Books on Mediterranean piracy, especially
during the
sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, are often devoted to Barbary
corsairs. But
these
rogues weren’t the only pirates preying on merchant ships.
The Knights
of St.
John, also known as the Knights of Malta, and the Knights
of St.
Stephen also
prowled, and they didn’t just attack “infidel” ships. They
targeted
vessels
belonging to or carrying goods of Greek merchants. What
Greene explores
in this
book is whether these were legitimate corso
attacks or not.* In conducting her research,
she discovered that
unlike others who suffered such plundering, the Greeks
sought justice
against
these seizures.
Local merchants often deemed Catholic pirates as the most
fearsome, and the white cross on the red flag terrified
them the most.
The
Knights of Malta, who sailed from the 1570s into the
1700s, saw their
attacks
not as acts of piracy, but as legitimate attacks against
Islam.
While other histories concentrate on commerce, Greene
focuses
on Greek Orthodox victims, rather than pirates or the
state, to examine
the
“realities of traveling across the sea and the norms and
customs that
structured such crossings.” She incorporates perspectives
of “the
French, the
Vatican, Ottoman merchants, and Catholic pirates,” to
provide a
well-rounded
look into this historic period.
The material covers the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries.
Chapter 1 (Subjects and Sovereigns) focuses on how and
what the
Ottomans and
Venetians forged to facilitate trade between these
nations, while
Chapter 2 (The
Claims of Religion) examines how the Knights of Malta
challenged this
established arrangement. The third chapter (The Age of
Piracy)
discusses
Mediterranean piracy during the latter half of the
seventeenth century,
with
particular emphasis on Catholic sea raiders. Chapters 4
through 7 (The
Ottoman
Mediterranean, The Pursuit of Justice, At the Tribunale,
and The Turn
toward
Rome, respectively) shows how Greek victims fought back
through legal
means
against these pirate attacks.
Using court records from the Tribunale degli Armamenti,
Greene
reconstructs this maritime world. The introduction clearly
states her
premise,
while the conclusion succinctly sums up her findings. She
also includes
illustrations,
extensive notes, a bibliography, and an index. If there is
a drawback
to this
book, it is that she sometimes quotes from documents in
their original
language
without benefit of an English translation. This makes it
difficult for
readers
unfamiliar with those languages to better grasp the point
she tries to
make.
Greene’s examination deftly demonstrates how the maritime
world changed for Greek merchants during these two
centuries. In the
sixteenth,
they were subjects of Venice or the Ottoman Empire.
Although they
practiced
Greek Orthodoxy, religion mattered little either legally
or
diplomatically. The
Knights of Malta, however, saw everyone as Christian,
Muslim, or Jew,
and in
the seventeenth century, the Maltese also attacked Greek
merchants
because of
their relations with the Ottoman Empire. The difference
between this
particular
group and other piracy victims is their Christianity
allowed them
channels of recovery
not available to others, which Greene ably proves.
Of particular importance is Greene’s adeptness at showing
that
piracy was a global problem, not one confined to the
Caribbean during a
time
period often considered part of the age of pirates. Catholic
Pirates and Greek Merchants is a fascinating,
scholarly
account that brings a fresh perspective to the maritime
world of the
Mediterranean.
*While we tend to call those who
plunder
enemy
ships during war “privateers,” this practice in the
Mediterranean was
known as
“corso.” The difference, though, was that while privateers
preyed until
peace
was declared, corso continued. It didn’t require formal
declarations of
war
because of the ongoing struggle between Christianity and
Islam.
Review Copyrighted ©2010
Cindy Vallar
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Pirates
and Privateers
