The Sack of Lanzarote occurred in 1618, when 36 Algerian Galleys, sacked the island of

Lanzarote Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands, off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the islands in the archipelago. With 163,230 inhabi ...

in 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 900 men, women and children with them to be sold.

Sack

On May 1, 1618, 36 Algerian Galleys arrived at Bey of Arrefice,

, aiming to raid and plunder anything valuable. Led by Tabac Arraez, the pirate commander, they unleashed a force of 3,000 or 5,000 men who looted the island, leaving the inhabitants to seek refuge in caves. Eventually, they were besieged and captured by the

Regency of Algiers The Regency of Algiers was an Early modern period, early modern semi-independent Administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman province and nominal Tributary states of the Ottoman Empire, vassal state on the Barbary Coast of North Afr ...

, totaling 900 men, women, and children. On that day,

Jan Janszoon Jan Janszoon van Haarlem, commonly known as Reis Mourad the Younger (c. 1570 – c. 1641), was a Dutch pirate who later became a Barbary corsair in the Regency of Algiers and the Republic of Salé. After being captured by Algerian corsairs o ...

, a Dutch soldier, was also captured. He later converted to Islam and became known as Murat Reis the Younger.

Aftermath

Upon learning of the event, King

Philip III of Spain Philip III (; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain and King of Portugal, Portugal (where he is known as Philip II of Portugal) during the Iberian Union. His reign lasted from 1598 until his death in 1621. He held dominion over the S ...

ordered the Spanish navy to intercept the pirates, successfully rescuing around 200 captives. the remaining 700 were sold in

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

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanzarote 1618 Naval battles involving the Regency of Algiers Slave raids by the Regency of Algiers Naval battles involving Spain Conflicts in 1618 17th century in the Regency of Algiers 1618 in Spain History of the Canary Islands Looting in Spain 17th century in slavery