Ottoman Algeria in Western Diplomatic History with ... - Bibliothèque

2. The Legal Context of Corsairing
Capture of individuals and property was indeed a true war of religion
between two hostile camps, Muslim and Christian, in which captives occupied
an important place. Furthermore, captures did not take place in a vacuum; they
occurred in a legal context called ‘corsairing’ or ‘privateering’ depending on
the terminology used by the different antagonists. The practice consisted of
attacking enemy shipping and making prize of goods and human beings and
then disposing of them as legal property. Assaulting enemies on the high seas
was so rigorously regulated by customs and laws of the different players that it
was accepted as legal practice. Yet, in western writings, what is commonly
accepted as lawful activity when it was undertaken by Christian corsairs and
privateers is tagged piracy when it was undertaken by Muslims corsairs.
Indeed, the edging between ‘corsairing’ and ‘piracy’ is so thin that
western writers have often used these two words interchangeably to suit their
views and interpretations. Yet, in international law, these terms definitely have
different meanings. While the first may be assimilated to an act of war
undertaken or authorized by a sovereign state against a lawful enemy, the
second remains by definition a “robbery or other violent action, for private
ends and without authorization by public authority, committed on the seas
outside the normal jurisdiction of any state.” 73
Generally, as the line between corsairing and piracy is often hard to
draw, “any act of doubtful legality committed on the seas is apt to be
73 “Piracy,” Encyclopædia Britannica. (Accessed 17 May 2008).
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