Anglo-Turkish piracy
Anglo-Turkish piracy or the Anglo-Barbary piracy was the collaboration between Barbary pirates and English pirates against Catholic shipping during the 17th century.[1][2][3]
Anglo-Turkish collaboration
The Protestants and the
Piracy in the ranks of the Muslim pirates of Barbary was also a way to find employment, after King
Not only the English corsairs participated to this collaboration, but also the
A contemporary letter from an English writer complained:
"The infinity of goods, merchandise jewels and treasure taken by our English pirates daily from Christians and carried to Allarach, Algire and Tunis to the great enriching of Mores and Turks and impoverishing of Christians"
— Contemporary letter sent from Portugal to England.[4]
Beyond the shared religious antagonism towards Catholicism, the Barbary States probably offered economic advantages as well as social mobility to Protestant pirates, as the Barbary States were a very cosmopolitan environment at that time.[8]
Catholic reactions
France, which had a tradition of alliance with the Ottoman Empire, placed a formal protest with the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed I in 1607, complaining that English and Dutch pirates were allowed to use North African harbors as bases to raid French shipping.[2] For France, it was a clear conspiracy against Catholicism, described at the time as "Turco-Calvinism".[2]
In order to curb these actions, Spain made a proclamation against piracy and privateering in 1615.[4]
England probably became ambivalent about this sort of piratical collaboration as it attacked Algiers in 1621 in order to free Christian captives there.
See also
- Islam and Protestantism
- Barbary Slave Trade
- Luis Fajardo
- Sea Beggars
Notes
- ^ "The study of Anglo-Turkish piracy in the Mediterranean reveals a fusion of commercial and foreign policy interests embodied in the development of this special relationship" in New interpretations in naval history by Robert William Love p. [1]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "At the beginning of the seventeenth century France complained about a new phenomenon: Anglo-Turkish piracy." in Orientalism in early modern France by Ina Baghdiantz McCabe p.86ff
- ^ Anglo-Turkish piracy in the reign of James I by Grace Maple Davis, Stanford University. Dept. of History, 1911 [2]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Sick economies: drama, mercantilism, and disease in Shakespeare's England Jonathan Gil Harris p.152ff [3]
- ^ Mimesis and Empire: The New World, Islam, and European Identities Barbara Fuchs p.121 [4]
- ^ a b Traffic and turning: Islam and English drama, 1579-1624 by Jonathan Burton p.103
- ^ The Everything Pirates Book Barbara Karg, Arjean Spaite p.37[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b c d e Orientalism in early modern France by Ina Baghdiantz McCabe p.94ff
References
- McCabe, Ina Baghdiantz 2008 Orientalism in early Modern France Berg ISBN 978-1-84520-374-0