Rome and the Mediterranean - in the 1750s (2)

An idea of the response of the Papal States, and other countries, to Barbary piracy, can be seen from reports in the London Gazette over the period (available online).

Glossary

Civita Vecchia - a free port and main port of the Papal States at this time. On the west coast of Italy.

Ancona - another Papal port, on the east coast. Expanded from 1730s onwards.

Corsica - part of Republic of Genoa, but effectively independent from 1755 to 1769 when annexed by the French. The Papal states had the Corsican Regiment of two battalions, but dispersed throughout the country and mainly used for policing.

Leghorne (Livorno now) - a thriving international port on the east coast above Civita Vecchia, part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

Tartane - a small ship with a single mast on which was a large lateen sail. Used for both fishing and trading in the Mediterranean.

Fellucca - a felucca was a sailing boat with one or two lateen sails, used in the eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea. Usually with a crew of two or three and up to ten passengers.

Galiot/ half galley - a ship with both oars and sails. Those used by the Barbary pirates usually had two masts and sixteen pairs of oars, with between two and ten small cannon and between 50 and 150 men.

A Spanish Galiot fighting Barbary pirates in 1738 (Wkipedia)

Xebec – a fast type of sailing ship with a distinctive hull and long over hanging bowsprit. Favoured by pirates because of their speed, those used by the Barbary pirates could carry up to 400 men and 40 guns.

1749

When a set of alter and plate were sent for the chapel of the King of Portugal from Rome via Civita Vecchia it was accompanied by a Maltese ship of war. As detailed in my previous post, there were very close links, militarily and in other ways, between the Order of Malta and the Papacy. Meanwhile the Kingdom of Naples, which seems to have borne the brunt of much of the fighting against Barbary pirates and slavers, was fitting out two frigates, four half galleys and some converted merchantmen to cruise against them.

1750

In January storms wrecked 5 of a squadron of 11 Algiers xebecs on the Neapolitan coast. In April, the Pope’s galleys at Civita Vecchia were ordered to put to sea to cruise against Barbary corsairs which had appeared off the coast, supplemented with 200 soldiers. By May, the Genoese also had a galliot, two felluccas and four galleys at sea to protect against Barbary corsairs in addition to the Neapolitan fleet.

It wasn’t just the Mediterranean powers who were at risk. In May, the Dey of Algiers sent a letter to the commander of the English Mediterranean fleet apologising for the rough treatment of a captured English captain (actually almost strangling) and saying the person responsible had been dismissed and assuring him that it would never happen again, presumably a reflection of the size and power of the English fleet at the time rather than any particular sense of contrition.

By June, the numbers of Barbary corsairs infesting the Papal coast raised worries that they might actually attack sites on land, leading to reinforcements of 100 foot and 100 horse being sent to the coast. Naples was still doing most of the heavy lifting, with both Royal ships and ships outfitted by merchants patrolling the coast

1751

In June the Grand Master of Malta, at the request of the Pope, sent two frigates to patrol the Roman coast against Barbary corsairs, “who greatly infest those seas”, in conjunction with the Pope’s galleys. In August a Portuguese squadron of two frigates of 30 guns each and two armed vessels was despatched to protect the Portuguese coast. By October the Neapolitans were already outfitting ships for the next year, and the Pope’s galleys were dispatched to Corsica to rendezvous with some Genoese armed vessels to cruise against Barbary corsairs off the coast. A French vessel reported that in Tunis four large galliots and two tartanes were fitting out to cruise in Spanish waters next month.

Ships of the Order of Malta fighting Algerian pirates in 1719

1752

In May an engagement was reported between some Neapolitan vessels and five Algerine off Messina, in which one Neapolitan vessel was severely damaged and two Algerine sunk and the other three severely damaged. At the same time 200 soldiers were sent from Rome to Civita Vecchia to board galleys sent to attack Barbary corsairs.

1753

Two frigates and four armed xebecs were sent from Naples to patrol the coast. In May, two Portuguese frigates were sent out against Barbary corsairs that had appeared there, whilst in June a squadron of Spanish ships was sent out to find and destroy Barbary pirates there. Also in June, a Venetian vessel captured a vessel from Tripoli off Sicily and released 30 Christian slaves.

1754

An engagement was reported in the Catalonian sea between seven Algerine Xebecs and a Spanish force of two frigates and four xebecs, in which two Algerines were sunk, two captured and the rest escaped.

By this time Pope Benedict XIV clearly considered that his naval forces needed beefing up, with the purchase of two 30 gun frigates from England, the St Peter (formerly Lowestoft) and St Paul. The two frigates were based in Civita Vecchia, though one had been fitted out in Genoa and the other in Leghorne. They were sent out against Barbary pirates off the coast.

1755

1755 saw an escalation with a formal declaration of war by the Bey of Algiers against Tuscany, and many Algerian vessels off the Tuscan coast, even taking a large Florentine ship in the mouth of the Arno. A squadron off Leghorne consisting of two ships, three barques and two xebecs was reported to taken two Neapolitan and two Genoese vessels. In response the Pope offered to send his two frigates in support, as well as reinforcing the towers and small forts along the Papal coast. Detachments of horse were sent to Civita Vecchia, Fiumicino and other sites to prevent landings.

By late May the Pope’s two frigates had cruised in the Channel of Piombino and the island of Giglio and driven away Barbary pirates from the Roman coast, after which they returned to Civita Vecchio. Nonetheless, the Pope ordered a new palisade to be constructed at Fiumicino to protect the vessels there. A Neapolitan half galley, also in the Channel of Piombino, reportedly captured a Tunisian corsair, with 60 “Moors” who were put in irons, whilst forts on the Tuscan coast had been reinforced and a unit of 80 cuirassiers were patrolling the coast.

Attention now seems to have shifted to the Iberian peninsula, with Portugal sending a man of war of 60 guns, three frigates and two xebecs to protect shipping against the expected arrival of Algerine pirates, and the Spanish navy, using xebecs, taking six Barbary corsairs with nearly 400 men on board, who are put into slavery.

In November the St Paul, under Chevalier Pollastron, took an Algerian corsair of 10 guns and 200 men after a three hour fight, with 20 Algerians killed and 2 of his crew. The corsair was taken to Civita Vecchia, although the captain of the ship and his father were later released after paying a ransom. Following this the St Paul and St Peter were sent to Malta for refitting and then ordered back to cruise the coast, the Papal galleys being laid up for the winter.

Valetta harbour, Malta, in 1750

1756

The aggressive activities of Algiers of the previous year continued, not only harassing the Christian European coast but also conquering their fellow pirates in Tunis.

In February, Chevallier Caros of the St Peter was in Malta where the ship was refitted, before joining the St Paul to cruise against Barbary pirates. The St Peter was refitting again in May, in Leghorne, before returning to Civita Vecchia where she and the St Paul were laid up for the summer and replaced by galleys “as vessels more proper for the season”. At the same time, a detachment of 50 soldiers from the Corsican Regiment in Rome were despatched to Ancona to make the port “more commodius”.

Later in the year both frigates were again fitting out in Civita Vecchia, to cruise against Barbary pirates instead of galleys which to be laid up “on account of the season of the year”. The frigates were to proceed immediately to Toulon to get “the anchors and other necessary stores” for the winter season.

1757

In January the two frigates sailed to Corsica and Sardinia, before patrolling the Roman coast, refitting at Civita Vecchia in March and sortieing out in April following news that Algerian and Tunisian pirates had been sighted off the coast.

At the end of May the frigates were laid up in Civita Vecchia and replaced by patrols of galleys, which in June drove ashore a Barbary galley with 160 “Moors”. These then took refuge in the woods of Porcegliano, pursued by soldiers from the galleys and local soldiers, though their eventual fate is not recorded in the London Gazette.

In October, a squadron of Maltese galleys left Civita Vecchia for Malta, the Papal frigates were prepared for sea and the galleys laid up for the season.

1758

Of course, there were other problems beyond the Barbary pirates, though these were the worst. The Seven Years War was raging in northern Europe at this time, and this too had an impact. For example, in May 1758 the English privateer Enterprize captured three tartanes of timber from the Roman state destined for ship building in France. And to add to these problems, in June a plague in the rest of Italy led to imposition of 40 days quarantine on all ships coming in “Eccliastical ports”.

In November, the two frigates St Peter and St Paul, were sent out again from Civita Vecchia to patrol against Barbary pirates.

1759

Again in January 1759, after careening and refitting at Civita Vecchia, the two frigates were sent out on patrol, before being laid up for the summer, and patrolling again in December, after taking on supplies in Marseilles.

Afterward

And so ends the 1750s. At this point Franco-Roman relations appear to be good, but tensions over the Jesuits were to change that, as can be seen from a report in 1763.....

It was reported in the London Chronicle that two frigates belonging to the Pope were berthed at Marseilles, apparently for sale, but in fact taking on board valuables belonging to the Society of Jesuits. Creditors of the Society objected and applied for the frigates to be detained, but on learning this the Commander refused permission fo anyone to visit the ships, which he oppose by force. At the time this was unresolved, but the frigates “were watched very closely”.

Rome and the Mediterranean – in the 1750s (1)

The military focus in northern Europe and North America in the 1750s was the Seven Years War, but around the Mediterranean coast of Europe the focus was where it had been for centuries, defence against Barbary slavers. The slave states of the north African coast had been a bane on the Mediterranean for centuries, taking an estimated million slaves from the European coast and countless numbers from the African interior. The French were to do the civilised world a favour in the 1830s and destroy the slave trade focussed on Algiers, but in the 1750s that was many years ahead. On the positive side, it was perhaps the only area of agreement and cooperation amongst the Christian states in Italy.

Italy at this time was not one country, but several. The southern half was dominated by the Bourbon Kingdom of Naples, whilst the north was split between the Venetian Republic to the east, and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Republic of Genoa and the Kingdom of Sardinia to the north, as well as various smaller polities. In the middle, based of course on Rome, were the Papal States.

Benedict XIV

The Papal States were ruled spiritually, and practically, by the Pope. From 1740 to 1758 this was Benedict XIV, who had improved state finances after decades of maladministration, but cut the military budget. In 1758 he was succeeded by Clemens XIII. The main preoccupation during his reign was the fate of the Jesuits, following a lot of pressure, especially from France, or at least the French Parliament if not the king, to suppress them, which Clemens XIII resisted.

Clemens XIII

 The main port of the Papal States at this time was Civita Vecchia on the west coast, the base of the Papal fleet. There was also Fiumicino, and Ancona on the eastern seaboard. All of these were dwarfed by Leghorne, a thriving international port and part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, on the coast above Civita Vecchia. In addition, the Pope had a very close relationship with the Knights Hospitaller on Malta, and could request military help from them if needed. The head of the Marine Commissary, Pasquale Acquaviva d’Aragona, a Neapolitan with a career in the Church, was a member of the Order of Malta.

 Civita Vecchia in 1750

The Papal fleet at this time consisted mainly of galleys, and convicts were still sent to row them in the 1750s. In April 1754 these were supplemented by two 30 gun sailing frigates, built in London and named the San Paolo (St Paul) and San Pietro (St Peter). The San Paolo was commanded by Chevalier di Pollastron, and the San Pietro by Chevalier di Caros. Di Pollastron was actually a member of the Order of Malta, and many of the ships officers were supplied from Malta. When di Pollastron was promoted within that Order in 1757, the Pope requested the Grand Master, Manuel Pinto da Fonseca, from Portugal, to recommend a replacement.

The 1750s were a busy time for the Papal Navy, as described in my next post.

Austrian Rocket Men, Part 1

Early days

The armies of the early 19^th century had infantry, cavalry and cannon, like their Napoleonic predecessors. But some had another arm entirely, rockets. And few had more than the Austrians. 

The British were the first of the Napoleonic powers to really incorporate rockets into their forces, following their experiences in India. It took a little tinkering, but by the time of the siege of Copenhagen over 300 rockets were ready to fire into the city, setting about 2/3 of the city alight. This obviously made a huge impression on the Danes, who started their own rocket research, but also on the Austrians.

By the next year, the Austrian army had rockets, of a sort, but apparently they were not very good, and the army commander, Archduke Charles, suggested that they ask their allies, the British for help. The British though were reluctant to give up the secrets of their new wonder-weapon, and in fact the Austrians went to the Danes, sending an engineer, Vincenz Augustin, with an offer of political support at the upcoming Congress of Vienna in return for technical help. How much this helped Denmark is debateable as they lost formerly Swedish Pomerania to Prussia at the conference, but the Austrians had enough to set up a rocket factory at the Austrian army arsenal in Wiener Neustadt, and within 2 months they had assembled 2,400 rockets, and even set up a special Corps with dark green uniforms. The Corps was sufficiently advanced to serve in the Hundred Days campaign, present at the siege of the fortress city of Hunigue, though not actually used.

 Vincenz Augustin (in 1850)

 

Augustin seems to have been quite a strong character, and his rocket corps expanded after the war, with improved designs. Signal rockets developed could be seen over 40 leagues away, and by November 1820 there were two artillery batteries, one of heavy “12 pdr” rockets and one of “light” 2 inch types. Each battery had 6 firing frames, and an additional 6 in reserve. At this time the corps was based at “Raketendorf”, 6 miles from Vienna.

Despite being desperately inaccurate compared to cannons, rockets did have some advantages. For one thing they were cheaper, a contemporary comparison was 8 guilders per shot from a 12pdr howitzer vs 4 guilders per shot from an equivalent rocket. They were also much lighter, an important consideration given the roads of the time, and packed quite a powerful punch, and when the target was large, such as during a siege, they could be very effective as shown by the siege of Copenhagen above. Last, but not least, they looked awfully impressive, and against poorly trained troops they could be much more frightening than their actual battlefield effect would suggest.

On active service 1820-1829

The rocket corps had their first taste of active service in 1821, when they formed part of the Austrian army which marched the length of Italy at the request of the Neapolitan king Ferdinand to “restore order”. Apparently the rocket troops were still not completely trained and had to practice on the journey down. The batteries played major roles in the battles of Androdocco and Aquilo, and the storming of the monastery of Monte Casino, but were too late for the decisive battle at Rieti. A report in the Monthly Magazine of June 1826 suggests the effect was mainly psychological, causing the rebels to run away, but it also stresses the importance the Austrians gave to their rockets, and the care they took that the designs were kept secret, and how the public were kept away from the factories and stores at Raketendorf. In the years after the Neapolitan expedition the corps was expanded to 4 batteries, 2 light and 2 heavy, each of 12 launchers.

It was not just the army who were interested in rockets, the Austrian navy were too. Historically the Austrians hadn’t bothered much with a navy, but that changed after they inherited the Venetian navy after the Congress of Vienna. A separate depot for rockets was established in Venice and almost all the vessels in the, admittedly not large, fleet were equipped with rockets. According to the Monthly Magazine, the rockets could be attached to pre-existing cannon, but again the details were kept quite secret.

Increased maritime trade bought the Austrian Empire into conflict with the almost continuous piracy and slave raiding from the Muslim North African States. Almost all the European States, and even the USA, were forced into retaliatory attacks on the Barbary Coast during the early years of the 19^th Century, and Austria’s turn came in 1829. An Austrian vessel was seized by Moroccan pirates/privateers and vessels were dispatched to bombard Moroccan towns on the Atlantic coast and mount an attack on Larache on the Moroccan Atlantic coast, burning several Moroccan ships. Rockets were apparently useful for this kind of bombardment warfare. 

The Guerrierea at Sidon (centre)

A similar expedition took place in 1840, but this time in conjunction with the Royal Navy, in support of the Ottoman Empire against a breakaway Egypt. A British squadron with the Austrian 48 gun frigate Guerrierea bombarded Sidon and Beirut and then attacked the city of Acre. A small Austrian/ British/ Ottoman landing party, under the command of the Austrian Archduke Friedrich, landed and took the Egyptian citadel. During this campaign, an Austrian rocket troop had been landed to support 3 battalions of Turks and a battalion of Royal Marines attacking Egyptian forces outside Sidon.

So far rockets had proved useful, but the major test of the rocket corps, and the whole Austrian army, was to come in 1848 ......

Further reading

Mario Christian Ortner. Die Entwicklung moderner Kriegsraketen im19. Jahrhundert. (In German). http://www.bundesheer.at/pdf_pool/publikationen/20100609_et_raketen_weltraum_ethik_ortner1.pdf

Progress on the continental production of Congreve Rockets. The Monthly Magazine. Apr 1826. Google Books.

The war in Syria. Commodore Sir Charles Napier, K.C.B. 1842. Project Gutenburg.

Europe and the Barbary Pirates, Part 2

From the 16th to the early 19th centuries pretty much all the European countries with a coast line suffered slaving raids from vessels of the North African Barbary states of Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli and Sale, as well as seizure of their ships. It´s estimated that between 1530 and 1780 1-1.25 million Europeans were taken as slaves to North Africa, as well as many more Africans. Most of the European slaves came from Italy and Spain, but about 20,000 British and Irish suffered the same fate, many were kidnapped sailors. Records are incomplete, but show 466 vessels taken between just 1609 and 1616, whilst 160 British ships were captured by the Algerians alone between 1677 and 1680. In 1641 the John Filmer, was captured just outside Cork, the crew taken to Algiers, whilst in 1656 seven fishing boats and 42 men were kidnapped near Falmouth.

 Initially there was little that could be done, due to the strength of the Barbary powers, but gradually a pattern emerged of individual European navies bombarding the pirate ports until an agreement was reached to exclude that particular country's ships from piracy. Such agreements tended to be temporary, and especially in the Mediterranean slave raids were a constant fear until the power of the Barbary pirates was eventually destroyed.

Timeline

1630s
Various peace treaties made by England with the Barbary states, but most are quickly broken.

1661 and 1663
The Dutch Navy under Michiel de Ruyter forces an agreement with the Barbary states, but it doesn't last long.

1670
The Dutch Navy launches a punitive expedition against the Barbary States.

 The Dutch fleet at Tripoli, 1670

1671
An English squadron under Edward Spagge destroys 10 pirate ships at Bougie Bay near Algiers, the strongest of the Barbary states. Spragge follows this up with a bombardment of the city, sinking several ships, and Algiers signs a peace treaty with England

1675
A Royal Navy squadron under Sir John Narborough forces a treaty with Tunis and, after bombardment of the city, with Tripoli.

1676
Sale signs a peace treaty with England

1677
Algiers,. not unexpectedly, breaks their peace treaty with England, but a series of defeats at the hands of an English squadron under Arthur Herbert forces them to make peace in 1682, which actually lasts until 1816.

1682
French Navy bombards Algiers

 The French attack on Algiers, 1682

1683
French Navy bombards Algiers again

1686
French Navy bombards Tripoli and forces a peace treaty

1688
French Navy bombards Algiers yet again and finally a peace treaty is signed.

1783 and 84
The navy of Spain, long one of the worst sufferers of Barbary piracy, bombards Algiers, with 4x ships of the line, as well as two each from Portugal and Naples and one from Malta, in a rare example of national cooperation. Over 20,000 cannon balls are fired, much of the city and it´s fortifications are destroyed and most of the Algerian fleet sunk. The Spanish threaten to return every year until a peace treaty is signed and the Algerians give in, as do the Tunisians when threatened with similar treatment.

1784-86
The Venetian Navy blockades Tunis and several neighbouring towns, but isn't strong enough to force an agreement.

1784 - 1802
Algiers, Morocco and Tripoli demand huge amounts from the USA to prevent piracy of American ships.

1802
The USS Enterprise, of the newly formed US Navy, defeated the Tripoli, from, actually, Tripoli.

1803
Tripoli forces capture the USS Philadelphia and take her crew hostage.

1804
American forces under Lt. Decatur board and destroy the Philadelphia. US forces blockade Tripoli and try to capture the city, unsuccessfully. US and allied forces conquer the nearby city of Derma in 1805. Tripoli signs a peace treaty, though gains a large ransom for the captured American crews.

1815
Following renewed piracy against US ships, two squadrons of the US navy are sent to the Mediterranean. The Algerian flagship is captured and under threat of bombardment Algiers returns all prisoners and signs a treaty.


The End of the Barbary States

The Napoleonic Wars ended with Europe united as never before, and England having the most experienced and powerful navy the world had yet seen. England was also acquiring a new mission, the abolition of the slave trade. These factors should have encouraged the Barbary states to "keep their heads down" - it didn´t.

In 1815 a squadron from Tunis sacked Palma on the island of Sardinia and carried off 158 inhabitants to slavery. This caused outrage in Europe, and a number of accusations that Britain´s new found enthusiasm for abolition was more about reducing the competitiveness of their rivals in the Americas than slavery as such. In response Lord Exmouth was sent to the Mediterranean with a Royal Naval squadron to wring concessions from the Barbary powers, not least a pledge to treat Christian captives prisoners of war rather than slaves, as the pretext for the Palma raid was a "war" between Tunis and the Kingdoms of Sardinia and Sicily.

 The bombardment of Algiers, 1816

Exmouth´s diplomacy had appeared to work, with agreement form all parties, only for a group of Sardinian fishermen to be attacked and massacred. Fed up with this, Exmouth returned with an Anglo-Dutch squadron and on August 17th 1816 bombarded Algiers. Following this Algiers and Tunis signed new treaties.

And again slave raiding continued, with another bombardment of Algiers in 1824 by a British fleet under Admiral Sir Harry Neal (it´s amazing there were any buildings still standing by now), but the scourge was only ended for good with the occupation and annexation of Algiers by the French in 1830.

The Tunisian fleet was defeated by the British in 1826 and by the French in 1827, but perhaps because it was technically under Ottoman Turkish protection, the city was not occupied until the French arrived in 1881.

Tripoli had long been, technically, part of the Ottoman empire, but infact was ruled by the descendants of a Janissary rebellion. However in 1835 the Ottomans took back control, and Tripoli was part of the Empire until conquered by the Italians in 1911 during the Italo-Turkish War.

Britain and the Corsair Raids

For centuries the bane of the Christian Mediterranean were the Barbary pirates or Corsairs from Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. Entire populations and islands were depopulated as Muslim fleets raided year after year to harvest the populations there. The rich would be ransomed, but the poor were destined to live out the rest of their lives as slaves. It´s estimated that between 1530 and 1780 1-1.25 million Europeans were taken as slaves to North Africa, as well as about 20 million Africans up to 1900.

Most of the European slaves came from Italy and Spain, but about 20,000 British and Irish suffered the same fate. Many of these were were kidnapped sailors Records are incomplete, but show 466 vessels taken between just 1609 and 1616, whilst 160 British ships were captured by the Algerians alone between 1677 and 1680. In 1641 the John Filmer, was taken just outside Cork, the crew taken to Algiers, whilst in 1656 seven fishing boats and 42 men were kidnapped near Falmouth.

An English ship fighting off Barbary pirates in 1680

As well as plundering the seas almost at will, during the 17th century the Barbary fleets even landed on both the British and Irish coasts on slaving expeditions.

The Raids

The 17th century was the high point of Barbary piracy in the Atlantic.

1625
In August a Barbary fleet hit Sussex, Plymouth (where 27 ships were taken) and all along the south coast.

In 1627 Lundy Island in the Bristol channel was not only raided but became effectively an Ottoman naval base for the next 5 years. The pirate commander was not a Barbary at all - like many pirates (see below) he was a European renegade, a Dutchman named Jan Janszoon van Haarlem, or Murad Reis.

In 1631, in the biggest single attack on the British isles,  Murad Reis took the entire population of Baltimore, County Cork, into slavery. These were mainly English settlers who had set up a pilchard industry there, as well as Irish villagers. Of the 108 taken only three, at most, returned.

In 1636 the Justices of the Peace sitting in  Bodmin recorded how the fishermen of Looe in Cornwall "through terror of that misery where unto these persons are carried by these cruel infidels" would rather "give over their trade than put their estates and persons into so great peril, there being now 60 vessels and about 200 seamen without employment". "These Turks daily show themselves at St. Keverne, Mount's Bay, and other places, that the poor fishermen are fearful not only to go to the seas, but likewise lest these Turks should come on shore and take them out of their houses".

During the English civil war, with the country in chaos, there are many references to "Turkish" pirates along the Cornish coast. Ships were taken in open view of the coast, even close to big ports like Penzance.

Another cycle of landings took place between 1655 and 1660. striking England and even Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The English Calender of State Papers for June 1656 quotes the captain of a Plymouth barge arriving at St. Keverne in Cornwall
"where he heard it credibly reported, with sorrowful complaint and lamentable tears of women and children, that on the 15th instant three fisherboats belonging to St. Keverne, three others of Helford, and one more of Mollan (Mullion) and about 50 men in them, being on the coast fishing between Falnouth and the Lizard were taken by the Turks who carried both men and boats away."

The Barbary Pirates and their slaves

The traditional ship of the Barbary pirates was the galley, fast and manoeuvrable, and well suited for raiding. Galleys however had two problems. Firstly they were labour intensive, but that was hardly an issue in this case. Secondly they were not well suited to the rough waters of the Atlantic. They could go there, and did, but this was one reason why early attacks were limited to the Mediterranean.

 A Spanish ship and Barbary galleys in the 16th century

This started to change with the influx of a new type of pirate, the Renegade, Christians, or rather sailors from Christian states, who "turned Turk" in search of a fast buck, their ships and local knowledge allowed the Barbary states to raid even up to Iceland.  It's noticeable how religion was both central and irrelevant to the whole business. Muslims were technically not allowed to enslave other Muslims, which is why slaves were were harvested from non_Muslim lands like Europe and Africa. And conversion away from Islam carried the death penalty, as applies even now in more primitive parts of the world. But there was very little pressure to ensure that conversion to Islam had to be sincere. Of course if these renegades were caught by Christian powers, they would be harshly treated, especially by the Spanish Inquisition.

Jack Ward was started his career as a fisherman, probably from Faversham in Kent. He swiftly became a privateer, a sort of licensed pirate, for Elizabeth 1st, but when the James 1st ended privateering Jack started on his own account. Starting small, stealing a 25 ton barque from Portsmouth harbour, Ward soon traded up and was soon in control of a proper 32 gun gun warship, which named The Gift, which he used to make a nuisance of himself in the Mediterranean. Ward was based in Sale on the Moroccan coast, with various other English and Dutch pirates, but in 1606 is entered into a formal agreement with the ruler of Tunis to use Tunis as a safe haven in return for 20% of his catch. It was in Tunis that Ward, turned Muslim, adopting the name Yusif Reis, and rising to command a Tunisian squadron including an ex-Venetian 60 gunner. It is Jack Ward who is credited with introducing square rigged to the Barbary States, heavily armed and better suited to Atlantic operations. He died in 1622.

 Jan Janszoon

Though English, Jack Ward seems to have mainly operated in the Mediterranean. Jan Janszoon van Haarlem was ventured further afield. He began as a Dutch privateer, but the whole point of a privateer was that he restricted his piracy to one enemy, the Spanish. Deciding this was insufficiently profitable, Janszoon sailed foe the Mediterranean, and the life of a pirate. he was successful before being captured by rival Barbary pirates in 1618 and taken to Algiers. This however was a blessing in disguise, he knew one of the Algerian captains, another Dutchman, and promptly "turning Turk" he started another career as an Algerian corsair with the name Murad Reis. This didn't last long, mainly because Algiers had started accepting protection money from various European countries in return for immunity from attack. This hardly suited Janszoon / Murad and, as Ward had done, he sailed for the pirate port of Sale.

 Sale on the Moroccan coast in the 1600s

Sale, was on Morocco's Atlantic coast, far from the capital and only nominally under Moroccan control. It was the Tortuga of Africa, a major pirate centre. In 1619 the 14 most important pirate leaders declared Sale an independent republic, with Janszoon as President, and chief admiral. This obviously enraged the Moroccan sultan, but his attempt to take back the city in 1624 was repulsed. However by 1627 Janszoon seems to decided it was time to move on. He set up a base on Lundy Island in the Bristol channel (so much for the Royal Navy of the time) which he maintained for 5 years, and launched a long voyage to the north Atlantic, capturing slaves from Iceland and Danish ships. When he tried to attack the Danish headquarters on Iceland he was repulsed by cannon fire and a force of lancers organised and waiting on the beach, but he picked up 108 slaves in the raid on Baltimore above.

At the end of 1627 Janszoon moved the centre of his operation back to Algiers, and thereafter concentrated on the more lucrative Mediterranean trade. He is known to have favoured a type of ship called a polacca, which combines a lanteen sail in front with a square rig behind. The point here is that a lanteen sail is more manoeuvrable, whilst the square rig was faster, especially in the Atlantic. So either or both could be used depending on the circumstances. The polaccas of Murad Reis were big enough to carry about 75 men, with 20 cannons.

Not all slaves were treated the same of course. If rich or important they were ransomed, but for the rest a life of slavery awaited. Women were often thrown into a harem, whilst many men became galley slaves, powering ships to capture yet more slaves. During the winter these slaves were put to work on state projects, quarrying stone or constructing new galleys. Food for galley slaves was 2 or 3 small loaves of poor bread per day, and there was one change of clothes per year.

As the European powers grew stronger militarily they began to fight back against the Barbary corsairs, but it was not until the 1830s that the menace was finally ended. That's for another time.