среда, 5 августа 2020 г.

News update RSS 09/08/2020 (65600)

In the XV century. on the Mediterranean Sea - the traditional fiefdom of pirates - a powerful center of sea robbery arose, tormenting shipping and trade in this area until the end of the era of the sailing fleet - more than 300 years! This center was called "Barbary" (Berbary called the coast of North Africa). Barbary (or barbarian) pirates settled on the island of Djerba and turned it into a well-fortified stronghold - a base for bandit expeditions. They took an active part in the struggle between Europe and Turkey on the side of the latter. In a short time, barbarian pirates took possession of almost the entire Mediterranean coast of Africa. They robbed ships and European ports, taking thousands of captives into captivity. For Christians, captivity among the barbarians was a real nightmare.

The heyday of barbarian piracy came in the 16th century. and coincided with the growth of Turkish maritime power. The Spaniards tried to fight the sea robbers, but failed to cope with their fleet, led by the Barbarossa brothers, who enjoyed the glory of invincible sailors. After one of the attacks, the pirates occupied the city of Algiers, the eldest of the brothers proclaimed himself Sultan Barbarossa I and created a pirate state in North Africa, however, which quickly became dependent on Turkey.

Barbary piracy began to decline only in the 17th century. in connection with the weakening of the Ottoman Empire and decisive joint actions against it by European states. But back in 1800, such countries as Portugal, Denmark and Sweden paid tribute to the pirate state. The state of sea robbers ceased to exist only in the middle of the 19th century!

The great geographical discoveries revived piracy. As soon as the Spanish galleons loaded with gold pulled out of the New World, pirate ships immediately rushed to cut across them. The era of the sea robbers of the Atlantic began - the era of the "filibuster" sea.

The Flibuster Sea is the Caribbean Sea. He was destined to become the scene of the action of the most famous pirates of history, and then a huge number of their literary counterparts. In the war that unfolded between European countries for open lands, the sea robbers took a direct part. And among them were not only desperate thugs and robbers, but also Protestants persecuted in their homeland, avenging their exile to all Catholics who got in the way, and romantics - adventurers.

Filibusters, buccaneers, corsairs, privateers, privateers are not the same thing, although they all robbed with the same ruthlessness. The real pirates are the buccaneers (eng. bukaniers, originally lived in the Antilles, hunters and meat purveyors) and filibusters (fr. flibustiers - freely robbing). They attacked everyone, including compatriots and co-religionists. These names did not exist for long: in the 16th - mid-17th centuries.

Corsairs, privateers, privateers are robbers in the service of the state. Having the permission of the authorities (letter of marque), they attacked the ships of those powers with which their country was at war or was simply on bad terms. In the letter of marque, the conditions were discussed under which the corsair received as a reward part of the goods stolen from the enemy or the whole thing.

Pirates and corsairs got along well together and did it so successfully that it was sometimes impossible to distinguish one from the other. Together they gave the world the loud and formidable ilena of the corsair Drake and the pirate Morgan. The rulers appreciated the merits of their corsairs. Queen Elizabeth I of England knighted Francis Drake, made him an admiral (see the article "Francis Drake"). And no wonder: the gold that he took from the Spaniards regularly replenished the royal treasury. But it was not often that the authorities gave such protection to pirates, usually they were persecuted, imprisoned or hanged. And then, nestling among the countless islands of the Caribbean, the filibusters created their “coastal brotherhood” - an unusually close-knit, disciplined community, the basis of which was the strict observance of this oath and the community of property. Any attempts to appropriate part of the booty were punishable by death or expulsion from the "brotherhood". All incomes were strictly distributed depending on the position: the captain received 400 pesos, the sailor - 100, the cabin boy - 50. The payment of pensions to the victims of the battles was even organized: for a gouged eye, covered with the famous black bandage, they paid 100 pesos or gave one slave. All members of the team, from the cabin boy to the captain, received the same food. The most important questions - the purpose of the expedition, its course - the captain in the form of proposals gave for approval to the council, which included the entire crew of the ship. At the same time, there was an immutable law of "coast brotherhood": the team unquestioningly obeys the captain until the end of the raid, who is responsible for his actions to the pirate community.































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