Violence as Global Practice in the Early Medieval Western Mediterranean
I challenge the assumption that violence involving Muslims and Christians was necessarily religious. Moreover, I propose that normative texts concerning maritime violence impede rather than illuminate our understanding of that violence, particularly in cases adjacent to religious rhetoric.
The Pirate Queen of the Mediterranean: The Story of Al-Sayyida al-Hurra
When it came to piracy on the Mediterrean Sea, one of the most feared and formidable leaders was a woman by the name of Al-Sayyida al-Hurra. Here is her story.
The Medieval Pirates’ Nest of Crete
In the ninth century, the island of Crete would become a major base of piracy. Could the Byzantine Empire defeat this threat?
Piracy and reprisal in Byzantine waters: resolving a maritime conflict between Byzantines and Genoese at the end of the twelfth century
In 1192, Genoese and Pisan pirates under the command of a Genoese corsair pillaged Venetian ships carrying merchandise and valuable gifts for the Byzantine emperor from the Sultan of Egypt.
Quiz: The Golden Age of Piracy
Criminals of the sea, desperate sailors or romantic heroes? How much do you really know about pirates?
‘Pirates, robbers and other malefactors’: The role played by violence at sea in relations between England and the Hanse towns, 1385 – 1420
This thesis will argue that the impact of specific phenomena, particularly the activities of the Vitalienbrüder, on Anglo-Hanseatic relations has been not only neglected but misunderstood, and that attention to English sources can help flesh out our understanding of the Vitalienbrüder’s history.
Piracy and Papacy: The Legacy of Thibauld’s treasure
Pirates and popes seem to be two things that simply would not intersect owing to both time and distance, but in 1357 intersect they did. The result was a court claim that resulted claims for damages that wound up providing us one of the finest medieval cities to survive today.
Grainne Uaile: The Movie
An up and coming movie about Grace O’ Malley (Grainne Uaile), Ireland’s famous female pirate!
Piracy in Late Roman Britain: A Perspective from the Viking Age
In contrast to Romano-British studies, the scholar of the Viking Age is well served by detailed discussions of piracy, in large part driven by the considerable number of primary historical sources.
Fraxinetum: An Islamic Frontier State in Tenth Century Provence
How did a Muslim mini-state emerge on the southern coast of France in the tenth century?
Danger from the high seas: Pirates shaped the history of the Mediterranean for 3000 years
Eye patch, peg leg and hook arm – these are the attributes commonly connoted with pirates. What many might not know is that pirates had been painting the waters of the Mediterranean red for almost 3,000 years.
The Sovereign and the Pirates, 1332
One Monday in early Spring 1332 a galley commanded by two Genoese ran aground on the tiny island of Brescou in the Mediterranean, a mile or so off shore of the episcopal city of Agde.
Causes of Piracy in Medieval Japan
The scope of the study spans two distinct phases of piratical activity by Japanese marauders known as the wako, the first lasting from 1223 to 1265 and the second from 1350 to the early 1400s.