Differences between pirates and corsairs

Image: Stories of History

Pirates Y corsairs are related to the activity dedicated to boarding and looting ships at sea to appropriate their property, with origins in remote times of history and almost as antiquity as navigation and trade in the oceans. Next, in this lesson from unPROFESOR.com, we will study the differences between pirates and corsairs so that you better understand what each of these terms refers to since, on the one hand, the pirates were free men who boarded ships and, on the other hand, corsairs also boarded ships but under the protection of the law.

Index

1. Main differences between pirates and corsairs
2. Patents of marque
3. Famous corsairs in history

• When we analyze the difference between pirates and corsairs, we must bear in mind that the pirate was strictly the thief of the high seas, that he used violence to seize someone else's possessions either by looting, stealing ships, or making incursions into ports. Therefore, his activity was carried out on his behalf, without affecting one country or state more than another.
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• For its part, privateers attacked ships of enemy states to his own, with the authorization of a monarch or king of his own country or even another, which charged succulent commissions. It was a way to carry out hostilities and attack the enemy in an unofficial way and without declaring war, but in the long run it meant significant losses for the opposing side.
• Therefore, corsairs weren't strictly pirates, except when they exceeded their functions with respect to the terms of their agreements and commissions with kings and monarchs. Also, if they spread, they could be punished by the sponsoring country or state upon returning to land.
• In any case, it is not easy to delimit the activity of a pirate and that of a privateer, although it is clear that the corsair had the support of a government and the pirate acted more freely. An example we have with the case of the English privateer Sir Francis Drake, in the 16th century, who was seen by the British as an intrepid privateer but by the Spanish as a bloodthirsty pirate.
• It is important to underline that legally the capture of an enemy merchant by a corsair was constituted as a legitimate acquisition, whereas a pirate's prey would be robbery.

In this other lesson we offer you a summary of pirates in the Middle Ages.

Image: Slideshare

In the medieval navigation It was usual for well-armed merchant ships to capture other less prepared commercial vessels, which caused tensions between the new monarchies that were beginning to emerge strongly.

In this way, the idea that only the state could use force in a legitimate way will spread. But the ships armed by the governments were insufficient to control all maritime traffic, hence the need to grant privateering licenses, in documents known as patents, for dlegally differentiate between corsairs and pirates.

It will be the activity of the privateering parallel and complementary to that of the large squads, since by themselves they were not enough to obtain victory against the enemy, also having the objective of hurt opponent's trade and also avoid an excessive dispersion of the official forces themselves.

Halfway between corsair and pirate they would be the filibusters and buccaneers, since they did not have official licenses but they only attacked ships and cities of the Spanish Empire, being protected by the French Government, in Tortuga, and by the British, in Jamaica.

Both pirate and corsair activities are ancient in history. In the case of the latter, there are references in antiquity to the Etruscan Corsican assaults on the Greek colonies.

Also in the Middle Ages the sailors who the chiefs of the North African Muslim states ordered to attack the ships and coastal populations of the Mediterranean. Among the Turkish corsairs it will stand out Barbarossa, which will put enormous pressure on Christian vessels at the beginning of the 16th century.

Among the Christians it will stand out Roger de Lauria (1245-1302), who will develop with good luck the activity of corsair under the umbrella of the Crown of Aragon. He will attack French, Saracen and Provencal ships throughout the Mediterranean, also exercising his right to piracy off the coasts of his native Calabria and Campania.

In the first quarter of century XVI there is an expansion of privateering by France and England against the Spanish traffic with America, without respecting bull papers, prohibitions of the Council of the Indies and the Casa de Contratación, with the aim of undermining the control of the Spanish colonies. The greatest exponent of him will be the English corsair Sir Francis Drake.

But the Spanish crown will not remain impassive and will also issue marquees against hostile ships, using, for example, sailors from the Basque coasts. The Spanish monarchs, both the Austrians and later the Bourbons, will give brand letters or permits to attack the trade of enemy ships, and countermark letters, which were licenses to attack opposing corsairs.

Image: History - Blogger

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