Pirates Piracy in the Mediterranean

Piracy is often regarded as a something of an underground history, largely created by participants who operated outside the major thrust of geopolitical development. The criminal, disenfranchised or unaffiliated parties who have roved the sea taking advantage of vulnerable merchant ships or simply operating private trade, transport and smuggling activities are rarely thought of as prime movers of history. However, the 2010 text by Molly Greene, entitled Catholic pirates and Greek merchants. A maritime history of the Mediterranean, makes the case that the piracy that flourished throughout the Mediterranean in the 17th and 18th centuries would have a determinant effect on the distribution of sovereign, religious and economic power alike.

Thesis:

This assumption is underscored by the text's primary thesis. According to the review provided by Brummett (2011), "the book advances the thesis that the 'retreat of state', meaning the Hapsburg and Ottoman empires, from the Mediterranean at the end of the sixteenth century allowed piracy to flourish and prompted a reconfiguration of commercial relations. That reconfiguration involved a 'revival of Catholic power' grounded on expanded French and papal intervention in the Mediterranean." (Brummett, p. 622.

This thesis is well-supported by a narrative demonstration of how both unaffiliated piracy and the profiteering which ultimately became the province of the formerly protective Knights of Malta would come to define the nature of international trade, the value of goods and services, and the distribution of wealth and power for sovereign entities such as the Ottoman Empire, Greece and the various seafaring powers of Europe.

Main Arguments:

The chapters which comprise Greene's text produce an expanding argument for the impact levied by piracy on the development of...

In Chapter 1, the text argues that one of the driving forces behind the expansion of piracy would be the inherent contradiction of allegiance of Catholic privateers to orders such as the Knights of Malta instead of to their sovereign states. Much confusion, conflict and seizure would arise.
In Chapter 2, Greene argues that religion, such as the Catholic affiliation of Malta and the Muslim affiliation of the Corsairs, would be used to claim specific entitlement to seize merchant goods. This would undermine the meaning of the term piracy. Chapter 3 describes in greater detail how the image of the pirate differed during the 17th and 18th century in the Mediterranean, specifically illustrating how the Knights of Malta devolved from religious order to a network of profit-making individuals.

Chapter 4 underscores the complexity in the relationship between the Ottoman Empire and its opposition in the Knights of Malta, as well as the manner in which this opposition came to cross-purposes as its members became mercenaries for other nations. Chapter 5 argues that the result was a highly unjust system in which Knights, behaving as pirates but using the authority of the Catholic Church, seized goods from Turks, Muslims and Jews on the basis of religious affiliation. Chapter 6 provides some concrete evidence of the often biased legal battles that would ensue from the contradictions outlined in Chapter 5. Chapter 7 shows that the new placement of the Knights of Malta in Rome would help to reduce the economic strain on the order and return it to its religious and humanitarian role.

Source Evidence:

The source evidence used throughout the text provides perhaps one of the most compelling features of the larger text. Namely, Greene appeals to the records of legal engagement created at the Tribunale degli armamenti, an international court propped up in Malta…