Meaning and Definition of Corsair

Definition of Corsair

Corsair was the name that received both the boat and his Navigator were authorized by their country to persecute and plunder merchant ships corresponding to a nation enemy.
Modify permission of Corsair was granted by the Government through a patent of corso or brand.
The line that separates the pirate Corsair is actually very, very thin, the main difference between the two is that the pirate attacked any boat without having to then accountable to no one, on the other hand, the Corsair was limited by obtained patent, and can capture merchant ships from certain countries and then having to distribute Yes or Yes goods captured with the State that granted the patent. Almost with exclusivity, until the 19th century, pirate activity was mostly conducted by individuals themselves, armed by his own account, the boats that would use once they have achieved the licence.
The heyday of pirate activity was between the 16th and 18th centuries, during this time almost all naval powers made use of the resource of the Corsair to impede the transit of their rivals to their colonies. Until the 19th century remained the activity and finally it was disappearing.
The Corsair emerged as a need in the absence of the development of international law, i.e., in those days if a nation suffering a grievance had no legal resource to fix it, then, before the empty legal was put in practice the use of the figure of the Corsair and was also avoided going into all-out war.
Meanwhile, to the rival nation, the Corsair was smooth and just a pirate, there was no subtle difference that previously mentioned. Then, a pirate or a Corsair is closer there was no difference, the damage that they would suffer would be exactly the same.