Migrations | Privateering and captivity in the Mediterranean | Privateering in the Mediterranean

The Mediterranean was once the theatre of memorable battles between privateers.

Unlike pirates, privateers were legal operators commissioned by sovereign states to attack enemy ships and coastal villages. All privateering activities were governed and regulated by inter-governmental treaties. Among the booty taken, more than a million Christians and Muslims are assumed to have been captured in the Mediterranean between 1500 and 1800. The Ottomans meanwhile, who controlled the Levantine and Anatolian coasts as well as those of the Balkans, captured around 3 million prisoners. Captives rarely saw home again. Many were sold and enslaved. Others rose to fame, fortune and high rank, just like some of the privateers that had captured them – the 16th-century Barbarossa brothers, sons of a Sicilian convert to Islam, Turgut Reis, an Ottoman privateer of Greek origin, and Osta Moratto Genovese, an Italian who later became Bey of Tunis, among the latter.

Working NumberNameHolding MuseumDateMaterialsCurator Justification
TN 039Privateer ship flags Palais de la Rose – Musée de l’Armée19th century Wood, fabric These flags represent the late 18th/early 19th-century emblems of a privateer acting on behalf of the Regency of Tunis. Unlike pirates, privateers were commissioned by governments, and their maritime activity was referred to as privateering. They were given authorisation to attack enemy merchant ships during war time.

IT1 037A battle between Algerian ships and ships of the Naples Royal Navy, which chased the Algerian ships and ultimately destroyed them by firing cannon shots on 17 May 1792State Archives of Naples1792Privateering wars were constant problems in the Mediterranean. Here, the frigate of the Kingdom of Naples is seen destroying the privateers from Algiers, the most important privateering hub in North Africa. The incident took place in 1792.

IT1 083Chorographical plan of the attack waged by Lord Exmouth against Algiers on 27 August 1816State Archives of TurinDecember 1816Control of Mediterranean trade routes was one of the main sources of conflict between European powers and the North African provinces, referred to as the “Barbary Regencies” of Tunis, Algiers and Tripoli.

FR 051General Hullin's audience, provided by the Dey of AlgeriaNational Library of France 19th century Algeria was the foremost privateering hub in North Africa, focusing primarily on the attack of British and French vessels. In August 1802, riled by the constant Algerian looting of French ships, Napoleon Bonaparte sent General Hullin with a warning message to the Dey of Algiers, Mustapha Pasha.

DZ 044Vue d'AlgerMusée National des Beaux-Arts1816Colourised lithography North African rulers engaged in privateering not only because it was lucrative, but because their trading vessels were not allowed into European ports. Algiers – seen here before the bombardment by the British fleet in 1816 – was the foremost privateering city state until Algeria was conquered by France in 1830.

IT1 038Letter from the Dey of Algiers, Muhammad Pasha, to Ferdinando IV of Bourbon, King of Naples, granting a two-month truce from corsairs’ attacks (in Arabic with Italian translation)State Archives of NaplesAlgiers, 12 March 1787The Dey of Algiers thanked the King of Naples for the truce he granted to the privateers of Algiers.

TN 107Treaty of Peace and Trade between France and the Tunisian RegencyArchives Nationales1799Until the early 19th century, relationships between European powers were dominated by the consequences of privateering in the Mediterranean. The treaty signed guaranteed the safety of the crew and cargo of French ships at sea and in Tunisian ports.

TN 108Passports that French ships were obliged to carry in order to be allowed to practice privateeringArchives nationales1799A type of document bearing a seal and a signature that had to be carried by French ships to ward off attacks from Tunisian privateers in the Mediterranean.

TN 113Letter from Marshall Forteguerri, commander general of the navy of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, confirming the purchase of Tunisian slaves in Naples Archives Nationales1797Throughout the 18th century, relations between the Regency of Tunis and the kingdoms of Italy and Tuscany were confrontational. There were also many Muslims captured in Spain and Malta. In 1798, after Malta was taken by Napoleon Bonaparte, all of the Muslims being held there – around 2,000 people – were released.

IT1 092Declaration by the Bey of Tunis assuring that in future wars with any European power prisoners will not be enslavedState Archives of TurinPalace of Bardo (Tunis), 17 April 1816Following European warnings, in particular the expedition led by Lord Exmouth (1816) to prohibit privateering, a peace treaty was signed between the Bey of Tunis and Lord Exmouth, commander-in-chief of the Royal British Navy on 17 April 1816.

TN 115Disembarking captives at La Goulette Port, Tunis. Archives Nationales1800This print shows privateers overseeing the unloading of captives at the port of La Goulette, Tunis. Some captives might regain their freedom after paying a ransom, but most were put to work or had to serve as galley slaves. Others who converted to their captors’ religion and where sufficiently qualified could become important state officials. Eligible women might end up in royal households and even as wives of princes.