Category: Background

Barbary corsairs weren’t just pirates. They were part of a larger enterprise. There was a religious element to that enterprise:[…]

Last week, we looked at the complications  of seventeenth century currency. This week, we look at how those complications played[…]

Seventeenth century currency was fiendishly complicated by modern standards. Today, there are, of course, multiple currencies—the American/Canadian/Australian/New Zealand dollar, the[…]

The United States of America is nearing its 250th anniversary, and so I reckon this might be an appropriate time[…]

This week we conclude our look at the sorts of ships employed by Barbary corsairs in the seventeenth century. _________________________[…]

By the early decades of the seventeenth century, Barbary corsairs were employing two very different types of ships: oared galleys[…]

Last week, we looked at the Julian and Gregorian calendars. I ended that post with the following: _____ There’s nothing[…]

We take our calendar for granted: 365 days in a year divided into twelve months of between 28 to 31[…]

CORSAIR ATTACKS – PART 3 This week, we conclude this series of posts on corsair attacks. Last week we looked[…]

This week, we continue with a series of posts on corsair attacks. Last week we looked at some of the[…]