Hayreddin Barbarossa

Life on the Sea

As sailors, the seafaring brothers grew frustrated with the Knights Hospitaller’s presence in the Mediterranean, who frequently attacked and looted Muslim merchant ships. The Knights Hospitallers were commissioned by the Pope and operated as privateers in the Mediterranean Sea, defending Crusader territories. Their base of operation was on the island of Rhodes, which made it more accessible for the Hospitallers to raid and plunder within the Mediterranean.

Frustrated with the ongoing status quo, the sailor brothers themselves became privateers as a last resort to stand against the Christian aggressors.

Hayreddin Barbarossa Flag

Barbarossa sailed under his own flag, shown below.

Fig. 1 - The flag of Hayreddin Barbarossa. The writing at the top is a quote from the Qu'ran, the four circles are for the first four caliphs of the Islamic state, and the six-pointed star is the Seal of Solomon, an Islamic symbol. The sword in the middle is a representation of Muhammad's sword

Beginning of Piracy

The name Barbarossa was not originally Khidr’s, but his brother Oruç’s. Khidr was of brown hair and beard, while Oruç was the red-haired brother.

Oruç and Ilyas sailed together around the Levant. While returning from a routine trading expedition from Tripoli, Lebanon, the brothers were ambushed by the Hospitallers. Ilyas died fighting the Christians, while Oruç was taken prisoner at Bodrum Castle.

Fig. 2 - Oruç Reis

Upon hearing of Ilyas’ death and Oruç’s capture, Khidr began seeking out his brother’s location. It took Khidr three years to find Oruç. When he did, he went to Bodrum and broke Oruç out of the castle.

Hayreddin Barbarossa Battles

Khidr rescued his brother with the help of the son of Sultan Bayezid II, Şehzade Korkut, the governor of Teke (modern-day Antalya), who provided Khidr with the navy. It was here where Khidr promised the governor of Teke that in return for ships, he would fight against the Hospitallers.

Khidr and Şehzade Korkut upheld their ends of the bargain. Following the rescue, Oruç and Khidr, with the Ottoman governor’s ships, began continuously attacking and raiding Hospitaller ships and Spanish coasts.

Barbarossa and the Spanish Empire

The Knights Hospitaller were a serious issue for Muslim traders in the Mediterranean. However, they were nothing compared to the Spanish. Spain had just completed its Reconquista in 1492. With total control over Spanish Iberia, by 1505, Spain began making territorial advances in Northern Africa. With its navy, Spain began attacking North African coastal cities. With the Reconquista still an open wound for the Muslims, Khidr and Oruç only deepened their ties with the Ottoman Empire, specifically their ship supplying governor Şehzade Korkut.

The governor was the son of Sultan Bayezid II; thus, the privateer brothers were, in a way, employed by the Ottoman court. Khidr and Oruç would make a name for themselves between the years 1504 and 1515 as two of the most prominent privateers that would terrorise Spanish ships, loot their supplies, raid Spanish coastal cities of Grenada, Sicily, and Italy, and sell Christians found on ships into slavery.

Simultaneously, the brothers would become heroes in the eyes of many Muslims around the Mediterranean. Khidr and Oruç were most lauded for their efforts in transporting the Mudéjars from Spain to Northern Africa, where they would no longer be subjugated by the Spanish Inquisition.

Escape to Northern Africa

Between 1509-1513, the Ottoman Empire experienced a civil war of succession between the two sons of Bayezid II, Selim and Ahmet. Sultan Bayezid II died in 1512, and Selim began cracking down on his brothers and purging the Ottoman court of his brother’s supporters. He not only defeated and executed Ahmet but also Korkut.

Fig. 3 - Hayreddin Barbarossa

Fearing that their proximity to Korkut would endanger them as well, Khidr, Oruç, and Ishak fled to Northern Africa. They would continue to defy Spanish advances and distinguish themselves among the Northern African communities as autonomous corsairs.

Capture of Algiers

For about four years, the brothers sailed independently around the Northern and North-western African coasts, preying on Spanish ships. In 1516, Khidr, Oruç, and Ishak attacked Algiers, which was then under Spanish control. The brothers captured Algiers in 1516 and ruled it for a year. To appease the new Sultan, Oruç and Khidr offered Selim I Algiers, which then became an Ottoman sanjak. As a sign of acceptance and approval, Selim I bestowed nominal titles of Bey of Algiers upon Oruç and Bey of the Western Mediterranean upon Khidr.

In addition, the Sultan assured the brothers of his support with ships, cannons, and janissaries. The brothers no longer had a reason to fear Selim I, who was the reason they fled to Northern Africa. Despite such bestowals, the brothers were still not recognised as full members of the Ottoman military machine.

Hayreddin Barbarossa Captain

Both Oruç and Khidr were given honorific titles that had political magnitude in the Ottoman Empire. The title of “Reis”, or Captain, was taken by the brothers only to signify that their military careers on the Mediterranean were looked upon favourably by the Ottoman Sultan. From now on, the brothers proudly bore the names Oruç Reis and Khidr Reis.

Barbarossa is Dead, Long Live Barbarossa (Fall of Tlemcen)

The brothers were relieved that one of the most powerful people in Europe, Sultan Selim I, was now a friend rather than a foe. Nevertheless, Charles V, the new King of Spain, soon came to challenge the corsair brothers as he was eager to become the most powerful man in Europe.

Oruç, Khidr, and Ishak continued to capture territory on the coast of Northern Africa and, in 1518, conquered the city of Tlemcen of the Kingdom of Tlemcen (modern Algeria), declaring Oruç as Sultan.

Charles V saw an opening to counter-strike the corsair brother’s advances in Northern Africa. He assembled an army of 10,000 Spaniards and set sail to besiege the recently captured city. Oruç knew of the impending siege and had no more than 7,000 armed soldiers at his disposal to defend Tlemcen.

As the Spanish arrived, they besieged Tlemcen. The siege lasted just 20 days, the city was retaken by the Spanish, and the previous Sultan of Tlemcen was reinstated.

But what is most tragic, both Oruç and Ishak died during the siege. To honour his fallen brother’s name, Khidr took the name Barbarossa. From now on, he would sail alone, as the only brother that had survived years of battles and wars, avenging his fallen brothers with the name Barbarossa.

Hayreddin Barbarossa Ottoman Empire

Selim I died in 1520. In his place, Suleiman I ascended the throne and became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Khidr, now widely known as simply Barbarossa, was keen to further his political standing with the new Ottoman Sultan.

Fig. 4 - Barbarossa meets Suleiman I

In return for protection from Spain, Barbarossa offered Suleiman his corsair fleet. Needing a strong Ottoman military presence in Northern Africa, Suleiman was happy to be in partnership with Barbarossa.

Barbarossa in the 1520s

Some of Barbarossa’s most impressive feats were completed in the 1520s. The pirate fleet captained by Khidr Reis often captured Spanish ships returning from the New World carrying copious amounts of gold. In 1522 Barbarossa even aided Suleiman I in the Siege of Rhodes, a crucial siege that eventually expelled the Knights Hospitaller from their base of operations.

One of Barbarossa’s largest contributions to the Muslim population of the time was a humanitarian one. Thanks to Barbarossa’s fleet, 70,000 Moriscos were able to flee Spain through Andalusia. The Moriscos were transported to the relative safety of Northern Africa and, in some cases mainland Ottoman Empire.

Barbarossa in the 1530s

Barbarossa had become a sort of bogeyman for almost all living on the European Mediterranean coasts, and he began targeting Christian settlements around the Mediterranean. In 1534, he even approached Rome through the river Tiber, and although he never entered the city, the population experienced panic beyond belief. For his services to the Ottoman Empire for over two decades, Barbarossa has bestowed the honorific title of Hayreddin. He was henceforth known as Hayreddin Barbarossa.

Hayreddin Barbarossa The Grand Admiral

Barbarossa was seen as a fierce commander of the seas. He continued to re-capture territories of Northern Africa in the name of Suleiman I. For his efforts and an unrivalled commanding prowess, Suleiman I promoted Barbarossa to the position of Kapudan Pasha, the Grand Admiral of the Ottoman Navy and was made the Beylerbey of Ottoman Northern Africa.

To eliminate Barbarossa’s terror in the Mediterranean, Charles V would have to eliminate Barbarossa himself. For this, Charles V appointed the Genoese admiral Andrea Doria to re-capture territories Barbarossa had previously conquered for the Ottoman Empire. Doria proved useful, as he soon began capturing Ottoman cities and towns on the southern Greek coast of the Peloponnese. It looked as if Barbarossa had finally encountered a seaman with a similar character to his own.

In retaliation, in 1537, Barbarossa seized multiple islands that were under the control of the Venetian Republic. The two captains in the Mediterranean would clash in 1538 at the Battle of Preveza.

Battle of Preveza (1538)

To deal with the Ottoman threat in the Mediterranean, Pope Paul III called for a Christian alliance known as the Holy League. The League was a naval assembly of the Papal States, Spain, Genoa, Venice, and the Knights Hospitaller captained by Andrea Doria. The battle took place near the Greek coastal town of Preveza in the Ionian Sea.

Fig. 7 - Barbarossa's Greatest Victory, the Battle of Preveza

Despite having fewer ships (by around 20), Barbarossa not only defeated the allied Holy League but captured around 35 ships and some 3,000 Christian soldiers. Realising that further attempts to battle Barbarossa would prove futile, Doria ordered the surviving fleet of the League to withdraw. Though damaged, Barbarossa’s fleet lost no more than 3-4 galleys.

Retirement and Death

Barbarossa continued to exert Ottoman dominance in the Mediterranean until he retired in 1545. He died in Constantinople in 1546, leaving behind him an Ottoman navy that continued to be one of the most feared and respected military branches of the Ottoman Empire.