The Barbary Pirates 15th-17th Centuries

For the best part of three centuries the 'corsairs' or pirates from the 'Barbary' coasts of North Africa dominated the Western and Central Mediterranean.

They made forays far into the Atlantic, preying on the shipping and coastal settlements across Christian Europe, ranging from Greece to West Africa and the British Isles. In the absence of organized European navies they seldom faced serious opposition, and the scope of their raiding was remarkable. As well as piracy and slave-raiding they f...