of spending into both industries.
He began as a privateer from the age of 16, late in the 17thcentury (at a time when France was engaged in constant maritime conflict with the Dutch Republic and the British), and took to the role briskly, embarking on his first voyage, during the 9 Years War, ** and then commanded his own vessel a few years later. His knack for outmaneuvering larger vessels caught the eye of private investors and navy officials, and his command in the privateering circle grew rapidly. In only a few years, his ships rose to fame and he captured 43 ships in only a few years, bringing tens of millions of livres pouring into the St Malo ports. The Rio De Janeiro Expedition beneath the surface was far greater than a small privateering operation. Leading a fleet of 17 ships and 6000 men, Trouinoverwhelmed the Portuguese occupation, and forced a ransom upon them. His exploints in Rio de Janeiro lead to an estimated 4 million livres to be brought back to the rich ports of St Malo, which is the equivalent of 62 million British pounds today. It is one of the most lucrative privateering expeditions in history, proving that privateers were capable of strategic and long-lasting endeavours, and also paved the way for Trouin’s journey into the French military. As privateering started to become less profitable, he transitioned into the French navy and later became an admiral of France, and having made his riches as a corsaire, he retired in 1715 after an admirable career in the French Navy. Trouin was a classic privateer, displaying an adroitness in his craft, he was audacious and in relentless pursuit of success. His career marked St Malo as one of the most powerful cities in France, and had a profound impact on the wealth and economy of St Malo as a city.
** This was a war between the French expansionary policies, and allied forces of Europe and Britain, with extensive fighting taking place in neighbouring areas around France.
However, after centuries of success and privateering prowess, the utility of privateering began to decrease more and more, and eventually was needed no longer. Since the Lettre de Marque only allowed you to attack other vessels while at war, when France wasn’t at war, the economy of St Malo suffered greatly, where the over-reliance on war stopped St Malo from fully expanding its dominance while at the peak of its powers. Attacks on St Malo from enemies France became more frequent, which damaged infrastructure and deterred investors, while unregulated privateers acting as pirates were hurting the credibility and reputation of the city. The money was falling out from underneath the privateers as investors lost everything when a privateering venture failed and privateering as a whole became a far less attractive business model.
As the Haitian revolution began in 1791, cutting off major trade lines for St Malo, and Britain’s Naval Supremacy was beginning to take precedence, France was increasingly inclined to favour the navy more and more. Furthermore when the Napoleonic Wars began to shift French priorities, more and more privateers were forced into naval service, rather than operating independently. Ultimately, at the Paris Declaration in (1856), privateering was officially banned, marking its legal end for the ports such as St Malo. By the mid-19th century, St. Malo had fully transitioned from privateering to commercial trade and fishing, and all naval exploits were officially part of the French Navy, marking the end of its 200 year legendary corsair era.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_corsairs
https://www.travelfranceonline.com/st-malo-fortress-privateers-explorers/
https://bunkersite.com/locations/france/stmalo/stmalo.php
https://www.britannica.com/place/Saint-Malo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Duguay-Trouin
https://archive.org/details/mmoiresdedugua34duguuoft?utm
https://archive.org/details/mmoiresdedugua34duguuoft?utm
