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Hayreddin Barbarossa

Type Figure Region Ottoman Empire Time c. 1478–1546 Also known as Red-bearded Hayreddin

A famous 16th-century Mediterranean pirate who became an Ottoman naval commander, from an Algerian pirate family, later submitting to the Ottoman Emp…

Timeline

  1. c. 1500–1518Algiers · AlgiersOperated along the North African coast with his brother Uluj Barbarossa, raiding Spanish and Italian ships, gradually taking control of Algiers and opposing Christian maritime powers; after his brother fell in battle in 1518, he took sole command of the fleet.
  2. 1519–1520Constantinople · Ottoman EmpireSwore allegiance to Selim I, was granted the title bey and commanded the Ottoman fleet in North Africa, incorporating privateering forces into the empire's naval defense system and preparing for Mediterranean expansion after Suleiman's accession.
  3. 1511–1518Tunis · TunisContinued expanding Algiers' pirate power in the 1510s, contesting Tunis and North African ports with Habsburg Spain, laying the strength foundation for his later formal appointment as Kapudan Pasha.

Sources