Piratëria Shqiptare
In addition to Muslim and Christian Corsairing, the period spanning from the 15th to the 19th centuries also beheld the era of Albanian Piracy. This chronicle whispers tales of daring sea brigands who scoured the Mediterranean in search of prey just as much as the next man with the shimmer of gold glistening in his eyes. These Albanian Corsairs, primarily harbored in the ancient town of Ulcinj, cast their shadow not only there but also in locales such as Bar and Ragusa, now known as Dubrovnik. Their tendrils of influence stretched even to the distant shores of North Africa.
The earliest vestiges of Piracy in the vicinity of Ulcinj are outlined in the histories of the Illyrian period, with audacious sea rovers preying upon Roman vessels. The Labeates tribe, notorious for their depredations, sustained themselves through these marauding ventures. In the ensuing years, the rapaciousness of these Pirates found new purpose under the Ottoman aegis, their predations disrupting Mediterranean trade and compelling European powers to mount interventions. Among these Corsairs, figures like Lika Ceni and Hadji Alia rose to prominence. The Ottoman Empire, recognizing the strategic utility of these sea wolves, often enlisted their services in times of war, extending to them the Name-i Hümayun — imperial letters serving as bilateral agreements to quell armed strife.
This was the same era that witnessed the rise of the fearsome (albeit earlier) Barbarossa brothers — Oruç, Arnaut Mami, and their ilk — of Albanian descent, whose legendary exploits in the Mediterranean would warrant a dedicated chronicle in the fullness of time.
These Ulcinian Pirates, dubbed by the Italians as “lupi di mare Dulcignotti” and known in Albanian as “ujqit detarë Ulqinakë,” were far from mere desperate outlaws. They were, rather, skilled professionals, adeptly crossing the fluid boundaries between Piracy and legitimate trade, diplomacy, and smuggling. Their fortunes varied with the tides of regional conflicts and shifting alliances. The chronicles record that between 1320 and 1347, Albanian privateers, amongst a motley array of Pirates, assailed both Muslim and Christian vessels in the Ionian and Adriatic Seas. The Albanian Balsha (aka Balšić, a noble family), between 1368 and 1389, plied their trade as Pirates with their own fleet, their anti-Ottoman stance garnering a begrudging tolerance from the Republic of Venice, even as they constrained Venetian operations.
The year 1405 marked Ulcinj’s subjugation by Venice, yet the town remained a stronghold for Pirates, surviving even the Ottoman conquest of 1571. The tale of Vlorë, transformed into a den of Pirates by 1479, further illustrates the era’s complexity. Despite a peace accord between Venice and the Ottoman Porte, the Pirates of Vlorë defied Sultan Mehmed II’s orders to compensate for their depredations. Moreover, the Venetian-Ottoman wars saw these Albanian Corsairs ravaging the lower Adriatic. The Venetian Senate, alerted in 1536 by Fernand Braudel, grappled with these incessant raids. By 1570, the havoc wrought by Albanian Pirates had escalated, reaching its peak in 1571 with a confluence of Corsairs from North Africa, Malta, Serbia, and Albania, sowing chaos across the region. The “Pirate Dance,” a ritual of revelry following successful raids, became a trademark of these notorious sea raiders.
And now, let’s take a chronological look at the myriad piratical events of the Albanian Corsairs over the centuries.
A Timeline
As the 16th century came to an end, Ulcinj became a haven for approximately 400 Pirates hailing from Malta, Tunisia, and Algeria. The coastlines of Ulcinj, Durrës, and the Cape of Rodon, traced back to the year 1096, bore witness to the ceaseless passage of these maritime marauders. Despite the ferocious Ottoman onslaughts on Ulcinj, which battered their naval forces, the relentless pirate incursions persisted with unabated vigor.
In the autumnal mists of October 1503, a fleet of six vessels from Vlorë set sail, reaching the cape of Santa Maria di Leuca. There, they seized sixty souls, offering their freedom for a ransom of thirty ducats each. A mere two decades later, in 1525, the audacious Pirates of Dulcigno descended upon the city of Riviera delle Palme in the Marche, leaving a wake of havoc and dread.
A decade later, the year 1537 witnessed the Venetian ambassador in Constantinople, Tomasso Mocenigo, conveying Sultan Suleiman I’s letter to the sanjak-bey of Elbasan. The missive detailed the grievance that privateer ships had assailed Venetian territories, capturing and selling slaves in Durrës.
In 1554, a twist of fate saw six Albanian Pirate vessels returning to Vlorë only to be ensnared by a Venetian squadron. The captors liberated the enslaved and took the Pirates prisoner. The tale of Provveditore Pandolfo Contarini in 1559 further illustrates the fraught relations of the time. While patrolling the Gulf, Contarini chanced upon a Pirate ship and pursued it to Durrës. The Pirates sought refuge under Ottoman protection, violating the agreement of 1540. Contarini’s bombardment of the harbor forced the Pirates to capitulate, surrendering their plunder and vessel. Yet, upon his return to Venice, Contarini found himself relieved of duty, entangled in a diplomatic mire with the Sultan, who retorted sharply to the Venetians regarding their handling of Piracy.
The year 1571, as mentioned in an earlier subsection, heralded the Battle of Lepanto, for which Kara Hace, an Albanian Pirate lord and commander from Vlorë, amassed a considerable fleet. Post-peace between Venice and the Ottomans in 1573, Dubrovnik played mediator, holding captives in Ragusan houses until ransoms were paid. Two years later, in the spring of 1575, the Spanish galley Sol fell victim to Albanian Pirates, with the famed Miguel de Cervantes among the captives, only to be released in 1580. The Pirate Deli Topal Memi claimed Cervantes as his slave. In the proceeding years, these Pirates’ audacity grew; by 1580, they had seized 25 ships in the Bay of Kotor, prompting desperate pleas for aid.
In the later years of the 16th century, the Mediterranean continued to be a rumbustious theater of nautical skirmishes and Pirate lore. The year 1581 saw Ulcinj Pirate lord Cafer Reïs (Xhafer Reis) rally 18 ships, terrorizing the central and southern Adriatic, and earning the moniker “Pulya and Sicilian whip”. The Venetians, in response, armed the locals of Kotor with rifles and gunpowder to repel these marauders. A notable raid in the spring of 1587 saw Pirates plunder a Dubrovnik frigate carrying 3,000 ducats to Carcassonne for wheat. The captain perished, the crew wounded and sold into slavery. Venetian accounts of the era estimated that Pirates damaged around 36% of all maritime cargo. A year earlier, however, in 1586, Sultan Murad III issued a decree to the sanjak-bey and the qadi of Vlorë, commanding them to thwart the Albanian Pirate Mehmed Reïs and his galliot from ravaging Venetian territories. By 1590, the waters near Shkodër turned treacherous, as a Venetian ship seeking water at the Buna River fell prey to local plunderers.
The year 1593 witnessed a stern edict from the Sultan, aimed at curbing the construction of ships in Shkodër destined for Corsairing, and ordering the incineration of Pirate vessels. This same year, the construction of the Venetian fortress of Palma near Habsburg domains sparked a diplomatic conflagration. Venice faced accusations of encroaching on Habsburg territory under the guise of opposing Ottoman aggression. Further, allegations surfaced that the Venetians were enlisting Albanian Pirates to target Habsburg ships in the Gulf of Trieste, as noted by Colemberg. By the onset of the 17th century, the situation grew dire. In 1602, the Venetian ambassador Nicolo Molin lamented the “unbearable” menace of Albanian Piracy. Despite Captain Bernardo Venier’s attempts in 1605, the Pirate threat persisted. In the same year, the Sultan decreed the arrest of several notorious Pirates, including İbrahim Ağa of Durrës and Mustafa Ağa. However, by 1611, former sanjak-beys defied the Sultan’s warnings, continuing their Adriatic raids with an armada of galliots, caiques, and fustas. For instance, in a significant clash on May 8, 1607, twelve Uskok boats suffered a grave defeat at the hands of Albanian-Muslim Pirates in the Adriatic.
The year 1612 saw Albanian Pirates, under Ottoman commission, retaliate against Venetian ships for the Uskoks’ raids. The Sultan’s letter to the Beylerbey of Bosnia detailed how Albanian vessels thwarted Uskok raids in Makarska, leading locals to arm themselves against Pirate incursions. By 1615, the escalating tensions culminated in Prince Ferdinand II of Styria employing Albanian Uskok Pirates to harass Venetian ships, precipitating war with Venice.
In 1617, notorious Albanian Pirate lords such as Avci Oglu and Kara Mustafa terrorized the waters around Shkodër. The early 1620s saw continued Pirate activity, with Delvinë Pirates attacking Venetian ships in 1622, and Ulcinj Pirates (Ülgünlüler korsanları) assaulting Budva in 1623. This prompted Ottoman demands for the return of stolen goods and punishment for the Pirates.
By 1630, the Pirate menace had escalated, compelling Venice to seek Ottoman intervention. In 1637, the cities of Modon, Coron, and Navarino implored the Ulcinj Pirates to release two Venetian slaves captured during peacetime, illustrating the ongoing struggle between maritime commerce, Piracy, and political machinations in the Mediterranean. Reports from 1638 describe the ravages of Ulcinj Pirates along the Dalmatian coast and their involvement in the Candian War (1648–1669). By 1653, Venetian warships patrolled the seas, alerting mariners to the Pirate threat. And as the 17th century progressed, the Mediterranean continued to be a turbulent theater of nautical conflict and Piracy.
The Cretan War of 1645 saw Ulcinj Pirates ravaging the Dalmatian coast, compelling islanders to mount defenses for their homes. In 1656, Ottoman Pirates from Ulcinj and Santa Maura targeted Venetian ships near Trogir, only to be repelled by the vigilant Venetian navy. By 1670, the Sultan himself intervened, ordering his commanders to curb the assaults of Ulcinj Pirates on Venetian vessels. Antonio Baldacci, writing in this century, estimated the presence of no fewer than 500 Pirates around Ulcinj. These Corsairs played a critical role in the ongoing rivalry between the Ottoman Empire and its adversaries, often aligning with the Ottomans. In 1672, Venice exerted pressure on the sanjak-beys of Shkoder to destroy Ulcinj’s armed ships. In 1675, Krsto Zmajević from Perast undertook a mission to eradicate Ulcinj Pirates, earning a golden necklace from the Venetian Senate for his efforts.
On the 15th of January, 1678, the Venetian overseer of Dalmatia, Paolo Boldù, penned a missive to Captain Zuane Zusto, detailing the strife betwixt Dobrota and Dolcigno. The former, under Venetian sway, and the latter, an Ottoman domain. Antonio Orio, another Venetian dignitary, lamented to the Serene Republic the futility of quelling this discord, branding the inhabitants deceitful. Boldù attributed this enmity to a cessation of trade between the two hamlets.
In 1680, the Dulcignotti Pirates engaged in a ferocious battle with two Venetian galliots near Cattolica. The conflict ended in a pyrrhic victory for the Pirates, as their bombs set the Venetian vessels ablaze, resulting in heavy casualties. The year 1685 witnessed the Dulcignotti Pirates’ assault on Novigrad, enslaving its hundred inhabitants, including the Venetian mayor. On March 31 of the same year, the Republic of Ragusa petitioned Sulejman Pasha of Shkodër for the return of 19 captives taken by Ulcinj Pirates. Although these captives were released in July, the Pirates seized another 16 in their stead. The loss of Herceg-Novi by the Ottomans in 1687 led to a power vacuum, which Venice sought to fill but was thwarted by a formidable coalition of 500 Pirates from Malta, Tunis, and Algeria, many battle-hardened from the Candian Wars of 1669. During this period, the shipbuilders of Ulcinj, among the wealthiest in Northern Albania, maintained a representative in Constantinople to manage Pirate activities through strategic bribes to the Sultan. The Pasha of Shkodër intermittently supported these Pirates, warning them of potential complaints from England. Evlia Celebi noted that the sanjak-bey of Scutari claimed a tenth of the Pirates’ spoils following their raids and lootings.
In 1696, from August 9 to September 5, Venetian forces mounted an unsuccessful invasion of Ulcinj, gallantly defended by Ulcinj Pirate lord Hajdar Karamindja (aka Hajdar Karamidžolu). Throughout the 18th century, Venice would lament the economic impact wrought by Ulcinj privateers. These Pirates capitalized on the high taxes imposed by Venice on goods transportation, luring merchants to Albania and exacerbating the Venetian economic woes through smuggling and Piracy. This enduring struggle between Piracy and statecraft underscored the complex interplay of power, economics, and maritime strategy in the Mediterranean during this chaotic era.
In this era of tumult, Venice, her economy troubled and battered, raised fervent protests against the privateers and governors of Ulcinj, who under their protective mantle, harbored these sea brigands. The outcry reached a fever pitch on July 12, 1700, when Pontchartrain, the Consul of the French Consulate in Constantinople (1668–1708), penned an impassioned letter to the Chamber of Commerce of Marseilles, beseeching redress for the restitution of a vessel wrongfully seized by the Dulcignotti. This plea was followed by another, dated August 4, 1700, lamenting the Chamber’s tardiness in compensating the Consul for a French barque pilfered by these same brigands. A third entreaty, dispatched on August 24, 1700, echoed with urgency, demanding the Chamber settle its debts for the barque of Dulcigno, thereby aligning Constantinople’s accounts for the year. The saga further developed on June 13, 1701, when the Chamber, acknowledging receipt of the claim on March 2, declared its engagement with the Dulcigno case, now a thorny dispute betwixt France and Constantinople, leading to a staunch refusal of payment. Amidst this maelstrom, the esteemed captain of the Venetian galleys, Alvise Foscari (1675–1751), penned a revealing portrait of the Dulcignoti, in a dispatch dated October 7, 1710:
“The Dulcignotti, unlike the customary Corsairs manned by destitute and famished souls, are a breed apart, affluent, and thriving in the aftermath of peace. They lurk in the shadows, swift and elusive in their small crafts, scarcely lingering on the open seas. Their raids, lightning-fast on Apulia, conclude with a hasty retreat to Albania, where myriad sanctuaries grant them safety and reprieve.”
As the year 1707 drew to a close, Ulcinj Corsairs brazenly attacked a French vessel within the port of Gruž. Despite the Ragusans’ valiant intervention, resulting in the Pirates’ defeat, this skirmish claimed the lives of two Ragusans and a Frenchman. By 1708, it was apparent to the General Provider of Dalmatia that the Ulcinj Pirates’ influence had swelled considerably, now dominating the maritime routes of Drače and Bojan. These brigands, with their predilection for raids on merchant ships, often masqueraded as Maghreb Pirates.
Archives, chronicling the span between 1711 and 1712, starkly recount the Dulcignoti’s reign of terror, during which more than 500 sailors fell victim to their violent onslaught. In May 1712, they descended upon the towns of Armeri and Terranova, abducting 32 souls. A year earlier, a daring proposition was tabled by Venetian captain Carlo Miani on August 15, 1711: to employ poison against these Albanian sea rogues.
Circa 1713, a diplomatic maelstrom brewed between Ottoman officials and Jean-Louis d’Usson, known as De Bonnac, concerning the plundering of French vessels by the “privateers of Ulcinj.” This led to Ibrahim Pasha, governor of Alexandria, accompanying Osman Aga, an agent of the Porte, to Ulcinj.
Amidst the swirling tempests of the Ottoman — Venetian War (1714–1718), the tides of trade were stilled, as vessels of Ulcinj received stern edicts from Constantinople, forbidding them to aid Venetians in their mercantile pursuits upon the Albanian shores. This decree, however, stirred mutiny amongst the Ulcinj agas, leading them to slay the Dizdar of Ulcinj (keeper of the fortress), who dared to enforce the Sultan’s command. As Piracy’s dark shadow lengthened, the Sultan, in his wisdom, decreed the Pasha of Bosnia to quell these sea brigands, an undertaking only feasible through alliance with the Pasha of Shkoder.
It is whispered amongst that the Black slaves who graced Ulcinj’s shores were the spoils of transactions between the Albanian Corsairs and their North African counterparts. In a resounding display of authority, Mehmet Pasha of Shkoder, before the eyes of the city’s denizens, consigned the ship of the notorious Ulcinj Pirate captain Ajdar Piri to flames within the harbor.
The year 1714 saw a Christian merchant, privy to the court of the Pasha of Scutari, whispering to the Neapolitan Consul in Ragusa, Giovanbattista Vlaichi, a grave revelation: the Dulcignotti had secured sanction to plunder vessels of the Papacy, Malta, and Puglia. And on the 13th of April, 1715, the mayor of Rovinj received an ominous warning: the Dulcignotti plotted to scour the sea with their convicts. Subsequently, on August 18, armed Pirates stormed the port of Rovigno, mere miles from the city, overwhelming the terrestrial forces, enslaving the populace, and seizing three trabaccolo ships. Numerous Rovinj vessels succumbed to these marauders. On November 12, 1715, the rapacious Dulcingotti captured an imperial bannered ship near Lastovo, Croatia, spiriting it away to Ulcinj. Also in the same year of 1715, Monsignor Matranga of Dionysius beseeched Rome for recompense, for his missionaries had been raided by the Dolcignotti Corsairs, compelling them to seek refuge in Zara. Concurrently, Captain Julije Balović encountered two Ulcinj Pirate convicts at Safeno, Levant, and abetted their escape, culminating in a kidnapping in Novo Porto, Albania.
In 1716, the German scholar P.G. Pfotenhauer chronicled the Dolcignottis’ audacious assaults, under the Kaiser’s flag, upon ships of Venetian, Genoese, Florentine, and Papal origins. On the 22nd of June, 1717, the Dulcignotti descended upon Aridonniche, their menace spreading across the plains. In the Lice stronghold, a German garrison, comprising a lieutenant and 26 valiant horsemen, confronted this scourge. In a fierce skirmish, they routed the Pirates, striking down 15 and wounding many, at the cost of only two of their own. Meanwhile, in the chronicles of 1782, Johann Hübner, a German geographer and scholar, chronicled the Dulcignottis’ ventures of a different kind. In the year 1717, these Ulcinians ventured on a lucrative expedition, transporting vast quantities of grain across the oceans to the distant shores of Peru.
On June 13, 1718, a trabaccolo laden with oil and almonds, and a flotilla carrying salt and wood, fell prey to the Albanian Pirates near Rovinj, even as they journeyed to Venice. In the same year, the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718 heralded imperial mandates targeting these rogue factions. Post-treaty, Giacomo Diedo, a Venetian official, lamented in a document the plight of Venetian ships. With the Spanish Habsburgs reclaiming territories lost at Utrecht, Venice’s maritime focus shifted to the Adriatic, where peril lurked in the guise of Dulcignotti Pirates, masquerading as merchants and Corsairs, preying on vessels bound for Naples. The treaty had woefully failed to safeguard Venetian trade from incessant raids, and the Ottomans, far from suppressing Piracy, were sometimes complicit. Maritime fleets conducted numerous inspections, but these often proved vexing.
In the same year, Jose Isnar, the French Consul in Durrës, noted that the pirates terrorizing the Adriatic coast respected no authority, whether it be the Sultan or anyone else. Around the same time, an English merchantman, The Adventure, captained by Cleveland, encountered 12 ships from Dulcigno. Welcomed as friends, the English were soon overpowered by 32 Pirates, bound, and cast overboard. The Pirates then transported their prize to Durrës, where the goods were sold. The British Consul in the city, upon learning of this atrocity, urgently reported to the British ambassador in Constantinople, who commanded the Ottoman Capighi Pasha (captains) to seek retribution. Furthermore, also in the same year, Venetian ships launched an assault on Ulcinian Corsairs off the coast of Durrës, who had seized seven vessels. However, the distance rendered their bombardment ineffectual.
The 12th of May 1719 bore witness to a dire encounter under Vecchia tower, where a Genoese tartane, helmed by Padron Andrea Gorgone and burdened with 2300 tomoli of wheat, fell prey to the Dulcignotti. In a desperate bid to evade capture and slavery, the sailors plunged into the sea, seeking sanctuary in the nearby tower. The following year marked a grim episode in the harbor of Venice. On the Venetian ship Puppa Rossa (Red Stern), commanded by ‘Ali Reïs of Ulcinj, merchant Ibrahim of Vlorë met his untimely end. The victim’s influential kin demanded justice, and the Ottomans called for an inquiry, which revealed the hand of Ulcinj sailors in this foul deed.
In the heart of winter, as January’s chill held Rome in its icy grip, the year 1721 witnessed the arrival of a dignitary of considerable influence. Dom Felix Corvèse, a Spanish envoy, graced the cobblestone streets of the Eternal City. His companion, the Cardinal of Altam, shared his purpose: a plea to the Sacred College for aid against the looming menace of the Ottoman Empire. Far from the grandeur of Rome, in the quiet coastal town of Ulcinj, shadows harbored deceit; the Dulcignotti set off on a surreptitious venture. These sea marauders, under the veil of darkness, were stealthily plundering muskets from the oblivious Spaniards, stowing these instruments of war within their hidden lairs. This subterfuge did not escape the watchful eyes of the Inquisitors, who swiftly rounded up the guilty traders. Under relentless questioning, these merchants crumbled, divulging their covert dealings with the Ottomans.
As Valentine’s Day dawned in the same year, the captain of the ship Pilan faced a daring challenge from a tartane of Ulcinj. This nefarious vessel had set its sights on disrupting the tranquility of the waters. Yet, it found itself outmatched by the captain’s untiring resolve, his sharp acumen ensuring that peace prevailed in these troubled waters. And as the days of February waned, on the twenty-eighth, the captain of Capodistria, in the lands of Istria, dispatched letters of utmost urgency to the region’s dignitaries, imploring them to stay alert and keep a lookout for the menacing sails of pirate tartanes. September of 1721 brought a chilling account to the pages of The Weekly Journal: Or British Gazetteer. It spoke of a grim occurrence in the city of Venice, where the Dulcignotti clashed violently with a local butcher. This altercation, fraught with fury, escalated as these Corsairs brandished their arms, unleashing a deadly volley upon innocent passersby, claiming the lives of five or six souls. The Venetian soldiers, expressing the wrath of justice, responded with lethal force, cutting down the Pirates in their prime. This sanguinary event, though denied by the Grand Vizier, sparked a contentious demand for recompense for the loss of his subjects. It is also interesting to note that a Venetian report, dated 1743, harkens back to an incident in this same year of 1721. It speaks of a vessel of the Dulcignotti that was in consort with several Ottomans and was seized and set aflame by the decree of the Senate. This act, bold and decisive, stirred the ire of the Sultan, straining the delicate threads of peace established at Passarowitz.
The year 1826 bore witness to a volume published by the Austrian paper Geschichte der Republik Venedig. Within its pages, it recounted an episode from the following year, in 1722, amidst the unrestrained war waged by Peter the Great against the Ottomans. A ship from Ulcinj, flying the Ottoman standard, dared to grace the port of Venice. There, a fierce dispute arose between the Slavonians and some crew members, culminating in several Dulcignotti meeting their demise, and the ship, set ablaze in the heat of conflict. The ensuing diplomatic maelstrom saw the Porte demanding compensation for their fallen, while the Venetians steadfastly refuted the validity of such claims. This impasse, hovering on the brink of war, was ultimately resolved through Venice’s concession — the release of two hundred Muslim souls from bondage and the payment of twelve thousand pilasters. This resolution led the Venetian government to bolster the fortifications of the Greek Sea’s isles.
In the year 1723, the burgeoning crisis of Albanian Piracy reached its zenith. The Sultan, in a decree resonant with the urgency of the times, forbade the denizens of Ulcinj from venturing beyond their harbors, compelling them to sail only under their own ensigns. Despite these stringent edicts, the audacious Corsairs of the Adriatic remained undeterred, continuing to pursue their nautical exploits with unrelenting ardor.
The Neapolitan Consul Giovambattista Zicchi in Ragusa, in 1726, began to exert pressure on the Pasha of Albania, seeking redress for these relentless raids. Between May and November, an intricate plot unfolded, involving a poisoned kidney intended for a Dulcignotte captain, Bego Bolotti. Yet, in a twist of fate, this lethal morsel was consumed by another, sparing Bolotti from his intended doom. The year 1726 also witnessed a Dulcignotte Pirate seeking sanctuary in North Africa. The Sultan, in his boundless authority, dispatched orders to Tripoli and Tunis, commanding the return of goods pilfered by these sea brigands. Later, in the years 1728 and 1729, a decree of great significance would be issued, forbidding the inhabitants of Ulcinj from lending aid to the North African Corsairs.
In modern times, scholarly efforts unearthed the writings of one Paolo Paulovich. This chronicler shed light on the canon Constantini, who in the year 1733, founded the Confraternity for the Liberation of Slaves. This institution was dedicated to the lofty effort of emancipating the hapless crews of Rovinj, who had tragically fallen prey to the clutches of the Dulcignotti Pirate ships.
In July 1735, a misunderstanding ensued when the Spanish seized a turquoise Venetian trabaccolo, originating from Shkodër and bearing many Muslim and Christian subjects of the Porte. Mistaken for a Dulcignotte vessel, the Spanish appropriated its slaves, an action decried by the French Consul in Ancona and protested by Shkodër’s merchants. It was revealed that the Spanish had confused this ship, which bore no Venetian certificate of Pubblica Veneta Rappresentanza, with another.
The year 1739 witnessed the historic Treaty of Belgrade, a pivotal moment where the empires of Austria and Russia compelled the Ottomans to curb the marauding exploits of the Dulcignotti. This mandate, however, ignited the flames of discontent and rebellion in the heart of Constantinople in 1740. Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall, an Austrian historian and diplomat, noted that the majority of the insurrectionists were of Albanian descent, a revelation that led to their subsequent expulsion from the city.
June of 1742 heralded a bold initiative by Venice, which entreated the Paštrovići tribe, under the leadership of Boško Perazić, to assail and plunder the Pirates of Ulcinj. However, the tides of fate turned as Perazić himself succumbed to the call of Piracy, leading to his apprehension by the Providence Generale seventeen years later.
The autumnal month of September in 1746 bore witness to a tale of vengeance and retribution. Cristoforo Grillo, once a citizen of Perast, found himself banished, having incurred the wrath of the Ottomans through his predations on their ships in Livorno. Fate, in its inexorable way, led him to be captured and executed by the Pirates of Ulcinj, his life ending ignominiously upon a flagpole. The citizens of Perast, led by a figure of fierce resolve, Bujovich, exacted fierce revenge by plundering an Ulcinj ship in a bloody skirmish that felled many an Ottoman subject. The resultant outrage from the Dolcignotti compelled Venice to vow retribution against Bujovich, and Perast was burdened with the heavy yoke of a substantial indemnity to appease the Ottomans.
The year 1748 unveiled the tale of Hadji Mustafa, a Pirate captain of Ulcinj, whose daring saw him rob a Venetian ship in the waters of Buna, abducting the captain and two crew members in his wake. Two years later, in 1750, a young Venetian adventurer, Gian-Marco, barely twenty-five years of age, set off from Bologna to the Ottoman realms. During his journey, while in service to a Venetian officer, he was caught by Montenegrin captors and subsequently bartered to the Ottomans. After enduring a year of captivity, he devised a daring escape, reaching Shkodër, only to find himself once again ensnared, this time by the Dulcignotti Pirates, in a twist of fate as cruel as it was ironic.
It’s interesting to note that Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall, in his work Histoire de L’Empire Ottoman, published in the year 1840, chronicled the depredations inflicted by the Ulcinj Pirates upon the Gulf of Naples in this same year. Their marauding exploits wrought havoc, exacting a toll exceeding one million piastres. The 1750s also saw French and Neapolitan vessels embroiled in the Spanish War of Succession, their endeavors compounded by the relentless raids of Ulcinj Pirates. Such was the ferocity and frequency of these assaults that the inhabitants of Ancona and Bar, harried and struggling, fled their cities in despair. Adding to the intrigue, certain Ulcinj Pirates, in a cunning ruse, sailed under the guise of the French flag to prey upon unsuspecting Ragusan ships.
In the year 1755, a new chapter in maritime defense began with the emergence of Commander Angelo Emo. Entrusted with the task of safeguarding convoys, his tenure of valor stretched into the years 1770 and 1771, a period marked by a critical naval campaign. It was during this time that Commander Emo’s strategic wisdom shone brightest, as he spearheaded the offensive to purge the Pirate menace from the islands of Zante, Corfu, and Cerigo.
A missive dated February 3, 1757, from the Venetian ambassador to the Senate, recounts a harrowing episode of Piracy that transpired in September of the preceding year. Paolo Caliga, hailing from Cephalonia, arrived in the port of Azder bearing news of two armed Dulcignotti ships, flying the flag of Tripoli. Employing his wits and a fluent Venetian tongue, Caliga ingeniously persuaded the Pirates to relinquish their ill-gotten merchandise and arms, which he discreetly secured in the abode of the French Consul. However, when the Pirates, a formidable cadre of 150 led by the Ulcinj captains Hassan and Ibrahim, docked to resupply, they were met by destitute peasants. In a swift and ruthless response, the Pirates laid siege to the Cephalonia vessel and the bay. The ambassador, in a bid to restore order, appealed to the Porte for intervention, only to be informed by the local Reïs from Shkodër of the improbability of attaining compensation and the inequity of punishing innocent traders for the misdeeds of a few malefactors. On December 17, 1757, the same ambassador, writing from Constantinople, brought to light the tragic fate of Tiozzo, a trabaccalo captain mercilessly slain by Dulcignotti Pirates in the waters of Puglia. In his correspondence, the ambassador proposed dispatching an auctioneer to liaise with the Venetian Dalmatian general and vice Consul Anton Doda in Shkodër, to address grievances stemming from the Dulcignotte Pirates’ raids.
Further, in March 1759, the ambassador penned another communique to the Senate, detailing an encounter on December 21, 1758, near Patras, off the coast of Morea. Here, the notorious Ulcinj Pirate lord Sinan Komina was reported to command a ship of notable prowess, equipped with eight oars on each side and state-of-the-art canons. This vessel was manned by a hundred Pirates, half of whom hailed from Ulcinj.
In the year 1763, a mighty Dulcignotta galley made its foreboding approach to the port of Povijest at Drvenika. The stoic denizens of Lugar, brimming with valiance, attempted to repel these marauders. Alas, the Dulcignotti Corsairs, ruthless as the tempestuous sea, vanquished them and thus ensued a sanguinary skirmish within the village’s confines. In this fray, one buccaneer met his demise, while wounds were reaped like bitter harvest on both factions. Thereupon, the local magistrates, in a bid to shield their insular realm of Vinišće, decreed a forbiddance upon all egress from their island fortress. Two years thence, in 1765, the Dulcignotti, burning with the fervor of vengeance, exacted their retribution. They imposed an exile upon 23 schiavis — those of Slavic descent — on the isle of Drevnik, and laid pillage to the village.
In the final months of 1764, however, the infamous Sinan Komina, with a retinue of forty sea wolves, commandeered a vessel from Livorno near the shores of Koron in the Peloponnese. This purloined ship was then steered to Bar. Upon learning of this audacious theft, Sultan Mehmed commanded the apprehension of Komina. Thus, the Pirate chieftain found sanctuary in Paštro, amidst the Kažanegra kin, his faithful allies. Despite the Ottoman Empire’s relentless pursuit, the Ulcinj Corsairs rallied under Komina’s banner as 1765 dawned. January of 1765 witnessed Albanian mariners from Dulcino, capitalizing on the chaos of the Russo-Turkish conflict, embarking on indiscriminate plunders of ships, irrespective of their ensigns.
Come 1767, Joseph de Cambis chronicled his tenure aboard the royal vessel The Chimera. Their mission: to rendezvous with César Gabriel de Choiseul in Naples, thereafter to engage in naval combat along the Morea coast against the Dulcignotti and other freebooters. Commandeered by M. Grasse-Brianson, The Chimera departed Toulon’s harbor on April 28, 1767, only to return on August 31.
Upon the 15th of August, 1768, a Maltese vessel, some forty miles from Cape Passero’s Sicilian shores, espied a Dulcignotte Pirate ship. Commanded by captain Hossein Spahia Raïs, it towed a Lazio timber-laden ship. After a swift confrontation and the jettisoning of their own impedimenta to hasten their escape, the Maltese engaged the Pirates in fierce combat. Guns and blades sang their deadly song, capping in the fall of the Dulcignotte captain. Of the Pirate crew, thirteen met their end, twelve were wounded, and eleven seized. The Maltese mourned five souls and tended to eleven injuries, two grievous. The surviving First Mate was later liberated, only to command anew.
Within the 1840 tome Encyclopédie des Gens du Monde, Répertoire Universel des Sciences, des Lettres et des Arts, it is chronicled that in the year 1770, the mighty Ottoman Porte, its strength declining, found itself impotent against the audacity of the Albanian Corsairs. In spring, these Ulcinj Corsairs wrought havoc upon the Russian navy, led by Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov, off the coast of Navarino. This act of devastation marked yet another chapter in the relentless saga of maritime warfare that defined the era. Come July of 1770, amidst the din of the Russo-Turkish War, Vice Admiral John Elphinstone of the Russian navy clashed with the Ulcinjian Pirates, hired by the Ottomans. This battle, known as the Battle of Chesma, saw the Pirates’ defeat. The English broadsheets of the day lauded these sea rovers as the sole souls brave or loyal enough to scour the seas in pursuit of their foe. And on the second day of August 1770, the Italian voyager Pietro Godenti, in St. Petersburg, recounted a letter received from Trieste. It spoke of a victorious Russian fleet, under Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov, vanquishing the Ottoman navy in the archipelago, sinking and scattering numerous Dolcignotti tartanes.
In the year 1771, the cunning Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov enlisted Albanian Corsairs to assail the Ottomans under the Russian standard. Yet, three hundred of these mariners soon renounced their allegiance, joining the Pirate ranks, prompting Orlov to seek their subjugation. The following year witnessed Albanian Pirates commandeering two Russian vessels, turning them toward nefarious deeds, thus obliging Admiral Grigory Spiridov and Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov to issue warnings to the Ottomans and neutral ships in the Aegean. On December 9, 1772, the French Consul in Athens, Joseph-Dimitri Gaspary, dispatched a letter to his minister, revealing the obliteration of thirty Dulcignotti ships by Russian forces in the Gulf of Patras. Before this, four Dulcignotti vessels had enslaved fifteen German and French soldiers from Corfu, selling them in Salone. One captive, Joseph Vichel of Alsace, fortuitously escaped to the sanctuary of Captain Blanc of La Ciotat.
In the year 1774, a Croatian captain of renowned valor, Antun by name, ventured to Shkodër and Ulcinj. His mission, hidden in secrecy and diplomacy, was to maintain clandestine contact with the Dalmatian authorities whilst investigating the notorious Albanian Pirate Omer Krika. This brigand, who had audaciously sailed his ship from Ulcinj to Zaton, had become a thorn in the side of the government. The fifteenth of March 1775 saw The Pennsylvania Gazette publish a letter from Constantinople, dated November 17, 1774. It spoke of the Russian navy’s dismissal of Albanian sailors, an act that heralded a resurgence of Piracy. Among these brigands were Manoli and Doli Constantine of Ulcinj, notorious for seizing three French ships and slaughtering their crews. Another ship met its fate off Caramania, with but two survivors.
In April of 1775, Captain Ermanno Cinif Inglis, alongside Giovanni Patriarch, under the Neapolitan flag, embarked from Trieste, forewarned of the imposing Dulcignotti armada. This intelligence led to a strategic division of their squadron, with contingents in Ancona and Brindisi, awaiting the Russian fleet’s aid. By June, various Ottoman Corsairs and Dulcingotti Pirates, a considerable force of 140 men, assailed a Greek vessel in the port of Brindisi. The crew, under siege, found refuge beneath the very cannons meant for their defense.
On the tenth day of June 1779, the Sublime Porte, in a desperate gambit, dispatched Gagi-Haça, a mariner of renowned prowess, who amassed a modest armada and valiantly vanquished the Pirate scourge. Yet, the Pirates of Tripoli, in a brazen act of unity, crushed the Russian fleet at Corinth and Patras.
Modern Times
In the final years of the eighteenth century, a series of intriguing events unfolded across the European continent, forging a narrative rich with the hues of political machinations and maritime adventures. In the frostbitten month of January 1781, the wanderlust-driven French traveler and translator Dérival de Gomicourt uncovered a letter of significant import. Penned by a London merchant and destined for a correspondent in Ostend, this missive revealed the English government’s grand strategy. Six officers were dispatched to the Indian subcontinent, bearing orders for Edward Hughes to strike against Britain’s adversaries. This command echoed along the coasts and territories where British interests were at stake. However, their journey was ill-fated, as a Dulcignotte Corsair entrapped them along Egypt’s coast, plundering their possessions and leaving them bereft. From Venice, one of these officers penned a letter to a kin in London, a missive imbued with the sorrow of their plight, as recounted by Gomicourt.
In the same year, as recorded by French journalist Louis-François Metra, a disturbing incident befell six English officers. These gentlemen, who set off on a covert mission against the Dutch, found their fates cruelly altered by the Dulcignotti Pirates. Stripped of dignity and possessions, they were abandoned on the desolate shores of the Nile. Yet, fortune smiled upon them in the guise of a compassionate Ragusan captain, who extended a helping hand in their hour of dire need.
In the year 1785, under the aegis of Kara Mahmud Pasha, the Ottomans unleashed their might upon Montenegro, obliterating the Pirate fleet. This act, though momentous, scarcely stemmed the tide of their sporadic marauding henceforth. Fast forward to 1870, and we encounter the literary musings of Francesco Protonotari. In his publication Nuova Antologia di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, he refers to a letter dated July 27, 1785.
This correspondence, originating from an Albanian to a friend in Pera, conveyed a vivid account of Dulcignotti sailors in Montenegro. They bore witness to the Aga of Trebigne’s act of fealty toward Mahmud Pasha of Scutari, symbolized by the kissing of feet, as a prelude to a grand expedition encompassing Castelnuovo and Ragusa. However, the Pasha, bound by a sworn truce with the inhabitants of Trebigne and Bossina, hesitated to set off on this journey. Further, the Pasha’s strategic halt of all vessels from Dulcigno post-Eid festivities was revealed, as he plotted an audacious campaign against Curd Achmet Pasha of Beratto, intending to traverse through Valona and reach the Morea.
In the records of 1788, as per the Gazzetta Universale: O Sieno Notizie Istorice, Politiche, di Scienze, Arti Agricoltura, another riveting episode unfurled. The captain of the ship Vesua, hailing from Smyrna, brought news of a fierce naval engagement. A Russian fleet, possessing thirty guns and departing from Trieste, clashed with a Dulcignotte Pirate flotilla and their Slavic allies in a battle that raged for fourteen arduous hours.
In the following year, an article of great intrigue graced the pages of The Lady Magazine, hailing from the busy port of Trieste. Dated June 4, this account detailed a fierce naval confrontation between seven fleets of the Dulcignotti Pirates and the Russian navy, commanded by the Greek-born major Lambros Katsonis. This battle, set in the hazardous waters between Ulcinj and Kotor, saw the Pirates suffer a grievous loss of fifty souls, while the Russians emerged unscathed.
The Russians’ valor was further highlighted by their liberation of a Venetian vessel from the clutches of the Ulcinj marauders, a feat that swayed a thousand Albanians to change allegiance. The Pirate lord Lika Ceni was rumored to have bested and executed Lambros Katsonis, who, before his allegiance to the Orlov Revolt in 1770, was himself a Pirate. And in the same epoch-making year, the Gazetta Universale brought to light another maritime skirmish. Captain Constantine Livaditi, leading a Russian fleet, valiantly faced off against Dulcignotti vessels under the Papal ensign near Marina di Ragusa (on mainland Italy).
Upon sighting the Russians, the Pirates abandoned their ship, but not before a fusillade from the captain resulted in five Pirates dead and another wounded. Concurrently, Major Lambros Katsonis reported the presence of seven Dulcignotti vessels in the Bay of Kotor. Despite his best efforts, the Russian commander’s initial assaults bore no fruit. However, the Dulcignotti, strategically positioned along the shore, unleashed a barrage of cannon fire. The Russians retaliated with their own artillery, sinking two Pirate ships and claiming fifty of their number.
In the fading years of the 18th century, as the sun began to set on the French dominion over the Levant, a significant shift in maritime power transpired. Greek vessels, erstwhile under the yoke of cartaz, found themselves newly emancipated, graced with patents and passports by the esteemed Grand Master of Malta and illustrious Greek dignitaries. Yet, in a twist of fate, these documents of liberation became instruments of subterfuge, falling into the hands of the cunning Pirates of Ulcinj. These Pirates, wielding their ill-gotten passes, sought refuge and respite within the Corsair haven of Tripoli.
The turn of the century saw the French traveler François Pouqueville venturing out on a perilous journey aboard the Italian merchant ship La Madonna di Montenegro. They set sail from Alexandria to Calabria, only to encounter Uluc Alia and his ruthless band of Pirates from Ulcinj.
As the 19th century dawned, Henry Holland noted a striking parallel in the archives of Piracy. In the Gulf of Salonika, the term “Albanian” became synonymous with Pirates, resembling the Roman era’s reference to “Cilician” Pirates. This region, with its archipelago at the gulf’s entrance, became a haven for Pirates due to the frequent passage of vessels and the ease of recruiting Albanians eager for plunder. In 1813, Otto Magnus von Stackelberg, a German painter and archaeologist, fell victim to these marauders near Salonica. Captured by Albanian Pirates, he faced a staggering ransom demand of 60,000 piasters.
A few years later, the British government, in 1816, found itself embroiled in a diplomatic tussle with the Neapolitan ambassador in London over the handling of Albanian Piracy. The following year, on August 14, 1817, journalists reported on Albanian Pirates raiding vessels near Venice. By 1818, the Ulcinj navy possessed a mighty fleet of over 400 ships. In 1819, Henry Alexander Scammell Dearborn noted that ‘Ali Pasha of Ioannina employed armed galliots manned by Dulcignotti.
In 1837, a chilling episode unfolded, as recounted in the Parliamentary Papers. A band of 100 Albanian Pirates descended upon a village off the coast of Otranto, unleashing a massacre led by the notorious Rafil Bey. James John Best also chronicled an attack on a British ship by an Albanian Pirate off Corfu in 1840. And in the year 1863, Viscountess Emily Anne Beaufort Smythe reflected on the bygone era when the Dulcignotti Pirates were the dread of Italy, their sailors in high demand by the Porte.
On a final note, John Hobhouse, in 1878, penned that the Pirates of Ulcinj numbered a staggering 6,000. These raids persisted until the latter half of the 19th century when a unified effort by European powers compelled the Ottoman Empire to quell this scourge.
That is as much as I’m willing to share from the first chapter of my forthcoming tome, The Book of Pirates and Corsairs: Part I: Ageless Seas of Infamy:
Note: The images used in this article were generated.
