An Action between English Ships and Barbary Corsairs

Willem van de Velde the Younger, ca. 1695

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Artist: Willem van de Velde the Younger (Dutch, 1633–1707)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 12 5/8 x 19 3/8 inches (32.1 x 49.2 cm)
Museum: Yale Center for British Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

One of the greatest threats to English trade in the Mediterranean was piracy, or, more properly, state-approved privateers, also known as corsairs, originating from Morocco and the Ottoman provinces of Algiers and Tunisia. The vessels of choice for Barbary pirates were galleys, the oar-driven vessels that had dominated naval warfare in the Mediterranean since ancient times, which were also equipped with masts and sails for when winds were favorable.

The type shown in this painting is a fusta, a small galley with twelve to fifteen two-man rowing benches on each side and a single mast with a lateen (triangular) sail. These vessels were light, fast, and maneuverable; they were ideally suited for privateering operations in shallow coastal waters. The Barbary "pirates" specifically targeted shipping from Christian nations, taking captives and selling them into slavery or holding them for ransom.

Between 1600 and 1660, an estimated 12,000 British were taken captive in the Mediterranean and in raids on the English and Irish coasts; from 1660 to 1730 another 6,000 were captured. Particularly after 1650, most captives were eventually ransomed in return for money or armaments; in 1721, 300 British captives were worth 1,200 barrels of gunpowder and 13,500 gun-locks (the firing mechanism, which contained all of the moving parts of a gun). In the meantime, the English sold seamen captured in the Mediterranean to countries such as Spain and Italy to use in their own galleys.

Text: Yale Center for British Art.