Christian Slaves,Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean,the Barbary Coast,and Italy,1500-1800

Early Modern History: Society and Culture

by Robert C. Davis

This is a study that digs deeply into this "other" slavery, the bondage of Europeans by north-African Muslims that flourished during the same centuries as the heyday of the trans-Atlantic trade from sub-Saharan Africa to the Americas. Here are explored--perhaps for the first time--the actual extent of Barbary Coast slavery, the dynamic relationship between master and slave, and the effects of this slaving on Italy, one of the slave takers' primary targets and victims.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Islam, Religion, World History, Middle East, Africa

276 pages, Paperback

First published December 5, 2003

About the author

Robert C. Davis is professor emeritus of Italian Renaissance and pre-modern Mediterranean history at Ohio State University. He has studied Naples, Rome, Palermo, Venice, the Vatican, and Perugia, and mostly works on the lives of ordinary people and the values they cherished. His subjects have ranged from shipbuilders, bull fighters, and amateur boxers in Venice to the corsairs who terrorized the Mediterranean everywhere else. He has co-authored studies of Venice as the world's most touristed city and of Renaissance men and women. He has also been in a number of television documentaries, on shipbuilding, Carnival, and the Mediterranean slave trade, and is currently writing a textbook on the history of modern Europe.

Reviews

[Brigette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eye-opening - this book has made me completely rethink the way I view race and religion in historical contexts. As both a student and a teacher I have always observed the subject of slavery taught and understood as very dichotomous subject - African slaves, white american masters with a footnote about slavery existing in the ancient world. Not only was I surprised to see how slavery flourished in the Mediterranean just as the African slave trade became established, I have also begun to consider all of the forms slavery I have until now neglected to regard as important, such as feudalism, as equally harsh and demeaning.

Davis shows how rampant slavery was by exposing centuries of slavery that flourished in the early modern era. His conclusion broadens understanding of what slavery is and how the repression of freedom is slavery - regardless if it is perpetrated because of race, religion, or culture. No one type of slavery is better or worse than another - all forms strip men and women of their liberty. A great read for someone looking to broaden his or her understanding of history.

[The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spain's Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes, was probably the most famous victim of the Barbary slave trade. Captured by Muslim pirates on the Mediterranean Sea and taken to Algiers, he remained enslaved for 5 years until he was ransomed by a Catholic religious order, the Trinitarians, and returned to Spain. (You will learn a lot about the Trinitarians in this book.) For this reason, Cervantes wrote short stories about the Barbary Slave Trade in Don Quixote and Exemplary Novels.

Nevertheless, many people are surprised to learn that Europeans were enslaved by Africans at all. But the fact is that every race has been enslaved, and every race has practiced slavery. It existed on a large scale in China, India, and the Muslim world. It existed in the Western hemisphere even before the arrival of the first Europeans, and the same is true of sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, for the most part, Europeans bought African slaves from African slave traders, who were eager to sell their fellow Africans into slavery for profit. If Europeans can be singled out for anything regarding slavery, it would be the establishment of the global abolitionist movement, that originated in Europe and was enforced by European colonial powers throughout the world.

A couple of years ago, I completed Stephen King's Dark Tower series. The fifth book in that series, "The Wolves of the Calla," is about a town that is routinely raided by hooded wolves on horseback who steal a child from each household, only to return them as a mere shell of their formal selves. Well, that's the Barbary slave trade in a nutshell...

Coastal towns on the north Mediterranean, from Italy to France, Spain and beyond, were constantly under threat by Muslim pirates who would steal away loved ones by sea or by land, demanding a considerable sum for their return, often amounting to multiple year's income. Since most people were unable to pay, religious orders like the Trinitarians took up the cause, attempting to ransom as many European slaves from North Africa as possible, although they never managed more than a small fraction of the total in any given year.

I did not find this to be a difficult read. If you find the topic interesting, you should find yourself breezing through the book. In the first chapter, Davis considers how many slaves were taken, being over a million. In the second chapter, he describes the process by which slaves were taken and beaten into submission. In the next couple of chapters, he describes the trials and tribulations of European slaves in North Africa, not least of which was the temptation to convert to Islam in order to escape the horror of slavery. Indeed, some of the slaves holders were themselves former Christians, called "renegades." In the penultimate chapter, he describes how donations for the redemption of slaves were collected in Europe. Finally, in a chapter titled "Celebrating Slavery," he describes how returning slaves would be celebrated with elaborate public processions, including fireworks, Mass, and special attention by dignitaries.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Davis brings the slavery experience in the early modern area to life in Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters. Davis' main argument posits that this period of Mediterranean captivity was compelled by religious vengeance and is less about economics. He often compares this slavery experience to the transatlantic slave trade with the Americas that was based on economics. However, I believe he tends to contradict himself as he delves into the ransoming process in detail. Where religious and political implications were important reasonings for the flourishing of slavery during the early modern period, those implications were used as barter between Christian and Muslim pirates and corsairs. Ransoming in this bartering system brings economics to the forefront. You can't dismiss the economic impact on slaves and their families who worked to gather large sums of money in exchange for freedom. One could call this religious economy.

I do think that this book is an important contribution to Mediterranean historiography. It is broken into three parts. The first concentrates on what the author calls white slavery, trying to separate this religious-based slavery from the African slave experience. Christians were enslaved by Muslims and Muslims were enslaved by Christians. This section describes white slaves and provides quantifiable data on the slave population, as well as how slaves were captured. Also detailed is the slave experience once captured on slave vessels. He compares this experience to the African slave experience on the middle passage of the transatlantic slave trade. The second session moves into the slave experience once sold to a master. Although most lived in horrible conditions there were those that had some amount of freedom and were able to focus on a skill or trade that they experienced prior to their captivity. Davis covers the good, the bad, and the ugly in this section. Section three concentrates on Italy, the area that Davis centers the whole book around. In this section, the author concentrates on the process of ransoming Italian captives held by Muslim corsairs and pirates. Davis wraps up this section and the book discussing the release of captives in Italy. Many freed slaves would be paraded through town causing a spectacle among the locals. Memorialization is also briefly discussed.

Overall, I thought this was a good book that gives the reader a detailed picture of the slave experience in early modern Mediterranean history. The descriptions were at times quite vivid and the comparison to African slavery in the Americas gives the reader a clear understanding of slavery in the Mediterranean.

[Vanessa Murakami · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The number of whites who were enslaved in North Africa by the Barbary pirates exceeded the number of Africans enslaved in the United States and in the American colonies before that put together.” Thomas Sowell (African American economist)

[liirogue · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author does an excellent job of examining slavery in the Mediterranean - something I had no idea was so widespread. The economic and social impact this practice had is astounding, especially when you realize just how little information has been published about white slavery for this time.

Davis describes how slaves were typically captured, what their lives were like, and how they could expect to get their freedom. Slavery in North Africa had some unusual qualities, such as requiring slaves to pay their masters for their own room and board. The author also compares Mediterranean slavery with slavery in the American South - very helpful and very interesting.

My one complaint is that women are mentioned only two or three times. I would have liked to see a more comprehensive treatment of how women were treated as slaves.

[Sean Mccarrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was quite intriguing. My only major complaint was that the author could have put five pages max somewhere in the book that highlighted the history of the broader region in a way that would connect his views to the scope of attention shown in Braudel's works. Other than that the book was a fascinating look into the world of slavery along the Barbary coast. It was refreshing to read a book like this due to the fact that popular culture will most likely not retain this information.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a worthy read for anyone interested on the topic of slavery, and more specifically slavery in the Barbary. The book focuses on Italy as the greatest source of information from the captives, combined with testimonies of people that spent time as slaves in the Barbary. The books focuses on Italy because slaves captured from Italy were among the most documented. If you're interested in the overall history of human slavery, other than the modern tendency to focus on the Atlantic Slave Trade, this is a must-read.

[Royce Ratterman · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1639, William Okeley wrote concerning his personal experience as a slave: "Their Cruelty is great, but their Covetousness exceeds their Cruelty; could they make much of us Dead as they make alive that so both the Interests of Cruelty and of Covetousness might be secures and reconciled, we are well assured which way it should have gone with us."
A page turning window into the long history of the White Slave endeavors of the Mohammedans; this overview will not disappoint the reader, researcher, or enthusiast. From pirate expeditions from Algeria and Libya along the coasts of the Mediterranean, to the British and Scottish shores, and onward as far as Iceland in the 16th and 17th centuries… transportation of well over a million Western European slaves to Muslim countries took place between 1500 and 1800; many spent their years rowing on the Constantinople. galleys for an average of 19 years.
These Muslim pirates raided the Icelandic coasts and took hundreds of prisoners, with their captive males used as galley slaves. Even Baltimore, Ireland fell prey, watching its inhabitants taken into enslavement. The Mohammedans plundered workers from the coasts, including Italy and Spain, capturing farmers and peasants at will. And commencing the prolific African slave trade for centuries is, of course, is of no surprise to any historian. With c. 1400 years of hate, murder, and enslavement, we see the blemished mark left upon history - past and present.

Excerpts:

Regarding paying ransom: "... follow the example left to them by Our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the effusion of all his most Precious Blood redeemed Humanity from the Infernal Enemy; (so) we with part of our wealth, we will undertake to free our Brothers from the barbarous slavery of the Infidels, and show ourselves in a certain way as true examples of the Salvatore."

"... I am a youth of but 12 years old and can't stand the beatings that they give me every day."


*** Other wWorks that may be of interest to you:

-Slavery in the Islamic World by Mary Ann Fay
-Islam Revealed by Montell Jackson
-Islam Revealed by Dr. Anis Shorrosh
-Islam and Terrorism: What the Quran Really Teaches by Mark A. Gabriel
-Answering Islam by Norman L. Geisler, Abdul Saleeb
-Islam and Christian Witness by Martin Goldsmith
-What you need to know about Islam and Muslims by George W. Braswell
-How I Found Livingstone; travels, adventures, and discoveres in Central Africa, including an account of four months' residence with Dr. Livingstone, by Henry M. Stanley
-Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama 1497-1499
-Captain Cook's Journal During the First Voyage Round the World, by James Cook.
-The Logbooks of the Lady Nelson by Ida Lee
-Journal of Voyages by Jacob Dunham

[Nathan Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The events of 1492 changed the world, and the discovery of America was only one of them. The Spanish Inquisition was still going, the Moors were kicked out of Europe, and Ferdinand and Isabella expelled the Jews with the Alhambra Decree. Muslims around the Mediterranean were angry at their losses, and the Crusades were still a recent memory. What followed these events in Europe was a type of Jihad- revenge against wrongs done to Muslims and their ancestors. When Suleiman the Magnificent took over the Ottoman Empire, he was known as a tolerant ruler who provided some religious freedom to Christians around the Ottoman capital. Yet far to the west in the Barbary, the pirates Dragut and Barbarossa were free to do almost whatever they wanted if it helped the Empire. The Turks were known not just for their armies but for their mastery of the sea. Between 1520 and 1830, Barbary Corsairs captured European vessels at sea- not simply to fight them, but to take slaves for ransom. Of course, many wanted to do these things anyway, and just used the religion as a justification.

Ransom is something that we in America don’t associate with slavery. That is because slaves taken in Africa were generally poor by comparison. African slavery was about finding workers, and while some slave catchers may have hated them, it was apathy; not hate, that made the African slave trade such an atrocity. Barbary slavery, on the other hand, was personal. Since Europeans were perceived as rich, and since Islam was the mortal enemy of Christianity, white slaves were taken for the money they could get from family back home. While a google search on the Barbary Slave Trade may produce old paintings of naked women captives, the author of this book seems to indicate that the majority of white slaves were men. After all, women generally didn’t like traveling at sea on ships with smelly sailors. Ships at sea were the easiest targets because they were isolated. However, if the Turks managed to get control of an island off the coast of Italy, Spain, or Greece, and find a vulnerable village on the sea, they would raid coastal cities. Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, people on the coasts of Europe lived in fear. Any day, men, women and children could just disappear.

When a ship was captured, it was normal for sailors to hide their wealth. Ottoman pirates would board a ship and torture confessions out of sailors regarding their personal wealth. If they didn’t have money themselves, perhaps they would say which of their crewmembers did. Typically, most would be taken as slaves either way- perhaps a few stragglers would be allowed to return home and tell their friends what had happened. Soon there would be messages sent back to the coast demanding a ransom, and it could be enough ransom to bankrupt most families. White captives were often the ones forced to do the slave catching.

During their coastal raids, it was necessary for the pirates to find villages that were far from any castles or fortifications. Sometimes spies were sent in ahead to determine what was there, where the village was weakest, and where the church bell was. Church bells were the alarms that warned people of danger, and they also could be melted down for the metal. Unmarried women were prime targets for other things besides galley slavery. If slaves were not ransomed right away, they would be taken to Algiers, Tunis, or Tripoli and sold as slaves there. If they were lucky, they would be made house slaves. If they were unlucky, they were sent to the galleys.

The galleys may have been the most common fate of men who were healthy enough to survive. Physically, it was the worst type of slavery a person could go through, and it had a 50% mortality rate. Slaves were chained to their benches, which also served as their dining spaces and their bathrooms. During a battle, they may have worked 18-hour days, rowing until they fell sick or died. Once dead, they were thrown overboard. Other uses for slaves included moving heavy stones on their backs, building other slave ships, or agricultural work.

It wasn’t easy for slaves to send messages back home asking for help because paper was expensive, and they moved around so much that it was impossible to determine their own address. They had to pay for their own food and rent, which meant that any money went to pay off debts. They were stripped naked and all hair was shaved off- a grave insult to European men who saw facial hair as a sign of status. Like most types of slavery, their treatment varied. Women could be made house slaves or concubines. It was estimated that at one time, 25% of people in Algiers were slaves- Algiers was like the Baltimore or the Atlanta of Africa. It was said that Algiers had a significant homosexual population, and that some white men were also sex slaves. Male slaves were separated from women and were not allowed to reproduce, so the only way to replace slaves was to take new ones.

A large portion of the slaves who actually lived to reach Africa were never ransomed and complained that no one at home cared about them, and this could be used to the Turk’s advantage. If slave conditions didn’t convert them to Islam, telling them that no one back home cared could do the trick. Many converted to Islam to improve their condition. Yet as the kidnapping got worse, churches collected funds just for emancipating slaves. The Trinitarian and Mercedarian Orders were the most successful at raising funds from collections. As Europeans got control of the sea, they began to pay more close attention to the slavery problem. Sometimes European religious organizations were set up in the Barbary to help those in need, with the permission of the local population.

It is almost impossible to compare Barbary slavery to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. While they began at roughly the same time, Barbary slavery got larger first, peaking in the late 1500s and declining after 1680 when most ships transitioned from oars to sails. The Trans-Atlantic slave trade got larger after 1680. Europeans bought their slaves from the coasts of Africa, but Africans were so often the slave catchers. Barbary slavery was self-contained- the Ottomans were the slave catchers, the slave sellers, and the slave buyers. Multiple European empires were involved with the Atlantic Slave Trade, and many were enemies of each other. In other words, they were not working together to enslave Africans; they were competing with each other. There was essentially one empire involved in Barbary slavery. The total number of white slaves is hard to determine, but estimates are around 1.25 million. Part of the difficulty is that when Protestants disappeared, their disappearance was not recorded by Catholic leaders. Catholic countries also had centralized church authority, whereas Protestants tended to have decentralized church authority. Fisherman disappeared all the time, and since they were poor, no one recorded their disappearance. Many European populations were also smaller by comparison during the Barbary slave trade since the Bubonic plague had diminished their numbers.

Christians would do well to study the Barbary slave trade because it was part of Church history. Many Christians in Europe disappeared into slavery, while other Christians in Europe redeemed them. It is also important to understand the concept of slaves being ransomed. Jesus Himself was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver- essentially the price of a slave. This means that Jesus was sold as a ransom for many.

[JEAN-PHILIPPE PEROL · Rating 2 out of 5]

Une face de l esclavage oubliée...

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

A history I had never heard before until I read Thomas Sowell reference it in "Black Rednecks White Liberals."

[Stephen Coates · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book described the enslavement of white Europeans by Barbary (North African) Arabs during the 16th to 18th centuries. It is divided into three parts, the first on the numbers of slaves and their capture; the second on the life of a slave and the third on attempts to barter or purchase their freedom.

The book opens with a description of the means by which Arabs seamen captured Europeans from vessels at sea and by raiding coastal villages. The extent of this raiding became so constant and pervasive that some coastal areas of Italy became only sparsely inhabited. Although most of the slaves were captured in the Mediterranean, the raiders went as far as the British Isles and even Iceland.

The earliest of slaves were captured to row ships but as rowed ships gave way to sail, slaves were sold to a master who used them or rented them as members of work gangs in shipyards, on farms, as domestic servants and as general labourers. The book then described in some detail the life of slaves such as the ragged clothes they were issued and the minimal food they received. Many slaves had to pay for their own room and board and some lived in what was effectively a private slave prison of which there were many but none survive today. But as wretched as the lives of most slaves were, some slaves operated businesses of their own including pubs and selling alcohol – which Moslems were prohibited from doing – and a few did well enough to be able to buy their freedom although that would have returned them to a life of poverty in their home countries. Unlike African slaves in North America, these slaves did not have the opportunity to marry and have children. The book also cited how the Arabs did all they could to get slaves to convert to Islam – although those that did were still slaves, albeit with better conditions.

The last section of the book describes, with an emphasis on Italy, the efforts of the families of slaves in Europe to buy their freedom but most were too poor to do so. It also described the efforts of some religious orders such as the Trinitarians in Spain operated fund raisings to buy the freedom of slaves, but only a small fraction of them ever made it home.

This book is well researched and well written. Robert Davis estimates that about 1 million Europeans were enslaved by the Barbary Arabs, some of whom were sold into slavery in the Ottoman empire. Readers of this book might also be interested in Giles Milton’s White Gold: The Extraordinary Story of Thomas Pellow and North Africa’s One Million European Slaves which covers some of the same territory and also describes how Barbary enslavement was effectively ended by Edward Pellew, a descendent of Thomas Pellow, who led an Anglo-Dutch fleet which bombarded Algiers and secured the release of 1,200 European slaves in 1816. It is worth remembering the extent of this enslavement when the subject of reparations for European and American enslavement of Africans is raised.

[Armistead B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought Robert Davis did a good job of avoiding the extremes on this topic, both those who try to downplay the horrors of the barbary slave trade and those who try to exaggerate it. The muslim slave trade doesn't fit neatly into any popular historical narrative but the suffering of the slaves and the disastrous effects on southern Mediterranean coastal communities is interesting and worth a read.

[Michael Cawley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating historical study of Christians held as slaves by the Moslems of the Barbary coast