DEFINITELY A COMPLICATED ALLIANCE – Corsairs & Captives

When people think about the relationship between North African Barbary corsairs and the European states in the seventeenth century, they usually imagine a straightforward conflict—a clash of civilizations.

There certainly was conflict, but it was not straightforward.

The various European states of the time—Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, England, the Netherlands, the German principalities—were in constant conflict with each other. They declared war and made and broke alliances with bewildering rapidity.

They also made alliances with Barbary corsair city states like Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, and Salé, using them not only to protect their own shipping from attack, but also to gain advantage over their European enemies.

In the early seventeenth century, for example, the gentlemen of the States General, the ruling body of the Republic of the Netherlands, made an alliance with Moulay Zaydan, the Sultan of Morocco, that guaranteed the Salé corsairs would leave Dutch ships alone. At the same time, though, the Dutch encouraged the Salé corsairs to increase their attacks against Spanish shipping—for the Netherlands and Spain were at war.

So for several decades the Dutch and the Salé corsairs were allies, not enemies.

Things could get complicated, though.

The treaty between the Netherlands and Morocco stipulated that Dutch ships, sailors, and merchandise were not to be molested. This did not, however, guarantee the safety of non-Dutch passengers or non-Dutch merchandise.

Sometimes, it didn’t even guarantee the safety of the Dutch.

Here, for example, is the text of a letter sent by the States General to Moulay Zaydan lodging a formal complaint about a breach of the treaty.

A few days ago, we asked, among other things, Mr. Youssef Biscaïno, Ambassador of Your Royal Majesty, to kindly insist to Your Majesty, upon his return to Morocco, that two captured ships be returned to our subjects by the pirates of Salé: one belonging to captain Jan Jacobsz. Groen, and the other to Euwout Henricxz. Since then, one of these captains, namely Euwout Henricxz., returned with his ship to the Netherlands and revealed to us in his complaint the following lamentable facts.

After having loaded his ship, in Genoa and Livorno, with almonds, rice, anise and various other commodities indicated in the attached list and the bills of lading, and which are worth, at cost, the sum of seven thousand nine hundred Flemish pounds, he was taking these goods to Amsterdam when, arriving on October 14 near Cape Finisterre [on the northwest corner of Spain], he was accosted, fifteen leagues from the shore, by a pirate from Salé named El-Hadj Ali, who seized the aforementioned ship.

Although the said captain declared and proved, by his bills of lading and other documents, that he only had Dutch goods on board, destined for Amsterdam, the aforementioned Hadj Ali took no account of this, and wanting to obtain from the captain another statement contrary to the truth, by which he was able to justify his conduct, he had the said captain and a sailor named Jan Pietersz. bound together, had them brought on board his ship, and ordered them to declare that their cargo consisted of French goods.

When they refused, he had them whipped twice in a very painful manner. Finally the torment, the pain, and the threat of being thrown into the sea, still bound together, led the captain to declare, to escape these sufferings and death, that the goods were French.

Thereupon El-Hadj Ali took the said ship and the cargo and brought them to Salé.

The above-mentioned captain declared, in the presence of the Admiral of Salé, Morat Raïs, and others, that all his cargo belonged to Dutch merchants, and that it was the above-mentioned ill-treatment and threats which forced him to declare that it was French. The goods were nevertheless declared a good prize and sold.

The captain was released and his ship returned to him, but without the ship’s boat. He also received some ship’s tools, some provisions, and his crew were also returned to him, though stripped of their clothes. He was as well given some other goods, worth about the cost of their freight charges, with which he returned in the Netherlands.

These procedures are so exorbitant and so contrary to all justice, that we do not doubt that Your Royal Majesty will be unhappy about them, for they go directly against the alliance and the mutual treaties between us… something that Your Majesty surely does not desire.

This letter from the States General was dated December 23, 1624.

Here is another letter, dated May 30, 1624 (six months before the letter by the gentlemen of the States General to Moulay Zaydan), sent from Aharon Querido, a commercial agent in Salé, to his business contacts in the Netherlands.

I will write in more detail in my other letters to your Lordships. However, although I requested, in the general report, all kinds of goods whose sale seems advantageous, I thought I would advise your Lordships that it would be good to promptly ship the munitions I mention at the bottom of this letter. They were requested of me and recommended by the men of the Kasba, that is to say by the Caïd or commander of the castle and by Admiral Morat Rais, who promised me a good profit.

But although such items are accepted and allowed here, they can only be shipped with the permission of the Lords of the States General or the College of the Admiralty of your city . Now as this fortress is the King of Morocco’s, with which the said States and College are in relations of peace and friendship, they should grant such permission without difficulty.

In the case in which your Lordships would consider it good to authorized in the Hague half of these munitions, which would be sent to me on a ship from Rotterdam, the other half could be sent from Amsterdam by the Admiralty on the first ship leaving from that city.

Do not forget the cloves, the shellac, the articles from Poland, and the crémones [one of the names given to violins made in Cremona]. With that, I pray God to keep Your Lordships and remain with us, etc.

Signed: Aharon Querido

List of munitions:

120 muskets
20 quintals of gunpowder
200 oars
200 spears
10 quintals of cannon balls of 2 pounds each
10 quintals of 3-pound cannon balls
10 quintals of 4-pound cannon balls
10 quintals of 5-pound cannon balls
20 quintals of 6-pound cannon balls
30 quintals of 8-pound cannon balls
10 quintals of 9-pound cannon balls
10 quintals of sulfur

The quintal is a historical unit of weight that equaled roughly 100 pounds (45 kilograms). So the Salé corsairs put in an order for no less than 5 tons of cannon balls, plus a ton of gunpowder and half a ton of sulfur.

So while the Netherlands were supplying the Salé corsairs with massive quantities of munitions —no doubt intending/expecting them to be used against the Spanish (and anybody else other than the Dutch)—the Salé corsairs were still filching merchandise from Dutch ships… despite the stipulations of the treaty and despite the benefits they accrued from their alliance with the Dutch.

The Netherlands and Morocco still remained allies for a long time, though.

But it was definitely a complicated alliance.

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The letter from the States General to Moulay Zaydan, dated December 13, 1624, can be found in Les sources inédites de l’histoire du Maroc, première série, dynastie saadienne : archives et bibliothèques des Pays-Bas, tome IV (The Unpublished Sources of Moroccan History: First Series, Saadian Dynasty, Archives & Libraries of The Netherlands, Volume 4), pp. 74-75. The original letter was written in Dutch and translated into French in Les sources inédites. I translated it into English for this post.

The letter from Aharon Querido, dated May 30, 1624 can be found in Les sources inédites de l’histoire du Maroc, première série, dynastie saadienne : archives et bibliothèques des Pays-Bas, tome IIII, pp. 503-504. The original letter was written in Portuguese and translated into French in Les sources inédites. I translated it into English for this post.