PIRATES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN

Trade in the Western Mediterranean has been booming recently. A quick resolution to the hostilities in Italy had driven demand for goods even higher, the severance of English-Castilian trade agreements has increased trade through the straits, and piracy has seemed nonexistent for the last few years as raids have concentrated in the East and the North African states have found themselves busy with conflict over the title of Caliph. But that peace and prosperity was never going to last forever, and who better to bring it to an end than the Barbary Pirates of Tlemcen?

SPRING, 1501

Ahhhh, springtime in the Mediterranean. A time of green grass, blooming flowers, Easter masses, and - this year - extremely violent piracy. The last year had seen very little pirate activity in the West, and so the sudden scope of Tlemceni attacks caught everyone off-guard, most of all the traders themselves. Within the span of a few months, a group of just two dozen Xebecs had managed to raid nearly a hundred merchant vessels in the waters east of the straits. These vessels - stuffed full of goods bound for Italy and Venice - had elected to bring extra cargo in place of the usual merchant marines that used to accompany their voyages, much to the delight of these Barbary pirates. Fine wines, foodstuffs, and most importantly slaves made their way back to Algiers, a city which has been growing rapidly over the last few years thanks to repeated Castilian expulsions following the fall of Granada. This new windfall would serve to further bolster the fledgling trade and piracy hub, bringing in new people and new pirates.

SUMMER, 1501

Mediterranean merchants were beginning to be worried about this sudden surge in pirate attacks, but they had quotas to meet, and wouldn't let the fear of a few Muslims keep them from some juicy profits. So, bringing along just a few extra men, they set back out for another season of ceaseless trade.

So too did the pirates set out, finding fairly significant success doing exactly what they had done the last few months. The extra fighting men on these ships were an annoyance to be sure, but piracy was a dangerous business, and they could handle a few merchants with daggers and shortswords. So for the next few months, more fine goods, food, and slaves would make their way back to Algiers and Tlemcen, and a few more men than before would make their way to the bottom of the Mediterranean.

AUTUMN, 1501

This piracy had gone on for MONTHS now, and it was finally time for the merchants to get their acts together. So they decided to take an... interesting approach to recruitment, and would piggyback off the religious fervor inspired by the recent quashing of rebellion in Iberia and the ongoing crusade in the East. Selling the idea of "service to Christendom closer to home", merchants portrayed service in the merchant marine as a "safer" and "easier" alternative to journeying to the land of the Turks. This found rousing success among a feverous Iberian population, who swarmed to the merchants en masse for jobs.

Now it was time for the pirates to be surprised, as the juicy mercantile targets they had found just a few months ago were now armed to the teeth with angry Iberian men, wanting to "destroy the evil Musilmen plaguing the good Christian merchants of Europe" with a fury matched only by the most zealous of crusaders. Raids over the next few months were much fewer and further between, as easy targets were far harder to come by, and the ones that did appear ended in much more bloodshed than they had become accustomed to. "Hopefully time will temper their zeal..." thought the pirates as Autumn turned to Winter.

WINTER, 1501

Time, as it turned out, would not temper the zeal of these new merchant marines, who sailed as fervently in December as they would in September. What time did do is give these pirates time to perfect a more deadly style of boarding and raiding, accounting more for these armed men while giving themselves the best chance possible to get out of each encounter with some loot. Results were mixed, but overall certainly better than they had been just a few months previous. More loot would flow back home, and more bodies and ships - both Christian and Muslim - would make their way to the cold depths of the Mediterranean.

SUMMARY

Overall, a successful season of piracy from Tlemcen. A good number of merchant ships - especially Spanish ones - would never see their final destinations. Religiously-motivated merchant marine sailors are currently all the rage in the Western Med. Petitions for a standing anti-piracy fleet make their way to the courts of Castile and Aragon.

TLEMCEN

• a total of ƒ107,000 raided from shipping over the course of the year (minus the ƒ73,800 needed for ship upkeep over that time, its a total profit of ƒ33,200)
• a population bump and value increase in Algiers, as the influx of slaves and goods helps to continue the growth of the fledgling port city
• 3 prestige as tales of the fearsome Barbary Pirates are told across Iberia once again
• 5 Xebecs lost, 6 others damaged

CASTILE

• a loss of ƒ20,000 worth of trade income
• petitions for a standing anti-piracy navy make their way to the Queen's court, as demand grows to deal with this menace at sea rather than simply dissuading direct raids of coastal provinces

ARAGON

• a loss of ƒ5,680 worth of trade income
• petitions for a standing anti-piracy navy make their way to the King's court, as demand grows to deal with this menace