Migrations | Privateering and captivity in the Mediterranean | Captives

Some victims of the privateers' wars suffered an exceptional fate.

Captives seized by privateers were generally dispersed far from their homelands. Spaniards, Italians, Portuguese, French, Dutch and English ended up in Tripoli, Algiers, Tunis or Salé. Muslim captives from the Maghreb and Ottoman Turkey were taken to Malta, Marseille, Spain and Italy. Captured prisoners could be freed for a ransom, usually monetary or in kind. The fate of others depended on certain criteria. The most competent could advance socially and even join the court of a sovereign, including some captured Christians of European descent who converted to Islam. For example, the Muradid Beys of Tunis descended from an Italian Corsican, while Hammuda Pasha, the great builder of Tunis, and the reformer Ahmad Pasha Bey I were born to a Genoese captive. Most captives, however, were not so lucky and ended up working on state-sponsored projects, in penal colonies and on galleys.

Working NumberNameHolding MuseumDateMaterialsCurator Justification
IT1 129List of 49 men, women and children from the district of Chiavari (on the Italian cost, near Genoa) who were kept as slaves in Tunis, Tripoli and Algiers, in March 1816State Archives of Genoa23 March 1816This list of enslaved men, women and children from Chiavari in Italy gives a a glimpse of the careful record-keeping after privateering campaigns. Many Italians were taken to Tunisia, many rising to serve as political or military officials. During the reign of Hammuda Pasha Bey, Italian even became the official language of correspondence with foreigners.

IT1 127List of 15 'Tunisian Turks' captured by corsair captain Giuseppe Diano from the Kingdom of Sicily and sold in PalermoState Archives of Palermo1808–11This document from the early 19th century lists “Tunisian Turks” who had been taken prisoner by a Sicilian privateer and taken to Palermo for sale.

IT1 128Appraisal by the assessor of the Tribunal of Booty (Tribunale delle prede) of Palermo, of 25 'Turks of the Barbary Coast' captured by Italian corsairs from the Kingdom of Sicily and detained in PalermoState Archives of Palermo5 August 1811Booty, including captives, taken during privateering raids was carefully assessed and administrated. This document lists “25 Turks from the Barbary coast”, who had been taken to Palermo for sale by Sicilian privateers.

TN 028Le consul Joseph Raffo (painting) Musée d’Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine de Kassar Saïd1840Canvas, wood, coloured pigments, gold leaf Some foreign captives rebuilt their lives very successfully in their new homelands. Joseph Raffo was born in Tunis around 1795, the son of captive parents originally from Chiavari in Italy. Raffo served the Beys from a young age and soon became an influential figure, even serving as minister for foreign affairs.

TN 114List of the Christian captives of Italian origin, written by Mariano Stinca, a Neapolitan captive Archives Nationales1800Mariano Stinca was a captive of Neapolitan descent who ended up in the service of Hammuda Pasha, the Bey of Tunis (1782–1814). After a long period of activity as a statesman, head of protocol and interpreter, he left a large volume of correspondence written in Italian, now an invaluable historical source.

Working NumberNameHolding MuseumDateMaterialsCurator Justification
TN 114List of the Christian captives of Italian origin, written by Mariano Stinca, a Neapolitan captive Archives Nationales1800Mariano Stinca was a captive of Neapolitan descent who ended up in the service of Hammuda Pasha, the Bey of Tunis (1782–1814). After a long period of activity as a statesman, head of protocol and interpreter, he left a large volume of correspondence written in Italian, now an invaluable historical source.