Sea-Wolves of the Mediterranean: The grand period of the Moslem corsairsCurrey, E. Hamilton (Edward Hamilton)
History
Sea-Wolves of the Mediterranean: The grand period of the Moslem corsairs
Currey, E. Hamilton (Edward Hamilton)
Africa, North -- History; Pirates
told, and opposition had to be strong indeed if it were not to be
beaten down by such a leader as Dragut, by such men as his picked five
hundred.
What passed between Dragut and the council of “Africa,” who in so
unqualified a manner had refused that warrior as a citizen, is not on
record; all that we know is that the Moslem leader dispensed with their
services, and did not invite his new fellow-townsmen to share with him
the burden of government. There was hurry in the administration of the
corsair states, as the form of rule which they adopted was apt to irk
the rulers in Christendom. In this particular instance Dragut, having
expelled the Spaniards from the coast towns, knew that a reckoning with
the Emperor and his militant admiral, Andrea Doria, was but a matter
of time, and, in all probability, of a very short time.
Promptly, hurriedly, but efficiently, the corsair organised his
new possession: such laws as he decreed did not err on the side of
tenderness towards a people so ungrateful as to have refused his
protection in the first instance, and who had only accepted the gift
at the point of the sword. His nephew Aisa, a man young in years but a
past-graduate in the school of his terrible uncle, was left in charge,
while Dragut himself sailed once more with his fleet, for, as it is put
by the Spanish historian Marmol, “truly the sea was his element.”
Once again had a Moslem corsair bid defiance to that ruler whom
Sandoval and Marmol in their histories greet by the name of the “Modern
Cæsar.” It was told to Charles that Susa, Sfax, and Monastir had
fallen, that “Africa” was in the hands of the corsairs; “was he never
to be free from these pestilent knaves,” he demanded of his trembling
courtiers? Hot-foot came the couriers from Charles to Andrea Doria,
with orders to take Dragut dead or alive, but alive for choice; and up
and down the tideless sea in the summer of 1549 did the great Genoese
seaman range in search of the bold corsair. Doria was getting a very
old man now, but his eye was undimmed, his strength yet tireless, his
vigilance and zeal in the service of his master unabated.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account