Algiers

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10 Annotations

First Reading

jamie yeager  •  Link

argier
alternative form of "algiers"

vicenzo  •  Link

Petition a foot for the rescue of poor English enslaved:
Captives at Algiers, &c.
Ordered, That all such Members of this House as serve for Devonshire and Cornewall, be added to the Committee to which the Petition of the poor Captives of Algiers is referred; and have Voices at that Committee so far only as concerns the said Captives

From: British History Online
Source: House of Commons Journal Volume 8: 15 February 1662. Journal of the House of Commons: volume 8, (1802).
URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…
Date: 08/03/2005

Terry F  •  Link

The Mole of Argier was a main concern of the Diary, beginning 1 February 1661/62 http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Pedro. on Wed 2 Feb 2005, 9:20 am | Link
“mole of Argier”

The inner harbour was begun in 1518 by Khair-ad-Din Barbarossa (see History, below), who, to accommodate his pirate vessels, caused the island on which was Fort Penon to be connected with the mainland by a mole. The lighthouse which occupies the site of Fort Penon was built in 1544.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algi…
http://14.1911encyclopedia.org/A/…

Second Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"Some inhabitants of Algiers began making piratical attacks on Spanish seaborne commerce, and in response Spain in 1514 fortified the offshore island of Peñon in the Bay of Algiers. The emir of Algiers appealed to two Ottoman Turkish corsairs to expel the Spaniards from the Peñon, and one of the corsairs, Barbarossa (Khayr al-Dīn), seized Algiers and expelled the Spaniards in 1529. Algiers was placed under the authority of the Ottoman sultan, although in practice it remained largely autonomous.
"Barbarossa’s efforts turned Algiers into the major base of the Barbary pirates for the next 300 years.
"The European powers made repeated vain attempts to quell the pirates, including naval expeditions by the Holy Roman emperor Charles V in 1541 and by the British, Dutch, and Americans in the early 19th century.
"Piracy based in Algiers continued, though much weakened, until the French captured the city in 1830."
https://www.britannica.com/place/…

Third Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Just the British part:

"English admiral Robert Mansell led an expedition in 1621 that sent burning fireships into the fleet moored in Algiers. It failed to take Algiers, and Mansell was recalled to England on 24 May 1621.

"King James I negotiated directly with the pasha of Algiers in 1622 but more than 3,000 Englishmen remained enslaved in Algiers.

"A fleet under Adm. Blake managed to sink several Tunisian ships, which convinced Algiers to sign a peace treaty with Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell.

"England introduced a series of anti-counterfeiting and mandatory "Algerian passports" on southbound merchant ships to guarantee each ship's authentic registry to Algerian pirate vessels.

"Fighting with a combined Anglo-Dutch force in 1670 cost Algiers several ships and 2,200 sailors near Cape Spartel, and English ships burned 7 other ships in Béjaïa.
A regime change in Algiers ensued.

"From 1674 to 1681 Algiers captured around 350 ships and 3,000 to 5,000 slaves. But since the French were also attacking them, they signed a peace treaty with Charles II on 10 April, 1682, in which he recognised that his subjects were slaves in Algiers."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His…

How could you do that, Charles???????????????????

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

The Dutch point-of-view:

"From 1661 to 1664, the Dutch sent Michiel de Ruyter and Cornelis Tromp on several expeditions to Algiers in an attempt to make the Algerians accept the free ships, free goods principle.

"Although the Algerians had accepted the principle in 1663, they reneged a year later. De Ruyter was again dispatched to Algiers, but the beginning of hostilities with England, leading up to the Second Anglo-Dutch War, cut his mission short.

"A peace agreement signed in 1679 was the result of four years of negotiations, and until 1686, precariously maintained peace for Dutch trade with southern Europe, at the price of tribute to Algiers in the form of cannons, gunpowder and naval stores, which France and England both condemned.

"But peace did not last. Between 1714 and 1721 ..."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Wikipedia has these listed as the rulers of Algiers:

Pashas (1577-1659):
...
Daly Hassan Pasha 1599-1601
Somiman Pasha 1601-1603
Muhammad II the eunuch 1605-1607
Mustapha III Pasha 1607
Redwan Pasha 1607-1610
Kussa Mustapha 1610-1614
Hasan IV 1614-1616
Mustapha IV Pasha 1616-1619
Kassan Kaid Kussa 1619-1621
Kader Pasha 1621-1626
Hassan Khodja 1626-1634
Yusuf II 1634-1645
Mahmud Brusali Pasha 1645-1647
Yusef Pasha 1647-1650
Mehmed Pasha 1650-1653
Ahmed Pasha (first period of rule) 1653-1655
Ibrahim Pasha (first period) 1655-1656
Ahmed Pasha (second period) 1656-1657
Ibrahim Pasha (second period) 1657-1659
Ahmed Pasha (third period) 1658-1659

Aghas (1659-1671):
1659-1660: Khalil Agha
1660-1661: Ramadan Agha
1661-1665: Chabane Agha
1665-1671: Ali Agha
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lis…

When I searched for information about Ramadam Agha, this came up:
"The Eyala of Algiers has been in a preliminary and fundamental phase since 1659, when the leaders of the sea and the Diwan of Soldiers rejected the pasha system. This prompted the Ottoman Caliphate to pledge non-interference in Algeria, by submitting a royal proclamation proclaiming the Sublime Porte's abstention to send a governor to Algeria, saying, "We will not send you a governor, pledge allegiance to whomever you wish."

"As a result, the Janissaries office at the Eyala raced to pick Khalil Agha (1659-1660) as the reigning authority's representative. The latter attempted to implement new procedures for the Agha's authority, while Ramadan Agha (1660-1661) attempted to implement a system for the distribution of marine spoils and prizes for regular troops in order to raise their income level and regulate their movements.

"Those who succeeded in reigning after Ramadan Agha experienced assassinations and internal turmoil during their reigns. Which caused the navy leaders to descend on the scene and participate in the fall of Ali Agha in 1671.

"When the Aghas' control was destroyed, a new age began: the rule of the midwives. The latter was first defined by power, but its star quickly began to fade. The rulers who governed in recent times were primarily distinguished by weakness and ineptitude.

"As a result, the killing of female midwives, such as Mustafa Pasha in 1805, Dey Ahmed in 1809, Dey Muhammad in 1814, and Dey Omar Agha in 1817, became common. Many of them lasted only a few months, and as the money from maritime activity became limited, the rulers began imposing unfair taxes on the public, resulting in the occurrence of a series of revolutions in response to government policy, ..."

I.E. The place was ungovernable. I included the bit about the midwives because it is just so unlikely.
https://gloriousalgeria.dz/En/Pos…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

When Sandwich arrives off Algiers in 1661, the local Consul is Robert Browne. He was another Cromwell appointee who stayed on after the Restoration. He spoke the Lingua Franca. But in a couple of years, depending on which part of the multiverse the archives come from, he is either a dead slave on a dunghill, or he still sending the Algiers shipping news to London, and perhaps starting to worry about that plague. Either way, Stephane tracked down his name, so he's no longer a lost soul.
For his research, see
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

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References

Chart showing the number of references in each month of the diary’s entries.

1660

1661

1662

1663

1664

1668

1669