Hayreddin Barbarossa - Hero to Some, Monster to Others

From the time of Queen Elizabeth the First to the reign of King George the Fourth - England's Subjects lived in a sorry state. Poverty, poor housing conditions, overly harsh laws, a lack of sanitation, plague, and primitive medical services - made life for the common English man short and uncertain.

There were no police, rarely any militia so crime was rife and there was no one to protect potential victims of it. For many, criminal activities were more rewarding than attempting to make an honest living.

Men would legally be taken off the streets by a press-gang and forced to serve for years as a sailor in the King's Navy - more often than not without his family being aware of what had happened to their loved one. Sailors were badly fed and punished for indiscretions brutally, and sometimes these downtrodden men felt their only option was to mutiny - murdering hated Captains and officers and taking to the high seas as Pirates crewing their stolen well-armed Ships.

These Pirates were a menace to all other Ships, regardless of Country or Function - and though romanticized these rogues were not the romantic heroes suggested by many Books and Movies.

In this series of Blog Posts I will take a look at some of the most Infamous Men in Maritime History.

Hayreddin Barbarossa - Hero to Some, Monster to Others

Though Captain Barbossa from the Pirates of the Caribbean Franchise was most definitely not an actual Historical Figure, its obvious that his name is a Hollywood nod to Hayreddin Barbarossa.

If you were living in Christian Europe in the 16th century, his name would conjure horror and fear, but if you were living in the Ottoman Empire, he was celebrated as a hero. Indeed, few Ottoman Sailors had as much success and abilit as Barbarossa. Barbarossa means “red beard” in Italian, and he inherited the title from his brother, Oruç, after he was killed in battle. He was born in the Ottoman territory on the island of Lésbos, in the Aegean Sea (which is now part of Greece) - and was known for his great red beard and seamanship.

In fact he's still so venerated in his corner of the World, he has a Statue in the ferry port of Beşiktaş on the European side of Istanbul.

The Mediterranean region in the early 1500s was a horrible place to live - if you were living on Rhodes, Malta or Cyprus, you felt the might of the Ottoman navy’s full force descend upon you. Coastal villages throughout the Mediterranean were raided, pillaged and burned; Hajj pilgrims were routinely captured and held for ransom or killed; but worst of all, you could be enslaved, confined to an Ottoman or Christian galley as a rower, rotting in your own filth until the exhaustion of rowing killed you or your captor’s ship was destroyed in battle.

Barbarossa plied his trade throughout the Mediterranean, and never ventured far from the Straights of Gibraltar - his first venture was to seize two Treasure Ships to the Pope, a seemingly Mortal sin which would have caused Barbarossa no stress as he was a Mohammedan.

Barbarossa confined his Piracy to Ships of Christian Traders, though it was rumoured he was willing to fight for anyone who was willing to pay for his services. When the natives of Algiers asked for Barbarossa's help against the Spanish - he gathered together a Army and attacked. He then celebrated his victory by slaughtering the men who had asked for his help, and made himself Sultan.

Barbarossa maintained his piratical ways in later life, although he rarely took to the Sea himself - rather sending ships to prey upon Merchant Ships out of Italy, Spain, and (if chance permitted) from England.

He was Finally defeated and Slain, but it required a Spanish Army of 10,000 Men to achieve his end.