Французские корсары: частные лица на службе короны.

French privateers authorized by the French crown

Corsairs were privateers, authorised to conduct raids on shipping of a foreign state at war with France, 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 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 (lettre de marque or lettre de course, the latter giving corsairs their name), and the officers and crew conducted themselves according to contemporary admiralty law. By acting on behalf of the French Crown, if captured by the enemy, they could in principle claim treatment as prisoners of war, instead of being considered pirates. Because corsairs gained a swashbuckling 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 pirates of North Africa as well as the Ottoman Empire were sometimes called "Turkish corsairs".

The word "corsair" comes directly from the French phrase 'lettre de course', the word 'corsaire' borrowed from the Italian corsaro. This derives from the Latin cursus, meaning "course" (as in journey or expedition). The French word corsaire may have originated as a mispronunciation of the Arabic word قُرْصَان ; the term pirate had been in use in French since the Middle Ages. However, Sayyid Sulaimān Nadvī, an Indian Muslim scholar of Islamic studies, says that "Qarsan [may be] the arabicised form of 'Corsair'."

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.

René Duguay Trouin 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 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, or Compagnie Française des Indes. During the French Revolution, 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 (21 October 1650 – 27 April 1702) was a French naval commander and privateer. He achieved his greatest successes during the Nine Years' War (1688–1697).