Neither
Breton, nor French, but from Saint Malo am I!"......St
Malo was considered the capital of the Corsairs although it was
strongly rivalled by Granville in Normandy.
The
Corsairs although "swashbuckling" pirates actually worked for the King
of France attacking the ships
of France’s enemies without fear of being
hanged from the highest mast as they were granted a licence – “Letter de
Marque”. La “Lettre de Marque” otherwise known as "Lettre de course"
hence the name Corsair, was an official document necessary to legalise
their activities. This document gave them the status of a war
prisoner in case they ever be captured. The Corsair was ordered to
attack only his sovereign enemies, respecting “generally”
the “neutrals” and always his own fellow citizens. 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.
The “pirate” activities started in the middle ages 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 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!".St 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.
The activities of the Corsairs were so profitable that the
Marine Minister used this in his strategy to make money. Moreover,
the King used to take one quarter and even one third of the booty.
The Corsairs’ activities weakened France’s enemies; indeed, the English
trade losses were very important from 1688 until 1717.
The relationship between the Corsairs and the State changed
depending on who was leader. 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 1815, but was officially only
in 1856 during a meeting in Paris where every nation were present
(except Spain, Mexico and United States).
Famous Corsairs
Robert Surcouf was the last well known Corsair of the city. Born
in St-Malo in 1773, his father was
a ship owner and his mother the daughter of a Captain. Ship’s boy at 13
and Captain Corsair at 22 years old, he then - very much against his
licence - for several years attacked the “Compagnie Française des Indes”
ships. In the end Robert Surcouf became a ship owner himself and died in
St Malo in 1827. There is a statue of him for all to see.
René Trouin, born in St-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 war ships.
“Woman Corsairs”
Not Corsairs but
Patriots, two women, in particular, supported Brittany rather than France.
In the
1300's Jeanne de Montfort nicknamed “The Flame” sailed in the
English Channel plundering French ships, fighting with the English for
Brittany’s independence. Another woman, Jeanne de Clisson, was
known as “The Lioness of Brittany”)
Julienne David, a native of Saint Mars a town close to Nantes
managed to be taken on as crew on the boat “La Jeune Agathe” at the end of
XVIII century, under the name of “Jacques David”. As the time she was
only nineteen and cleverly disguised herself as a boy. However her
deceit was quickly discovered once the ship put to sea and Julienne was
ordered to wear women’s clothing and not to interfere with the sailors’
work. This did not deter her and she managed to be taken on board ship
in Paimboeuf, again disguised as a boy. However she was captured by the
English and imprisoned on an English pontoon. Eventually one of her
companions denounced her and her secret was discovered. Once back on
shore in France, Julienne carried on dressing like a man and worked as cab
renter, stableman, gardener and driver.
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