
The Barbary slave trade involved the capture and selling of European slaves at slave markets in the largely independent
Ottoman Barbary states. European slaves were captured by
Barbary pirates
The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...
in
slave raids on ships and by raids on coastal towns from
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
to
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, coasts of
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
and
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
, as far north as
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
and into the
Eastern Mediterranean
The Eastern Mediterranean is a loosely delimited region comprising the easternmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea, and well as the adjoining land—often defined as the countries around the Levantine Sea. It includes the southern half of Turkey ...
.
The Ottoman Eastern Mediterranean was the scene of intense piracy. As late as the 18th century, piracy continued to be a "consistent threat to maritime traffic in the
Aegean".
The Barbary slave trade came to an end in the early years of the 19th century, after the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and Western European allies won the
First and
Second Barbary Wars against the pirates and the region was
conquered by France, putting an end to the trade by the 1830s.
Most of the captives were seamen and crews who were taken with their ships, but there were many fishermen and coastal villagers who were captured. The majority of these captives were people from countries around the Mediterranean, especially from Italy.
Extent
The authorities of Ottoman and pre-Ottoman times kept no relevant official records, but observers estimated that around 35,000 European slaves were held throughout the 17th century on the Barbary Coast, across
Tripoli and
Tunis
Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...
, but mostly in
Algiers
Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...
. The majority were sailors (particularly those who were English), taken with their ships, but others were
fishermen
A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish.
Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishermen may be professional or recr ...
and coastal villagers. However, most of these captives were people from lands close to
North Africa
North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
, particularly
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
.
Robert Davis, author of ''
Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters'', estimates that
slave trade Slave trade may refer to:
* History of slavery - overview of slavery
It may also refer to slave trades in specific countries, areas:
* Al-Andalus slave trade
* Atlantic slave trade
** Brazilian slave trade
** Bristol slave trade
** Danish sl ...
rs from
Tunis
Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...
,
Algiers
Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...
, and
Tripoli transported 1 million to 1.25 million enslaved Europeans to
North Africa
North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
, from the beginning of the 16th century to the middle of the 18th century. To extrapolate his numbers, Davis assumes the number of European slaves captured by Barbary pirates remained roughly constant for a 250-year period.
Other historians have challenged Davis's numbers.
John Wright cautions that modern estimates are based on back-calculations from human observation.
A second book by Davis, ''
Holy War and Human Bondage: Tales of Christian-Muslim Slavery in the Early-Modern Mediterranean'', widened its focus to related slavery.
From bases on the Barbary Coast, North Africa, the
Barbary pirates
The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...
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 pirates also conducted raids on
seaside towns and villages of
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
,
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
,
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, and as far away as
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
, capturing men, women and children. In 1544,
Hayreddin Barbarossa
Hayreddin Barbarossa (, original name: Khiḍr; ), also known as Hayreddin Pasha, Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1483 – 4 July 1546), was an Ottoman corsair and later admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Barbarossa's ...
captured the island of
Ischia
Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Although inhabited since the Bronze Age, as a Ancient G ...
, taking 4,000 prisoners, and enslaved some 2,000–7,000 inhabitants of
Lipari
Lipari (; ) is a ''comune'' including six of seven islands of the Aeolian Islands (Lipari, Vulcano, Panarea, Stromboli, Filicudi and Alicudi) and it is located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northern coast of Sicily, Southern Italy; it is ...
. In 1551, Ottoman corsair
Dragut
Dragut (; 1485 – 23 June 1565) was an Ottoman corsair, naval commander, governor, and noble. Under his command, the Ottoman Empire's maritime power was extended across North Africa. Recognized for his military genius, and as being among "the ...
enslaved the entire
population
Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...
of the
Maltese island of
Gozo
Gozo ( ), known in classical antiquity, antiquity as Gaulos, is an island in the Malta#The Maltese archipelago, Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After the Malta Island, island of Malta ...
, between 5,000 and 6,000, sending them to
Ottoman Tripolitania
Ottoman Tripolitania, also known as the Regency of Tripoli, was officially ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1551 to 1912. It corresponded roughly to the northern parts of modern-day Libya in historic Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. It was initially ...
. In 1554 corsairs under Dragut sacked
Vieste
Vieste (; ) is a town, ''comune'' and former Catholic bishopric in the province of Foggia, in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. A marine resort in Gargano, Vieste has received Blue Flags for the purity of its waters from the Foundation fo ...
, beheaded 5,000 of its inhabitants, and abducted another 6,000. The
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...
were
invaded in 1558, and 4,000 people were taken into slavery. In 1618 the Algerian pirates attacked the
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...
taking 1,000 captives to be sold as slaves. On some occasions, settlements such as
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
in
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
were abandoned following a raid, only being resettled many years later. Between 1609 and 1616, England alone lost 466 merchant ships to Barbary pirates.

While Barbary corsairs looted the cargo of ships they captured, their primary goal was to capture non-Muslim people for sale as slaves or for ransom. Those who had family or friends who might ransom them were held captive; the most famous of these was the author
Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...
, who was held for almost five years – from 1575 to 1580. Others were sold into various types of servitude. Captives who converted to Islam were generally freed, since enslavement of Muslims was prohibited; but this meant that they could never return to their native countries.
Customs' statistics from the 16th and 17th century suggest that Istanbul's additional slave imports from the
Black Sea slave trade
The Black Sea slave trade trafficked people across the Black Sea from Eastern Europe and the Caucasus to slavery in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The Black Sea slave trade was a center of the slave trade between Europe and the rest of t ...
may have totaled around 2.5 million from 1450 to 1700.
The markets declined after
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
defeated the Barbary States in the
Barbary Wars
The Barbary Wars were a series of two wars fought by the United States, Sweden, and the Kingdom of Sicily against the Barbary states (including Tunis, Algiers, and Tripoli) and Morocco of North Africa in the early 19th century. Sweden had bee ...
(1800–1815). A
US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
expedition under Commodore
Edward Preble engaged gunboats and fortifications in Tripoli in 1804.
A British diplomatic mission to Algiers led to the
Dey
Dey (, from ) was the title given to the rulers of the regencies of Algiers, Tripolitania,Bertarelli (1929), p. 203. and Tunis under the Ottoman Empire from 1671 onwards. Twenty-nine ''deys'' held office from the establishment of the deylicate ...
to agree to release some Sardinian slaves. However, the moment the British left, the Dey ordered the Sardinians massacred. The same British fleet, joined by some Dutch warships, returned and delivered a nine-hour
bombardment of Algiers in 1816, leading to the Dey accepting a new agreement in which he promised to end his slavery operations. Despite this, the trade continued, ending only after the
French conquest of Algeria
The French conquest of Algeria (; ) took place between 1830 and 1903. In 1827, an argument between Hussein Dey, the ruler of the Regency of Algiers, and the French consul (representative), consul escalated into a blockade, following which the Jul ...
(1830–1847). The Kingdom of Morocco had already suppressed piracy by then.
Origins
North African piracy had very ancient origins. It gained a political significance during the 16th century, mainly through Barbarossa (Khayr al-Dīn), who united Algeria and Tunisia as military states under the Ottoman sultanate and maintained his revenues by piracy. With the arrival of powerful
Moorish
The term Moor is an exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a single, distinct or self-defi ...
bands in Rabat and Tétouan (1609), Morocco became a new center for the pirates and for the
ʿAlawī sultans, who quickly gained control of the two republics and encouraged piracy as a valuable source of revenue. During the 17th century, the Algerian and Tunisian pirates joined forces, and by 1650 more than 30,000 of their captives were imprisoned in Algiers alone.
The towns on the North African coast were recorded in
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
times for their slave markets, and this trend continued into the
medieval age. The Barbary Coast increased in influence in the 15th century, when the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
took over as rulers of the area. Coupled with this was an influx of
Sephardi Jews
Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...
and
Moorish refugees, newly expelled from Spain after the
Reconquista
The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...
.
With Ottoman protection and a host of destitute immigrants, the coastline soon became reputed for
piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...
. Crews from the seized ships were either
enslaved or
ransom
Ransom refers to the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release. It also refers to the sum of money paid by the other party to secure a captive's freedom.
When ransom means "payment", the word ...
ed. Between 1580 and 1680, there were in Barbary around 15,000
renegades, Christian Europeans who converted to Islam. Half of the corsair captains were in fact renegades. Some of them were slaves who converted to Islam, but most had probably never been slaves and had come to North Africa looking for opportunity.
Rise of the Barbary pirates
After a revolt in the mid-17th century reduced the ruling Ottoman
Pasha
Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitary, dignitaries, and others. ''Pasha'' was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of ...
s to little more than figureheads in the region, the towns of
Tripoli,
Algiers
Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...
,
Tunis
Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...
, and others became independent in all but name. Without a large central authority and its laws, the pirates themselves started to gain much influence.
Pirate raids for the acquisition of slaves occurred in towns and villages on the African
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...
seaboard, as well as in Europe. From around 1500, the pirates also conducted raids on
seaside towns and villages of
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
,
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
,
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, and as far away as
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
, capturing men, women and children, and these raids lasted as late as the early 19th century. Robert Davis estimated that between 1 and 1.25 million Europeans were captured by pirates and sold as slaves in Tunis, Algiers and Tripoli during this time period. The slave trade in Europeans in other parts of the Mediterranean is not included in this estimation. However, other historians such as David Earle have questioned Robert Davis' estimates: “His figures sound a bit dodgy and I think he may be exaggerating.”
Famous accounts of Barbary slave raids include a mention in the diary of
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...
and a raid on the coastal village of
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
, Ireland, during which pirates left with the entire populace of the settlement. The attack was led by a
Dutch captain,
Jan Janszoon van Haarlem, also known as Murad Reis the Younger. Janszoon also led the
1627 raid on Iceland. About 50 people were killed and close to 400 captured and sold into slavery.
Such raids in the Mediterranean were so frequent and devastating that the coastline between Venice and
Málaga
Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...
suffered widespread depopulation, and settlement there was discouraged. In fact, it was said that "there was no one left to capture any longer."
In 1627, a group known as the
Salé Rovers
The Salé Rovers, also known as the Sallee Rovers, were a group of Barbary pirates active during the 17th and 18th centuries in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Like other Barbary pirates, they attacked Christianity, Christian merchant s ...
, from the
Republic of Salé (now
Salé in
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
) occupied
Lundy for five years. These
Barbary pirates
The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...
, under the command of Janszoon, flew an
Ottoman flag over the island. Slaving raids were made embarking from Lundy by the Barbary Pirates, and captured Europeans were held on Lundy before being sent to
Algiers
Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...
to be sold as slaves.
The power and influence of these pirates during this time was such that nations including the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
paid tribute to stave off their attacks.
An account of the later phase of the trade was published in 1740 by Englishman
Thomas Pellow, who had escaped from Morocco after 21 years of slavery, having been captured from a ship in 1716 as an 11-year-old boy.
Slave sources by nation
Between the 16th century and the early 19th century, the Barbary slave trade in
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
and
West Europe was one of two major slave routes for European slaves to the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East, the other being the contemporary
Crimean slave trade in Eastern Europe.
The Barbary corsairs attacked a number of different nations in Southern and Western Europe, as well as the Americas. Some of the nations were exclusively attacked by sea, while others were also subjected to slave raids on land. Each nation had their own policy in order to address the issue, and different European governments maintained negotiations with the Barbary states in order to pay ransom for captives, prevent attacks on their ships or raids on their coasts. Armed raids began in the sixteenth century, when the Ottoman states of what is today, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya became de facto independent rogue states that lived on pillage, and persisted as late as the early nineteenth century, when France conquered modern Algeria. From the 16th to the end of the 18th century, the coastal areas of Italy (especially in the south-west) were raided by pirates launched from the coast of North Africa. To protect themselves, people in coastal areas have moved inland into mountainous and rugged areas. The long term impact of these pirate attacks persisted for over century into the 20th.
Britain and Ireland
Britain and Ireland were attacked by the Barbary Corsairs pirates primarily at sea but also by raids on land. The
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...
was infamous for being frequented by Barbary pirates, although vast majority captives from the British Isles were sailors and crews of ships around the Mediterranean.
In 1620–1621, the government of
James VI and I
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 M ...
maintained long negotiations to prevent attacks, but did not succeed.
In the 1620s and 1640s, the coasts of Cornwall and Devon in England, as well as Southern Ireland, were subjected to raids by Barbary corsairs, who raided the coasts after having attacked ships outside of the coasts.
Perhaps the most historically famous of the British and Irish slave raids was the
sack of Baltimore by corsairs from Alger toward the coastal village of Baltimore in West Cork in Ireland on 20 June 1631, which was the largest slave raid by Barbary slave traders on Ireland.
A couple of years after the sack of Baltimore of 1631, the Irish village of
Dungarvan
Dungarvan () is a coastal town and harbour in County Waterford, on the south-east coast of Ireland. Prior to the merger of Waterford County Council with Waterford City Council in 2014, Dungarvan was the county town and administrative centre of ...
was also attacked by a slave raid resulting in around fifty captives.
[Capp, B. (2022). British Slaves and Barbary Corsairs, 1580–1750. Storbritannien: OUP Oxford. p. 31]
England assigned agents to North Africa to buy back English citizens, who were being held as slaves. In December 1640, the situation was so serious that a government committee, the Committee for Algiers, was formed to buy back English slaves from Algeria. In 1643, so many sailors from Britain had been taken as slaves to Algeria that the English government called for a national collection of ransom money from all the churches in the Kingdom to make it possible to buy them free. To buy female slaves free was much more expensive than buying back male slaves.
Among the British victims of the Barbary slave trade were
Helen Gloag,
Lalla Balqis,
Elizabeth Marsh and
Thomas Pellow, all of whom were captured from ships.
[Barbary Captives: An Anthology of Early Modern Slave Memoirs by Europeans in North Africa. (2022). US: Columbia University Press. ]
Denmark–Norway
The Kingdom of
Denmark–Norway
Denmark–Norway (Danish language, Danish and Norwegian language, Norwegian: ) is a term for the 16th-to-19th-century multi-national and multi-lingual real unionFeldbæk 1998:11 consisting of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway (includ ...
was attacked by the Barbary corsairs both on sea and by slave raids.
The
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...
, which belonged to Denmark, were subjected to repeated slave raids by the Barbary corsairs in the 16th and 18th centuries. In 1607, the Faroe Islands were raided by the Barbary corsairs who abducted many people to slavery.
[Liisberg, H. C. B. (2020). Danmarks søfart og søhandel. Bind 1. Danmark: SAGA Egmont.]
The most famous slave raid on the Faroe Islands was the
slave raid of Suðuroy in the summer of 1629, in which thirty people were abducted to slavery, from which they never returned.
The
Danish–Algerian War from 1769 to 1772 between Denmark–Norway and Deylik of Algiers took place partially because of the Barbary piracy against Danish-Norwegian ships, whose crews were sold into slavery.
Among the Danish victims of the Barbary slave trade was
Hark Olufs.
France
The
Franco-Ottoman alliance
The Franco-Ottoman alliance, also known as the Franco-Turkish alliance, was an alliance established in 1536 between Francis I of France, Francis I, King of France and Suleiman the Magnificent, Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire. The strategic and s ...
, which lasted between 1536 and 1798, placed France in a different position than other European nations in the context. The Franco-Ottoman alliance formally protected France more than other nations from attacks of the corsairs, who formally were Ottoman subjects. In contrast to other European nations France could complain over the corsairs to the Ottoman sultan, who would be obligated to take action because of the Franco-Ottoman alliance. The Ottoman sultan did not support Ottoman attacks on French ships or raids of French coasts, and in contrast to the attacks on many other nations, the attacks on French ships and coasts were formally considered illegal also by the Ottomans.
In practice however the corsair states of North Africa were Ottoman in name only and did not necessarily respect the obligations of the Ottoman sultan, who had weak control over the provinces, and France was subjected to their attacks despite the Franco-Ottoman alliance.
During the 1550s, the French provinces of Provence and Languedoc were devastated by slave
razzias by the corsairs, which resulted in French complaints to the Ottoman sultan, and the city of Marseilles petitioned regent
Catherine de' Medici
Catherine de' Medici (, ; , ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Italian Republic of Florence, Florentine noblewoman of the Medici family and Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to Henry II of France, King Henry II. Sh ...
as well as taking separate measures to liberate enslaved natives and protect their commerce vessels, and reported to have lost twelve galleons aside from a large number of smaller boats.
[Weiss, G. (2011). Captives and Corsairs: France and Slavery in the Early Modern Mediterranean. US: Stanford University Press. p. 9]
Sultan
Suleiman I ordered the corsairs to leave French vessels alone in 1565,
out of respect for the alliance. However, such orders from the Ottoman sultans only placed a slight inhibition on the corsairs in regard to France, rather than to protect them fully. There were several slave raids toward France, such as for example in Northern France close to Calais in 1620.
Among the French victims of the Barbary slave trade was
Antoine Quartier.
Iceland
Iceland was subjected to several slave raids by the corsairs. In 1607, Iceland was raided by the corsairs who abducted many people to slavery.
The most famous slave raid on Iceland was the
Turkish Abductions
The Turkish Abductions ( ) were a series of slave raids by pirates from Algier and Salé that took place in Iceland in the summer of 1627.
The adjectival label "''Turkish''" () does not refer to ethnic Turks, country of Turkey or Turkic peop ...
that took place in the summer of 1627.
About 400 people were captured and sold into slavery,
of whom only 50 individuals returned from slavery by
ransom
Ransom refers to the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release. It also refers to the sum of money paid by the other party to secure a captive's freedom.
When ransom means "payment", the word ...
, 9 to 18 years later.
Among the Icelandic victims of the Barbary slave trade was
Ólafur Egilsson.
Italy
Italy was, along with Spain, one of the most seriously affected countries in the context of Barbary corsair slave raids. Aside from attacks on Italian ships, many slave raids were conducted toward Italian coasts by the corsairs during the 16th and 17th centuries.
Italy, which after the 1550s was associated with the Ottoman arch enemy the Habsburgs, was quite vulnerable to slave raids, because it was politically fragmented, its coasts lacked fortifications, and its territorial defense forces were weak and dispersed, and the corsair slave raiding along Italian coasts developed in to a full scale industry.
[Venice Reconsidered: The History and Civilization of an Italian City-State, 1297–1797. (2003). Storbritannien: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 455]
As in Spain, the slave raids resulted in the abandonment of coasts and islands, and they were described as "the wretched beaches, the abandoned islands, the fishermen in flight, and the
laving ships... loitering past on the sea".
One of the most famous of the slave raids against Italy was the attack by the fleet of
Hayreddin Barbarossa
Hayreddin Barbarossa (, original name: Khiḍr; ), also known as Hayreddin Pasha, Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1483 – 4 July 1546), was an Ottoman corsair and later admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Barbarossa's ...
on several towns in Southern Italy between July and August 1534, which resulted in devastation, economical losses and thousands of people murdered and enslaved.
The contemporary author Gregorio Rosso described the devastating slave raid upon Southern Italy in the summer of 1534:
:"In late July he
arbarossapassed the lighthouse of Messina, where he burnt some ships, and his rearguard fought with some galleys of Antonio d'Ora, who was in that place. Then they sacked Santo Lucito in
Calabria
Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...
, leaving not a soul alive. After that, close to Citraro, Land of the Benedictine Monks of
Montecassino
The Abbey of Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a Catholic, Benedictine monastery on a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley. Located on the site of the ancient Roman town of Casinum, it is the first house ...
, and as the Citizens fled, he burnt that with seven half-completed galleys, half that were in the Court's service there. From there they went to
Pisciotta
Pisciotta is an Italian town and communes of Italy, commune in the province of Salerno, region of Campania.
History
According to legend, Troy, Trojans escaping from the fire and the destruction of their city, Troy, founded Siris, Magna Graecia, ...
and on 7 of August passing in sight of
Naples
Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
with more fear than harm to the City, left men on dry land on the Island of Procita and sacked that Land; not content with this, he attacked
Sperlonga
Sperlonga (locally ) is a coastal town in the province of Latina, Italy, about halfway between Rome and Naples. It is best known for the ancient Roman sea grotto discovered in the grounds of the Villa of Tiberius containing the important and spect ...
without warning, where they say more than a thousand people were made slaves: and finally he sent people to Fondi to seize Donna
Giulia Gonzaga to present her to the Great Turk, who desired her for the great fame of her beauty.
Fondi
Fondi (; Southern Laziale: ''Fùnn'') is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Latina, Lazio, central Italy, halfway between Rome and Naples. As of 2017, the city had a population of 39,800. The city has experienced steady population growth si ...
was sacked, and Donna Giulia scarcely had time to save herself that night on a horse in her nightgown, just as she was."
The aftermath of the slave raids described "two thousand dead and taken in the pillage" and how it would be necessary with tax exemption for the surviving population for Fondi and Sperlonga in December 1534; how especially women had been targeted for slavery in Sperlonga, were 162 houses had been destroyed; that 1,213 houses in Fondi had been broken in to and valuables of 26,000 ducats had been stolen in that town alone, and that 73 men, women and children had been killed and 150 enslaved from Fondi.
In 1544,
Hayreddin Barbarossa
Hayreddin Barbarossa (, original name: Khiḍr; ), also known as Hayreddin Pasha, Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1483 – 4 July 1546), was an Ottoman corsair and later admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Barbarossa's ...
captured
Ischia
Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Although inhabited since the Bronze Age, as a Ancient G ...
, taking 4,000 prisoners in the process, and deported to slavery some 9,000 inhabitants of
Lipari
Lipari (; ) is a ''comune'' including six of seven islands of the Aeolian Islands (Lipari, Vulcano, Panarea, Stromboli, Filicudi and Alicudi) and it is located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northern coast of Sicily, Southern Italy; it is ...
, almost the entire population. In 1551, Dragut enslaved the entire population of the
Maltese island
Gozo
Gozo ( ), known in classical antiquity, antiquity as Gaulos, is an island in the Malta#The Maltese archipelago, Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After the Malta Island, island of Malta ...
, between 5,000 and 6,000, sending them to
Libya
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
. When pirates sacked
Vieste
Vieste (; ) is a town, ''comune'' and former Catholic bishopric in the province of Foggia, in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. A marine resort in Gargano, Vieste has received Blue Flags for the purity of its waters from the Foundation fo ...
in southern Italy in 1554 they took an estimated 7,000 slaves. In 1555, Turgut Reis sailed to
Corsica
Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...
and ransacked
Bastia
Bastia ( , , , ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest popu ...
, taking 6,000 prisoners. In 1558 Barbary corsairs captured the town of
Ciutadella, destroyed it,
slaughtered the inhabitants, and carried off 3,000 survivors to
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
as slaves. In 1563 Turgut Reis landed at the shores of the province of
Granada
Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...
, Spain, and captured the coastal settlements in the area like
Almuñécar
Almuñécar () is a Spanish city and municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the southwestern part of the comarcas of Spain, comarca of the Costa Granadina, in the province of Granada. It is located on the shores of the Mediterranean sea ...
, along with 4,000 prisoners. Barbary pirates frequently attacked the
Balearic islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...
, resulting in many coastal watchtowers and fortified churches being erected. The threat was so severe that
Formentera
Formentera (, ) is a Spanish island located in the Mediterranean Sea, which belongs to the Balearic Islands autonomous community (Spain) together with Mallorca, Menorca, and Ibiza.
Formentera is the smallest and most southerly island of the ...
became uninhabited.
The slave raids continued during the 17th century. In 1638, the coastal lands of Calabria was devastated by the corsair slave raids.
[Black, J. (2011). A Brief History of Slavery. Storbritannien: Little, Brown Book Group.]
As late as 1798, the islet near
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...
was attacked by the
Tunisia
Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
ns and over 900 inhabitants were taken away as slaves.
Rich Italian families often attempted to buy back their captured relatives, and the
Senate of the Republic of Venice often made efforts to buy back captured noblemen. During such negotiations, Italian or Jewish merchants were often used as the intermediaries.
The slave raids in Spain and Italy damaged the population and in consequence the economy in the entire Mediterranean.
Among the Italian victims of the Barbary slave trade were
Marthe Franceschini and
Felice Caronni.
Malta
Malta was subjected to slave raids by the Barbary corsairs. In 1551, Turgut Reis and Sinan Pasha raided the islands of Malta and Gozo, and the entire population of Gozo was abducted and sold as to
slavery in Libya.
Netherlands
No slave raids were performed against the coasts of the Netherlands. Dutch ships were however a frequent target for corsair pirates. The Dutch government regularly assigned agents to buy back Dutch citizens captured and enslaved in North Africa. Dutch slaves were reportedly among the highest priced, and the corsairs demanded higher prices from them than for many other Europeans.
Portugal
The territories of Portugal were also subjected to coastal raids by the Barbary pirates.
In 1617, the
Barbary Corsairs
The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...
from Algeria conducted the
sack of Madeira, during which they attacked the Portuguese Island and abducted 1,200 of its inhabitants as slaves.
[White Women Captives in North Africa: Narratives of Enslavement, 1735-1830]
K. Bekkaoui
Springer, The attack occurred during the height of
slavery on the Barbary coast. Madeira was at that time a part of the
Iberian Union
The Iberian Union is a historiographical term used to describe the period in which the Habsburg Spain, Monarchy of Spain under Habsburg dynasty, until then the personal union of the crowns of Crown of Castile, Castile and Crown of Aragon, Aragon ...
headed by the
Monarchy of Spain
The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country.
The Spanish monarchy is constitu ...
.
Spain
Spain was one of the worst affected areas in all Europe to attacks by the corsairs. Both Spanish ships as well as coasts were subjected to attacks by the corsairs from the early 16th century onward.
The corsairs of Tunis mainly raided the sea and coasts of Italy and Greece, while the
Corsairs of Algiers
The ta'ifa of raïs (, ''community of corsair captains'') or the Raïs for short, were Barbary pirates based in Ottoman Algeria who were involved in Barbary pirates, piracy and the Barbary slave trade, slave trade in the Mediterranean Sea from the ...
and Morocco frequented the waters and coasts of Spain and Western Europe.
The slave raids on Spain started in the early 16th century onward. The
sack of Cullera in Spain on the Mediterranean Sea, occurred on 20 May 1550, when the
Ottoman general
Dragut
Dragut (; 1485 – 23 June 1565) was an Ottoman corsair, naval commander, governor, and noble. Under his command, the Ottoman Empire's maritime power was extended across North Africa. Recognized for his military genius, and as being among "the ...
landed in
Cullera,
Valencia
Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
and sacked the city taking away many inhabitants in
slavery
Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
. Dragut attacked Cullera at night with 300 men. Dragut sacked the city, seized goods from the people and took almost all of the inhabitants of the city as slaves.
He kept the captives in a cave before taking them to a slave market in Algiers.
The slave raids grew particularly severe during the 17th century, when the corsairs abducted the population of entire villages along the Mediterranean coast of Spain, leaving large coastal areas depopulated.
[Giles Milton: White Gold: The Extraordinary Story of Thomas Pellow and North Africa's One] In 1637 for example, 315 women and children were captured from the town of Calpe.
When the coastal villages depopulated, the Spanish crown was forced to raise the taxes of fish, meat, cattle and silk to finance the construction of fortresses to protect the coast and prevent people from leaving the areas for safer settlements in the interior of the country.
Spanish ships were affected as well. In 1667, so many seamen had been abducted from the
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
provinces that those provinces could no longer fill the quotas of seamen to the Spanish marines.
The slave raids in Spain and Italy damaged the population and in consequence the economy in the entire Mediterranean.
Sweden and Finland
No slave raids were ever conducted by corsairs towards the coasts of
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
and
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
(Finland was a part of Sweden). However, Swedish and Finnish ships were attacked by corsairs in the sea outside of Western Europe and in the Mediterranean.
On 20 November 1662, the
Lord High Treasurer of Sweden,
Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie
Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie (15 October 1622 – 26 April 1686) was a Swedish Empire, Swedish statesman and military man. He became a member of the Privy Council of Sweden, Swedish Privy Council in 1647 and came to be the holder of three ...
received a letter of appeal from eight Swedish sailors who had been abducted by corsairs at sea and were being held in slavery in Algiers.
The Swede
Johan Gabriel Sparfwenfeldt, who visited Algiers and Tunis in 1691, described empathically how he had met and spoken to many Swedish slaves who asked him for help to be bought free and return to "their homes, to their children, their parents and the land of their home", and listed 23 names of the Swedes then held as slaves.
Sweden attempted to protect their ships by use of insurance against slavery, convoys, international treaties, and by maintaining friendly contact with the corsairs. The captives were also bought free by their relatives.
This did not only apply to slaves from rich families: many poor women are known to have collected money to buy their husbands and sons free. When the young sailor Erik Persson Ångerman was enslaved in Algiers after having taken captured from the ship ''Wibus'' from Stockholm on 10 May 1725, he sent a letter to his wife Maria Olssdotter via his colleague Petter Wallberg (who had been bought free and was returning to Sweden) and told her he "sat in hard slavery" in Algiers.
[Östlund, J. (2014). Saltets pris: svenska slavar i Nordafrika och handeln i Medelhavet 1650–1770. Sverige: Nordic Academic Press. pp. 60–61]
Maria Olssdotter had no funds to buy his freedom, but appealed to the king via the governor of
Gävle
Gävle ( ; ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 79,004 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the List of cities in Sweden, 13th-most-populated city in Sweden. I ...
for money to be gathered in the churches for the purchase of her enslaved husband, and her application was approved; this was not an unusual case, as many poor women are known to have done the same.
Almost all Swedes and Finns who were captured by the corsairs at sea were sailors. Between about 500 and 1000 Swedish citizens were enslaved by the corsairs between 1650 and 1763.
One of the Swedish victims of the Barbary slave trade was
Marcus Berg (1714-1761).
British North America and United States
There were no Barbary land raids in British North America and the later United States. However, the Barbary pirates attacked American ships, took American captives and sold them as slaves. Already in 1661, a chronicler wrote "for a long time previous the commerce of Massachusetts was annoyed by Barbary corsairs and that many of its seamen were held in bondage."
During the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
, the pirates attacked American ships. On December 20, 1777, Morocco's sultan Mohammed III of Morocco, Mohammed III declared that merchant ships of the new American nation would be under the protection of the sultanate and could thus enjoy safe passage into the Mediterranean and along the coast. The Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship stands as America's oldest unbroken friendship treaty with a foreign power. In 1787, Morocco became one of the first nations to recognize the United States, United States of America.
Starting in the 1780s, realizing that American vessels were no longer under the protection of the Royal Navy, British navy, the Barbary pirates had started seizing American ships in the Mediterranean. As the United States had disbanded its Continental Navy and had no seagoing military force, its government agreed in 1786 to pay tribute to stop the attacks. On March 20, 1794, at the urging of President George Washington, Congress voted to authorize the building of Original six frigates of the United States Navy, six heavy frigates and establish the United States Navy, in order to stop these attacks and demands for more and more money.
The United States had signed treaties with all of the Barbary states after its independence was recognized between 1786 and 1794 to pay tribute in exchange for leaving American merchantmen alone, and by 1797, the United States had paid out $1.25 million or a fifth of the government's annual budget then in tribute.
The Barbary attacks on American ships were a contributing cause of the Americans participating in the
Barbary Wars
The Barbary Wars were a series of two wars fought by the United States, Sweden, and the Kingdom of Sicily against the Barbary states (including Tunis, Algiers, and Tripoli) and Morocco of North Africa in the early 19th century. Sweden had bee ...
.
Decline

In the first years of the 19th century, the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, allied with European nations, fought and won the
First and the Second Barbary Wars against the pirates. The wars were a direct response of the American, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British, July Monarchy, French and the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, Dutch states to the raids and the slave trade by the Barbary pirates against them, which ended in the 1830s, when the region was
conquered by France. The Barbary slave trade and slave markets in the Mediterranean declined and eventually disappeared after the European occupations.
After an Bombardment of Algiers (1816), Anglo-Dutch bombardment in 1816 of
Algiers
Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...
on 27 August, led by Admiral Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, disabled most of the pirate fleet, the
Dey
Dey (, from ) was the title given to the rulers of the regencies of Algiers, Tripolitania,Bertarelli (1929), p. 203. and Tunis under the Ottoman Empire from 1671 onwards. Twenty-nine ''deys'' held office from the establishment of the deylicate ...
of Algiers was forced to agree to terms which included the release of the surviving 1,200 slaves (mostly from Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia) and the cessation of their practice of enslaving Europeans. After being defeated in this period of formal hostilities with European and American powers, the
Barbary states went into decline.
The Barbary pirates refused to cease their slaving operations, resulting in another bombardment by a Royal Navy fleet against Algiers in 1824. France Invasion of Algiers in 1830, invaded Algiers in 1830, placing it under colonial rule.
Tunis
Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...
was similarly French conquest of Tunisia, invaded by France in 1881.
Tripoli returned to direct Ottoman control in 1835, before falling into Italian hands in the 1911 Italo-Turkish War. As such, the slave traders now found that they had to work in accordance with the laws of their governors, and could no longer look to self-regulation. The slave trade ceased on the Barbary Coast in the 19th and 20th centuries or when European governments passed laws granting emancipation to slaves.
See also
* Barbary corsairs
*
Barbary Wars
The Barbary Wars were a series of two wars fought by the United States, Sweden, and the Kingdom of Sicily against the Barbary states (including Tunis, Algiers, and Tripoli) and Morocco of North Africa in the early 19th century. Sweden had bee ...
* Slave narrative#North African slave narratives, North African slave narratives
*
Republic of Salé
* Sklavenkasse
* Slavery on the Barbary Coast
* Slavery in the Ottoman Empire
*
Turkish Abductions
The Turkish Abductions ( ) were a series of slave raids by pirates from Algier and Salé that took place in Iceland in the summer of 1627.
The adjectival label "''Turkish''" () does not refer to ethnic Turks, country of Turkey or Turkic peop ...
References
Bibliography
*
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
The Thomas Jefferson Papers – America and the Barbary Pirates – American Memory from the Library of Congress*
External links
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/white_slaves_01.shtml British Slaves on the Barbary Coast]
Seabed gold 'clue to white slavers'* [http://www.clements.umich.edu/exhibits/online/barbary/barbary-captivity.php Barbary Captivity Narratives]
History of KytheraPirates, Privateers and the Ottoman Empire in the Early Modern MediterraneanKythira History
{{Pirates
16th-century establishments in Africa
19th-century establishments in Africa
Barbary slave trade,
Piracy in the Mediterranean
Early modern history of Morocco
Social history of Tunisia
History of Tripolitania
Persecution of Christians by Muslims
Slavery in the Ottoman Empire