René Duguay-Trouin(1673 — 1736)
René Duguay-Trouin
France
7 min read
A privateer from Saint-Malo in the service of the King of France, René Duguay-Trouin distinguished himself through daring captures of enemy ships during the wars of Louis XIV. Ennobled for his exploits, he ended his career as lieutenant general of the naval forces after the capture of Rio de Janeiro in 1711.
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Born in Saint-Malo in 1673 into a family of shipowners
- Took command of his first privateer ship at just 18 years old (1691)
- Ennobled by Louis XIV in 1709 for his service
- Led the capture of Rio de Janeiro in 1711 during the War of the Spanish Succession
- Became lieutenant general of the naval forces and died in Paris in 1736
Works & Achievements
At eighteen, he takes command of a privateering ship and immediately reveals an exceptional talent for capturing enemy vessels.
Captured by the English, he escapes captivity and makes his way back to France: an episode that became legendary in his youth.
Alongside the Chevalier de Forbin, he seizes escort ships and part of a large English convoy, one of the great successes of privateering.
The king raises the commoner corsair to the rank of nobleman, an official recognition of his services to the State.
A major feat: at the head of seventeen ships, he forces the bay, takes the city, and imposes a considerable ransom on the Portuguese.
He attains one of the highest ranks in the royal navy, crowning a career that began from the humble trade of an ordinary sailor.
An account of his life and campaigns written by himself, a precious source on privateering warfare in the time of Louis XIV.
Anecdotes
Destined by his family to become a priest, young René was so unruly and hungry for adventure that he was eventually sent aboard the ships of the family shipowner. At only eighteen, in 1691, he was given his first command as a privateer — an age when others were still learning the trade of a ship's boy.
In 1694, after a fierce battle against a more powerful English squadron, his ship was captured and Duguay-Trouin found himself a prisoner in Plymouth, England. In his Memoirs, he recounts escaping with the help of local accomplices, crossing the English Channel to return to France and immediately putting back out to sea.
In October 1707, allied with the Chevalier de Forbin, he attacked a large English convoy bound for Portugal off Lizard Point. The two privateers seized several escorting warships and part of the merchant convoy: it was one of the finest feats of French privateering.
His most famous expedition, in 1711, targeted Rio de Janeiro to avenge the failure and death of the privateer Duclerc the year before. At the head of a fleet of seventeen ships financed by private investors but authorized by the king, he forced his way into the bay under fire from the forts, captured the city, and imposed a colossal ransom.
Born a commoner, Duguay-Trouin was ennobled by Louis XIV in 1709 for his exploits and ended his career as lieutenant general of the naval forces, one of the highest ranks in the navy. His Latin motto, “Dedit haec insignia virtus” (“it is valour that gave these arms”), sums up his meteoric rise.
Primary Sources
I was born in Saint-Malo on 10 September 1673. I was intended for the ecclesiastical life, but I felt within me so keen an inclination for the sea and for war that nothing could turn me from it.
After forcing the entrance to the bay despite the fire of the forts, I made myself master of the city, and the inhabitants were compelled to negotiate with me and to pay a heavy ransom to buy back their houses and their goods.
In reward for the distinguished services rendered to the State at sea and for the prizes taken from the enemy, the king grants to René Trouin and to his posterity the title and privileges of nobility, with this motto for his coat of arms: Dedit haec insignia virtus.
Key Places
Fortified corsair city in Brittany where Duguay-Trouin was born and from which the Malouin shipowners set sail. The great port of French privateering in the days of Louis XIV.
Military port in southern England where Duguay-Trouin was imprisoned in 1694 after the capture of his ship. He managed to escape and make his way back to France.
The southernmost point of Cornwall, off which Duguay-Trouin and Forbin seized a large English convoy in 1707.
Portuguese colonial city whose bay Duguay-Trouin forced and which he captured in 1711, imposing a heavy ransom on it. His most famous exploit.
Great port and arsenal of the royal navy in Brittany, the base for preparing and commanding the king's squadrons. Duguay-Trouin served there as a naval officer.
Capital of the kingdom where Duguay-Trouin died in 1736, having become a lieutenant general of the naval forces and a respected figure.
