North African Pirates in 17th Century IcelandThe Barbary Corsairs were a large band of infamous pira

North African Pirates in 17th Century IcelandThe Barbary Corsairs were a large band of infamous pirates from the Barbary States, now comprised of Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco.  Between the 17th and 19th century the Barbary Pirates were the terror of the high seas, raiding throughout the Mediterranean, but also raiding as far north of Ireland, England, Scotland, and Scandinavia.  Craving wealth, they often struct Spanish treasure fleets contained gold, silver, and jewels from the New World.  In fact they took whatever was of value with which they could make some money with.  One of their most lucrative items were slaves, and between the 17th and 19th centuries it is estimated that the Barbary Pirates abducted between 800.000 and 1.25 million people.One of the Barbary Pirate’s most remote targets was Iceland.  At the time Iceland was an easy pick, they had few weapons, no organized military, and little violence had occurred on the island since the days of the Vikings.  In 1627, a Barbary fleet under the command of Dutch pirate  Jan Janszoon sailed north toward Iceland on a raiding mission.  They arrived at Iceland on June 20th and over the next month raided villages along the eastern and southern coasts.  While Iceland was a soft target, it also didn’t sport many riches.  At best all the pirates found was salted fish and furs.  So the Barbary Pirates decided to take the one thing in Iceland that was of value; slaves.  During the raids 400 Icelanders were abducted to be sold into slavery. Scores of others were killed. Other sources estimate as high as 900 or 1,000, although primary Icelandic sources stick to 400.  The Barbary Pirates were also lucky to have caught some incoming ships from the Netherlands, England, and Denmark, which made the expedition worthwhile.  The 400 Icelanders were sold into slavery at Barbary markets in North Africa.  Among the slaves were Olafur Egilsson, a Lutheran Minister who later wrote an account of his life in captivity, and Guðríður Símonardóttir, who became a concubine until she was personally brought back by King Christian IV of Denmark.  Of the 400 Icelanders abducted, 27 returned home.  In Iceland, the raids were known as the “Turkish Raids” or “Turkish Abductions” since the Barbary States were a part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire at the time.The Barbary Pirates continued their raiding and plundering for the next two centuries.  In the early 19th century a combined fleet of British, French, Spanish, Dutch, and American warships made war on the Barbary States, which greatly reduced their power.  The end of the Barbary Pirates came in 1830 when France conquered and occupied Algeria. -- source link

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