1111111 Ullllilim mil 1IIII 111/ 1111 Sander, Steven TN: 117172 Lending Library: CLU Title: Pirate utopias: Moorish corsairs & European Renegadoes Author: Wilson, Peter Lamborn. Due Date: 05/06/11 Pieces: 1 PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE TIDS LABEL ILL Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 8am to 4:30pm Phone: 909-607-4591 h«p:llclaremontmiad.oclc.org/iDiadllogon.bbnl PII\ATE UTOPIAS MOORISH CORSAIRS & EUROPEAN I\ENEGADOES PETER LAMBOl\N WILSON AUTONOMEDIA PT o( W5,5 LiaoS ACK.NOWLEDGEMENTS The author wishes to thank the New York Public Library, which at some time somehow acquired a huge pirate-lit col­ lection; the Libertarian Book Club's Anarchist Forums, and T A8LE OF CONTENTS the New York Open Center. where early versions were audi­ ence-tested; the late Larry Law, for his little pamphlet on Captain Mission; Miss Twomey of the Cork Historical I PIl\ATE AND MEl\MAlD 7 Sociel;y Library. for Irish material; Jim Koehnline for art. as n A CHl\ISTIAN TUl\N'D TUl\K 11 always; Jim Fleming. ditto; Megan Raddant and Ben 27 Meyers. for their limitless capacity for toil; and the Wuson ill DEMOCI\.ACY BY ASSASSINATION Family Trust, thanks to which I am "independently poor" and ... IV A COMPANY OF l\OGUES 39 free to pursue such fancies. V AN ALABASTEl\ PALACE IN TUNISIA 51 DEDlCATION: VI THE MOOI\.ISH l\EPU8LlC OF SALE 71 For Bob Quinn & Gordon Campbell, Irish Atlanteans VII MUI\.AD l\EIS AND THE SACK OF BALTIMOl\E 93 ISBN 1-57027-158-5 VIII THE COI\.SAIl\'S CALENDAl\ 143 ¢ Anti-copyright 1995, 2003. The text may be freely pirated, IX PII\.ATE UTOPIAS 187 providing the author is credited. and informed at the AFTEI\.WOI\.D: A MOOl\ISH PIl\ATE address below. The author reserves rights solely to lucrative X Hollywood movie adaptations or other actual booty. IN OLD NEW YOl\K 205 Autonomedia BIBLlOGl\APHY 216 PO Box 568, Wi1liamsburgh Station Brooklyn, NY 11211-0568 Phone & Fax (718) 963-2603 [email protected] www.autonomedia.org Printed in Canada I Pll\ATE AND MEl\MAIDl Some year<l ago a tall tower <ltOOd at the extreme end of Cape Marabata; the ChriJtiaru called it Torre Blanquilla (White Tower) and it wa,J known to tbe Mohammedanel a,J El-Minar. All day long the tower looked out on the .lea; at night it Wa,J lulled to <lleep by the murmur 0/ the wind on the water. It Wa,J an ancient tou'er whrue waLM were covered witb gnarled vinMj <lcorpionel hiiJ between her <ltOnM, and evil jinn gathered nearby at night/all. The gypJiM, who knew about all thingJ, <laiiJ the tower !l'a,J built by the Portugu&Je who came here to light agaitult the Mohammedanel. The mountaineer<I 0/ Andjera are better informed,· they <lay the tower wa,J buill by liMJ el-l3ebar the pirate in order to hide hiJ lrea,JurM with­ in itd walM. LuJ el-l3eharcam.e/rom Rabat. He U'a,J a <lki1l­ lui nalfigator, ani) <lkilJed at an elfen more difficult art-that 0/ commanding men. Tbe SpaniarIJJ and ItalianJ knew hiJ name only too well El-l3ehard frigate Wa,J Jlender and ligbt a,J a <lwallowj the oarJ 0/ 1. "The Legend of El-Minar." Chimenti (1965) 7 prayer, be itever dO peifect, cou{J equal the "uleet mur­ a hundred ChrkJtian galley dlaVt?<1 made it dkim dwift­ Iy over the wave". The dhip WaJ greatlyfeared becalMe muro/rippling waterJ? What on earth id aJ poweiful of the bofi)ne,,,, of her dai/ord and her mony cannoflJ, aJ the "ea which "tretchu from one "bore ofthe worfi) each differentfrom the other, which the pirate haIJ cap­ to the other? Oh, wouIJ that the wavu were a womon "0 tured from Chridtian Ve.MelJ 0/ variolM nationalitiM. that I might morry her and the ocean a f1UMque in u,hich I might /Way. " LaM el-&har WaJ young, hand"ome, and brave. Many a captive C'bridtian womon fell deeply in love AJ thue thought" were running through hid with hinl, ad dW the daughtm 0/ rich and powerful mind a "torm gathered in the wutj it "wept over the MohammedaflJ. But he rejected the love ofChridtianJ plam., and the mountam., and roared about the tower. and MohammedaflJ alike, for hid dhip meant far The .lea gu!£J crieJ out in fright anJ foUl awaYijlocfJ more to him than the beauty of women. He loved hid of"heep ran frantically to their encw.,uru. The tem­ dhip, the companioflJhip of hid valiant warriord, and put Ia.Jted a day and a night. the:glorioU<J battlu which were later to he celebrated in When the winJ quieted Jown and the dea cetkJed dong and poetry. Above all it WaJ the Jea he loved; he to belww like a tholMand oxen, LaJd el-Behar loved her with dO deep a paJdion that he: coufi) not live {k,ce:nded from hid tower. On the narrow banJ 0/danJ away from her, and he dPOke to her aJ men "peak to which lay between the rock.:! and the water he .law a their dweetheartd. Hid warrior" wouIJ "ay that at the woman lying .,tretched out, white and colJ. He approached cWder. hour ofprayer he wouIJ turn hid eyt?<1 away from the direction 0/Mecca in order to gaze at the dell. "She m1lJt be a Chridtian, " he daw to hil1klelf, On the day ofAi(} el-Kbir (dheep dacrifice), La"" lor her hair id the cowr ofnew golJ. » d-&har, who Wad in the village ofEI-Minar with hid He lifted her up and took her in hid arm<!. companiofld-in-arl1kl, declined to go to Tangier to "'PerhafM dhe id "till alive. » hear the ;/ermon 0/ the calJi and to pray in the compa­ The: womon opened her eyUi they were green ny ofthe devout. t:ye.J, green aJ the algae which grow" in the cracfJ 0/ a "Go ifyou IlUbJt, T} he daw to hid men. «AJ for me rocfJ. She WaJ bahria, a jinniyeh (jemole genie) of I dhaLL rut here. " the dell. Her beauty WaJ magic and el-Behar fell He: dhut htinde/f up in hid tower/from there he malJly in Wve with her. He neglected hid warrior<! for coulJ contemplate the Jea and the dhip.! aJ they moved her "ake,' he forgot hid dwiftgal/e:h hid gwry, and even dlowlyon the borizon. The charqui, more breeze than hid prayerd to Allah. wind, malJe: the water dance under the warm Jummer ul wve you more than anything on earth, "he once: light. daw to her, "more than my life and my"a/valion. " "The but dermon ofthe caIJi, "thought el-&har, During the equino::c, the furiolM Jea again ham­ "coulJ never equal the beauty of thid dcene. What mered at the tower and threatened the village nearby. 8 9 Her wateN mingle(} witb tbOJe oftbe Cbad River and even reacbeiJ tbe garden of Tanger el-Batid. "Tbe OCUln iJ going to tltnMb our tower, "daw tbe pirate to biJ helolle~ "let Ud flee to tbe mountain.!. " "Why fear tbe ocean?" Mked tbe babria witb a ,,,nile. "Don't you love ber Move ali tbingd? Aren't II you con.Jtantly praiJing ber force and ber power? Don't you turn your bead away from tbe direction of Mecca in order to gaze out at tbe tlea? I am a daugb­ A CHKISTIAN TUKN'D TUKKE ter of tbe tlea. I came to reward you for tbe love you bear her. Now tbe tlea calM me hack. Farewell, Lewtl lu'lJrt:laDs are made Turks and Turks are the sons ofdevils." el-Bebar, you dball never tlee me again. " .-NewwMfrom Sea of WARD THE PIRATE (1609) "Don't leave me," implored the pirate, "don't leave me, I beg ofyou. Witbout you I tlhali nefJer know From about the late 1500's to the 18th centwy, many bapplne.ftl. " of European men-and women-converted to "HappinMtI, "an.Jwered the hahria, "belongd only Most of them lived and worked in Algiers, Tunis, to tbOJe wbo fear Allah and honor Him. I mUdt leave and the Rabat-Sale area of Morocco- the so-called you. I dare not diJobey tbe voice wbich callJ me, but Coast States. Most of the women became Moslems you may follow me ifyou wiJb. " they mamed Moslem men. This much is easy enough Tbe jinniyeb wandered offwitb tbe twe aM Lewd ~derstand, although it would be fascinating if we could el-Bebar fol1owed ber into tbe murky depth.! of tbe the lives ofsome of them in search ofsome 17th centu­ .Jea. Nor WM he ever dun again. He dleep.1 under tbe Eberhardt.2 But what about the men? What wat'u between tbe Tarik Mountain (Gibraltar) and them to convert? Cape Tru-ForCM. He wili not waken until that day Christian Europeans had a special term for these men: wben men will he JiUJ.qei} for tbeir actWn.J and the "renegades": apostates, turncoats, traitors. eartb wili only be a tlbaiJow of a tlbaiJow which will had some reason for these sentiments, since finally diJappear. Europe was still at war with Islam. The Crusades For Allah iJ tbe Almigbty One. never really ended. The last Moorish kingdom in Spain, Eberhardt, daughter of Russian anarchists, traveled and in Algiers, sometimes dressed and passed as a man, converted and supported Algerian independence. She wrote roman­ her bizarre and erotic adventures and died young and See Bowles (1975) and de Voogd (1987).