Pirates

Hayreddin Barbarossa ( romanized: Khayr al-Din Barbarus, original name: Khiḍr; Turkish: Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa), also known as Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1478 – 4 July 1546), was an Ottoman corsair and later admiral of the Ottoman Navy.[1] Barbarossa’s naval victories secured Ottoman dominance over the Mediterranean Read more…

Kristoffer Throndsen (c. 1500–1565), posthumously also with the family name Rustung, was a squire, admiral, feudal overlord in Norway and Denmark, privateer captain and pirate. Kristoffer served Archbishop Olav Engelbrektsson, the interregnum leader of Norway, in the last years of the Kalmar Union. Kristoffer is famous for playing a role Read more…

Hennig Wichmann (died 1402) was one of the leaders of the German Likedeelers, an association of former Victual Brothers who had turned pirates. Together with Klaus Störtebeker and Magister Wigbold, he wreaked havoc in the North and Baltic Sea at the end of the 14th century. They owned fast ships Read more…

Magister Wigbold (died 1401) also called “Master of the Seven Arts” was a German pirate who belonged to the famous Likedeeler pirates of Klaus Störtebeker who were active in the North and Baltic seas. Wigbold was one of the most noted Likedeeler, along with Gödeke Michels and Störtebeker. The nickname Read more…

Cord Widderich died 1447 was a pirate active during political conflicts between Dithmarschen and North Frisia in the early fifteenth century. He lived during the times of Klaus Störtebeker and the Victual Brothers, but was not part of their movement. History North Frisia aided Holstein when it declared war on Read more…

Yermak Timofeyevich born between 1532 and 1542 – August 5 or 6, 1585) was a Cossack ataman and is today a hero in Russian folklore and myths. During the reign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, Yermak started the Russian conquest of Siberia. Russians’ fur-trade interests fueled their desire to expand Read more…

Nikolaus Storzenbecher or “Klaus” Störtebeker (1360 – supposed 20 October 1401) was reputed to be leader of a group of privateers known as the Victual Brothers (German: Vitalienbrüder). The Victual Brothers (Latin: victualia) were originally hired during a war between Denmark and Sweden to fight the Danish and supply the Read more…

Salah Rais (c. 1488 – 1568) was the 7th King of Algiers, an Ottoman privateer and admiral. He is alternatively referred to as Sala Reis, Salih Rais, Salek Rais and Cale Arraez in several European sources, particularly in Spain, France and Italy. In 1529, together with Aydın Reis, he took Read more…

Hans Pothorst (c. 1440 – 1490) was a privateer, likely from the German city Hildesheim. Historians Sofus Larsen (da) and Thomas P. Hughes have proposed that he may have landed in North America, along with Didrik Pining, in the 1470s, almost twenty years before Columbus’ voyages of discovery. Add Your Read more…

Dragut (Turkish: Turgut Reis) (1485 – 23 June 1565), known as “The Drawn Sword of Islam”, was a Muslim Ottoman naval commander, governor, and noble, of Turkish or Greek descent. Under his command, the Ottoman Empire’s maritime power was extended across North Africa. Recognized for his military genius, and as Read more…