In search of justice : the depredation of Christian Greeks by Maltese corsairs

Abstract

The idea of perpetual war between Christians and Muslims was the fundamental tenet that legitimised seaborne violence and plundering, known as corsairing, in the Early Modern Mediterranean. Enterprising individuals from both sides armed all sorts of sea-going vessels to attack and pillage each other at will. However, the situation was more complex in the Eastern Mediterranean. A Greek population, largely Christian Orthodox or Catholic, lived under Muslim Ottoman rule. Starting during the 18th century, several propitious historical and geographical factors enabled the entrepreneurial sea-faring Greeks to become the owners of an ever-expanding trading fleet in the Eastern Mediterranean. Thus, the Greeks became lucrative targets and victims of the corsairs armed in Malta. After incidents of depredation, they sought justice in the tribunals of Malta and Rome. In this chapter, a brief account of the Hospitaller Order’s identity and its attitude to the corsairing phenomenon is followed by a look at the Greeks’ activities in the East Mediterranean. This provides the context for an examination of cases of depredation that occurred between 1722-36, which provides insight into the links between diplomacy, sovereignty, religion, economics and violence.