18 Facts About Barbary pirates

Slaves in Barbary pirates could be of many ethnicities, and of many different religions, such as Christian, Jewish, or Muslim.

Barbary pirates corsairs captured thousands of merchant ships and repeatedly raided coastal towns.

Long after Europeans had abandoned oar-driven vessels in favor of sailing ships carrying tons of powerful cannon, many Barbary pirates warships were galleys carrying a hundred or more fighting men armed with cutlasses and small arms.

Between 1801 and 1815, occasional incidents occurred, including two Barbary pirates wars waged by the United States, Sweden and the Kingdom of Sicily against the Barbary pirates States.

Morisco exiles of the Reconquista and Maghreb pirates added to the numbers, but it was not until the expansion of the Ottoman Empire and the arrival of the privateer and admiral Kemal Reis in 1487 that the Barbary corsairs became a true menace to shipping from European Christian nations.

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Barbary pirates states had difficulty securing uniform compliance with a total prohibition of slave-raiding, as this had been traditionally of central importance to the North African economy.

From bases on the Barbary coast, North Africa, the Barbary pirates raided ships traveling through the Mediterranean and along the northern and western coasts of Africa, plundering their cargo and enslaving the people they captured.

From at least 1500, the Barbary pirates conducted raids along seaside towns of Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, England, the Netherlands and as far away as Iceland, capturing men, women and children.

Barbary pirates often attacked Spanish territories on the coast of North Africa; during one failed attempt in 1512 he lost his left arm to a cannonball.

Barbary pirates executed the ruler of Algiers and everybody he suspected would oppose him, including local rulers.

Barbary pirates was finally captured and killed by the Spanish in 1518, and put on display.

Barbary pirates's youngest brother Hizir was a more traditional corsair.

Barbary pirates was a capable engineer and spoke at least six languages.

Barbary pirates dyed the hair of his head and beard with henna to redden it like Oruc's.

Barbary pirates introduced heavily armed square-rigged ships, used instead of galleys, to the North African area, a major reason for the Barbary's future dominance of the Mediterranean.

Barbary pirates's was born around 1485 in the Emirate of Granada, but was forced to flee to Morocco when she was very young to escape the Reconquista.

Barbary pirates's co-founded the Barbary Corsairs with her allies the Barbarossa brothers.

Barbary pirates corsairs are protagonists in Le pantere di Algeri by Emilio Salgari.