French War on Algiers, 1682-1692




Since the early 16th century, Algiers had developed as a hub of what contemporary christian sources refer to as piracy. Initially a policy of defense and retaliation to Spanish pressure (see Expedition against Algiers 1541), it developed into a lucrative business; Algerian pirates (in contemporary sources, together with other North African pirates, referred to as Barbary Coast pirates) harrassed christian shipping in the Mediterranean and on the Atlantic Ocean, as well as coastal settlements in christian countries, as far as Iceland. In 1669-1672, the Dutch and English shelled Algiers; much of the city burnt down in 1670.
In 1682, 1683 (Marquis Duquesne) and 1688 French fleets shelled Algiers again; in 1683 much of the city burnt down again. In 1687/1688, Algiers was prepared for another assault and the French found it much more dofficult to approach the city; the shelling turned out to be less effective.



EXTERNAL
FILES 		Algerien, Geschichte von (Algeria, history of), from Meyers Konversationslexikon, 1888-1890 edition, in German
Article Algeria, from European Wars, Cossacks Encyclopedia
Alger, from Annuaire 1789-1815, in French
North Africa 1574-1660, from Encyclopedia of World History
Article Barbary Pirates, from EB 1911
Jean le Vacher, from Filles de la Charite, in English, scroll down
1670-1688, 1688-1715, from Louis XIV Website
DOCUMENTS French Medal : Peace with Algiers 1684, from Medal Web (Collection Benjamin Weiss)
REFERENCE



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on March 13th 2004, last revised on November 19th 2004

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