Among the pirates there were many excellent sailors, many successful (Bartholomew Roberts), noble, bright, unusual, sometimes cruel (Edward Teach “Blackbeard”) and famous pirates. But only a few of them can be called Great without any exaggeration. One of these Great Pirates, without a doubt, was the “Storm of the Mediterranean” Hayretdin or, more precisely, Khayr ed-Din Barbarossa. In fact, his real name was Khyzyr, he was one of the 4 sons of the Orthodox Albanian Yakov, a potter by profession who lived with his family in the homeland of the poetess Sappho, one of the pearls of Greece - the island of Lesbos. In his youth, Khyzyr converted to Islam and followed his older brothers, preferring the romance and danger of sea travel to the peaceful profession of a cookware manufacturer. Years later, he came under the leadership of his older brother Urouge and became one of the most feared pirate captains in the Mediterranean. By the way, he inherited his nickname Barbarossa (from “Barba” - beard and “rossa” - red), from his older brother Urouja (Uruja), who had a large fiery red beard, which he groomed and cherished in every possible way. The younger one had a small beard, not very red, and he cut it almost to the root. The brothers gained fame as successful pirates and enterprising people. This allowed them to negotiate with the Emir of Tunisia to gain control of the paradise island of Djerba, which for many years became their main base and place of accumulation of valuables.
Khair ed-Din Barbarossa
Urouj was indomitable in his rage and furious in battle and anger, Khair ed-Din was more careful and circumspect. The pirate fleet of Arouja terrorized all the ports of the Mediterranean coast, and in 1516 he was able, with the help of cunning and treachery, to capture Algeria, and became its new ruler under the name of Barbarossa I. After his death on the Salado River at the hands of Spanish soldiers, Arouja in 1518 gained all power over Algeria and by pirate fleets it passed into the hands of Khair ed-Din.
The Ottoman Sultan Selim I, called Yavuz (Terrible), looked closely at the brothers for a long time and, in the end, decided that it was better to have them as allies than as enemies, and showed them signs of favor. However, his son Suleiman I Kanuni, the greatest of all the sultans of the Ottoman Porte, went even further. He decided to use the Algerian pirates as the main tool in his foreign policy and regime, which some of the researchers even called pax Turcica.
Sultan Suleiman I the Magnificent
In the cold autumn of 1532, Sultan Suleiman invited Barbarossa to his capital to make him commander of the entire Turkish fleet. He appreciated the fame and luck of the famous pirate. De jure, Hayreddin’s corsair career ended; de facto, it never stopped. He was and remained a pirate until the end of his days: strong, smart, calculating, talented. Although he was a rather unique filibuster - he was quite good-natured, rarely lost his temper (though, if he was furious, then furious), senseless cruelty was not characteristic of him. Well, the main thing that, for example, personally amazed me, was that he had no slaves on his galleys. He believed that only free teams could fight well.
The Sultan not only made him Kapudan Pasha (commander of the Ottoman fleet), but also granted him the honorary title of beylerbey. Many at court were against such honors, but Suleiman was able to discern in an already middle-aged (57 years old) and rather overweight man with a bronze tan on an ugly face and gray hair breaking out in a short-cropped beard, someone who would understand his plans and be able to carry them out brilliantly. By the way, Barbarossa never let the Sultan down, carrying out daring and complex operations, making the Turks the predominant naval power in the Mediterranean. Barbarossa ensured glory for the Sultan, while Suleiman turned a blind eye to his admiral’s weaknesses for beautiful women, fine wine and the opportunity to plunder captured ships.
Until his death in 1546, Khair ed-Din was invincible in the Mediterranean, regularly defeating the Spaniards, the Imperials, the Genoese and even, when the political situation demanded it, the fleet of the Magnificent Signora (Venice). His main rivals for this period were the family of famous naval commanders Doria from Genoa and the Knights of Malta.
Dargut
His faithful companions and best captains were Sinan, a Jew from Smyrna, capable of determining the height of the sun above the horizon using the butt of a crossbow, a man of unknown origin under the name Kakka Diabola (Beat the Devil), Salih Rais, an obese Arab from the Nile, the famous traveler Sidi Ali, and later the boisterous son of an Anatolian peasant Dragut (Torgut) and the cunning Croatian Pjali. Redbeard valued people for their qualities, and not for their nationality. All his close captains were bright and talented people.
Among the most striking deeds of Hayreddin, I would highlight the conquest of Tunisia; reflection of the invasion of the fleet of Charles V of Habsburg in the spring of 1535, when the Holy Roman Emperor declared his triumph, without having any basis for this, since he not only could not find Barbarossa and recapture Tunisia as planned, despite the first successes in military operations, but also missed the pirate raid on the island of Minorca, which was put to the sword and fire; raids on Italy in the summer of 1537; defeat of imperial troops near Algiers in 1541.
Turkish galley of the 16th - 18th centuries
The brightest, most brilliant victory of the famous pirate was the Battle of Preveza on September 28, 1538. Preveza is a small town in the Greek province of Epirus. In the Gulf of Arta, on the shores of which this city is located, the redbeard's fleet was carrying out minor repairs and resupply when Andrea Doria was able to track it down and lock it in a narrow bay. Doria was an experienced naval commander and at first he did everything perfectly - he did not put his ships (which could get stuck in the shallows) into the bay, did not succumb to the provocations and false maneuvers of the Turks, and lined up his ships correctly. Under his leadership there was a powerful fleet of ships from Venice, Genoa, Spain, the Papal State and the Order of Malta consisting of more than 200 ships, among which were the most powerful carracks (galleons), which the Algerian admiral did not have in principle. The allied fleet had a fivefold advantage in terms of people. It seemed that everything that Doria had dreamed of had come together - he would meet Barbarossa in open battle, having a clear numerical and fire superiority, a better tactical position and the “right” wind. However, in the end, the Genoese admiral lost, and miserably. It is difficult today to restore the true state of affairs, exactly how this battle took place, because sources describe this naval battle in different ways. Well, the result is the same - thanks to better tactics, more skillful commands and personal courage, the Turkish fleet managed to destroy 13 ships and capture 36. Allied losses in prisoners alone amounted to more than 300 people. The Sultan's fleet did not lose a single ship, and personal losses amounted to 400 people killed and about 700 wounded. The triumph was complete - Hayreddin took possession of the entire Mediterranean.
Battle of Privez. Painting by Shannes Umed Bezad.
The highlight of the redbeard’s brilliant career was his last campaign. In the spring of 1543, Barbarossa, at the head of a huge fleet, visited allied France, where he stood in the port of Toulon all winter, scaring off the Spaniards and making Genoa tremble, which he threatened to storm. Having freed Dragut, who was languishing in captivity, and 400 of his other associates, he made a farewell pirate raid from Toulon
Returning home, Barbarossa terrified the population of those parts of the coast of the empire that he visited. Bypassing Genoa, he devastated the island of Elba and the Tuscan coast, raided the island of Giglio, and plundered the port of Ercole. Having spared the papal lands, he led the fleet into the Gulf of Naples, ravaging a number of islands, landed in Pazzuoli and made a forced march to the gates of Naples. At the Strait of Messina, Barbarossa plundered the population of the Aeolian Islands and only after that returned to Istanbul with huge trophies, where he lived in recent years. He died 2 years later on July 4, 1546 and was buried in a mosque erected especially for his honors in a tomb made of durable gray granite. The Arabic words “Maat rais al bahr” are carved on the tomb, which means: “The deceased is the beylerbey of the sea.” The mosque itself is located right next to the sea in full view of passing ships. For many decades, not a single ship set sail from the pier at the palace cape without a salute to the tomb of Barbarossa.
Monument to Barbarossa in the courtyard of Dolmabahce Palace (Istanbul)
Redbeard went into another world, but left a wonderful plan for the development of the Ottoman fleet, and most importantly, good sailors and admirals, which allowed the Turks to be an invincible naval force for another quarter of a century, until the famous Battle of Lepanto in 1571.
The Turks still remember their famous commander. Now his monument stands in the courtyard of the Istanbul Dolmabahce Palace.
P.S. One of my readers gave a link to a very good community about the Ottomans and Turkey. I recommend!
Zuhal Karadag
In Turkey, since 1926, July 1 is celebrated as Shipping Day. Shipping is the right of a state to transport passengers and goods between its ports. However, the Ottoman State's privileges for the navigation of foreign ships under the surrender treaties were abolished in 1923 by the Treaty of Lausanne, which was enshrined in law on April 20, 1926. The Shipping Law came into force on July 1, 1926, causing this date to be celebrated as Shipping Day in Turkey. According to this law, Turkish citizens are granted the right to transport cargo and passengers along rivers, lakes, the Sea of Marmara and straits, in all territorial waters and the bays, ports, and bays located in them using mechanized, sailing and rowing vehicles. In addition, the law stipulates that Turkish citizens can perform the professions of diver, pilot, captain, ship mechanic and sailor. It was established that foreign ships can carry out cargo and passenger transportation only between Turkish ports and the ports of a particular country.
In our article today we will talk about the famous sailor Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha, who went down in the history of Turkish navigation.
In the spring of 1538, the largest fleet in history was founded: it included 600 ships from European countries such as Spain, Germany, Venice, Portugal, Genoa, the Vatican, Florence and Malta. At the head of this crusader fleet, the German Emperor Charles Quintus placed Andrea Doria, the most prominent admiral in Europe in the 16th century. The main goal of this huge fleet was to defeat the Ottoman fleet under the command of the Algerian beylerbey Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha. This fleet posed a significant threat to European countries in the Mediterranean Sea. At the beginning of September 1538, the ships of the Crusader fleet began to gather in the Ionian Sea to deliver a powerful blow to the enemy fleet. This bad news soon reached the State Council in Istanbul, and from there it reached Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha, who was on the island of Egriboz. Andrea Doria began a massive cannon attack on the island of Preveza in the territorial waters of Greece, which was an important naval base of the Ottoman fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, and some of the ships moored in the port were sunk.
Following this, Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha sends one of the commanders of the flotilla of 20 ships, Turgut Reis, on reconnaissance in the Ionian Sea. 
Turgut Flight
, entering the territorial waters of the island of Zanta in the south of the Ionian Islands, saw a crusader flotilla of 40 ships and then informed Barbarossa about the enemy’s positions. In accordance with the information received, the Ottoman fleet left the island of Egriboz and, heading for the Peloponnese Peninsula, arrived at the southern base of Modon. Andrea Doria, in turn, having learned about the approach of Ottoman ships, lifted the siege of Preveza and sent his flotilla towards the island of Corfu. In response, the Ottoman fleet, passing through a narrow strait from the northwestern tip of the Gulf of Arta, arrived at the naval base at Preveza, where it anchored. Admiral Andrea Doria sought this. According to the plan he developed, the Turkish fleet, inferior in strength to the Crusader fleet, would refuse to engage in battle on the high seas and would be blocked in Preveza. The Crusader fleet was 3 times stronger than the Turkish fleet.
On September 27, Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha gathered the admirals of his fleet and discussed with them the strategy towards the enemy, taking into account the superiority of the latter’s forces, putting forward a proposal to leave Preveza and go on an attack on the powerful enemy armada. According to Hayreddin Pasha, the main advantages of the Ottoman flotilla were the high maneuverability of Turkish ships and the long range of Turkish cannons. That night the entire fleet prepared for battle, and at dawn on September 28, the ships left the Preveza Strait and a few hours after sunrise, both flotillas entered into battle. The Ottoman fleet was divided into 3 flanks: in the center, the ships were commanded by Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha himself, the right flank was led by Salih Reis, and the ships of the left flank were commanded by Seydi Ali Reis, while Turgut Reis led the reserve behind. The ships of the Ottoman fleet fired at the crusader flotilla from three flanks and, continuing the onslaught, went on the offensive. A few hours later, half of the Crusaders' ships were sunk in the Mediterranean Sea. Admial Andrea Doria, in this unpredictable situation, in order to avoid further losses, hastily left the area of the naval battle and, having collected the surviving ships, withdrew his forces through the Gulf of Arta. This naval battle of Preveza, which became one of the most significant in the history of the navy, ended in a brilliant victory for Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha.
Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha
, born in 1473, is known as the most prominent naval commander of the Ottoman Empire. At first, together with his older brother Oruch Reis, he traded in piracy in northern Africa and gained fame in the Mediterranean. After joining the Ottoman Empire in 1528, the state of Barbarossa, which he created in Algeria, Hayreddin Pasha was appointed commander of the Ottoman fleet, which under him became the best in the Mediterranean. And it was under him that the foundations of Turkish navigation were laid.
Barbarossa won one of his biggest victories at the age of 70: on August 5, 1543, together with allied French ships, Barbarossa went to the coast of Nice, surrounded the city, which was at that time under the rule of the German king Charles Quint, and on August 20 handed it over to the Kingdom of France . Several centuries later, in the municipality of Toulon, the naval base of the French navy, a painting appeared showing the Ottoman fleet anchored in Toulon. Here is the last line of the poem placed under the canvas: “Barbarossa and his fleet are depicted here, coming to our aid.”
2 years after this campaign, Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha died in Istanbul and was buried in a tomb in Besiktas, opposite the modern Maritime Museum. His return from the campaign was immortalized in the following lines of the great poet Yahya Kemal Beyatli:
“Where do cannon salvoes come from in the open sea?
Maybe this is Barbarossa returning from a campaign?
Are they from the islands, Tunisia or Algeria?
200 ships plowing the horizons of freedom.
They return from where a new month is born.
From what campaign do these blessed ships arrive?”
Among the pirates there were many excellent sailors, many successful (Bartholomew Roberts), noble, bright, unusual, sometimes cruel (Edward Teach “Blackbeard”) and famous pirates. But only a few of them can be called Great without any exaggeration. One of these Great Pirates, without a doubt, was the “Storm of the Mediterranean” Hayretdin or, more precisely, Khayr ed-Din Barbarossa. In fact, his real name was Khyzyr, he was one of the 4 sons of the Orthodox Albanian Yakov, a potter by profession who lived with his family in the homeland of the poetess Sappho, one of the pearls of Greece - the island of Lesbos. In his youth, Khyzyr converted to Islam and followed his older brothers, preferring the romance and danger of sea travel to the peaceful profession of a cookware manufacturer. Years later, he came under the leadership of his older brother Urouge and became one of the most feared pirate captains in the Mediterranean. By the way, he inherited his nickname Barbarossa (from “Barba” - beard and “rossa” - red), from his older brother Urouja (Uruja), who had a large fiery red beard, which he groomed and cherished in every possible way. The younger one had a small beard, not very red, and he cut it almost to the root. The brothers gained fame as successful pirates and enterprising people. This allowed them to negotiate with the Emir of Tunisia to gain control of the paradise island of Djerba, which for many years became their main base and place of accumulation of valuables.
Khair ed-Din Barbarossa
Urouj was indomitable in his rage and furious in battle and anger, Khair ed-Din was more careful and circumspect. The pirate fleet of Arouja terrorized all the ports of the Mediterranean coast, and in 1516 he was able, with the help of cunning and treachery, to capture Algeria, and became its new ruler under the name of Barbarossa I. After his death on the Salado River at the hands of Spanish soldiers, Arouja in 1518 gained all power over Algeria and by pirate fleets it passed into the hands of Khair ed-Din.
The Ottoman Sultan Selim I, called Yavuz (Terrible), looked closely at the brothers for a long time and, in the end, decided that it was better to have them as allies than as enemies, and showed them signs of favor. However, his son Suleiman I Kanuni, the greatest of all the sultans of the Ottoman Porte, went even further. He decided to use the Algerian pirates as the main tool in his foreign policy and regime, which some of the researchers even called pax Turcica.
Sultan Suleiman I the Magnificent
In the cold autumn of 1532, Sultan Suleiman invited Barbarossa to his capital to make him commander of the entire Turkish fleet. He appreciated the fame and luck of the famous pirate. De jure, Hayreddin’s corsair career ended; de facto, it never stopped. He was and remained a pirate until the end of his days: strong, smart, calculating, talented. Although he was a rather unique filibuster - he was quite good-natured, rarely lost his temper (though, if he was furious, then furious), senseless cruelty was not characteristic of him. Well, the main thing that, for example, personally amazed me, was that he had no slaves on his galleys. He believed that only free teams could fight well.
The Sultan not only made him Kapudan Pasha (commander of the Ottoman fleet), but also granted him the honorary title of beylerbey. Many at court were against such honors, but Suleiman was able to discern in an already middle-aged (57 years old) and rather overweight man with a bronze tan on an ugly face and gray hair breaking out in a short-cropped beard, someone who would understand his plans and be able to carry them out brilliantly. By the way, Barbarossa never let the Sultan down, carrying out daring and complex operations, making the Turks the predominant naval power in the Mediterranean. Barbarossa ensured glory for the Sultan, while Suleiman turned a blind eye to his admiral’s weaknesses for beautiful women, fine wine and the opportunity to plunder captured ships.
Until his death in 1546, Khair ed-Din was invincible in the Mediterranean, regularly defeating the Spaniards, the Imperials, the Genoese and even, when the political situation demanded it, the fleet of the Magnificent Signora (Venice). His main rivals for this period were the family of famous naval commanders Doria from Genoa and the Knights of Malta.
Dargut
His faithful companions and best captains were Sinan, a Jew from Smyrna, capable of determining the height of the sun above the horizon using the butt of a crossbow, a man of unknown origin under the name Kakka Diabola (Beat the Devil), Salih Rais, an obese Arab from the Nile, the famous traveler Sidi Ali, and later the boisterous son of an Anatolian peasant Dragut (Torgut) and the cunning Croatian Pjali. Redbeard valued people for their qualities, and not for their nationality. All his close captains were bright and talented people.
Among the most striking deeds of Hayreddin, I would highlight the conquest of Tunisia; reflection of the invasion of the fleet of Charles V of Habsburg in the spring of 1535, when the Holy Roman Emperor declared his triumph, without having any basis for this, since he not only could not find Barbarossa and recapture Tunisia as planned, despite the first successes in military operations, but also missed the pirate raid on the island of Minorca, which was put to the sword and fire; raids on Italy in the summer of 1537; defeat of imperial troops near Algiers in 1541.
Turkish galley of the 16th - 18th centuries
The brightest, most brilliant victory of the famous pirate was the Battle of Preveza on September 28, 1538. Preveza is a small town in the Greek province of Epirus. In the Gulf of Arta, on the shores of which this city is located, the redbeard's fleet was carrying out minor repairs and resupply when Andrea Doria was able to track it down and lock it in a narrow bay. Doria was an experienced naval commander and at first he did everything perfectly - he did not put his ships (which could get stuck in the shallows) into the bay, did not succumb to the provocations and false maneuvers of the Turks, and lined up his ships correctly. Under his leadership there was a powerful fleet of ships from Venice, Genoa, Spain, the Papal State and the Order of Malta consisting of more than 200 ships, among which were the most powerful carracks (galleons), which the Algerian admiral did not have in principle. The allied fleet had a fivefold advantage in terms of people. It seemed that everything that Doria had dreamed of had come together - he would meet Barbarossa in open battle, having a clear numerical and fire superiority, a better tactical position and the “right” wind. However, in the end, the Genoese admiral lost, and miserably. It is difficult today to restore the true state of affairs, exactly how this battle took place, because sources describe this naval battle in different ways. Well, the result is the same - thanks to better tactics, more skillful commands and personal courage, the Turkish fleet managed to destroy 13 ships and capture 36. Allied losses in prisoners alone amounted to more than 300 people. The Sultan's fleet did not lose a single ship, and personal losses amounted to 400 people killed and about 700 wounded. The triumph was complete - Hayreddin took possession of the entire Mediterranean.
Battle of Privez. Painting by Shannes Umed Bezad.
The highlight of the redbeard’s brilliant career was his last campaign. In the spring of 1543, Barbarossa, at the head of a huge fleet, visited allied France, where he stood in the port of Toulon all winter, scaring off the Spaniards and making Genoa tremble, which he threatened to storm. Having freed Dragut, who was languishing in captivity, and 400 of his other associates, he made a farewell pirate raid from Toulon
Returning home, Barbarossa terrified the population of those parts of the coast of the empire that he visited. Bypassing Genoa, he devastated the island of Elba and the Tuscan coast, raided the island of Giglio, and plundered the port of Ercole. Having spared the papal lands, he led the fleet into the Gulf of Naples, ravaging a number of islands, landed in Pazzuoli and made a forced march to the gates of Naples. At the Strait of Messina, Barbarossa plundered the population of the Aeolian Islands and only after that returned to Istanbul with huge trophies, where he lived in recent years. He died 2 years later on July 4, 1546 and was buried in a mosque erected especially for his honors in a tomb made of durable gray granite. The Arabic words “Maat rais al bahr” are carved on the tomb, which means: “The deceased is the beylerbey of the sea.” The mosque itself is located right next to the sea in full view of passing ships. For many decades, not a single ship set sail from the pier at the palace cape without a salute to the tomb of Barbarossa.
Monument to Barbarossa in the courtyard of Dolmabahce Palace (Istanbul)
Redbeard went into another world, but left a wonderful plan for the development of the Ottoman fleet, and most importantly, good sailors and admirals, which allowed the Turks to be an invincible naval force for another quarter of a century, until the famous Battle of Lepanto in 1571.
The Turks still remember their famous commander. Now his monument stands in the courtyard of the Istanbul Dolmabahce Palace.
Among the pirates there were many excellent, famous sailors, many successful (Bartholomew Roberts), noble, bright, sometimes cruel (Edward Teach “Blackbeard”). But only a few can be called great without exaggeration. One of them, without a doubt, was the thunderstorm of the Mediterranean, Hayretdin, or Khayr ed-Din Barbarossa.
His real name was Khyzyr, he was one of the 4 sons of the Orthodox Albanian potter Jacob, who with his family lived in the homeland of the poetess Sappho, the island of Lesbos.
In his youth, Khyzyr converted to Islam and followed his older brothers, preferring the romance and danger of sea travel to the peaceful profession of a cookware maker. Years later, he came under the leadership of his older brother Urouge and became one of the most feared pirate captains in the Mediterranean. By the way, he inherited his nickname “Barbarossa” (from the Italian barba - beard and rossa - red), from his older brother Arouj (Uruja), the owner of a large fiery red beard. The younger one had a small beard, not very red, and he cut it almost to the root. But according to legend, after the death of his brother, he dyed his small beard with Levsonia leaves, in order to preserve the succession, so to speak :-)
The brothers gained fame as successful pirates and enterprising people. This allowed them to come to an agreement with the Emir of Tunisia and gain control of the paradise island of Djerba, which for many years became their main base and place of accumulation of valuables.
Khair ed-Din Barbarossa
Urouj was of a fierce temperament, indomitable in rage, and furious in battle. Khair ed-Din was also not an angel, but he was famous for his greater caution and prudence. The pirate fleet of Urouj terrorized all the ports of the Mediterranean coast, and in 1516, thanks to the cunning and treachery of its leader, it managed to capture Algeria. Urouj became its new ruler under the name of Barbarossa the First. In 1518, after the death of Urouj at the hands of Spanish soldiers on the Salado River, all power over Algeria and the pirate fleets passed to Khair ed-Din.
Ottoman Sultan Selim I, nicknamed Yavuz (Terrible), looked closely at the brothers for a long time, showed them signs of favor and, in the end, decided that it was better to have them as allies than as opponents. However, his son Suleiman I Kanuni, the greatest of all the sultans of the Ottoman Porte, went even further. He decided to use Algerian pirates as the main instrument of his foreign policy, placing them at the service of a regime that some historians called the pax Turcica.
Sultan Suleiman I the Magnificent
In the cold autumn of 1532, Sultan Suleiman invited Barbarossa to his capital to make him commander of the entire Turkish fleet. He appreciated the fame and luck of the famous pirate. De jure, Hayreddin’s corsair career ended; de facto, it never stopped. He was and remained a pirate until the end of his days: strong, smart, calculating, talented. He was an unusual filibuster: quite good-natured, rarely losing his temper; senseless cruelty was not characteristic of him. True, if he fell into a rage, he was furious. But what struck me most was that he had no slaves on his galleys. Barbarossa believed that only free fighters could fight well.
The Sultan not only made him Kapudan Pasha (commander of the Ottoman fleet), but also bestowed the honorary title of beylerbey (governor of a certain territory, reporting directly to the Sultan and only to him). Many at court were against such honors, but Suleiman was able to discern in the no longer young (57 years old), gray-haired and rather overweight man with a bronze tan on his ugly face, someone who would understand his plans and be able to carry them out brilliantly.
And Barbarossa never let the Sultan down, carrying out his daring and complex operations. It was he, Hayreddin, who made Turkey the dominant maritime power in the Mediterranean. Until his death in 1546, Khair ed-Din was invincible in the Mediterranean, invariably defeating the Spaniards, the Genoese and even, if the political situation required it, the fleet of the Magnificent Señora (Venice). His main rivals during this period were the family of famous naval commanders Doria from Genoa and the Knights of Malta. Barbarossa ensured glory for the Sultan, and Suleiman turned a blind eye to his admiral’s weakness for beautiful women, fine wine and the plunder of captured ships.
Dargut
The Jew from Smyrna, Sinan, who was able to determine the height of the sun above the horizon using the butt of a crossbow, became Barbarossa’s faithful companions and best captains; a man of unknown origin named Kakka diabola (Beat the Devil), an obese Arab from the Nile, Salih Rais; the famous traveler Sidi Ali, later the frantic son of the Anatolian peasant Dragut (Torgut) and the cunning Croatian Pjali. Barbarossa valued people for their business and fighting qualities; his nationality and origin were of little interest to him. All his associates were smart and talented people.
Among the most striking deeds of Hayreddin, I would highlight several. Of course, this is the conquest of Tunisia, when the fleet led by Barbarossa repelled the attack of Charles V of Habsburg in the spring of 1535. The head of the Holy Roman Empire, without any reason, proclaimed the triumph of his fleet, and he himself not only failed to find Barbarossa and recapture Tunisia, but also missed the pirate raid on the island of Minorca, which was betrayed by the Turks to fire and sword. Hayreddin's successful raids on Italy in the summer of 1537 are known; defeat of imperial troops near Algiers in 1541.
Turkish galley of the 16th - 18th centuries
The most brilliant victory of the famous pirate was the Battle of Preveza on September 28, 1538. Preveza is a small town in the Greek province of Epirus. In the Gulf of Arta, on the shore of which it is located, the redbeard's fleet was carrying out minor repairs and replenishing supplies when Andrea Doria tracked it down and locked it in a narrow bay. Doria was an experienced naval commander and at first he did everything perfectly: he did not go into the bay, where the ships could get stuck in the shallows, he did not succumb to the provocations and false maneuvers of the Turks, and he organized the ship formation correctly. Under his leadership, he assembled a powerful fleet, combining ships from Venice, Genoa, Spain, the Papal State and the Order of Malta, more than 200 ships in total. Among them were powerful carracks (galleons), which the enemy did not have. The allied fleet had a fivefold advantage in men. It seemed that everything that Doria had dreamed of had come together: he met Barbarossa in open battle, having a clear numerical and fire superiority, a better tactical position and the “right” wind.
However, the Genoese admiral lost, and miserably. Today it is difficult to imagine exactly how the battle took place, because sources describe this naval battle in different ways. But the result is indisputable: thanks to the best tactics, skill of the teams and unbridled courage, the Turkish fleet managed to destroy 13 enemy ships and capture 36. Allied losses in prisoners alone amounted to more than 300 people. The Sultan's fleet did not lose a single ship, and personal losses amounted to 400 people killed and about 700 wounded. The triumph was complete - Hayreddin took possession of the entire Mediterranean.
Battle of Privez. Painting by Shannes Umed Bezad.
The highlight of the redbeard’s brilliant career was his last campaign. In the spring of 1543, Barbarossa, at the head of a huge fleet, visited allied France, where he stood in the port of Toulon all winter, scaring off the Spaniards and making Genoa tremble, which he threatened to storm. From Toulon, the red-bearded man made a farewell pirate raid, freeing Dragut, who was languishing in captivity, and 400 other associates.
Returning home, Barbarossa terrified the population of the coast of the Holy Roman Empire. Bypassing Genoa, he devastated the island of Elba and the Tuscan coast, raided the island of Giglio, and plundered the port of Ercole. Having spared the papal lands, he led the fleet into the Gulf of Naples, ravaging a number of islands, landed in Pazzuoli and made a forced march to the gates of Naples.
In the area of the Strait of Messina, Barbarossa robbed the population of the Aeolian Islands and returned to Istanbul with huge trophies, where he lived his last years. He died 2 years later, on July 4, 1546, and was buried in a mosque erected especially for him, in a tomb made of durable gray granite. On the tombstone you can see the Arabic inscription: “Maat rais al bahr”, which means: “Here lies the beylerbey of the sea.” The mosque stands on the shore, in sight of passing ships. For dozens of years, not a single ship set sail from the pier of the palace cape without a fireworks salute in honor of Barbarossa.
Monument to Barbarossa in the courtyard of Dolmabahce Palace (Istanbul)
Having left for another world, the red-bearded man left a unique plan for the development of the Ottoman fleet, and most importantly, he trained good sailors, which allowed the Turks to be an invincible naval power for another quarter of a century, until the famous Battle of Lepanto in 1571.
The Turks still remember their famous naval commander. There is a monument to him in the courtyard of the Istanbul Dolmabahce Palace.
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Family businesses are very different. For example, the brothers Arouj and Hayreddin created a dynasty of naval soldiers of fortune in the service of the Ottoman Empire. They had a huge fleet under their command, and there were no pirates more terrible than the corsairs of Allah - that’s what they called themselves. Both brothers had quite official titles, and the younger, Hayreddin, who called himself Barbarossa, became the Sultan of Algeria - a notable achievement for a pirate. Hayreddin was followed by his son, Hasan Pasha, who was a little less famous - after all, it was almost impossible to surpass the glory of his father and uncle.
The beginning of a long journey
It all started when Yakub Agha, an Ottoman soldier who took part in the capture of Lesvos, retired and received a plot of land in the village of Bonova. Having settled down, he married the early widowed Katerina, a Greek by birth, and seriously began trading. The former soldier had considerable luck and instinct, so he made a good fortune. His wife loved Yakub and bore him seven children: two beautiful daughters and five sons.
The eldest son, Ishaq, continued his father’s business and engaged in maritime trade, and four younger brothers, Ilyas (1471), Arouj (1473), Muhammad (1474) and Hayreddin (1475), spent their entire childhood as his assistants. The boys quickly got used to the sea, learned to navigate small ships, and grew strong and strong. Their father taught them the basics of martial arts, the use of various weapons, and combat tactics. Ilyas also mastered carpentry, Hayreddin learned pottery, but his father died early and the brothers did not need the skills of a peaceful life.
After the death of their father, Arouj, Ilyas and Hayreddin went to Tunisia, where they enlisted as volunteers on a pirate ship. Arouge was 16 when he first went on board, and soon became a brave and cruel warrior. The brothers did not lag behind Arouj in courage, but always recognized his primacy.
Glorious Arouj
The service of the master of Tunisia, Mohammad Al-Hafsi, consisted of attacking passing ships of other powers for the purpose of robbery or ransom. It was decided to give one of the first European ships captured by the brothers to the Ottoman Sultan. Salim I graciously accepted the generous gift and thanked both the corsair and Al-Hafsi for their wise decision.
At the age of twenty, Urouj experienced his first cruel defeat - he was captured by the Johannites, fighting monks, and sent to Rhodes as a prisoner and slave. Ilyas died in that battle, and Hayreddin managed to escape. The captive Urouj did not lose heart and soon also fled, joined the pirate crew and again took up robbery. Sensing the respect of the crew, he rebelled, overthrew the captain and took his place on the bridge.
On his own ship, Urouj, whom the crew called Papa Urouj, headed to Egypt, where the Sultan was gathering a fleet, planning a war with the Portuguese. The ruler gave the young captain warriors, weapons and set the task: to clear the Mediterranean of European corsairs, as well as to capture maximum booty. The Sultan was entitled to 20%, the rest was the “salary” of the pirates.
Setting to work, Urouj first occupied Djerba, a large and convenient island off the coast of Africa. There he created a transshipment base with the help of the brothers Ishaq and Hayreddin. Ishak's trade connections guaranteed the pirates excellent supplies, and Hayreddin turned out to be no worse a warrior than Arouj himself. The Sultan initially had 20% of the loot and captured by his subjects, but after coming into power, Arouj began to bargain. As a result, his fleet gave only 10% of the production to the Sultan - and that was very, very much.
From pirate to ruler
Being subordinate to the Sultan, the corsair cleared all the Mediterranean islands of European pirates, pursuing, however, his own benefit - competitors had to be eliminated. From 1504 until the end of 1510, the Arouja fleet carried out a humanitarian mission, liberating Muslims in Andalusia and helping them reach the Sultan's possessions in northern Africa.
In 1515, the successful pirate admiral liberated the territory of Algiers and Tlemcen from the Spanish invaders, after which he proclaimed himself ruler of Algeria. The Europeans nicknamed Urouge Barbarossa for his fiery red beard and his methods of warfare, but the pirate was simply terrifyingly practical in battle.
Having captured a fairly vast territory, Arouj decided that he needed a strong patron, and took a vassal oath to Sultan Salim the First, declaring the captured lands Ottoman.
The Spaniards, observing the actions of the corsair, became furious: the pirate jeopardized expansion in the North African territories. Therefore, they gathered 15,000 angry soldiers and drove Arouj out of Algeria. With a small army, the newly-minted ruler strengthened himself in Tlemcen, but the Spaniards took the city and executed the famous corsair. Arouj, nicknamed Barbarossa, was succeeded by his younger brother Hayreddin.
The elder's red beard, which gave him the right to a loud nickname, became a symbol of strength and courage, so, having taken the place of Arouj, Hayreddin began to dye his beard to make him more like his late brother.
After Arouja's execution, Hayreddin continued to resist Spanish expansion, but due to heavy losses he lacked men and weapons. To solve the problem of personnel shortage, the newly made vassal of the Ottoman Empire went to Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.
Having assessed Hayreddin’s plans for the return of Algeria, the Sultan allocated two thousand selected Janissary fighters under the command of the corsair, and also ensured an uninterrupted supply of weapons and provisions. Volunteers joined the small army, so that the pirate led about 6 thousand people against the Spaniards. Of course, it was a risk, but Hayreddin’s luck did not disappoint.
Driven by rage and the desire to avenge his brother, he drove the Spaniards out of the entire Algerian coast and captured new territories, significantly expanding his possessions. As a reward, the Sultan appointed Hayreddin beylerbey of Africa, that is, the head of the seven African beys - rulers under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. In 1519, Hayreddin first besieged and then captured the Peñona fortress, depriving the Spaniards of their most important outpost on the approaches to Algeria.
Continuing the humanitarian mission begun by Arouj, Hayreddin freed Andalusian Muslims, helped them leave dangerous areas or go to the lands of Algeria. He transported seventy thousand people to the North African coast in 1529.
The corsair fleet was small, only 36 ships, so the evacuation was carried out in seven flights. Hayreddin and his team not only transported refugees, but also, if possible, helped them settle in a new place, providing them with food and shelter at the expense of Sultan Suleiman.
Admiral Barbarossa
Noting Hayreddin's achievements in the war with Spain, Suleiman the Magnificent invited the pirate to Istanbul in 1533. Having met Hayreddin as a dear guest, the Sultan entrusted him with an important mission: to make the Ottoman fleet as combat-ready as possible. The entire fleet, as well as the shipyards located in the Golden Horn Bay, came under the command of Hayreddin, who became Kapudan Pasha.
Being not only an excellent warrior, but also a skilled navigator, the former pirate introduced updated ships into the fleet, thought through and optimized equipment, worked with future sailors, explaining how to navigate a ship in a storm, how to control new and unfamiliar ships.
Hayreddin’s most important innovation was iron discipline in the navy: he demanded that sailors unquestioningly comply with all the rules, which, however, he explained very well. There were also requirements for weapons: every sailor was obliged to keep his arsenal clean and in constant combat readiness.
A strict ban was imposed on drinking and gambling. Sailors who were caught playing dice for money were severely punished, and soon there were no more people in the entire fleet willing to play for money.
The Sultan ordered the renewed fleet under the command of Hayreddin to return Tunisia to the caliphate. 80 thousand trained soldiers on 80 ships set out in the direction of Tunisia and completed the task, finally dealing with the Hafsits who ruled it. In 1534, setting off a violent confrontation, Tunisia was officially returned to the rule of the Ottoman Sultan. Charles V, who planned to seize these territories, did not like the fact that the corsair was ahead of him.
Enraged by the loss of the initiative to the Muslims, the emperor sent a huge army to capture Tunisia. Of course, resentment was not the only reason: Hayreddin's actions could complicate Italy's sea communications with Spain, as well as provoke an attack by North African Muslims on Spain in an attempt to finally liberate Andalusia.
Tunisia was captured by Charles V in the same 1534. And at that moment Hayreddin captured 6 thousand Spaniards in the Balearic Islands and sailed with the captives to Algeria. Just as Charles V was being congratulated in Rome on the capture of Tunisia, a messenger arrived and reported an attack by Ottoman pirates.
Hayreddin boldly used the inheritance left by his older brother: connections and a base in Djerba, brazenly piracy throughout the Mediterranean Sea. This greatly irritated the European rulers, so in 1538 Charles V sent a punitive expedition led by Andrea Doria. The powerful fleet consisted of 157 ships and more than 60 thousand soldiers, against 122 Ottoman galleys and approximately 20-22 thousand corsairs.
The opponents met at Preveza on September 28, and Hayreddin Barbarossa defeated the imperial fleet. The biggest attempt to punish Hayreddin ended in nothing. Doria fled, the damage was enormous, and the emperor’s successors were unable to assemble a fleet of similar power for more than 35 years. This battle marked the victory of the Ottoman Empire over Spain.
Peace
Hayreddin Barbarossa entered his well-deserved retirement only after becoming completely decrepit and finally transferring all powers to his eldest son, Hasan Pasha. The mountains of gold captured by the admiral during the years of robbery in the Mediterranean Sea made it possible to build a luxurious palace on the shores of the Bosphorus - where the magnificent admiral decided to spend his old age.
Being very pious, he not only prayed in a timely manner and lived according to the precepts of the Koran, but also built a magnificent mosque next to the palace.
Near the mosque, Hayreddin, who had retired, ordered the construction of a mausoleum. He himself spent time in leisurely reflection and writing memoirs. Until his death, he worked diligently on the manuscript - these are five volumes, colorfully describing the adventures of the corsair. The manuscript has survived to this day.
Curious people can not only see the relic in person in the museum, but also read the works of Hayreddin - the books are stored in the university library of Istanbul.
The corsair died in his palace, surrounded by love and care, at the age of 71, on July 4, 1546. Hasan Pasha buried his father in a mausoleum at the mosque so that the deceased admiral could hear the splash of waves in the strait even after death.
For many years, every Ottoman ship that passed the Bosphorus fired a salvo in honor of the great admiral, and some ships still salute this talented commander, who managed from a simple soldier of fortune to become the admiral of a huge empire.
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