FATHER PIERRE DAN ON THE HISTORY OF ALGIERS – PART 2

(This post is a continuation of Father Pierre Dan on the History of Algiers – Part 1. If you haven’t done so already, it’s best to read that post before continuing on here.)

This week’s post continues Father Pierre Dans’ recounting of the early history of Algiers.

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After Aruch Barbarossa had assassinated Sheik Selim Eutemi, the Sheik’s son, who was still very young, fearing that Barbarossa would play the same trick to him that he had on his father, fled to Oran, a city fifty miles from Algiers in the direction of the Strait of Gibraltar. The Marquis of Comares, Governor of Oran, received him courteously and sent him to Spain to Cardinal Ximenes, who, after the death of King Ferdinand, found himself responsible for all the affairs of the Kingdom in the absence of Charles V, nephew of the deceased King, who was then still very young in Flanders.

The following year, in 1517, Sheik Selim’s son came to Algiers to recover his country, which had been usurped by Barbarossa. His naval force consisted of more than ten thousand Spaniards, under the leadership of their general François de Veta. But they were no sooner at the beach before the town when there came a furious storm, destroying the fleet, with the loss of most of the vessels and the soldiers. Even those few who tried to save themselves by regaining the shore fared no better, for they could no more avoid the fury of these barbarians than they could that of the sea.

Aruch Barbarossa ruled for some time in Algiers, but he was not spared death, as Selim was not. After this, Aruch’s brother, Cheredin Barbarossa, was declared King and Lord of Algiers, with the whole city’s common consent. This prince, who was seen as a man of great heart and mind, realized that he could maintain sovereignty over Algiers only with difficulty if he were not powerfully supported, and so he sought the protection of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Great Lord of the Ottomans, to whom he wrote for this purpose and sent a man he thought fitting to Constantinople with some presents for the Emperor there.

Cheredin Barbarossa wrote that his late brother, Aruch, had become Lord of Algiers, that he had the good fortune to succeed his brother, but that he was somewhat apprehensive about maintaining his position and therefore prayed humbly that his Highness and Imperial Majesty might protect him and his state against the Christian forces, protesting that all his ambition was to support such a great monarch so that the boundaries of the Turkish Empire would expand even more in Barbary.

The Great Lord willingly granted him this request and sent him for this purpose two thousand native-born Turks. He also granted permission to all others who might want to travel to Barbary to assist the same Barbarossa, giving them leave to enjoy in future in the State of Algiers all the liberties and privileges granted to the janissaries in Turkey. Since then, the Great Lord has always sent to Algiers kings or viceroys, otherwise called Bashas, whom he usually changes every year, or whenever he feels like it.

The Kingdom of Algiers increased gradually by means of these kings. In the year 1517, Aruch Barbarossa conquered the cities and the Kingdoms of Tenez and of Tremecen, one situated 30 leagues west of Algiers, the other 52 leagues in the same direction. His brother Cheredin also took Cole, and the city of Bône, then Sala, Ray, and Bacha in the year 1555. Having created an army of three thousand Turks and thirty thousand Moors, he seized Bougie, which was surrendered to him in return for sparing the life of Alphonse de Peralte, who commanded the place.

However, when de Peralte returned to Spain after such a cowardly act, the King his master had him beheaded, to teach those who are entrusted with an important place that it is their duty to die there with weapons in hand rather than surrender shamefully and without any resistance. After these successes, the Algerians had others, even greater, and lifted up their state to a high point of greatness, where it has remained to this day.

Cheredin Barbarossa extended his control over one hundred and seventy leagues along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, along the north shore eastwards from Tabarque, near the Kingdom of Tunis, westwards to Oran, near the Kingdom of Fez. His conquests also took him as far as the land of the negroes, which is sandy and uninhabited almost everywhere.

In this way, he had all Caesarean Mauritania and part of Numidia, where there are a few cities, towns and villages such as Tremecen, Constantine, Bône, Bougie, Tenez, Gigery, Cole, Lestore, Tadelis, and several others.

In the best equipped of these places, they have a small garrison of janissaries, with an Aga to command them. Such troops are kept in these places to prevent Christians from going down there, and also to prevent the inhabitants of those places from rebelling when the issue of their rights is at stake, which happens frequently.

All these cities and villages are not very populated. Those who inhabit them are people from different nations and religions: there are native‑born Turks, whom misery drove out of the Levant, together with Moors and Arabs, but a large number of Moriscos and Jews can also be found there, those who in recent years have been driven out of Spain. Those from Granada and Andalusia, they call Andalusians. The Tagarins are those who come from the Kingdoms of Aragon and Catalonia.

As for the income of this Kingdom… Some put it at six hundred thousand ducats a year, and the others at four hundred and fifty. This is not quite certain, however, for at times it is less, and at others more. It comes from contributions and taxes on merchandise from cities, towns, and villages, and from the tax that is applied every year on the Jews. This is what is assured. What makes it variable is that, for the rest, it depends on the ships and on the merchandise that the corsairs take, which is all taxed at ten percent. However, it happens that such catches are sometimes big, sometimes small—though still too big for the Christian merchants, whose goods and liberty is the cost of it.

There have been some years, such as in 1615 and 1616, when they got catches that amounted to more than two or three million. But when I was in Algiers in 1634, they hardly had enough to arm and maintain their pirate vessels. Because of this, the Basha found himself at a loss for pay for the janissaries, which he is obliged to make up at his own expense if there is not enough revenue from the previous year. If he cannot pay, they put him in jail, as I saw happened to the old Basha, a man of eighty years, his beard white, and his body weak and trembling, who could not guarantee the payment. These barbarians are ruthless when it comes to payment and money.

I should also note that the janissaries once crushed one of the Bashas in a large bronze mortar that they have in the Alcassave, the fortress at the top of the city. Indeed, this is the punishment with which they are accustomed to threaten their Bashas. Their avarice pushing their infidelity beyond mere interest in their pay, they presume to violate the respect they owe to their Great Lord in the person of his viceroys.

For those who may be interested…

Father Dan’s account of the history of Algiers comes from Book 2, Chapter 1 of Histoire de Barbarie. As with the other extracts from Histoire de Barbarie in this blog, I translated the above directly from the original seventeenth century French text.