The Corsairs of Saint-Malo: Network Organization of a Merchant Elite Under the Ancien Régime

Western Europe rose in global power during the early modern period as overseas expansion opened new trade routes. At the same time, intense rivalries pitted European states against one another in recurrent wars. Henning Hillmann examines the merchant community of Saint-Malo, Brittany, a key port in the French Atlantic economy, to shed light on the local networks that linked commerce and conflict in early modern Europe.

Hillmann traces the development of Saint-Malo and the social structure of...