Working Number | Name | Holding Museum | Date | Materials | Curator Justification |
TN 039 | Privateer ship flags | Palais de la Rose – Musée de l’Armée | 19th 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.
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IT1 037 | A 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 1792 | State Archives of Naples | 1792 | | Privateering 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.
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IT1 083 | Chorographical plan of the attack waged by Lord Exmouth against Algiers on 27 August 1816 | State Archives of Turin | December 1816 | | Control 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.
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FR 051 | General Hullin's audience, provided by the Dey of Algeria | National 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.
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DZ 044 | Vue d'Alger | Musée National des Beaux-Arts | 1816 | Colourised 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.
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IT1 038 | Letter 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 Naples | Algiers, 12 March 1787 | | The Dey of Algiers thanked the King of Naples for the truce he granted to the privateers of Algiers.
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TN 107 | Treaty of Peace and Trade between France and the Tunisian Regency | Archives Nationales | 1799 | | Until 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.
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TN 108 | Passports that French ships were obliged to carry in order to be allowed to practice privateering | Archives nationales | 1799 | | A 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.
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TN 113 | Letter from Marshall Forteguerri, commander general of the navy of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, confirming the purchase of Tunisian slaves in Naples | Archives Nationales | 1797 | | Throughout 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.
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IT1 092 | Declaration by the Bey of Tunis assuring that in future wars with any European power prisoners will not be enslaved | State Archives of Turin | Palace of Bardo (Tunis), 17 April 1816 | | Following 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.
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TN 115 | Disembarking captives at La Goulette Port, Tunis. | Archives Nationales | 1800 | | This 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.
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