{{Short description|Barbary slave raids against Iceland}} [[File:Marche_aux_esclaves_d_alger_gravure.jpg|thumb|Europeans being sold at the slave market in Algiers, Ottoman Algeria, 1684|upright=1.38]] {{Slavery}}
The '''Turkish Abductions''' ({{langx|is|Tyrkjaránið}} {{IPA|is|ˈtʰɪr̥caˌrauːnɪθ|}}) were a series of slave raids by pirates from Algier and Salé that took place in Iceland in the summer of 1627.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Hvaða heimildir eru til um Tyrkjaránið?|author=Þorsteinn Helgason|url=http://www.visindavefur.is/svar.php?id=5738|access-date=2020-12-06|website=Vísindavefurinn|language=is}}</ref>
The adjectival label "''Turkish''" ({{langx|is|Tyrkja}}) does not refer to ethnic Turks, country of Turkey or Turkic peoples in general; at the time it was a general term for all Muslims of the Mediterranean since the majority were from or subjects of the Ottoman Empire.<ref name=":2" />
The pirates came from the cities of Algiers and Salé.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Hverjir stóðu raunverulega að Tyrkjaráninu?|url=http://www.visindavefur.is/svar.php?id=5770|access-date=2020-12-06|website=Vísindavefurinn|author=Þorsteinn Helgason|language=is}}</ref> They raided Grindavík, the East Fjords, and Vestmannaeyjar.<ref name=":1" /> About 50 people were killed<ref name=":1" /> and close to 400 captured and sold into slavery.<ref name=":1" /> Ransoms were eventually paid, 9 to 18 years later,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Hvað gerðist í Tyrkjaráninu?|author=Þorsteinn Helgason|url=http://www.visindavefur.is/svar.php?id=5743|access-date=2019-06-10|website=Vísindavefurinn|language=is}}</ref> for the release of 50 individuals.<ref name=":1" />
== Raids == [[File:Mola Pirata.jpg|thumb|Barbary pirate depicted by Pier Francesco Mola (1612–1666)|upright]]
The 1627 raid was not the first one. In 1607, both Iceland and the Faroe Islands were subjected to a slave raid by the Barbary pirates, who abducted hundreds of people for the slave markets of North Africa.<ref>H. C. Bering. Liisberg. [https://books.google.com/books?id=WxfGDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT257 ''Danmarks søfart og søhandel'']. Vol. 1.</ref>
In 1627, the Barbary pirates came to Iceland in two groups: the first group was from Salé and the second one, which came a month later, was from Algiers.<ref name=":0" /> The commander of the group from Salé was a Dutchman known as Murat Reis, who had himself turned to piracy after being taken captive by pirates.<ref name=":2" />
=== Grindavík === The group from Salé raided the fishing village of Grindavík on 20 June 1627. They captured between 12 and 15 Icelanders and a similar number of Danish and Dutch sailors. Two people from Grindavík died. They captured two ships and looted a third one.<ref name=":0" />
The ships then sailed to Bessastaðir (home of the Danish-Norwegian governor of Iceland) to raid but were unable to make a landing.<ref name=":0" /> It is said they were thwarted by cannon fire from the local fortifications ({{lang|is|Bessastaðaskans}}) and a quickly mustered group of lancers from the Southern Peninsula.<ref name="ReferenceA">Vilhjálmur Þ. Gíslason (1947). {{lang|is|Bessastaðir: Þættir úr sögu höfuðbóls}}. Akureyri. {{in lang|is}}</ref>
They then sailed home and sold their captives at the slave market of Salé.<ref name=":0" />
===East Fjords=== [[File:FMIB 43882 Fjords of the South-east of Iceland.jpeg|thumb|Fjords of the south-east of Iceland]] The second group of raiders, the ones from Algiers, looted in the East Fjords from 5 to 13 July 1627. They captured a Danish merchant ship and sank it.<ref name=":0" />
A total of 110 Icelanders were taken, mostly from Berufjörður and {{ill|Breiðdalur|is}}, along with the crew of the captured Danish merchant ship. They additionally took livestock, silver and other goods.<ref name=":0" />
North of Fáskrúðsfjörður, they hit strong winds and decided to turn around and sail along the south coast of Iceland. Another pirate ship joined them, and they also captured an English fishing vessel.<ref name=":0" />
=== Vestmannaeyjar === As there were no harbors or landing sites along the south coast, the three ships eventually came on 16 July to Vestmannaeyjar, a group of islands off the coast. They raided the village and Heimaey for three days, capturing 234 people and killing 34, including one of the ministers of the island.<ref name=":0" /> Those offering resistance were killed, as were some of the old and infirm people.<ref>Peter Madsen, [http://complit.ku.dk/islamineuropeanliterature/workingpapers/dokument4/ "Danish slaves in Barbary"], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110054744/http://complit.ku.dk/islamineuropeanliterature/workingpapers/dokument4/ |date=2014-11-10 }}, ''Islam in European Literature Conference,'' Denmark</ref> The market houses and the church were burned down. On 19 July, the ships left Vestmannaeyjar and sailed back to Algiers.<ref name=":0" />
== Life in the Barbary == {{See also|Barbary slave trade}}
Upon reaching Algiers, the captives were placed in a prison, where "crowds of people came to see us, for to them we were a rare type of people. Many of the heathen women there, both black and white, had pity on us, shaking their heads and shedding tears. Some of them gave the children bread; some gave small coins."<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Letter written by Guttormur Hallsson, delivered from the Barbary to Iceland in 1631|url=https://www.reisubok.net/new-page|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=}}</ref> Then, the commander of the city state selected several individuals for himself; the rest were sold in the slave market.<ref name=":0" />
Many died of illnesses after reaching Africa. Close to 100 individuals converted to Islam, mostly younger people. Eight years later there were 70 documented Icelanders who were still Christian.<ref name=":0" />
A few letters written by captives reached Iceland. Guttormur Hallsson, a captive from Eastern Region, said in a letter written in Barbary in 1631: "There is a great difference here between masters. Some captive slaves get good, gentle, or in-between masters, but some unfortunates find themselves with savage, cruel, hardhearted tyrants, who never stop treating them badly, and who force them to labour and toil with scanty clothing and little food, bound in iron fetters, from morning till night."<ref name=":3" />
== Return == [[File:En kort Beretning om De Tyrkiske Søe-Røveres.png|thumb|Ólafur Egilsson's book about his experience.]] Ólafur Egilsson, a minister from Vestmannaeyjar, was set free in Algiers so that he could go and raise money to pay the ransom. He eventually made it to Copenhagen. The fundraising was slow.<ref name=":0" />
On two occasions, those carrying the ransom to Algiers betrayed the captives, and used the money to purchase goods that they traded back in Europe. A letter describes the pain:
{{quote|... to know that those who have been here twice to Algiers with our ransom money have used it instead for trade, to make profit for themselves, and have stolen our liberty, for they never admitted that they could free anyone, or even that they were here to do so. Instead, they told us to petition our gracious master the King, in the name of God, for our freedom, and then they filled simple minded, poor fellows with fair words and went on their way, one with hides, another with chests of sugar, leaving behind them only the smoke of their lying words<ref name=":3" />}}
The first major ransom was paid nine years after the abductions when 34 Icelanders were brought from Algiers. Six died on the way back, and one was left behind in Glückstadt. A few others had made it back using other methods. In 1645, a ransom was paid for an additional eight people, who made it back to Copenhagen.<ref name=":0" /> In total, 50 individuals obtained their freedom, but not all returned to Iceland.<ref name=":1" />
The most notable captive was Guðríður Símonardóttir. She returned to Iceland and later married Hallgrímur Pétursson, one of Iceland's most famous poets.<ref name=":0" />
== Legacy == In Iceland, the Turkish Abductions are viewed as a major event and one that is still often discussed,<ref name=":1" /> but outside of Iceland the event is practically unknown.<ref name=":1" /> Multiple detailed works were written about the event at the time;<ref name=":0" /> a major one was Ólafur Egilsson's narrative ({{lang|is|{{ill|Reisubók Ólafs Egilssonar|is}}}}; ''Ólafur Egilsson's travelogue''). It was translated and published in English in 2008.<ref name="smari">Egilsson, Ólafur (2016). ''The Travels of Reverend Ólafur Egilsson: The Story of the Barbary Corsair Raid on Iceland in 1627''. Translated from the original Icelandic text and edited by Karl Smári Hreinsson and Adam Nichols. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8132-2869-3}}.</ref> The abductions were viewed at the time as a punishment from God for Iceland's sinful lifestyle.<ref name=":0" /> They are the only armed expedition against Iceland in modern times that has resulted in any casualties.<ref name=":1" />
==See also== {{col div|colwidth=25em}} * Barbary slave trade * Sack of Baltimore * Sklavenkasse * Slave raid of Suðuroy * Slavery in the Ottoman Empire {{col div end}}
==References== {{reflist|25em}}
== Primary sources == * ''[https://baekur.is/bok/000399674/0/418/Tyrkjaranid_a_Islandi Tyrkjaránið á Íslandi, 1627]'', Sögurit, 4 (Reykjavík: Sögufélag, 1906–1909) * ''[https://www.reisubok.net The Travels of Reverend Ólafur Egilsson (Reisubók Séra Ólafs Egilssonar): The story of the Barbary corsair raid on Iceland in 1627]'' ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106021203/http://reisubok.net/Foreword/default.aspx |date=2014-01-06 }}), trans. by Karl Smári Hreinsson and Adam Nichols (The Catholic University of America Press, 2016), {{ISBN|978-0813228693}}
{{Pirates}}
Category:1627 in the Ottoman Empire Category:1627 in Europe Category:1627 in Africa Piracy Category:Barbary slave raids Category:Kidnappings in Iceland Category:Looting in Europe Category:Massacres in Iceland Category:Slavery in the Ottoman Empire Category:17th century in slavery Category:Turkish Abductions Category:Slavery in Iceland