Top 10 Amazing Facts about Hayreddin Barbarossa

Hayreddin Barbarossa. Photo outsourced from Wikimedia

Top 10 Amazing Facts about Hayreddin Barbarossa

Hayreddin Barbarossa was born between 1466 and 1478 Lesbos, Ottoman Empire, a son of Yakup Aga and Katerina.

Hayreddin’s father was a Sipahi; he took part in the Ottoman conquest of lesbos in 1462 from the Genoese Gattilusio dynasty and was granted the fief of the Village of Bonova on the Island.

In 1533 Hayreddin was appointed as the grand admiral of the Ottoman Navy. His naval victories secured Ottoman dominance over the Mediterranean during the 16th century and increased the wealth of the Ottoman Empire.

Here are the top 10 facts about Hayreddin Barbarossa.

1. Hayreddin Barbarossa actual name was Hizir Hayrettin Pash

Hayreddin’s actual name is Hizir Hayrettin pasha, simply Hizir Reis. In 1516 hHayreddin and his brother captured Algeria with Oruc. Oruc declared himself sultan of Algeria.

Oruc died in 1518 and Hayreddin inherited his brother’s nickname Barbarossa meaning Redbeard, in Italian and received the honorary name Hayreddin meaning goodness of the faith or best of faith.

2. Hayreddin started his naval career as a corsair under his brother

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Hayreddin’s brother Oruc was a great seaman and by 1503, he had managed to have four ships. His brother made the Island of Djerba his new base for his operations.

Hayreddin joined Oruc at Djerba in 1504. They asked the ruler of Tunis, Abu Abdallah Mohammad IV al-Mutawakkil, permission to use the part of La Goulette for their operations.

The brothers were granted permission only if they gave one-third of their spoils to the sultan. They were now free to start their operation and they began with a small galloat with which they captured too larger Papal gallery, later a Lipari and Sicilian warship.

These exploits increased their fame and several famous corsairs joined them. While under his brother, Hayreddin managed to conquer and capture many states and ships.

3. Hayreddin and his brother captured Algeria

In 1516 they succeeded in capturing Jijel and Algeria from the Spaniards. They took control over the city and its surrounding regions.

The rulers of Algeria, Abu Hamo Musa III of the Beni Ziyad dynasty, was forced to flee. The native inhabitants of Algeria sought refuge on the island of Penon. They sought help from Charles V, king of Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor, to intervene, but the Spanish fleet failed to defeat the brothers.

In 1517, his brother Oruc offered Algeria to the Ottoman Sultan Selim I and Algeria were accepted as an Ottoman Province.

Oruc was then appointed Algeria’s governor and western Mediterranean’s chief sea governor after Oruc death Ottoman empire felt that its position was under threat.

In 1519 Hayreddin took over his brother’s rule over Algeria, inheriting his position, name (Barbarossa ), and mission.

4. The flag of Hayreddin Barbarossa

Flag (Sanjak) of Hayreddin Barbarossa. Photo outsourced from Wikimedia

The flag has Arabic calligraphy at the top that reads, “Victory from Allah and an eminent conquest and give good tidings to the believers, O Muhammad” the verse is derived from a verse from the queen.

Within the four crescents are the names of the first four Caliphs; Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali. Ali’s rule of the Islamic state after Muhammad was referred to as the Rashidun Caliphate.

The flag has two-bladed swords representing Dhu’l Figar, a famous sword in Islamic history belonging to the first Muhammad and Ali. 

Between the two blades is a six-star pointed star. During medieval times this star was a famous Islamic symbol known as the seal of Solomon.

The Belyiks of Anatolia popularly used the six-pointed star and later used it by Ottomans in their mosque decoration, including the Hayreddin Barbarossa flag.

5. The conquest of Tunis

In 1533 Suleiman the magnificent ordered Hayreddin Barbarossa to build a large war fleet in the arsenal of Constantinople.

During the winter of 1533 to 1534, he built 70 galleys manned by slave oarsmen, including 1,200 Christian ones. in 1534, Hayreddin set sail from Constantinople, conducting aggressive raids along the coast of Haly.

Hayreddin arrived in Tunis on 16 August 1534 and captured the city from the Hafsid ruler Muley Hasan. He then established a naval base in Tunis. The naval base could be used to invade the regions and Malta.

Tunis was an ideal location controlling the passage from the west to the eastern basin of the Mediterranean.

During the conquest of Tunis in 1535, upon the plea of Muley Hasan, Emperor Charles V mounted a counter-offensive and retook the city.

6. Hayreddin Barbarossa established diplomacy with France

In 1533 Hayreddin sent an embassy to the king of France, Francis I, the Ottoman embassy to France(1533).

A Francis I, in turn, would send Antonio Rincon to Barbarossa in North Africa and then to Suleiman the magnificent in Asia minor.

In 1534 following a second embassy, the Ottoman embassy to France, Francis I sent his ambassador Jehan de la forest to Hayreddin Barbarossa requesting his naval support against the Habsburgs.

7. TheFranco-Ottoman alliance

The alliance was also known as the Franco-Turkish alliance and it was an alliance established in 1536 between the king of France, Francis I and the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Suleiman I.

The alliance was an opportunity for both rulers to fight against the House of Habsburg. Hayreddin cruised the western Mediterranean with a fleet of 210 ships to assist France.

These tactical and strategic alliances were among France’s most important foreign alliances and influential during the Italian war.

8. Hayreddin was appointed Kapudan Pasha

Hayreddin Barbarossa Photo by Fine Art Museum Algiers on Wikimedia

He was appointed by Suleiman the Magnificent as Kapudan Pasha meaning the Grand Admiral of the Ottoman navy.

Hayreddin was named because he led the Ottoman army and captured many territories expanding the Ottoman Empire.

Hayreddin’s success was elevated to the ranks at Beylerbey and Vizier in 1535. Also, his territories were expanded into the Elalet of the Archipelago and Algiers.

His successor succeeded in these buildings but saw their rank drop to two horsetail Vizier for several centuries. 

His naval victories gave the Ottoman empire dominance over the Mediterranean during the mid-16th century.

Using his naval skill, he earned victory over the Holy League at Preveza in 1538 and, in the 1540s, conducted joint campaigns with the French.

9. The siege of nice

The siege of Nice took place in 1543 and was part of the Italian war of 1542 to 1546, on which Francis I and Suleiman the Magnificent collaborated as part of the Franco-Ottoman alliance.

The Franco- Ottoman alliance fought against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Henry VIII of England.

Ottoman navy first arrived at Ville France 6 kilometers east of Nice, took it and destroyed it and on 6 august 1543, attacked the city of Nice. When attacking, the city received stiff resistance but later surrounded the city on 22 august 1543.

10. Hayreddin’s retirement and death

Statue of Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha in Antalya, Turkey. Photo by Bernard Gagnon on Wikimedia

In 1545 Hayreddin retired to Constantinople and his son Hasan Pasha succeeded him in Algiers. Hayreddin dedicated his memoirs to Muradi Sinan Reis. The memoir consists of five handwritten volumes called Gazavat Hayreddin Pasa.

Nowadays, the memoirs are exhibited at the Topkapi Palace and Istanbul university library. Hayreddin Barbarossa passed away in 1546 in the seaside palace in the Buyukdere neighborhood in Istanbul Northshore of Bosphorus.

Hayrerrin is buried in the tall mausoleum near the ferry port of the district of Besiktas on the European side of Istanbul, built-in 1541. The mausoleum was built by famous architect Mimar Sinan at the place whore the Hayreddin fleet used to assemble. In 1944 his memoir was built next to his mausoleum.