Pirates: Barbary Corsairs & The Bombardment of Algiers

Summary

Episode Summary: Pirates: Barbary Corsairs & The Bombardment of Algiers

Podcast: Dan Snow's History Hit
Episode: Pirates: Barbary Corsairs & The Bombardment of Algiers
Release Date: July 13, 2025

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of Dan Snow's History Hit, host Anthony Delaney delves into the tumultuous history of the Barbary Corsairs and the pivotal Bombardment of Algiers. Joined by Aaron Jaffa, Curator of World History and Cultures at the Royal Museums, Greenwich, Delaney explores the intricate dynamics between European powers and the North African Barbary States during the early 19th century.

Understanding the Barbary Corsairs

Defining the Barbary Corsairs
Aaron Jaffa clarifies the distinction between pirates and corsairs, emphasizing that the latter were sanctioned by their rulers:
"They are sanctioned by the rulers of these Barbary states. Sometimes they're provided ships by them and also when they bring back their booty, they have to provide some of it to those rulers." (08:19)

Geographical Scope and Operations
The Barbary Corsairs operated from the Barbary Coast in North Africa, which included various Ottoman regencies such as Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, as well as the independent Kingdom of Morocco. Their operations extended far beyond the Mediterranean:
"They even attack the coastline of the British Isles. So England and Ireland both have places where the Barbary Corsairs are coming ashore and abducting people." (09:17)

Historical Context Leading to the Bombardment

Extended Raids and European Vulnerability
Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, Barbary Corsairs conducted extensive raids, capturing thousands of Europeans for slavery. Notable incidents include the 1631 raid on Baltimore, Ireland, where over 200 villagers were taken captive.
"Between the late 1600s and the end of the Napoleonic wars, all the great naval powers are busy fighting each other, making alliances. There's not this concerted effort to stamp them out, and there's no unity to do that." (11:18)

Shifting European Priorities
With the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, European powers, particularly Britain, found themselves with the resources and political climate to address the ongoing threat posed by the Barbary Corsairs. The British anti-slavery movement also influenced this shift:
"The British have recently passed laws to stamp out the transatlantic slave trade. And there are people in Europe who are saying, well, it's hypocrisy of the British to start trying to stamp out this trade." (12:10)

The Bombardment of Algiers

Diplomatic Failures and Rising Tensions
Admiral Edward Pellew, Lord Exmouth, led the British mission to Algiers following the massacre of over 200 European fishermen. Initial diplomatic efforts failed, prompting a decisive military response. Delaney describes the strategic buildup:
"The fleet of Lord Exmouth positioned itself off the harbor... The mission is clear. Compel the release of European slaves. Secure an end to Christian slavery and punish the Dey for his betrayal." (08:19)

The Assault Begins
On July 27, 1816, after delivering an ultimatum, the British and Dutch fleet commenced the attack. The HMS Queen Charlotte, armed with over 100 guns, led the charge:
"At 11:15, one over enthusiastic Algerine gun crew fired on the British flagship. She responded with a broadside." (17:30)

Intense Naval Warfare
The bombardment was marked by relentless cannon fire, both from the British fleet and the Algerine defenses. Despite fierce resistance, British naval superiority gradually silenced the shore batteries:
"The British systematically silenced the Algerine guns. If you visit the pirates exhibit in the Maritime Museum in Greenwich, you can actually see the most incredible painting." (22:34)

Aftermath and Consequences

Devastation and Casualties
The bombardment resulted in significant destruction. While British and Dutch casualties numbered around 900, Algerine losses were estimated at up to 5,000, encompassing both military personnel and civilians:
"Casualties on the British and Dutch side have been estimated about 900... but on the Algerine side, perhaps up to 5,000 military and civilians." (24:50)

Political Ramifications
Following the bombardment, a treaty was signed compelling the Dey of Algiers to release Christian slaves and cease corsairing. However, the practice did not entirely end immediately:
"There is less slaving going on, but it's not immediate. There are bouts of raiding that go on afterwards." (26:22)

Long-Term Impact on the Mediterranean
The successful demonstration of British naval power heralded a shift in Mediterranean geopolitics. Algiers later fell under French colonial control in 1830, effectively ending the era of the Barbary Corsairs:
"The fall of Algiers marked not just the end of the regime, it was the end of a centuries old form of government that sustained the Barbary Corsairs." (27:05)

Conclusion

The episode vividly illustrates the decline of the Barbary Corsairs and the restoration of European naval dominance in the Mediterranean. Through the strategic prowess of the Royal Navy and shifting political landscapes, the longstanding threat of piracy and slavery emanating from the Barbary Coast was ultimately subdued. The collaboration between Britain and the Netherlands during the Bombardment of Algiers serves as a testament to the evolving nature of international diplomacy and military intervention in the face of humanitarian crises.

Notable Quotes:

• Anthony Delaney:
  "These were not boats. They were ships... HMS Queen Charlotte... one of the biggest and most potent battleships of that point in history." (01:10)
  "You listen to Dan Snow's history and we have arrived at the beginning of the end for piracy in the Age of Sail in our pirates series." (06:00)

• Aaron Jaffa:
  "We don't actually use the word pirate when we're talking about sailors who are from these places. We actually prefer the term corsair, which is much more accurate." (08:10)
  "The Barbary Corsairs really are very much of an older period. They're a bygone era by this point." (27:35)

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Further Exploration:
Listeners are encouraged to visit the Maritime Museum in Greenwich to view the extensive painting by George Chambers, which vividly depicts the Bombardment of Algiers. Additionally, the upcoming final episode will explore the decline of piracy in the Caribbean and Europe, detailing the systematic hunts that led to the downfall of notorious pirates.

Stay Connected:
Subscribe to Dan Snow's History Hit for more engaging historical narratives and analyses. New episodes are released every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Transcript

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[Anthony Delaney]

You get your podcasts. You could call it Gunboat diplomacy. These were not boats. They were ships. The leading vessel had triple banked decks mounting iron guns, all of them now run out through open gun ports. With a hundred cannon, she was one of the biggest and most potent battleships of that point in history. HMS Queen Charlotte. Perhaps not the most terrifying name in the roster of the Royal Navy. Not quite up there with war spite, implacable, invincible Ark Royal Victory, but an aim to put fear into the guts of those who knew. She had blasted two French ships at the same time, the so called Glorious first of June in 1794. Raking them both stem to stern with her well drilled broadsides, she had turned the French ship Formidable into a floating wreck of smashed timbers and downed rigging the following year. Now, two decades later, she was leading another fleet towards a very different enemy. Not French, but Algerine. The Warrior Queen had come for the pirates of North Africa's Barbary Coast. On the quarterdeck was Admiral Edward Pellew, Lord Exmouth. He had seen a lot of war. He'd served in the Navy since the American Revolutionary War. He'd swum into a wrecked ship in a storm to save the crew. He'd captured enemy possessions in the Indian Ocean. He knew his business. He surveyed the coast. The city lay in a bay. White buildings rose from busy harbor backed by steep hills. There were cannon on fortified sea walls. This is the stronghold of the Day of Algiers, ruler of one of the last Barbary States, states that once dominated the seas, right up to the bays and fishing villages of the northern coast of the Mediterranean and beyond out into the Atlantic, too. Their slavers had once scoured Cornwall, Ireland, even Iceland for victims to sell in the human flesh markets of the North African coast. The Europeans had long tried to suppress this trade. Now they were here to extinguish it. Exmouth had spoken with the representatives of the day just weeks earlier to secure a treaty abolishing Christian slavery in the region. But within days of his departure, over 200 captured European fishermen had been massacred. Meanwhile, European ships were still having problems with Barbary corsairs. They were licensed privateers. As far as the day of Algiers was concerned, they were brutal pirates to their victims. They operated out of the city, attacking and plundering vessels, causing disruption to trade. It was now 1816, the year after Waterloo. The wars in Europe were over. Napoleon was in his tropical prison. The British were dominant on the world's oceans and now they had the time and bandwidth for a little housekeeping. The glory days of piracy on the Barbary coast were fading. They'd had a reprieve as Europeans had fought massive wars against each other for a generation. Now the British were here to finish them for good. They had tried diplomacy. It was now time for the stick. The fleet of Lord Exmouth positioned itself off the harbor. There are five ships of the line, five frigates and four bomb vessels. There are also six Dutch ships under Admiral Van Capellen. The mission is clear. Compel the release of European slaves. Secure an end to Christian slavery and punish the day for his betrayal. And demonstrate British naval power. Exmouth sends a message ashore demanding the release of all Christian slaves without ransom. Full compensation to the families of the masqueed fishermen and a formal end to slavery. The day delays. Hours pass without reply. Tension builds. The internal partitions of the ships of the line are cleared away. Officers, furniture stored for safekeeping down the hold. Young boys, powder monkeys, bring charges of gunpowder up from the magazines to the gun crews. Solid shot is rammed home snug in the barrels of the British Empire's iron enforcers. What comes next is an extraordinary statement of British naval confidence. The Queen Charlotte glided to within 80 yards of the Algerine breakwater, dropped its anchor and settled a stone's throw away from the port. At 11:15, one over enthusiastic Algerine gun crew fired on the British flagship. She responded with a broadside. As the British and Dutch fleet blazed away at the Shore defences smashing masonry, knocking cannon off their carriages, killing and driving off the defenders. The day unleashed a counter attack. A swarm of little boats came pouring out of the harbour. They hoped to overwhelm and confuse the battleships. But the British calmly turned their guns on this new threat and cannonballs tore through thin planking of these little boats. Crews were sent sprawling into the water. Men were vaporized by 36 pound balls, hitting them at just a few meters range. You listen to Dan Snows history and we have arrived at the beginning of the end for piracy in the Age of Sail in our pirates series. For this penultimate episode, I'm joined by Aaron Jaffa. He is curator of World History and Cultures at the Royal Museums, Greenwich. He's going to tell us the incredible story of the bombardment of Algiers and Britain's enormous effort to stop piracy and slavery on the Barbary coast once and for all. Aaron, first of all, I guess, what's the Barbary Coast?

[Aaron Jaffa]

The Barbary coast is in North Africa. It's actually a cluster of different states. Tunis, Tripoli, Algiers, they're all Ottoman regencies. That means nominally they're part of the Ottoman Empire, but actually in practice by this time, the early 1800s, they're behaving how they want. Sometimes they help out the Sultan, sometimes they go their own way. There's also the independent Kingdom of Morocco, which isn't part of the Ottoman Empire. Now, you say Barbary pirates. We don't actually use the word pirate when we're talking about sailors who are from these places. We actually prefer the term corsair, which is much more accurate. What happens is these states send out lots of sailors to attack the ships of Christian nations from Europe.

[Anthony Delaney]

So unlike pirates, who are total freelancers, these corsairs are. They got a piece of paper from the boss, from the political authority saying, go and do this job.

[Aaron Jaffa]

You're absolutely right. They are sanctioned by the rulers of these Barbary states. Sometimes they're provided ships by them and also when they bring back their booty, they have to provide some of it to those rulers. They're a bit like people we call privateers from European states who, as you say, have a piece of paper to say you can go out and attack our enemies. What's rather different about the Corsairs and one of the reasons we don't call them Barbary privateers is there's this ideological element involved. They see themselves involved in this eternal war against Christendom. So from their point of view, or at least the justification they use is that it's fine to be attacking the ships and the coastlines, the villages and the people from these Christian states.

[Anthony Delaney]

Okay, so there's a real political, ideological, perhaps dimension there. How are they attacking, because you mentioned states. So are they just nicking ships full of trading goods or are they attacking coastlines and settlements as well?

[Aaron Jaffa]

It's actually both. So if you wind back to the heyday of the Barbary Corsairs, that's really the first half of the 1600s. They're sending out their ships really quite far and wide. At one point in time, Barbary Corsairs were mainly operating into the Mediterranean, so attacking coastlines of places like Spain, what's now Italy, France, Corsica, Sicily, Sardinia, these kinds of places. But in the early 1600s, they start using different kinds of ships, square rigged ships. It means they can get out into the Atlantic, for example. They even attack the coastline of the British Isles. So England and Ireland both have places where the Barbary Corsairs are coming ashore and abducting people. The most famous raid is 1631. That's in Baltimore in southern Ireland. Over 100 people are carried off by these Barbary Corsairs, who even make it to Iceland and the Newfoundland fisheries as well. So they're really getting a long way from the North African coast. And you can go to parts of Europe today, you know, you might be on holiday and seen an abandoned tower. These towers are built all around Europe to guard against these Barbary Corsairs.

[Anthony Delaney]

Yeah, those towers on the headland, on the beach, on which you're sipping your drink and swimming in the sea, those tasks, chances are they used to look out for the Barbary Corsairs.

[Aaron Jaffa]

Exactly. Remember that when you're sipping your drink, dan.

[Anthony Delaney]

Through the 17th century, hardly anywhere on the European coastline had been untouched by the Corsairs of North Africa. One particularly brutal attack took place on 20 June 1631 at Baltimore in West Cork, Ireland. The slavers took perhaps 200 villagers for life in the harems, the fields, or chained to the thwarts of the all powered galleys of the Barbary coast in England. The pirates even seized Lundy island in the Bristol Channel and used it as a base for slaving. In July 1627, pirates raided northern Iceland. The raids continued into the 18th century and European governments struggled to respond.

[Aaron Jaffa]

The thing is, Europeans are never in a position to club together to stamp out this Barbary menace, as it's called. Between the late 1600s and the end of the Napoleonic wars, all the great naval powers are busy fighting each other, making alliances. There's not this concerted effort to stamp them out, and there's no unity to do that. And then in earlier periods in the first half of the 1600s, the heyday of the Barbary pirates, they don't have strong enough navies, the British. They're also indulgent of the Barbary Corsairs because particularly during periods of conflict, the Barbary States help provide food and other supplies to the British garrisons at places like Gibraltar, the Ionian Islands. So they can be quite useful to the British. And by this time, the British have signed treaties with them so their shipping is protected.

[Anthony Delaney]

Some countries sent representatives to negotiate and buy back as many slaves as they could. But this was no long term solution. It was a drop in the ocean. Considering how many were in captivity. Only three of the enslaved people captured at Baltimore, for example, made it back to Ireland after being ransomed. Historians struggle to pin down the number, but it's believed there are around one and a quarter million Christians enslaved and taken to the North African coast from the early 16th century to the late 18th. What happens at the end of the Napoleonic War? Britain's been involved in this giant generational struggle against France and their allies, you know, huge coalition warfare. Does Britain have a bit of bandwidth at that point to turn its attention to these North African states?

[Aaron Jaffa]

What happens at the end of the Napoleonic wars is that, firstly, Europe's a bit more united, having gone through this huge upheaval, navies are more powerful and not fighting each other. Also, the way slavery is viewed is changing as well. And this is one of the reasons the British are kind of forced to get involved and bombard Algiers. The British have recently passed laws to stamp out the transatlantic slave trade. And there are people in Europe who are saying, well, it's hypocrisy of the British to start trying to stamp out this trade. You know, enslaved Africans going across the Atlantic and you're not doing anything about these enslaved Christians much closer to home on the North African coast.

[Anthony Delaney]

So British policymakers are being lobbied, going, well, do you care more about West Africans than you do about southern Italians and people from southern Spain?

[Aaron Jaffa]

Yes, there are definitely these comparisons being made. As I said, the British are moving. Having been one of the world's leading slave traders, the British are Moving to this 19th century period of abolition and being very proud of trying to stamp out the transatlantic slave trade. But as you say, there's this slave trading going on much closer to home.

[Anthony Delaney]

The trans Mediterranean slave trade.

[Aaron Jaffa]

Exactly.

[Anthony Delaney]

And now Europe's at peace. These are sort of allies, or at least certainly not enemies anymore.

[Aaron Jaffa]

Well, they're always between great powers. There's always lots of rivalry. But of course, the end of the Napoleonic wars sees a long period of European peace, which does enable naval powers like Britain and the Netherlands and France to act in a different way to before.

[Anthony Delaney]

Is there a sense that the Brits are sort of trying to police the world's oceans?

[Aaron Jaffa]

There's certainly a feeling in the Royal Navy and in wide Europe about needing to do something about the Barbary States and particularly the Barbary Corsairs. Nelson, for example, who's long dead by now but when he was at sea, writes a letter saying something like, my blood boils that I cannot chastise these pirates.

[Anthony Delaney]

You listen to Dan Snow's history. Don't go anywhere. More to come.

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[Anthony Delaney]

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[Aaron Jaffa]

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[Maddie Pelling]

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[Anthony Delaney]

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[Maddie Pelling]

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[Anthony Delaney]

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[Maddie Pelling]

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[Anthony Delaney]

In early 1816, the British decided that this centuries long conflict over disrupted trade and slavery must end. They sang, rule Britannia, how Britons never, never, never shall be slaves. Well, it was time to match that rhetoric with action. Lord Exmouth was sent on a diplomatic mission to the Barbary States to negotiate an end to Christian slavery. He successfully secured treaties with Tunis and Tripoli, which agreed to stop taking captives. But he found a less than cooperative delegation when he got to Algiers.

[Aaron Jaffa]

One tactic they use, the Dey, the ruler of Algiers, is, I have to go and ask the Sultan. Algiers is an Ottoman regency, supposed to be under control of the Sultan in Istanbul or Constantinople, as it was often called. Saying I have to go and ask him is a great delaying tactic.

[Anthony Delaney]

So the Algerines are stalling.

[Aaron Jaffa]

During these rather fraught negotiations, Omar orders his men to arrest British people at Algiers. This includes these fishermen who aren't actually British, but they are under the protection nominally of the British. They resist and about 200 of them are massacred. And then there's this real feeling in Europe, well, why aren't the British doing something?

[Anthony Delaney]

There is outrage in Britain. Exmouth is ordered to return to Algiers, this time with a fleet and compel the day to free all Christian slaves unconditionally, to abolish Christian slavery permanently and pay indemnities for the murdered fishermen. It's an ultimatum delivered by the awesome expression of power that is the Royal Navy. He gathered a squadron of five big battleships. That's a floating artillery train of over 400 cannon, far more than Napoleon had at the Battle of Waterloo, for example. He also had five smaller frigates and four bombships which carried huge mortars which could fire big explosive shells through a high trajectory arc, which means they land on top of undefended enemy positions. The venerable HMS Queen Charlotte, with its hundred guns, is his flagship. It wasn't a massive force, but Eximus were confident it was enough. In fact, any more big ships, he believed, might get in each other's ways. He had recceed the defences of Algiers. His expert eye had taken in every gun position. He'd done the maths, the angles of fire, weight of shot, time to reload ranges. He was certain he could suppress the shore batteries before they did too much damage to his ships. When the British arrive in Gibraltar just before the planned attack, a squadron of five Dutch frigates led by Vice Admiral Theodorus Frederick van Kappelen offered to join the expedition. Eximouth agreed to have them along and he gave them a peripheral role Admirals were diplomats as well as warriors and he knew the legitimising value, I think, of making this a coalition effort. They arrived in Algiers and once again the Algerines delayed. The British and Dutch fleet made their preparations to attack. The time passed with no satisfactory response. Exmouth ordered his ships to close with the port defences. Queen Charlotte anchored 50 yards from the main Algerine batteries on the mole. The man made protective spit. Queen Charlotte opened fire. The entire fleet joins her. Gun crews, trained to a high pitch by years of war, went through their actions mechanically. They hauled the thick cables to bring the cannon inboard. They swabbed and wormed the gun to put out any embers and get rid of any debris from the last round. In goes the gunpowder and the cannonball. In goes the wadding. Ram it home. Haul again to wheel the gun back out. The gun captain looks along the barrel. Some instructions. The crew nudge the cannon to portal starboard. The wedges beneath the casket. Ball attack to lower the elevation. Then stand back, pull the cord. The flintlock snaps down. A spark. A milliseconds later, a roar. Smoke. Fire. Guns to the right and left doing the same above and below. Cannonballs smashing into stone ramparts. Splinters flying, ricocheting balls Skittling groups of defenders as the survivors start to melt into the city, keener on their lives than their duty to the day. According to Exmouth's log, he wrote, the fire from their batteries was very spirited, but our superiority of gunnery soon told. At first, those Algerine batteries returned fire and they did cause damage to several ships. Three of the British ships in particular took intense fire and suffered casualties. But over the next three hours, the British systematically silenced the Algerine guns. If you visit the pirates exhibit in the Maritime Museum in Greenwich, you can actually see the most incredible painting. It depicts the height of the bombardment of Algiers. It's by George Chambers, painted in roughly 1836. And it gives you a really true sense, I think, of what the harbour would have been like during that afternoon of appalling fire and flame.

[Aaron Jaffa]

It's a huge painting. It's nearly 3m wide. Really impressive, really worth seeing in the flesh, as it were. And what you can see, it's as if you're almost on the waterline looking at these British ships going into action against the Alarine. There are several of these huge warships visible. That includes HMS Impregnable, coming in from the right of the frame. Got a beautiful carved figurehead you can see just on the bow or the front of the ship. We've got HMS Minden firing a starboard guns. That's the guns on the right side of a ship. If you're looking down towards the front.

[Anthony Delaney]

Or the bow, unsurprisingly, it's only just over 10 years after Trafalgar. The ships look very similar to the big battleships like HMS Victory that people will be familiar with from images of Trafalgar.

[Aaron Jaffa]

Certainly you've got these multi deck warships crowded with men, lots of guns on show, ready to be used. Very importantly, we've also got HMS Queen Charlotte that's really in the thick of it, bombarding the fortifications of Algiers. In fact, interestingly, you can't see much of Algiers or the fortifications. If you look in the background of the painting, you can see the city rising on the high ground behind. But really the ships are the center of attention here and a lot of the fortifications they're attacking are obscured by fire and smoke of battle. It's quite dramatic painting. It really puts you in the, the action. It does convey some of the horrors of naval warfare as well. As well as these large ships crowded with men, you've got lots of smaller boats in the water. And I think one of the, the most telling parts of the painting is you can see Algerine shot kicking up the spray as it hits the water. You know, you really don't want to be hit by this. What you can't see but would have been happening at the time are Algerine boats coming out to attack these larger Royal Navy vessels. Also visible, of course, the Dutch, we shouldn't forget the Dutch. You can see a Dutch vessel, I think that's Melampus in the background, flying the Dutch red, white and blue flag. The Bombardment takes about 10 hours. It's 10 hours roughly of the British and Dutch firing at these coastal fortifications. The plan is not to attack the town itself, but to attack these forts along the shore, which are crowded with Algerine gunners. The gunners, of course, are firing back, trying to sink these vessels. They're also sending out their own smaller boats to attack them. And the British are firing both at the water and at the shore. There's a huge amount of shot fired in both directions all day.

[Anthony Delaney]

Bombardment lasts until midnight. Much of the city burns. Fire consumes the arsenal and nearly all the shipping in the harbor. The morning light the following day reveals the full extent of the damage.

[Aaron Jaffa]

The Algerine fleet's destroyed and the shore fortifications are severely damaged. Another effect is that the city has been damaged too, by fire, by shot. The American consulate, who's of course, observing this, he writes, every part of the town appears to have suffered from shot and shells. There's really quite a scene of devastation after this bombardment.

[Anthony Delaney]

Casualties on the British and Dutch side have been estimated about 900, not insignificant, but on the Algerine side, perhaps up to 5,000 military and civilians. A huge loss of life and limbs, another eyewitness recalled. The construction of the mole could not be discerned. Neither could the positions where the batteries had been sighted. No more than four or five guns that were still mounted were visible. The bay was filled with the smoking hulks of the remains of the Algerine Navy and by many floating bodies. Exmouth wrote a letter to the day warning that if he didn't accept the demands, he would continue the action despite knowing full well the didn't have the ammunition to do so. Luckily for Exmouth, the DEI accepts the terms and a treaty is signed, freeing thousands of slaves and recompensing much ransom money.

[Aaron Jaffa]

For now, Omar capitulates, promises to stop slaving. Doesn't end very well for him. He's assassinated sometime later. For now, his rule is safe, but incapitulating to the British, and having fought against the Americans the previous year, politically he's really, really battered.

[Anthony Delaney]

And so he'll release existing Christian slaves and promises not to take any more. Though slavery in the region doesn't completely end with this action. Despite British naval efforts, the DEI does rebuild Algiers. But instead of Christian slaves, he uses Jewish forced labor. Is there a change in the balance of power in the Mediterranean? Do those Barbary States cease their corsairing?

[Aaron Jaffa]

There is less slaving going on, but it's not immediate. There are bouts of raiding that go on afterwards.

[Anthony Delaney]

What about the Royal Navy? Presumably, if we look at the 9th century like we like to sort of think of it as a global policeman, gunboat diplomacy, opening up ports for trade. This presumably helps to cement that tradition.

[Aaron Jaffa]

Yes, well, the Barbary Corsairs really are very much of an older period. They're a bygone era by this point. They're from a time when Muslim states have much stronger seafaring presence, much more power in the Mediterranean, as opposed to the 19th century, when the Mediterranean is very much in the control of Europeans. Free trade is becoming more important. And this era of taking captives, of ransoming them back, that's not possible anymore.

[Anthony Delaney]

So this is a reflection of that, the growing sophistication and potency of these European navies, particularly the British Navy, compared to those outside Europe. Whereas in the 1600s they were sort of level pegging, if anything, perhaps at a disadvantage. By the early 1800s and beyond, partly through the Industrial Revolution firepower, the Royal Navy is pretty difficult to beat. In the years that followed the bombardment, the newly rebuilt city of Algiers still tried to pursue corsairing. But those days would be short lived. A new future lay on the horizon for Algiers as a French colony. The two nations had long been at odds. They disagreed over unpaid debts, grain shipments made during Napoleonic wars that France had never settled. But in 1827, it really came to a head. There was a tense exchange in the Deys palace. Hussein Day, the day of Algiers struck the French consul across the face of with a fly whisk. It was a symbolic insult, but the French seized on it as justification for war and invasion. Three years later, on 14 June 1830, a massive French force, 37,000 soldiers, landed just west of Algiers. They advanced quickly. They defeated local resistance in a series of sharp skirmishes. On July 5, the DEY surrendered. The French agreed he'd go into exile with his family and much of his portable wealth. The fall of Algiers marked not just the end of the regime, it was the end of a centuries old form of government that sustained the Barbary Corsairs. France moved to dismantle that Corsair system. The fleets were disbanded, arsenals were destroyed or repurposed. Privateering licenses were revoked. Slave markets were shut down. European captives held in Algiers were freed. It was a total structural reordering. The administrative and military machinery that enabled piracy was dismantled. And France didn't stop there. The invasion had been framed as a limited punitive mission. We've all heard that before. It quickly transformed into a full scale colonization, not just Algiers, but great swathes of northwest Africa. Over the following decades, France expanded inland, waged prolonged wars against resistance, and turned the whole of what is now Algeria into a settler colony. The era of the Barbary Corsairs was well and truly over. Thank you so much to Aaron Jaffer in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. I hope the episode inspires you to book your tickets the Pirates exhibition. To learn more about the bombardment of Algiers and the Barbary Corsairs. You can go see that magnificent painting. In particular in our next and final episode, we'll be looking at the end of the golden age of piracy in the Caribbean and Europe. The demise of those famous names who terrorized the sea for decades. By the 1730s, the noose was tightening. This was the era of the pirate hunts. Make sure to follow in your podcast player. You'll get the episode of Pirate Hunts delivered fresh to you and you can discover how the world's most notorious pirates met their end not by cannon fire, but with courts in colonies as empires took ever greater hold of the region. See you for that next Monday folks. See you next time.

[Maddie Pelling]

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[Anthony Delaney]

Hey Tinsley, why don't we use EasyCater to order food for staff lunches?

[Maddie Pelling]

Because my 46 page acronym system is so easy. I just have to salad, stay alert to late arriving deliveries, pie, put in expenses and Gugapie. Go out and get everyone's preferences and allergy information.

[Anthony Delaney]

That's supposed to be simple.

[Maddie Pelling]

No, simple is Steven, Irma and Margie prefer lasagna and empanadas.

[Anthony Delaney]

Omg.

[Maddie Pelling]

No need to make work life more complicated. Just use EasyCater. The easy way to get food for work.