Toward the end of 1555, some French ships under the command of Nicolas Durand de Villegagnon arrived in Guanabara Bay. There had been many French vessels navigating in those areas, trading with the native Indians, shipping away heavy loads of brazilwood trees. Villegagnon’s expedition and the creation of the French Antarctic, though having much more complex and lasting aims, will be analysed here based on the Portuguese-French dispute for wealth, for trade and for domination of the high seas. In other words, this article intends to argue, from the experience of the French Antarctic, the recurrent threats represented by the French Corsair in the South Atlantic. An approach toward the corsair’s dynamism permits us to comprehend the greater movement within the European dispute for the seas and territorial colonies. The feeling of fear it provoked at that time, influenced the contexture of modern colonialism, making it possible to interpret the seals and the significant printed matter in Rio de Janeiro in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
French Antarctic; Villegagnon; French Privateering