Ottoman Algeria in Western Diplomatic History with ... - Bibliothèque

against Spain which subsequently affected maritime trade of other Christian
powers and became a serious annoyance for them.
More than that, the
Moriscos altered irreversibly the composition of Algerian corsairing crews,
which so far remained exclusively Turkish. Thousands European renegades
also joined the Algerian navy because it offered them better economic
opportunities but also because many vowed hatred for their native Europe. 8
This new composition of the Algerian navy was going to add further elements
of resentment and “hatred that did not always distinguish between Protestant
and Catholic.” 9 This amalgam was going to pit Algiers against other European
powers outside the allies of the Holy Roman Empire—like France, Britain, the
Nordic Countries, and later the United States—that traditionally were not its
enemies, hence the need to conclude peace treaties with them.
Finally, Moriscos and renegades brought unexpected economic
opportunities and new skills that turned the Algerian navy to a dreadful strike
force. While Moriscos brought their artisan and entrepreneurial commercial
skills, renegades revolutionized it. The Moriscos who settled at Algiers
flourished as a middle class standing behind the armament of ships and the
Nordic renegades introduced a different type of seafaring technology called the
broadsides. 10 The large galleys, propelled by hundreds of oarsmen, gave way to
new sailing battleships: light, speedy, and propelled by sail, the broadsides
could cruise longer; therefore, they could reach distant places. Iceland and
8 Cordingly, Pirates, p. 88.
9 Nabil Matar, “English Accounts of Captivity in North Africa and the Middle East: 1577-1625,”
Renaissance Quarterly, 54: 2 (Summer 2001), p. 561.
10 Clissold, “Christian Renegades,” pp. 512-13.
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