Pirate facts

The Barbarossa Brothers

Sailing from North Africa’s Barbary Coast, the Barbarossa (which means “red beard” in Italian) brothers Aruj and Hizir became rich by capturing European vessels in the Mediterranean Sea.

Though their most lucrative early victims included two papal galleys and a Sardinian warship, they began targeting the Spanish around the time Aruj lost an arm to them in battle.

By 1516 the Ottoman sultan had essentially put Aruj in charge of the entire Barbary Coast, a position that Hizir took over two years later following his brother’s death.

Hizir, otherwise known as Khair-ed-Din, then spent the rest of his days fighting various Christian enemies, including a “Holy League” fleet specifically formed by the pope to destroy him.

Sir Francis Drake

Francis Drake, nicknamed “my pirate” by Queen Elizabeth I, was among the so-called “Sea Dog” privateers licensed by the English government to attack Spanish shipping.

Drake sailed on his most famous voyage from 1577 to 1580, be