| Sack of Lanzarote | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Regency of Algiers |  Spanish Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Tabac Arráez | Jan Janszoon (POW) | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 36 Galleys 3,000 or 5,000 Men | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Before naval battle: 900 captured [1] After naval battle: 700 captured [1] | ||||||
The Sack of Lanzarote occurred in 1618, when 36 Algerian Galleys, sacked the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, taking 900 men, women and children with them to be sold.
On May 1, 1618, 36 Algerian Galleys arrived at Bey of Arrefice, Lanzarote, 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, totaling 900 men, women, and children. [1] [2] [3] [4] On that day, Jan Janszoon, a Dutch soldier, was also captured. He later converted to Islam and became known as Murat Reis the Younger. [5] [6] [7]
Upon learning of the event, King Philip III of Spain ordered the Spanish navy to intercept the pirates, successfully rescuing around 200 captives. the remaining 700 were sold in Tunis and Algiers. [1]
The Barbary pirates, Barbary corsairs, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen were mainly Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from the largely independent Ottoman Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barbary Coast, in reference to the Berbers. Slaves in Barbary could be of many ethnicities, and of many different religions, such as Christian, Jewish, or Muslim. Their predation extended throughout the Mediterranean, south along West Africa's Atlantic seaboard and into the North Atlantic as far north as Iceland, but they primarily operated in the western Mediterranean. In addition to seizing merchant ships, they engaged in razzias, raids on European coastal towns and villages, mainly in Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal, but also in the British Isles, the Netherlands, and Iceland.
Murat Reis the Elder was an Ottoman privateer and admiral, who served in the Ottoman Navy. He is regarded as one of the most important Barbary corsairs.
Occhiali was an Italian farmer, then Ottoman privateer and admiral, who later became beylerbey of the Regency of Algiers, and finally Grand Admiral of the Ottoman fleet in the 16th century.
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Hayreddin Barbarossa, also known as Hayreddin Pasha, Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis, was an Ottoman corsair and later admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Barbarossa's naval victories secured Ottoman dominance over the Mediterranean during the mid-16th century.
Jan Janszoon van Haarlem, commonly known as Reis Mourad the Younger, was a Dutch pirate who later became a Barbary corsair in Ottoman Algeria and the Republic of Salé. After being captured by Algerian corsairs off Lanzarote in 1618, he converted to Islam and changed his name to Mourad. He became one of the most famous of the 17th-century Barbary corsairs. Together with other corsairs, he helped establish the independent Republic of Salé at the city of that name, serving as the first President and Commander. He also served as Governor of Oualidia.
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The conquest of Tunis occurred in 1535 when the Habsburg Emperor Charles V and his allies wrestled the city away from the control of the Ottoman Empire.
This timeline of the history of piracy in the 1640s is a chronological list of key events involving pirates between 1640 and 1649.
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Siemen Danziger, better known by his anglicized names Zymen Danseker and Simon de Danser, was a 17th-century Dutch privateer and Barbary corsair based in Ottoman Algeria. His name is also written Danziker, Dansker, Dansa or Danser.
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Dragut 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 most dangerous" of corsairs, Dragut has been referred to as "the greatest pirate warrior of all time", "undoubtedly the most able of all the Turkish leaders", and "the uncrowned king of the Mediterranean". He was nicknamed "the Drawn Sword of Islam". He was described by a French admiral as "a living chart of the Mediterranean, skillful enough on land to be compared to the finest generals of the time" and that "no one was more worthy than he to bear the name of king". Hayreddin Barbarossa, who was his mentor, stated that Dragut was ahead of him "both in fishing and bravery".
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The ta'ifa of raïs or the Raïs for short, were Barbary pirates based in Ottoman Algeria who were involved in piracy and the slave trade in the Mediterranean Sea from the 16th to the 19th century. They were an ethnically mixed group of seafarers, including mostly "renegades" from European provinces of the Mediterranean and the North Sea, along with a minority of Turks and Moors. Such crews were experienced in naval combat, making Algiers a formidable pirate base. Its activity was directed against the Spanish empire, but it did not neglect the coasts of Sicily, Sardinia, Naples or Provence. It was the taifa which, through its seizures, maintained the prosperity of Algiers and its finances.