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

1624. 78 Third, it tells also that the Algerian corsairs retaliated by capturing
Christians (the case of Sothel) to be able to exchange them with Muslim
captives in Christian Europe (the case of Hadj Omar who was already a captive
of Narborough). 79 Fourth, it tells also that the English merchants and agents at
Leghorn were as active as the ‘Algerine pirates’ at the port of Algiers selling,
buying, and exchanging slaves and sharing in the slave trade profits. Last, its
tells also that certain members of the titled nobility of England won their titles
thanks to piracy—Sir Francis Drake was a notable pirate—or thanks to their
inveterate anti-Muslim hatred and aggression. The above mentioned Viceadmiral
Arthur Herbert rose to the rank of admiral and obtained the title of Sir
thanks to the carrier he had made on the shores of Algiers. 80
Between 1669 and
1683, he “served against the Algerine pirates;” during that period, two dates
were important: in 1678 he lost an eye while he was trying to capture an
Algerian corsair 81 and in 1682 he returned to Algiers with a squadron that
enabled England to obtain a very favorable treaty.
By the mid-17 th century, diplomatic reciprocity was finally established
and Algiers was dealing as equal to equal with the European powers. It
established diplomatic mission at Marseille and London and sent diplomatic
emissaries to Europe not only to solve problems relating to corsairing, captives,
78 In 1677, Narborough was at the Command of a Squadron that England sent to the shores of Algiers
with a mission to “destroy the pirates wherever he found them.” The Algerian prisoners were, no doubt,
part of “the fruits of the latter expedition.” Riddell, “Slavery and Privateering,” p. 343.
79 Stella, Histoires d’esclaves, p. 36; Blondy, “Discours sur l’esclavage,” par. 19.
80 G. E. Aylmer, “Slavery under Charles II: The Mediterranean and Tangier,” The English Historical
Review, 114: 456 (Apr., 1999), pp. 387-88.
81 Riddell, “Slavery and Privateering,” p. 342, fn, 4.
137