Mediterranean slavery

A study upon the motivations and mechanisms of Muslim conversion to Catholicism in Hospitaller Malta. Both Muslim slaves but also free Muslims periodically opted for conversion in Malta. The paper provides statistical data of such conversions from untapped primary sources.

Ce livre apporte une contribution neuve au débat sur le devenir de l’esclavage antique. Et il éclaire en conséquence la définition de la liberté dans le monde de la Méditerranée médiévale. Entre VIe et XIe siècle les sociétés de la Méditerranée orientale montrent une évolution des catégories de personne libre et d’esclave. Byzance est au cœur de l’étude à la fois parce qu’elle continue Rome et parce qu’elle rencontre des changements historiques majeurs, dont l’entré en scène de l’islam. À Byzance l’esclavage antique ne décline pas, il n’est pas non plus remplacé. Mais, il se modifie en fonction du contexte politique, social, culturel et religieux. L’auteur récuse la définition prioritairement économique de l’esclavage, et montre que non-liberté et liberté sont moins des statuts civils que des rapport sociaux, ce qui suggère également une réflexion sur notre temps.

This paper analyzes the effects that the international politics in the central Middle Ages had on the slave trade, and the Byzantine slave trade in particular. The geopolitical changes of the seventh and eighth centuries, which transformed the late Roman Empire into a medieval world composed of different civilizations, radically changed the economic dynamics of these regions and the Byzantine slave market as a consequence. However, the paper examines the Byzantine slave trade not only as a consequence of these dynamics, but also as one of their causes. In other words, it focuses on the way in which international politics and economy, especially the economy of slavery, intertwined, and in fact became one.

This map shows the scale of human trafficking in the ninth-eleventh century and the different itineraries taken by medieval slave traders. It is followed by five tables of data about prices of slaves and their value in comparison to different types of merchandize and salaries in eastern Mediterranean regions, mainly in Byzantium and Egypt. These tables shed light on the question how expensive were slaves and how profitable was human merchandizing.

L 'ultima guerra veneto-ottomana del 1714-1718 ebbe, ai suoi esordi, un progresso rapidissimo. Una volta che la Porta, nel dicembre 1714, aprì le ostilità contro Venezia, le forze del sultano procedettero sul fronte terrestre con grande celerità, agli ordini del gran visir, Silahdar Damat Ali pascià. Una massiccia offensiva consentì di irrompere oltre l ' istmo di Corinto e di conquistare in modo inatteso, dopo brevi assedi, tutte le possenti piazzeforti veneziane nel Peloponneso. Il nuovo conflitto comportò, come quelli che l 'avevano preceduto, la reciproca cattura e la conseguente cattività di soggetti di differenti qualità e posizione.

""""By the systematic use of the decrees of the Roman Holy Office, the article aims to show the way in which deported groups of morisco refugees flee to the Italian mainland – a special attention is turned to the Pontifical States – and to shed light the position of the Holy See with regards to this matter. The linked problems to their presence, passage or settlement in the peninsula are related to arguments of faith and warrant the care of the Inquisition. So that, finally, the essay shows how Holy Office behave towards them.

Attraverso l’uso sistematico dei Decreta del Sant’Uffizio romano, l’obiettivo del saggio è mostrare le modalità di arrivo nella penisola italiana di alcuni gruppi di rifugiati moriscos espulsi dalla Spagna, con particolare attenzione agli Stati pontifici, e far luce sul  posizionamento della Santa sede in relazione alla questione. I problemi occasionati dalla loro presenza, transito o insediamento nella Penisola sono legati a ragioni di fede e sono oggetto dell’attenzione inquisitoriale: l’articolo illustra, allora, come si comporta il Sant’Uffizio nei loro confronti.""""

During this seminar, I will analyze 3 centuries of datas about the emancipation of slaves; then we will wonder whether it was pope Pius V Ghislieri to successfully secure this system of liberation and conversion in Rome when Paul III had faced an epic fail on the same topic just 30 years before; and in the final part, I will question the exceptionality of this exceptional procedure in Catholic Rome by comparing it with the development of a specific attitude of the Catholic Church on slavery and baptized slaves in early modern centuries.

In the context of the increased predominance of Mendicant Observants over contemplative religious orders in the fifteenth century across all of Europe, the Florentine Vallombrosans fought back using manuscripts and exorcisms as weapon. In a series of manuscripts addressed to Lorenzo de' Medici, the Vallombrosans negotiated schism over reform, Laurentian predations, diminishing social status, and new more stringent definitions of orthodoxy promulgated by Observants. The results of this this sea change were a more punitive and persecuting form of piety and a newly active and politicized demonology.

Nel 1624 viene catturato dalle galere di Sicilia il corsaro Aly raìs. Condotto a Palermo, l’Inquisizione sospetta si tratti di un cristiano rinnegato e, avendo raccolto numerose testimonianze e rintracciato la fede di battesimo, lo accusa formalmente di essere il ferrarese Francesco Guicciardino, preso dai corsari da bambino e condotto a Tunisi, dove abbraccia la religione musulmana, diventa capo delle galere di Biserta e va in corsa contro i cristiani. A queste accuse Aly contrappone di essere “turco” di nascita e dunque il Santo Uffizio non ha su di lui alcuna giurisdizione. Incrociando fonti madrilene (il processo inquisitoriale), fonti tunisine (la corrispondenza dei capi della Reggenza, le carte consolari francesi) e palermitane (le lettere della Deputazione per il riscatto dei captivi e del cardinale Giannettino Doria) si ricostruiscono le complesse trattative politico-diplomatiche attorno a un riscatto mancato, che fa scorgere la complessità degli interessi in gioco, ben al di là di quelli commerciali e finanziari, tipici della economie de la rançon.

Slavery has existed throughout history in different parts of the world and in different civilizations. Its exact definition is a matter of debate, as is the question of whether the entire range of historical and modern phenomena known as slavery can be narrowed down to a single definition. What is accepted, however, is the fact that throughout history civilizations have institutionalized the ownership and possession of human beings within juridical, social, economic and cultural frameworks. In what follows I would like to examine the use of comparative methods in the study of slavery as a historical phenomenon. The historical study of slavery underwent major innovations over the last fifteen years. This development needs to be considered in view of the changes that occurred in the perception of slavery in today's world. As this paper reveals the two are connected since the historical study of slavery depends on our ability to use a comparative approach that examines both past and present. In the study of slavery this perspective is a product of the relation between history and the social sciences.

À cause d’une grave disette qui sévit dans l’Oranais en 1750, les structures sociales traditionnelles des habitants de cette région du Maghreb ont complètement changé. La famine est la dernière manifestation d’une période de troubles politiques, militaires et sociaux, ayant débuté en grande partie avec la reprise de la ville d’Oran par les Espagnols en 1732. Cet article cherche à analyser un événement singulier : l’arrivée parfois volontaire d’un nombre important de musulmans qui vont se vendre comme esclaves aux Espagnols, mais aussi et surtout l’arrivée d’un nombre encore plus important d’hommes et de femmes maures, capturés par d’autres Maures qui les revendent comme esclaves. Ce fait tranche avec les conditions de mise en captivité courante en Méditerranée, si souvent structurées par la violence entre les deux rives de la mer intérieure. Dans le cas que nous analysons, nous sommes également devant un exemple de violence, mais une violence créée par les conditions climatiques et ses conséquences sur les groupes humains. Nous prêtons aussi une attention particulière à la façon de gérer cette arrivée massive d’esclaves par les autorités du préside espagnol d’Oran et par les hauts responsables de la cour à Madrid.

The aim of this paper is to examine one of
the most recurrent topics in Christian
sources related to early modern
conversions to Islam: the young age of
captives as a risk factor for apostasies. By
studying some of the most representative
16th and 17th century treaties on captivity
and redemption, as well as the letters that
Christian captives wrote from Tunisia to
the Arciconfraternita per la Redenzione dei
Cattivi in Santa Maria la Nova – an
institution specialised in redeeming Sicilian
captives, founded in Palermo in 1596 – this
paper tries to follow the thread which
connects captivity, youth and conversions
to Islam

Crimes, Violence and Corruption in the Bagno of Livorno: 17th Century Trials against "Turkish" Slaves

The myth of a «tolerant» and cosmopolitan Livorno has often obscured the reality of a city that during the 17th century housed a huge prison (the Bagno), built to better monitor the galley slaves and the convicts to forced labor. They were the protagonists of a complex criminal life: they stole, rebelled against their keepers and killed each other, whilst city officials argued over who had the authority to judge crimes committed by convicts. Their survival depended also on their ability to adapt to the mechanisms of oppression and corruption typical of a prison society, as it is shown by a mid-century inquiry against the captain of the Bagno, accused of extorting money from the inmates in exchange for better treatment. Through the examination of some criminal trials recorded in the Medici archives, this paper tries to bring to light the less known aspects of the life of Livorno’s Muslim slaves, such as the possibility, granted to them, to act in court by taking an oath «in the Turkish way». Although in a context often violent and irregular, they participated in the creation of a society characterized by the interaction between people of different languages and religions.


Nella rappresentazione della società livornese di età moderna ci si è spesso serviti del mito di una città tollerante e cosmopolita, dove le relazioni tra individui di religione e cultura diversa sarebbero sempre state all’insegna del rispetto e della collaborazione, soprattutto per ragioni di carattere commerciale. Così facendo si rischia tuttavia di dimenticare che, a fianco della sua natura di porto mercantile, Livorno era anche la sede di una enorme prigione di schiavi. La vita all’interno del Bagno era dominata da logiche di violenza e corruzione che oltrepassavano sì le barriere culturali ed etniche tra schiavi musulmani, forzati cristiani e ministri granducali, ma in modi piuttosto diversi da quelli della città. Sulla base di documentazione archivistica inedita si cercherà di portare nuova luce su questo aspetto poco conosciuto della storia livornese.

Dans la littérature de droit canonique, où le sujet des esclaves est-il discuté : dans quels types de livres et par quels auteurs ? L'article analyse ensuite les principales questions qui sont discutées du point de vue du droit canonique et de la théologie morale :
La première discussion concerne l'irrégularité des esclaves pour l'ordination sacerdotale (un esclave ne peut pas accéder à la prêtrise). Pourquoi cette irrégularité ? A qui cette règle s'applique-t-elle ? = aux serfs (Moyen Âge), aux esclaves (époque moderne) mais aussi aux descendants d'esclaves : "empêchement de couleur" pour les descendants d'esclaves.
La 2e partie de l'article aborde les questions morales concernant les esclaves eux-mêmes :
- la question de la responsabilité morale de l'esclave (le maître peut-il utiliser son esclave pour commettre des actes immoraux par ex. prostitution, meurtre) ?
b/ la question du droit à posséder un esclave selon que le maître ou l'esclave est chrétien ou infidèle (juif/musulman) et la question du caractère licite de la fuite : pour le chrétien esclave d'un infidèle, la fuite est-elle licite ?
c/ la question de la confiscation des esclaves des hérétiques (judaïsants au Portugal, en Espagne et au Brésil) par le Trésor royal : le Trésor peut-il confisquer les esclaves des hérétiques (en même temps que les biens des hérétiques) ou doit-il les libérer afin de favoriser leur conversion ?

Since the Histoire chronologique du royaume de Tripoly entered the collection of France’s national library, it has drawn great interest from historians. All of them repeat biographical details from the text and from the writings of a French doctor that identify a ship surgeon who spent 1668–1675 as the personal physician to the Tripolitan dey. On the basis of new archival research, this paper will offer evidence that the author Pierre Girard was, in fact, a Huguenot. Accordingly, Histoire chronologique du royaume de Tripoly stands as one of the only North African captivity narratives by a French Protestant.

Tras un breve balance historiográfico sobre el tema de la esclavitud en el Mediterráneo intentaremos discutir sobre la reactivación de la actividad corsaria durante el siglo XVIII que dió lugar a un aumento de las personas en cautividad tanto en el Magreb como en la Península Ibérica, lo cual puede contradecir la visión "decadentista" tanto de la actividad corsaria como del cautiverio, una de las figuras de la esclavitud.
También veremos hasta qué punto los presidios nos pueden dar claves sobre el mercado de esclavos en el Mediterráneo occidental, sobre su vigor y sobre su desaparición fijándonos en tres fechas que denotan una manera distinta de vivir la realidad social de la esclavitud: 1739, 1750 y 1786. El tema de la captura de esclavos y el de la esclavitud voluntaria debido al hambre o a otras circunstancias ecolígicas serán tratados a partir de ejemplos sacados de fuentes inéditas.

Against the background of the Corsair warfare and the Mediterranean slavery, almost ignored has been up to now the history concerning the redemption and the repatriating of the slaves coming, in the Habsburg times, from the State of Milan (16th-18th centuries), an important rear of the military conflict opposing the Ottoman Empire and its North African Regencies to the Christian states under the shadow of the Habsburg. This article, on the basis of an unpublished documentation from the archives, aims to propose a preliminary periodization of the phenomenon and a survey of collective and individual profiles of the Lombard subjects redeemed through a “mixed” system, in which were interacting civilian and religious institutions, state and curial diplomacies, private agents and the families of the slaves in the Islamic territories. One of this system’s pivots was, for many decades, the monastery of Barefoot Trinitarians founded in Milan in 1702. The general change occurred in the second half of 18th century and the launch in Austrian Lombardy of a drastic ecclesiastical policy, lead to the suppression of the Trinitarian community and to a more direct state management of negotiations and redemptions.

This volume documents the practice of bringing enslaved people to early modern Europe not only as a side effect of overseas colonial regimes but as a pan-European experience that even developed its own dynamics on the continent. Drawing on examples from France, Scotland, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the Holy Roman Empire, the contributors show how slavery affected both the enslaved and the enslavers’ societies, changing European notions of freedom, dependence, and subjugation. At the same time, Afro-European families and cultural productions challenge the view of the Black diaspora as Europe’s “other.” The volume thus reveals not only the roots of present-day racism extending far back into the past, but also a common heritage yet to be discovered.

La presente tesis se centra en la cuestión de los cristianos convertidos al islam – los llamados renegados– entre la segunda mitad del siglo XVI y los años veinte del siglo XVII, desde la doble perspectiva del Santo Oficio español y de los servicios de espionaje que la Monarquía Hispánica desplegó en la región mediterránea.
Tomando Sicilia como punto de partida – territorio especialmente comprometido en la aventura de los cristianos de Alá por su historia y por su localización fronteriza – la autora se aproxima, ante todo, al mundo inquisitorial, analizando la dicotomía que terminó distanciando su discurso jurídico-teórico, riguroso y utópico, y su actitud real, en buena medidavpragmática y moderada.
En paralelo, se analiza la injerencia que tuvo el Santo Oficio siciliano sobre numerosas actividades de intelligence anti-otomano como, por ejemplo, el alistamiento, en calidad de espías e informantes, de aquellos mismos reos que el tribunal pretendía juzgar por herejes islamizantes.
Esta tesis defiende la idea de que el reclutamiento de agentes renegados – que se realizó entre los presos de la Inquisición, pero también en tierras otomano-berberiscas mediante negociaciones secretas – supuso la búsqueda de un difícil equilibrio entre ventajas prácticas y desventajas simbólicas, una dualidad que surgió a raíz del necesario aprovechamiento militar y estratégico de servicios e informaciones ofrecidas por supuestos traidores de Dios y de la Monarquía.

Nel 1624 viene catturato dalle galere di Sicilia il corsaro Aly raìs. Condotto a Palermo, l’Inquisizione sospetta si tratti di un cristiano rinnegato e, avendo raccolto numerose testimonianze e rintracciato la fede di battesimo, lo accusa formalmente di essere il ferrarese Francesco Guicciardino, preso dai corsari da bambino e condotto a Tunisi, dove abbraccia la religione musulmana, diventa capo delle galere di Biserta e va in corsa contro i cristiani. A queste accuse Aly contrappone di essere “turco” di nascita e dunque il Santo Uffizio non ha su di lui alcuna giurisdizione. Incrociando fonti madrilene (il processo inquisitoriale), fonti tunisine (la corrispondenza dei capi della Reggenza, le carte consolari francesi) e palermitane (le lettere della Deputazione per il riscatto dei captivi e del cardinale Giannettino Doria) si ricostruiscono le complesse trattative politico-diplomatiche attorno a un riscatto mancato, che fa scorgere la complessità degli interessi in gioco, ben al di là di quelli commerciali e finanziari, tipici della economie de la rançon.

This chapter tells the story of two guns: one cast in Toulon by Jean Baubé in 1680, the other supposedly fired at Algiers in 1683. Both made of bronze to launch massive cannon balls, these weapons are linked by more than material and functional similarities. They are symbols of Mediterranean servitude and the ways it has been celebrated or concealed since the seventeenth century. During the 1680s, about two thousand esclaves turcs (enslaved Turks) labored for Louis XIV, and the chained head of one of them decorates the knob of Baube’s gun. Such a cannon belonged on a first-line war- ship, the sort that France sent to bomb Algiers in this decade. Countering one of these assaults, the Algerian navy used a different gun, nicknamed “Baba Merzoug” (Lucky Father), to execute French consul Jean Le Vacher. Seized as war booty during France’s 1830 invasion of Algiers, it is now displayed near Baube’s cannon at the naval port of Brest, despite Algerian demands for its repatriation. By considering the production and circulation of these two guns, this chapter reexamines slavery in the Mediterranean not only as a mode of Louis XIV–era representation but also as a theme of colonial and postcolonial commemoration.

Short comments about the information given by Benedetto Bordone about the use of slaves in the tasks of salt in Ibiza (Balearic Islands)

Breu anàlisi de la notícia que proporciona Bordone sobre l'ús de captius (schiavi) en les feines de les salines d'Eivissa.

Breve análisis de la noticia que proporciona Bordone sobre el uso de cautivos en las salinas de Ibiza (Islas Baleares).