Though at least a proportion of them are better described as privateers, the Barbary pirates operated out of Tunis, Tripoli, Algiers, Salè and ports in Morocco, preying on shipping in the western Mediterranean Sea from the time of the Crusades as well as on ships on their way to Asia around Africa until the early 19th century. Their stronghold was along the stretch of northern Africa known as the Barbary Coast (a medieval term for the Maghreb after its Berber inhabitants), although their predation was said to extend as far north as Iceland, and south along West Africa's Atlantic seaboard.

Perhaps the best-known was Barbarossa (meaning red beard) the nickname of Khair ad Din, who after having been invited to defend the city of Algiers from the Spaniards killed its ruler and seized it in 1510, making it into a major base for privateering, as well as a regent for the sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Some of them were renegades or Moriscoes. Their usual ship was the galley with slaves or prisoners at the oars. Two examples of these renegadoes are Süleyman Reis "De Veenboer" who became admiral of the Algerian corsair fleet in 1617, and his quartermaster Murad Reis, born Jan Janszoon van Haarlem. Both worked for the notorious corsair (privateer) Simon the Dancer, who owned a palace. These pirates were all originally Dutch. The Dutch admiral Michiel de Ruyter unsuccesfully tried to end their piracy.

Barbary pirates and the U.S. Navy

The pirates' constant attacks on United States shipping in the early 1800s prompted the building of the United States Navy, including one of America's most famous ships, the USS Constitution. The United States Marine Corps actions in this event led to the inclusion of the line, "to the shores of Tripoli" in the opening of the "Marine Hymn".

Barbary pirates in literature

Barbary pirates appear in a number of famous novels, including The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian and some of Miguel Cervantes' works.

See also

• Knights of Rhodes
• Robinson Crusoe
• Miguel Cervantes
• First Barbary War
• Second Barbary War
• Barbary treaties
• Stephen Decatur
• USS Hornet
• kleptocracy
• Dey