1 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:13,319 Speaker 1: The battles of the past to find the present. This 2 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:20,920 Speaker 1: is shields high. Who was the greatest general of all time? 3 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:24,799 Speaker 1: Some of you are probably thinking, or perhaps even saying 4 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: out loud, what your answer would be to that question. 5 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:34,000 Speaker 1: Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Hannibal Barka, Genghis Khan, Julius Caesar, 6 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: perhaps Ulysses, asked Grant or Douglas MacArthur. These are men 7 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:44,120 Speaker 1: who had a tactical and strategic understanding of the battlefield 8 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: that changed the course of history. People understand and agree 9 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:51,560 Speaker 1: that whatever you think of them, whatever side they were 10 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: on at the time, these were men who were excellent 11 00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: at their craft of warfare and who made an enormous 12 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:05,120 Speaker 1: impact on history. Who was the most fearsome warrior of 13 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: his age all time? Again, I'm sure some of you 14 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:15,920 Speaker 1: have answers that immediately come to mind. Leonidas, king of Sparta, 15 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:19,479 Speaker 1: and famous because of the movie three hundred, perhaps for many, 16 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:24,919 Speaker 1: but known all throughout the ages, vasili Zaitsev, the Soviet 17 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:30,959 Speaker 1: sniper US Marines, Carlos Hathcock during Vietnam, or if you 18 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: want to go back a little bit in history verse Jeerics, 19 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 1: the Gallic chieftain who fought fiercely but unsuccessfully against Julius Caesar. 20 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 1: Also on the list, maybe even Hernan Cortez and his 21 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: campaign against the Aztecs. Fearsome warriors, people that you think 22 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: of as not only leaders of men in battle, but 23 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: also excelling in the craft the tactical fighting aspect. People 24 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:01,800 Speaker 1: that were on the front line lines, that were combatants. 25 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: They weren't just in the back with the gear in 26 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: the rear. And let's add one more category to this impact. 27 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:13,800 Speaker 1: This would be those great men of the military in 28 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:19,320 Speaker 1: the past whose actions directly led to history changing and 29 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:24,640 Speaker 1: era defining moments, battles that change the tide of history. 30 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 1: The Duke of Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo in 31 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:33,120 Speaker 1: eighteen fifteen, for example, Scipio Africanus of Ancient Rome defeating 32 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:37,359 Speaker 1: Hannibal Barka to end the Second Punic War. So we're 33 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:42,600 Speaker 1: talking about three things here, great military leaders, skilled warriors, 34 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:47,960 Speaker 1: and men who changed history. So the greatest generals, the 35 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 1: most fearsome warriors. What if I told you that there's 36 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:55,959 Speaker 1: someone that I would argue should be on the list, 37 00:02:57,040 --> 00:02:59,080 Speaker 1: maybe not at the top of the list, but should 38 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: be on the list. Ape actually if you combine a 39 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: great commander with a great warrior who absolutely changed the 40 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:12,680 Speaker 1: course of history, Genghis Khan would fall into that category, 41 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:15,920 Speaker 1: and he changed the world, no question about it, and 42 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 1: conquered a larger empire than by landmasks anyone else in 43 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: human history. But what about a fellow that you've probably 44 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 1: never even heard of named Romega? No, you're probably thinking, 45 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 1: what the heck is Buck talking about? Who is Roma Ga? 46 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 1: And why does it sound like he's ordering a fancy 47 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: bottle of wine out on a date. I'm going to 48 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: explain to you who this incredible warrior was and why 49 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: his role in history should be something that a lot 50 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: more people know about. But first, from our sponsor, I 51 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: want to tell you that you know, free Wi Fi 52 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: when you're out in public seems super convenient. I use 53 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 1: it sometimes too, and it gives you faster access to 54 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 1: the Internet and you've got no data usage charges on 55 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:00,640 Speaker 1: your phone bill. But with all that benefits a risk. 56 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: There are bad actors out there who are just waiting 57 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: to gain access to your data. 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Romaga factors into our 82 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: story here because he was perhaps the greatest known warrior 83 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:34,839 Speaker 1: of his era as a naval captain on the Mediterranean 84 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:38,800 Speaker 1: Sea in the Knights of Malta then known as the 85 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:43,320 Speaker 1: Knights of Saint John or the Knights Hospitaller. And if 86 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 1: you look at his life after the fall of Constantinople 87 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:51,239 Speaker 1: leading up to the Great Siege, the Great Battle of Malta, 88 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,240 Speaker 1: of which he was one of the primary participants at 89 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 1: the command level as well as on the front lines 90 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:00,280 Speaker 1: as a soldier, and then at the Great Battle of 91 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: Lepanto that turned back the Ottoman advance in fifteen seventy one, 92 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: after uninterrupted conquest stretching back for decades, you realize that 93 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:15,360 Speaker 1: this guy Romaga, we should know more about him. And 94 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 1: when you look at his life story, when you look 95 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: at what was going on around him and the role, 96 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: the direct role that he played in it, he changed 97 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: the course of the most profound civilization molding conquest of 98 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:32,760 Speaker 1: over a thousand years, the Islamic conquest of the Near East, 99 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: North Africa and Europe. Were it not for Romaga, his 100 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:42,039 Speaker 1: nights and the brave but mercurial Christian forces alongside him 101 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:45,360 Speaker 1: at Malta and then at Lepanto. The Islamic conquest would 102 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: have stretched deep into the heart of Europe, changing the 103 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: world we know and you need to know his tale. 104 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 1: But first I have to give you some of the backstory. 105 00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:58,360 Speaker 1: Here we left you in the Last Shield High fourteen 106 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 1: fifty three, the fall of Constantinople, the death of the 107 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: Emperor of Constantinople. Rarely do you see a major city 108 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 1: like this, a great city that stood for a thousand 109 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: years lost and also the leader killed in battle as 110 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 1: an active combatant. That's what happened. This was a calamity 111 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:23,600 Speaker 1: for Christendom. Nobody ever really thought that Theodosian walls could 112 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:27,239 Speaker 1: be taken down, Nobody ever really thought that they could 113 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:33,680 Speaker 1: storm this the single most strategically located city of the 114 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: ancient world. There's a reason why this was at one 115 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: point a city estimated to have up to a million 116 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:47,760 Speaker 1: inhabitants at a time when other major European cities would 117 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:50,520 Speaker 1: have had in the tens of thousands. Before it was 118 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:57,440 Speaker 1: even thought of as Europe, Constantinople was the great gateway 119 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 1: to the East, and it was also the single most 120 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:07,440 Speaker 1: important symbol of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in the world at 121 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:11,520 Speaker 1: that time. They thought of themselves as Romans, they thought 122 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 1: of themselves and so this was the greatest city really 123 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 1: in Western civilization at the time, and it fell to 124 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: the Ottoman Turks. This is terrifying for Europe at the time. 125 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 1: And then a string of conquests after it that showed 126 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:33,320 Speaker 1: this was the great bulwark of Christianity. A city of 127 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 1: Constantinople was holding back the Ottoman horde actually a word 128 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:41,840 Speaker 1: that comes from the Ottoman massive armies of the time. 129 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: And so once it fell, not only was there an 130 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 1: imminent land threat to Christianity, but there was the very 131 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:53,600 Speaker 1: real prospect that the Mediterranean Sea was going to turn 132 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:57,280 Speaker 1: into an Ottoman lake. With that, not only would there 133 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: have been the unsurpassed wealth accrued, I mean the Ottoman 134 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 1: Empire knew that trade at this time was only really 135 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:10,600 Speaker 1: possible and profitable by sea route. You couldn't move bulk 136 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 1: spices and silks and all these incredibly valuable goods from 137 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:20,240 Speaker 1: the East coming as far away as India and China 138 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 1: the famous Silk route. People think of the Silk Road 139 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:26,640 Speaker 1: the only way to distribute those goods to the west 140 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:32,080 Speaker 1: was by ship through the Mediterranean basin and some of 141 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:35,199 Speaker 1: the greatest arable land at the time, in places like 142 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:40,600 Speaker 1: the Nile Delta of Egypt. The distribution of those goods, 143 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 1: which were necessary for keeping many city states around the 144 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:50,440 Speaker 1: Mediterranean alive and fed, was only possible by ship. If 145 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:53,120 Speaker 1: you wanted to be a great and wealthy nation at 146 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 1: the time, you had to have access to the sea. 147 00:09:56,720 --> 00:09:59,840 Speaker 1: And the Ottomans, with the seizure of Constantinople and fourth 148 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:04,360 Speaker 1: fifty three, put themselves in a place where, under the 149 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:08,440 Speaker 1: banner of Islam, they could spread not only across all 150 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 1: of Christendom deep into Europe, but seize the entirety of 151 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:16,839 Speaker 1: the Mediterranean Sea. And that was the plan. Now to 152 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:19,480 Speaker 1: some this might sound a little bit exaggerated. You don't 153 00:10:19,559 --> 00:10:21,480 Speaker 1: learn this in school. They're not going to teach you 154 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:24,480 Speaker 1: about this. In fact, all you really learn about this 155 00:10:24,559 --> 00:10:29,400 Speaker 1: period from the islam Christianity perspective and these wars and 156 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:33,079 Speaker 1: conflicts is there were these really terrible things called the Crusades, 157 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:35,080 Speaker 1: and there was the spread of this new religion that 158 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:38,720 Speaker 1: just popped up and no big deal. Some stuff happened. 159 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:41,800 Speaker 1: The Reformation in Europe, and then now let's just jump 160 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: to the New World. That's generally what you get taught 161 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 1: in school about this. Right, in fourteen hundred and ninety two, 162 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 1: Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue. Well, you know what was 163 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:56,880 Speaker 1: also happening in fourteen hundred and ninety two. The Ottomans 164 00:10:56,920 --> 00:11:00,320 Speaker 1: were planning the conquest of all of Europe. And in 165 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:04,960 Speaker 1: fact it was Columbus's patrons, the King and Queen of Spain, 166 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:09,320 Speaker 1: who were the only real kingdom that could try to 167 00:11:09,559 --> 00:11:13,760 Speaker 1: match up sword for sword against the Ottoman threat. But 168 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:16,000 Speaker 1: all you have to do to understand the scale of 169 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 1: the threat to Christendom, to its eradication, was to look 170 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:26,199 Speaker 1: at the string of conquests that came in succession. After 171 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:29,800 Speaker 1: mac Met the Second, the Ottoman Sultan, was victorious at 172 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 1: Constantinople in fourteen fifty three, he immediately pushed deeper into Europe. 173 00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 1: By fourteen fifty nine, what is now Serbia was conquered 174 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:43,720 Speaker 1: by the Ottomans. In fourteen sixty three, they took Bosnia. 175 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:48,679 Speaker 1: In fourteen seventy eight, Albania was taken. Now it's worth 176 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:52,720 Speaker 1: noting that during this period of rapid westward Ottoman expansion 177 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:57,679 Speaker 1: The only European power that was doing anything to really 178 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:02,920 Speaker 1: slow the advance of the Ottoman were the Venetians. The 179 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:06,559 Speaker 1: Statau Damar. They call it the state of the Sea, 180 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,440 Speaker 1: for that's exactly what Venice in the mid to late 181 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:15,880 Speaker 1: fifteenth century was. Usually great cities are only situated on 182 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:21,800 Speaker 1: fantastic geographic locations with yes access to the water, but 183 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:25,560 Speaker 1: the great cities of antiquity also needed nearby arable land 184 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 1: and fresh water to drink. Not so for the Venetians. 185 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:32,640 Speaker 1: This is a place that I'm sure you think of 186 00:12:32,679 --> 00:12:36,520 Speaker 1: now is perhaps a romantic getaway in it is lovely, 187 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:40,240 Speaker 1: the canals, the history. But what you might not gather 188 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:44,680 Speaker 1: from buying some Venetian glass as a tourist there today 189 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:48,280 Speaker 1: and the somewhat pungent smells you may come across there 190 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:52,640 Speaker 1: with the open canals in the summer, is that Venice 191 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:57,600 Speaker 1: was one of the wealthiest cities in the world, and 192 00:12:57,679 --> 00:13:03,000 Speaker 1: in the fifteenth century it was operating a true maritime empire, 193 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:09,200 Speaker 1: setting up way stations, naval bases, trading ports all along 194 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:13,520 Speaker 1: the Eastern Mediterranean in places like Corfu and Negroponte. And 195 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:17,520 Speaker 1: it was a republic led by a doge and a Senate, 196 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:21,920 Speaker 1: where the rule of law was generally considered fair but severe. 197 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:27,120 Speaker 1: All deals were to be kept, and profit was the 198 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:31,439 Speaker 1: most important purpose of day to day life. The Venetians 199 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:36,839 Speaker 1: were traders. They merely wanted to expand insofar as it 200 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:40,320 Speaker 1: helped the bottom line. They wanted to make money, and 201 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:44,120 Speaker 1: because they made all their money moving goods on the sea, 202 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:49,079 Speaker 1: they were expert sailors. As a result of their commercial interests, 203 00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:52,080 Speaker 1: their reach stretched as far as the shores of the 204 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:56,000 Speaker 1: Black Sea, and the Venetians, much to the chagrin of 205 00:13:56,040 --> 00:14:00,960 Speaker 1: their European Christian counterparts, had no problem when all trading 206 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:04,280 Speaker 1: with the Muslims. Whoever could get the best goods at 207 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:08,840 Speaker 1: the best price in the best place, or whichever sultan 208 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:11,960 Speaker 1: or vizier controlled the trade route on pain of death 209 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:15,200 Speaker 1: for anyone violating it didn't matter to the Venetians. They 210 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:19,800 Speaker 1: just wanted trading partners. They sought wealth, not war. But 211 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 1: as we've seen all throughout history, you can't pursue trading 212 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 1: interests without having men with clubs, swords, and later on 213 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 1: guns to stop people from plundering them, notably in the 214 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:36,240 Speaker 1: Mediterranean Pirates the Mediterranean Sea. Despite what people may think, 215 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:38,600 Speaker 1: because of all the movies about the high age of 216 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:42,480 Speaker 1: piracy in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean Sea is the 217 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:46,840 Speaker 1: great cradle of piracy as well as civilization. There were 218 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:53,440 Speaker 1: entire cultures built upon piracy, entire cities constructed and adorned 219 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: with the plunder and booty taken from other cultures, from 220 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:02,120 Speaker 1: other places all around on the Mediterranean. In fact, the 221 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:05,880 Speaker 1: very term piracy comes from the ancient Greek word for 222 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:10,160 Speaker 1: to attempt, as into attempt to steal. One of the 223 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:13,880 Speaker 1: great accomplishments of Alexander the Great back in the fourth 224 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 1: century BC, was curbing piracy around ancient Greece. In fact, 225 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:22,640 Speaker 1: the ancient seafaring people, the Phoenicians, are best known to 226 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:25,480 Speaker 1: us today for the Phoenician alphabet, which we use and 227 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:30,200 Speaker 1: was the precursor to ancient Greek written language, But they 228 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 1: were best known at the time as fearsome pirates. And 229 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:37,520 Speaker 1: I'm sure some of you remember back in history class 230 00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:42,000 Speaker 1: you may have heard briefly about how in seventy five BC, 231 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:48,680 Speaker 1: Silesian pirates in the aegeanc grabbed a guy named Julius Caesar, 232 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 1: and this didn't turn out so well for those Silesian pirates. 233 00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:56,360 Speaker 1: Caesar wasn't afraid of them at all. In fact, he 234 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:59,680 Speaker 1: thought their initial ransom demand was too low. He said, 235 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:02,720 Speaker 1: I'm worth more, and he told them that he was 236 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:04,880 Speaker 1: good for the money. He in fact offered to help 237 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:09,600 Speaker 1: arrange for the ransom himself. Julius Caesar settled in with 238 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:13,360 Speaker 1: these pirates and befriended them, but from time to time 239 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:15,560 Speaker 1: he would make a joke about how one day he 240 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:18,120 Speaker 1: was going to have them all crucified. They would laugh 241 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:22,400 Speaker 1: uneasily at this. After a little over a month in captivity, 242 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:26,240 Speaker 1: Caesar was set free after the ransom was in fact delivered, 243 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:29,240 Speaker 1: and then Caesar went back to Melitis and raised a 244 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:32,320 Speaker 1: naval force. He wasn't actually even a military official at 245 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:35,640 Speaker 1: the time, went out, found the pirates, camped on an island, 246 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 1: brought them back in chains, and then did in fact 247 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:43,680 Speaker 1: have them all crucified. Julius Caesar was not messing around. 248 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:47,000 Speaker 1: So the Mediterranean in a sense is the greatest largest 249 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:49,800 Speaker 1: pirate cove in all of human history. And you can't 250 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:55,040 Speaker 1: understand trade without understanding piracy and vice versa. This also 251 00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:57,800 Speaker 1: led the Venetians, bringing us back up now into the 252 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:02,040 Speaker 1: fifteenth century, to become not only able sailors, but also 253 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:07,199 Speaker 1: to be fearsome warriors on the sea. They would often 254 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:11,040 Speaker 1: rely on mercenaries for their ground forces, or the Italians 255 00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:15,240 Speaker 1: would bring on someone called the condottiere, essentially a mercenary 256 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:19,720 Speaker 1: war lord, a paid military expert who would run their 257 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: affairs for a given campaign. But it was only the 258 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:29,280 Speaker 1: Venetians after Constantinople, who were in regular contact with the 259 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:33,200 Speaker 1: Ottomans on the sea and had any hope, any prayer 260 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:37,400 Speaker 1: of pushing back on the Ottoman navy. Unfortunately, the tiny 261 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:43,520 Speaker 1: Venetian state, with a relatively small population, a minuscule land force, 262 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:46,600 Speaker 1: and just built atop I mean the actual state of 263 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:50,840 Speaker 1: Venice was in a lagoon on a series of shoals. 264 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:54,880 Speaker 1: The Venetians didn't do well in their first battles with 265 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: the Ottomans. From fourteen sixty three to fourteen seventy nine, 266 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:03,680 Speaker 1: they lost negropont Day on the east coast of Greece, Lemnos, Albaniavanette, 267 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:07,960 Speaker 1: they lost a number of important way stations for trade, 268 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:12,520 Speaker 1: and in fact, with some periods of common between the 269 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:15,200 Speaker 1: Ottoman Venetian wars would extend all the way up into 270 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:19,480 Speaker 1: the early seventeen hundreds. But let's just turn our attention 271 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:22,760 Speaker 1: for a moment too. How big a threat in the 272 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:28,040 Speaker 1: fourteen seventies, eighties and into the beginning of the sixteenth century, 273 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:31,280 Speaker 1: the early fifteen hundreds, how big a threat was the 274 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:35,439 Speaker 1: Ottoman Empire, which was clearly the largest, wealthiest and to 275 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:38,439 Speaker 1: those not a part of it, most menacing state in 276 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:42,000 Speaker 1: the world. How big a threat were the Ottomans really 277 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:45,680 Speaker 1: to Christian Europe in this period. As I've said, in 278 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 1: our own schoolrooms and in our textbooks, there's really very 279 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:53,680 Speaker 1: little focus put on this. Our attention is immediately shifted 280 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:56,840 Speaker 1: westward to Columbus, the discovery of the New World and 281 00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:00,200 Speaker 1: the age of exploration. Maybe learned a little bit about 282 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:03,080 Speaker 1: King Henry the Eighth in the early sixteenth century, and 283 00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:07,240 Speaker 1: then in fifteen seventeen Martin Luther the Reformation. He analysis 284 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:11,560 Speaker 1: ninety five ccs towards a door in Wittenberg, Germany, And 285 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 1: that's pretty much the history you learned then. For whatever reason, 286 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:17,000 Speaker 1: and there are a number that I can come up 287 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:19,480 Speaker 1: with off the top of my head. What you don't 288 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:24,639 Speaker 1: learn about in school is the enormous expansion of the 289 00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:30,119 Speaker 1: Muslim Ottoman territory through conquest that occurs from fourteen fifty three. 290 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:35,719 Speaker 1: Pretty much unbroken until fifteen sixty five the Siege of Malta. 291 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:40,280 Speaker 1: You're talking about nearly a century of nothing but conquest 292 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:44,760 Speaker 1: for the Crescent Moon of Islam and losses for all 293 00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:47,840 Speaker 1: of Christendom at that time. And it should be noted 294 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:52,920 Speaker 1: that this was a period of highly brutal warfare where 295 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:58,800 Speaker 1: captives were routinely slaughtered, even after negotiations for cities with 296 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:02,640 Speaker 1: the promise of safe conduct from the Sultan himself. Sometimes 297 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:04,719 Speaker 1: he would change his mind to side that everyone's going 298 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:07,800 Speaker 1: to get their heads chopped off, or everybody would be 299 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:12,480 Speaker 1: impaled a real punishment, or an individual was hoisted atop 300 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:18,439 Speaker 1: a spear and then slowly dies, which the Ottomans specialized in. 301 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:20,720 Speaker 1: And later on you would come to know a fellow 302 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:23,960 Speaker 1: named Vlad the Impaler, the basis for the Dracula legend, 303 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:27,920 Speaker 1: who took this Ottoman practice and used it back against them. 304 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:32,520 Speaker 1: But a quick look at the scorecard in the late 305 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:37,240 Speaker 1: fifteenth century shows you that Europe was in deep trouble. 306 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:42,320 Speaker 1: The Ottomans were seizing Eastern European territories seemingly at will 307 00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:46,560 Speaker 1: with each campaigning season, and there was no power on 308 00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:48,960 Speaker 1: land in Christendom. That's scene that would ever be able 309 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 1: to stand up and beat the Ottomans in open battle 310 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:56,680 Speaker 1: on land. The situation of the Christian States felt increasingly 311 00:20:56,720 --> 00:21:00,600 Speaker 1: hopeless at sea. Ever since the defeat of Concepts at 312 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:04,240 Speaker 1: Opal in fourteen fifty three, the Ottoman navy had become 313 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:07,680 Speaker 1: the pre eminent power in the region as well. This 314 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:11,640 Speaker 1: was even more troubling because that meant that even Italy 315 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:16,160 Speaker 1: itself was open to invasion. The seat of Christendom at 316 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:19,159 Speaker 1: the time in Rome, home of the Pope, could in 317 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:23,920 Speaker 1: fact be invaded by these Ottoman forces, And in fact, 318 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:26,880 Speaker 1: they came much closer to this than pretty much everybody 319 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:31,800 Speaker 1: these day realizes. In fourteen eighty a d Ahmet Pasha 320 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:34,680 Speaker 1: took the city of a Toronto on the southeast tip 321 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:37,720 Speaker 1: of Italy. This was explicitly done to set up a 322 00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:42,639 Speaker 1: beachhead for a full on invasion and takeover of Italy. 323 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:44,800 Speaker 1: They were going to take Rome, They're going to take 324 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:48,360 Speaker 1: the Pope prisoner, conquer the heart of Christendom itself. Yeah, 325 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:50,760 Speaker 1: something I don't think anybody really learns these days, and 326 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:54,560 Speaker 1: I think we probably should. The only reason this project 327 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:58,240 Speaker 1: was abandoned. They successfully took a Toronto on the Italian coast, 328 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:02,600 Speaker 1: but the Ottoman forces with drew from this forward operating 329 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:08,359 Speaker 1: base because the Sultan met Met the second died. Europe 330 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:15,360 Speaker 1: got lucky here, but it didn't last long. In fifteen twelve, 331 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:20,199 Speaker 1: Salem the Grim takes over as Sultan, and then the 332 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:24,800 Speaker 1: Ottomans continue the conquest. Fifteen seventeen they take Egypt, and 333 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:28,359 Speaker 1: then some very interesting things start happening on the north 334 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,679 Speaker 1: coast of Africa, which we know best as the Barbary Coast, 335 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:34,080 Speaker 1: right to the shores of Tripoli. My friends, we know 336 00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: about the Barbary War the United States fought in around 337 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:42,880 Speaker 1: eighteen hundred. Well, it was three hundred years before that 338 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:50,159 Speaker 1: that two brothers became known to history as Brothers Barbarossa Redbeard, would, 339 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:54,719 Speaker 1: after humble origins as the sons of a potter in 340 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:58,600 Speaker 1: the Aegean Islands, make their way into the service of 341 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:02,359 Speaker 1: pirates and get involved in a series of coups and 342 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:05,879 Speaker 1: conquests in the north of Africa that would end with 343 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:08,439 Speaker 1: the younger of the two brothers, Oric was the elder. 344 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:11,560 Speaker 1: He ended up getting killed, but hyrod In, the younger, 345 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:15,080 Speaker 1: in charge of Algiers, but he realized that his grip 346 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:17,280 Speaker 1: on power there was tenuous. So what do you do 347 00:23:17,359 --> 00:23:20,119 Speaker 1: when you're a pirate who has seized a kingdom you 348 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:23,359 Speaker 1: can't control, but you're in a very strategic position in 349 00:23:23,359 --> 00:23:27,160 Speaker 1: the Mediterranean, and you want to make sure that the biggest, baddest, 350 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:30,600 Speaker 1: toughest guys are going to be on your side. You 351 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:33,280 Speaker 1: offer up this new kingdom, or you offer up the 352 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:37,439 Speaker 1: title of Sultan of Algiers to the Ottoman Sultan Salim 353 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:40,879 Speaker 1: the first Salim the Grim and asked for his protection. 354 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:45,199 Speaker 1: And that's exactly what hered and Barbarossa did. Later on 355 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:48,760 Speaker 1: this Barbarosa would become the chief admiral of the entire 356 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:53,760 Speaker 1: Ottoman fleet and a scourge to all of Christendom. In fact, 357 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:58,960 Speaker 1: Barbarossa became a tale that parents would tell their children 358 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:02,320 Speaker 1: along the Mediterranean in Christian lands to terrify them. He 359 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:06,680 Speaker 1: was a boogeyman. And the reason for this is that 360 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:11,040 Speaker 1: there was a system of slavery throughout the Mediterranean at 361 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:16,240 Speaker 1: this time that was incredibly widespread, and Barbarossa would constantly 362 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:20,480 Speaker 1: go on slaving missions along the coasts of Spain and 363 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:24,119 Speaker 1: Italy and the islands around them. Now, this is a 364 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:28,159 Speaker 1: very important dynamic to understanding what's going on here and 365 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:31,239 Speaker 1: leads up to these epic battles like the Siege of 366 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:35,200 Speaker 1: Malta and the Battle of Lepanto in fifteen sixty five 367 00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:38,440 Speaker 1: and fifteen seventy one, respectively. We're certainly going to talk 368 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:40,800 Speaker 1: about those battles, but just for a moment here, I 369 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:42,600 Speaker 1: got to talk to you about something else, and it's 370 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:47,520 Speaker 1: our sponsor, Bambi, Because when running a business, HR issues 371 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:52,000 Speaker 1: can kill you. 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That's Bambi dot com slash effortless 388 00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:54,119 Speaker 1: spelled b A M b ee bamby dot com slash effortless. 389 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 1: Now back to Shields High fourteen ninety two. We think 390 00:25:58,000 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 1: of it as the Year of Columbus, but it was 391 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:02,840 Speaker 1: all so the year of the expulsion of the Moors 392 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:08,080 Speaker 1: from Spain. From the Iberian Peninsula, many thousands of Muslim 393 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:12,400 Speaker 1: inhabitants were told that they had to leave and go 394 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:17,160 Speaker 1: across the Strait of Gibraltar and resettle in the Muslim 395 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:21,760 Speaker 1: lands of what is today's North Africa, and this led 396 00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:26,640 Speaker 1: to a tremendous bitterness that would play out in battles 397 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:30,800 Speaker 1: for decades to come. The expelled Muslim inhabitants became known 398 00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:35,440 Speaker 1: to the Spaniards as Mauricecos, and they brought with them 399 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:38,960 Speaker 1: to North Africa a sense of betrayal and hatred of 400 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:43,600 Speaker 1: the Spanish, of the Christians, and also, even more importantly, 401 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:51,560 Speaker 1: detailed knowledge of the fortresses, harbors, fortifications, customs and ways 402 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:55,960 Speaker 1: of their hated enemy, the Christians. Many of these Mauricecos 403 00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:01,159 Speaker 1: would join in the service of pirate kings like Barbarasa, who, 404 00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:05,280 Speaker 1: in order to extend their wealth and control, would raid 405 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:09,159 Speaker 1: coastal towns and take hundreds, even as many as a 406 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:13,520 Speaker 1: thousand at a time of Christian captives intended for the 407 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:17,600 Speaker 1: harems and for the rowing benches of the galleys. You 408 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:21,080 Speaker 1: have to remember that during this period, piracy wasn't just 409 00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:25,880 Speaker 1: about grabbing stuff, it was also about grabbing people. Christian 410 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:30,160 Speaker 1: and Muslim alike would grab the people from the opposite 411 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:33,200 Speaker 1: religion wherever they could on the open seas and then 412 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:37,399 Speaker 1: force them into slavery. For the women, the harem was 413 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:40,399 Speaker 1: often the place that they were sent in the Muslim lands, 414 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:45,879 Speaker 1: but for the able bodied men it was either the minds, 415 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:51,440 Speaker 1: general servitude in a domestic context, or most of all, 416 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:55,639 Speaker 1: at this period, galley slaves. Now why did they need 417 00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:58,640 Speaker 1: galley slaves? You have to remember that they didn't have 418 00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:03,440 Speaker 1: particularly advance a sailing ships at this time. What they 419 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:08,320 Speaker 1: had were really just advances over the ancient technology of 420 00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:14,760 Speaker 1: the Greek Trireme galleys and their variations were mostly or propelled. 421 00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:19,439 Speaker 1: They did have sails, but the sailing rigging wasn't particularly 422 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:23,399 Speaker 1: adept at dealing with bad or weak winds, and so 423 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:27,159 Speaker 1: the fastest and most maneuverable way to get around was 424 00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:30,120 Speaker 1: oar power, and you needed a lot of human beings 425 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:36,080 Speaker 1: chained down below deck two benches moving these massive oars 426 00:28:36,119 --> 00:28:41,600 Speaker 1: in unison. That is how warfare and trade galleys got 427 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:45,280 Speaker 1: around at the time, and as you can imagine, this 428 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:51,400 Speaker 1: was an absolutely miserable and often short lived existence. The 429 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:55,760 Speaker 1: galleys slaves were chained to their oars where they were 430 00:28:56,240 --> 00:29:00,360 Speaker 1: They ate and slept at their benches. If they became 431 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:02,520 Speaker 1: too fatigue, they would be whipped. If they did not 432 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:05,120 Speaker 1: continue a row. Once they had been whipped, they would 433 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:09,600 Speaker 1: simply be thrown overboard to drown. A large galley in 434 00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:14,680 Speaker 1: the fifteenth and sixteenth century could require a few hundred 435 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:19,720 Speaker 1: rowers oarsmen at one time. This also meant there was 436 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:24,040 Speaker 1: a constant menace on board if you had a Muslim 437 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:29,720 Speaker 1: galley with entirely Christian rowers chained below deck. During that 438 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:32,320 Speaker 1: fateful moment of battle of one or two of them 439 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:36,440 Speaker 1: could get unshackled and get to their co religionists, they 440 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:40,640 Speaker 1: would incite a slave mutiny and happily mutilate and kill 441 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:43,360 Speaker 1: the people who had been whipping them and chaining them 442 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:46,840 Speaker 1: for weeks, perhaps months beforehand, and be reunited with their 443 00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:50,400 Speaker 1: co religionists, who would then free them. Of course, on 444 00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:53,920 Speaker 1: the other side of this equation, you can imagine that 445 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:58,000 Speaker 1: whether it was Ottomans with a large number of immiserrated 446 00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:03,320 Speaker 1: Christian captives below death, or Christian sea captains who had 447 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:08,320 Speaker 1: captured Muslims that they were putting to inhumane use, when 448 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:11,240 Speaker 1: the tide of battle turned and the ship began to sink, 449 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:14,720 Speaker 1: they didn't care what happened to the men chained to 450 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:20,840 Speaker 1: those oars below deck. They drowned on mass. Indeed, galley 451 00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:26,480 Speaker 1: warfare in the fifteenth and sixteenth century was a brutal, nasty, 452 00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:32,120 Speaker 1: and short existence for thousands and thousands of men impressed 453 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:35,720 Speaker 1: into the service of the religious group that they hated, 454 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:39,240 Speaker 1: and thus the stakes for capture on the high seas 455 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:42,600 Speaker 1: were unthinkably high, whether you were traveling on a merchant 456 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:47,640 Speaker 1: vessel or were a sailor or a crossbowman or arqueboozier, 457 00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:52,200 Speaker 1: the name for what was essentially a very early version 458 00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:56,200 Speaker 1: of the rifleman. This was a soldier who used something 459 00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:59,880 Speaker 1: called an arquebus, which was a precursor to the musk. 460 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:02,880 Speaker 1: It's even less advanced than a musket. Well, there was 461 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:06,520 Speaker 1: a firearm and widespread usage in the fifteen hundreds that 462 00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:10,400 Speaker 1: with the help of a stand while aiming, it could 463 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:14,560 Speaker 1: be quite effective and quite deadly at limited range. The crossbow, 464 00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:18,320 Speaker 1: of course, a medieval technology that was still in widespread 465 00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:22,080 Speaker 1: usage because well, it was faster to fire and a 466 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:26,800 Speaker 1: whole lot more reliable than the arquebus. Clearly, gunpowder was 467 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:30,120 Speaker 1: in military usage at the time, and there were cannons 468 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:35,200 Speaker 1: on board these military vessels, but the cannons were primitive inaccurate, 469 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:39,520 Speaker 1: firing solid shot, and often as dangerous to the crew 470 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:42,920 Speaker 1: firing it as to the intended target. But these were 471 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:47,480 Speaker 1: the modern implements added to naval warfare, which, once you 472 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:51,360 Speaker 1: took away gunpowder and the improvements in armor and steel, 473 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:55,480 Speaker 1: technology was largely the same basic premise as it had 474 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:59,400 Speaker 1: been over a thousand years prior. As the captain of 475 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:03,120 Speaker 1: a galley ship engaged in a naval confrontation, you'd want 476 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:06,920 Speaker 1: to out maneuver your opponent fire missiles from distance to 477 00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:09,640 Speaker 1: soften them up, to weaken the hall if you could 478 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:13,920 Speaker 1: then ram the ship for boarding, at which point the 479 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:22,120 Speaker 1: struggle turned to fierce hand to hand combat. Swords, axes, knives, halbird, scimitars, pikes, 480 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:25,800 Speaker 1: all the sharp edged and blunt weapons you can think 481 00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:29,400 Speaker 1: of used in hand to hand combat came into play 482 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:33,680 Speaker 1: during these galley battles. So this was the Mediterranean world 483 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:38,240 Speaker 1: and the backdrop for the rise of Barbarossa's pirate kingdom 484 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:41,120 Speaker 1: on the north coast of Africa. And this also brought 485 00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:45,920 Speaker 1: the Ottoman Sea Battle to all of Europe's doorstep. With 486 00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:49,959 Speaker 1: the Ottoman pirate Barbarossa on the open seas, no merchant 487 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:53,200 Speaker 1: vessel could be safe, no villager could sleep soundly at 488 00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:56,440 Speaker 1: night along the coast of Italy, France or Spain, knowing 489 00:32:56,440 --> 00:32:58,920 Speaker 1: that at any moment Barbarosa's men could show up and 490 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:02,360 Speaker 1: kidnap him in his whole family, sell them into slavery, 491 00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:06,280 Speaker 1: and disappear back out onto the sea. Before the Christian 492 00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:10,640 Speaker 1: forces even received word of the raid, the noose was 493 00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:13,960 Speaker 1: tightening around Europe and all of the leaders, all the 494 00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:17,440 Speaker 1: princes and monarchs, the Pope him self, knew it, and 495 00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:23,920 Speaker 1: then things scott worse. Suleiman the Magnificent ascended to the 496 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:29,640 Speaker 1: Ottoman seat of power in the year fifteen twenty, and Suleiman, 497 00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:33,719 Speaker 1: even more so than Salim the Grim, decided that it 498 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:39,600 Speaker 1: was time to crush all nearby opposition to Ottoman power. 499 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:44,320 Speaker 1: In fifteen twenty one, during a campaign, Suleiman took the 500 00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:48,520 Speaker 1: fortress city of Belgrade, and then in fifteen twenty two 501 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:53,960 Speaker 1: he himself commanded a momentous siege that would be a precursor, 502 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:56,240 Speaker 1: perhaps to what we would see in fifteen sixty five 503 00:33:56,400 --> 00:34:01,400 Speaker 1: in Malta, the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent took the 504 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:05,880 Speaker 1: fortress at Rhodes. Rhodes was this island off the coast 505 00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:08,920 Speaker 1: of what we think of as Asia Minor in antiquity 506 00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:13,319 Speaker 1: today's modern Turkey, and Rhodes had become the home of 507 00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:20,320 Speaker 1: a famous order of warrior monks known as the Knights 508 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:25,359 Speaker 1: Hospitaller or the Knights of Saint John. Of course, our 509 00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:28,319 Speaker 1: friend Romaga is one of them, and we'll get to 510 00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:31,520 Speaker 1: Romagon just a moment. But what happened? How is it 511 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:37,279 Speaker 1: that it took until fifteen twenty two for Suleiman the Magnificent, 512 00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:43,600 Speaker 1: at the absolute height of Ottoman power, military prowess, and expansionism, 513 00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:45,719 Speaker 1: that all of a sudden he has to turn his 514 00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:52,200 Speaker 1: eye to an order of monastic knights that were a 515 00:34:52,200 --> 00:34:56,400 Speaker 1: true relic of the Crusades. At this point, the Knights 516 00:34:56,400 --> 00:34:59,799 Speaker 1: of Saint John had been around for centuries, stretching back 517 00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:03,279 Speaker 1: the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the period in which the 518 00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:06,759 Speaker 1: Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller were the two most 519 00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:12,440 Speaker 1: powerful fighting orders of the Christian warrior monks during the Crusades. 520 00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:18,880 Speaker 1: Originally formed to provide yes protection and medical hospital services 521 00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:22,000 Speaker 1: for those pilgrims who were traveling to Jerusalem and the 522 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:26,799 Speaker 1: Holy Land, the Knights Hospitaller were among the final Christians 523 00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:30,759 Speaker 1: to leave during the reconquest of the Holy Land from 524 00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:35,680 Speaker 1: the Crusaders, which culminated in the Siege and Fall of 525 00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:40,719 Speaker 1: Acre in twelve ninety one. So the Knights Hospitaller, the 526 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:44,000 Speaker 1: Knights of Saint John, same thing. They're not quite as 527 00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:46,640 Speaker 1: famous as the Knights Templar because the Knights Templar, I 528 00:35:46,719 --> 00:35:49,480 Speaker 1: think we're in that Dan Brown book or something, and 529 00:35:49,719 --> 00:35:52,360 Speaker 1: people really get excited about the Knights Templar. The Knights 530 00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:56,320 Speaker 1: Hospitaller left after the Siege of Acre when the Muslim 531 00:35:56,360 --> 00:35:59,160 Speaker 1: forces took that back. So now what we think of 532 00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:03,480 Speaker 1: today as Israel, Lebanon, Syria. There were a number of 533 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:07,560 Speaker 1: crusaders city states there. Aker was the last one to fall, 534 00:36:07,920 --> 00:36:10,719 Speaker 1: and so the Knights Hospitaller had to retreat and they 535 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:14,400 Speaker 1: took to the island of Rhoads now Rhodes is just 536 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:18,160 Speaker 1: off the coast of what is modern day Turkey, and 537 00:36:18,239 --> 00:36:22,120 Speaker 1: the Knights of Saint John were able to conduct piracy 538 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:26,960 Speaker 1: and harassment of the Ottoman shipping, but the Ottoman navy 539 00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:30,560 Speaker 1: was really nothing impressive. It took them quite some time. 540 00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:33,320 Speaker 1: So the Knights of Saint John were able to stay 541 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:36,920 Speaker 1: in roads because the Ottomans were a land based power. 542 00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:40,520 Speaker 1: But then with the fall of Constantinople in fourteen fifty three, 543 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:44,120 Speaker 1: the Ottomans had built a major navy and realize that 544 00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:47,839 Speaker 1: naval power was essential to the ultimate conquest of Christendom. 545 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:51,680 Speaker 1: And so Suleiman says, these Knights of Saint John, this 546 00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:55,160 Speaker 1: nest of vipers, as the Ottomans thought of it, had 547 00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:58,840 Speaker 1: to go. Brought a massive force estimated by historians that 548 00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:03,399 Speaker 1: around eighty to one thousand to a long siege of 549 00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:07,799 Speaker 1: the Knights of Saint John in Rhodes, and they were successful, 550 00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:13,200 Speaker 1: but Suleiman allowed the Knights because they finally capitulated, allowed 551 00:37:13,239 --> 00:37:17,239 Speaker 1: them to leave the island. He was particularly gracious on 552 00:37:17,239 --> 00:37:20,480 Speaker 1: that occasion, something that would come back to haunt the 553 00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:24,600 Speaker 1: Ottomans decades later. Once the Great Crusading Order of the 554 00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:28,359 Speaker 1: Knights of Saint John had been kicked out of their 555 00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:32,440 Speaker 1: home in Roads, they were given a number of forward 556 00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:38,240 Speaker 1: operating bases by Charles the Fifth, the Holy Roman Emperor. 557 00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:43,320 Speaker 1: Charles gave them the islands of Malta and nearby Gozo, 558 00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:46,520 Speaker 1: another island that will factor into our tale here, as 559 00:37:46,520 --> 00:37:50,040 Speaker 1: well as the city of Tripoli in what is today's Libya. 560 00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:52,799 Speaker 1: This was not done out of the kindness of his heart. 561 00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:57,400 Speaker 1: There was nobody as committed, fierce and capable of fighting 562 00:37:57,440 --> 00:37:59,480 Speaker 1: on land and sea at the time in the name 563 00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:03,400 Speaker 1: of Chrism as the Knights of Saint John. The Ottomans 564 00:38:03,440 --> 00:38:07,600 Speaker 1: and their barbary vassal states in North Africa were breathing 565 00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:11,200 Speaker 1: down the neck of all the Christian coastal countries, and 566 00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:16,080 Speaker 1: so Charles the Fifth right in about fifteen thirty, decided 567 00:38:16,200 --> 00:38:19,920 Speaker 1: to put the Knights of Saint John directly on the 568 00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:23,120 Speaker 1: front lines in harm's way, hoping that they would hold 569 00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:27,200 Speaker 1: the Ottomans at bay. He couldn't realize how right he was. 570 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:33,480 Speaker 1: And it is into this cauldron of piracy, great power, struggles, 571 00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:39,120 Speaker 1: fanatical religious warfare on land and sea, that our story 572 00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:45,319 Speaker 1: turns to the fearsome commander of Christian forces and eventually 573 00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:49,080 Speaker 1: the de facto leader of the Knights of Saint John, 574 00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:52,680 Speaker 1: the Grand Master of the Order, although he was a 575 00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:56,319 Speaker 1: victim himself of some palace intrigue. We'll have to get 576 00:38:56,360 --> 00:39:00,960 Speaker 1: to that later. But in fifteen twenty eight, a fellow 577 00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:05,160 Speaker 1: by the name of Matheron Do de Lescu, who would 578 00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:10,480 Speaker 1: become called Roga, was born. Now I might sometimes say 579 00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:13,520 Speaker 1: romagas because I kind of want to americanize it the 580 00:39:13,560 --> 00:39:15,719 Speaker 1: way that we took Notre Dame and made it Notre Dame. 581 00:39:16,239 --> 00:39:20,680 Speaker 1: But in the friendship would be Romaga. And Romaga was 582 00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:25,319 Speaker 1: a badass, dude, let me tell you. Born to a 583 00:39:25,680 --> 00:39:30,799 Speaker 1: rich noble family in Gascony, in a southern France. At 584 00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:35,680 Speaker 1: the age of eighteen, he signed up for became sworn 585 00:39:35,800 --> 00:39:40,400 Speaker 1: to the Knights of Saint John the Holy Order, which 586 00:39:40,440 --> 00:39:44,520 Speaker 1: by this point was already based off the island of Malta. 587 00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:48,480 Speaker 1: Now we don't know much about Romaga's period of life 588 00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:52,040 Speaker 1: from his signing up for the Knights of Saint John, 589 00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:56,520 Speaker 1: who took a vow of chastity, poverty and obedience to 590 00:39:56,560 --> 00:39:59,840 Speaker 1: the Order, and of course added into that a blind 591 00:40:00,239 --> 00:40:03,400 Speaker 1: hatred for what they viewed as the infidels, the Muslims 592 00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:07,960 Speaker 1: and particularly the Turks. But we know that Romagaw became 593 00:40:08,120 --> 00:40:11,560 Speaker 1: one of the many young apprentices on the Knights of 594 00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:16,000 Speaker 1: Saint John's galleys. He was constantly a board ship for 595 00:40:16,080 --> 00:40:19,520 Speaker 1: almost a decade or so from fifteen forty six when 596 00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:23,560 Speaker 1: he joined the Order until fifteen fifty five or so, 597 00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:29,600 Speaker 1: constantly at war with the various Ottoman backed pirates and 598 00:40:29,719 --> 00:40:32,800 Speaker 1: also engaging in no small share of his own piracy. 599 00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:36,399 Speaker 1: The Knights of Saint John had rich people who were 600 00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:39,880 Speaker 1: donating to it, but it also was in constant search 601 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:44,160 Speaker 1: of its own additional funds. Galley warfare was a very 602 00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:49,359 Speaker 1: difficult and expensive business, and Romagaw and his compatriots would 603 00:40:49,440 --> 00:40:54,160 Speaker 1: look for fat galleons full of treasure or spices and 604 00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:58,880 Speaker 1: other very valuable commodities that they could plunder in pillage, 605 00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:02,000 Speaker 1: and only added to their delight that this, of course 606 00:41:02,160 --> 00:41:06,400 Speaker 1: enraged the Ottoman Sultan, who viewed himself not without reason, 607 00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:09,319 Speaker 1: as the single most important and powerful man on the 608 00:41:09,480 --> 00:41:14,560 Speaker 1: entire planet. But Romaga became famous and starts appearing in 609 00:41:14,640 --> 00:41:18,000 Speaker 1: some of the written histories from the time because of 610 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:22,280 Speaker 1: what happened in the harbor of Malta in fifteen fifty five. 611 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:26,040 Speaker 1: The chroniclers from the period talk about a freak storm, 612 00:41:26,120 --> 00:41:29,960 Speaker 1: a kind of whirlwind on the sea that overturned a 613 00:41:30,040 --> 00:41:34,319 Speaker 1: number of very large vessels. This included the galley that 614 00:41:34,520 --> 00:41:39,440 Speaker 1: Romaga at this point, a senior captain of the Order 615 00:41:39,560 --> 00:41:43,480 Speaker 1: of the Knights of Saint John's Galleys, was sleeping in 616 00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:47,879 Speaker 1: the morning after the storm. With ships overturned, there were 617 00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:53,200 Speaker 1: hundreds that had drowned, some still chained down below, others 618 00:41:53,280 --> 00:41:57,359 Speaker 1: crushed as their massive ships turned over. But then there 619 00:41:57,440 --> 00:42:01,760 Speaker 1: was something of a miracle, as the knights and villagers 620 00:42:01,800 --> 00:42:05,440 Speaker 1: from the nearby town around Malta tried to save anybody 621 00:42:05,480 --> 00:42:09,680 Speaker 1: who was still alive. They heard a tapping from the 622 00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:13,680 Speaker 1: hull of an overturned ship. They cut a hole in 623 00:42:13,800 --> 00:42:18,600 Speaker 1: the wood and outsprung a monkey. It was in fact 624 00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:22,320 Speaker 1: the pet of Romaga, who kept a monkey on board 625 00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:25,600 Speaker 1: ship with him as a companion, because after all, what 626 00:42:25,760 --> 00:42:29,200 Speaker 1: great pirate doesn't have a monkey, a parrot, some kind 627 00:42:29,239 --> 00:42:32,120 Speaker 1: of exotic pet. But once they had taken the monkey 628 00:42:32,200 --> 00:42:37,120 Speaker 1: to safety, then they realized that Romaga himself was still alive. 629 00:42:37,840 --> 00:42:41,160 Speaker 1: He had managed to find a pocket of air up 630 00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:43,160 Speaker 1: by the hull of the ship, and though it was 631 00:42:43,280 --> 00:42:47,719 Speaker 1: overturned and everyone else on board had drowned or been crushed, 632 00:42:48,040 --> 00:42:52,680 Speaker 1: Romaga found this air pocket and stayed alive in the 633 00:42:52,719 --> 00:42:57,120 Speaker 1: cold water overnight for many hours in pitch black darkness. 634 00:42:57,840 --> 00:43:01,719 Speaker 1: While Romaga would suffer what is believed to be permanent 635 00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:06,080 Speaker 1: neurological damage, his hands were known to shake. Ever after 636 00:43:06,120 --> 00:43:11,880 Speaker 1: this incident, everybody after this thought, this is one tough dude, 637 00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:15,200 Speaker 1: Because it was something of a miracle. The story spread 638 00:43:15,239 --> 00:43:17,719 Speaker 1: far and wide among the Order of the Knights of 639 00:43:17,760 --> 00:43:21,560 Speaker 1: Saint John and beyond, but among his fellow knights and 640 00:43:21,680 --> 00:43:26,279 Speaker 1: certainly the enemies who heard of him, Romaga's ordeal in 641 00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:29,840 Speaker 1: that overturned ship became a symbol of who he was 642 00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:34,799 Speaker 1: in the years to come, a fierce, unrelenting, tough as 643 00:43:34,920 --> 00:43:38,640 Speaker 1: Nail's pirate. It was in the years preceding the Great 644 00:43:38,680 --> 00:43:43,560 Speaker 1: Siege of Malta in fifteen sixty five that Romaga solidified 645 00:43:43,600 --> 00:43:48,040 Speaker 1: his reputation as the greatest sea wolf of Christendom, a 646 00:43:48,080 --> 00:43:53,680 Speaker 1: crusader buccaneer driven by ideological fervor for the Cross against 647 00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:57,600 Speaker 1: the Crescent, and for the substantial riches and fame that 648 00:43:57,719 --> 00:44:01,280 Speaker 1: came from life on the high Sea as a pirate 649 00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:04,920 Speaker 1: in the Mediterranean in the middle of the sixteenth century. 650 00:44:05,040 --> 00:44:08,040 Speaker 1: In fact, Romagau was so good at what he did 651 00:44:08,520 --> 00:44:10,960 Speaker 1: that the mere mention of his name would strike terror 652 00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:14,399 Speaker 1: into the hearts of Muslims. Ottoman mothers would tell their 653 00:44:14,480 --> 00:44:17,960 Speaker 1: children be good, or Romagau will come for you, and 654 00:44:18,040 --> 00:44:21,440 Speaker 1: the kids were terrified. On the other hand, when Christians 655 00:44:21,480 --> 00:44:25,279 Speaker 1: would hear that Romagaun his small fleet of four or 656 00:44:25,320 --> 00:44:31,280 Speaker 1: five galleys and galleots a smaller, faster reconnaissance style model 657 00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:35,239 Speaker 1: of the larger ord galley ship, when they would pull 658 00:44:35,280 --> 00:44:38,000 Speaker 1: in to the port in order to take on provisions, 659 00:44:38,480 --> 00:44:42,600 Speaker 1: peasants from all across the countryside would come down to 660 00:44:42,640 --> 00:44:47,840 Speaker 1: pay their respects, bring food, and thank Romaga for protecting 661 00:44:47,880 --> 00:44:50,920 Speaker 1: them from the scourge of the Turk. It was said 662 00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:54,839 Speaker 1: that nobody in the entire Mediterranean was as well acquainted 663 00:44:54,920 --> 00:44:59,040 Speaker 1: with all of the coasts, the islands, every port, every creek. 664 00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:05,160 Speaker 1: Mamaga was a true master of his naval area of operations. 665 00:45:06,160 --> 00:45:11,000 Speaker 1: He was considered fearless, brave, even in the most intense combat. 666 00:45:11,520 --> 00:45:15,240 Speaker 1: In the written record, there's an incident where a galley 667 00:45:15,400 --> 00:45:20,680 Speaker 1: belonging to a renegade from Calabria named Consin Yusif, whom 668 00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:25,239 Speaker 1: Romagah considered both an infidel and a traitor to Christendom, 669 00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:30,040 Speaker 1: was surprised by the fleet of Romagah pulling up alongside 670 00:45:30,120 --> 00:45:32,719 Speaker 1: for battle, and, as was so often the case in 671 00:45:32,800 --> 00:45:36,640 Speaker 1: galley warfare, turned into a fierce life or death competition. 672 00:45:37,320 --> 00:45:41,440 Speaker 1: Twice the man under Romagas's command tried to board consine ship, 673 00:45:41,480 --> 00:45:46,680 Speaker 1: and twice they were pushed back after suffering heavy casualties. Finally, 674 00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:51,200 Speaker 1: Captain Romaga lost his patience, leaped across the water from 675 00:45:51,280 --> 00:45:55,319 Speaker 1: his ship to Consin's galley and shouted, so all could 676 00:45:55,440 --> 00:46:01,440 Speaker 1: hear Consine, you, old bastard, where are you is? Romaga 677 00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:06,000 Speaker 1: Yusef replied, here is Consin, the son of the Devil, 678 00:46:06,680 --> 00:46:11,600 Speaker 1: And then a long single combat ensued between Yusef Consin 679 00:46:12,200 --> 00:46:18,279 Speaker 1: and Romaga. After enough slashing and bashing, Romaga managed to 680 00:46:18,400 --> 00:46:22,799 Speaker 1: out maneuver and outthink Consin and knocked him into the 681 00:46:22,880 --> 00:46:27,720 Speaker 1: galley slaves area below deck, where he was promptly ripped 682 00:46:27,719 --> 00:46:32,400 Speaker 1: to pieces by the imprisoned Christians, overjoyed at the prospect 683 00:46:32,480 --> 00:46:37,439 Speaker 1: of exacting revenge on their tormentor who had converted to Islam. 684 00:46:37,520 --> 00:46:41,520 Speaker 1: One hundred and thirty Turks were taken captive by Romaga 685 00:46:41,800 --> 00:46:44,800 Speaker 1: after he told them that if they did not surrender forthwith, 686 00:46:45,320 --> 00:46:48,040 Speaker 1: he would throw them all down to the Christian Galley 687 00:46:48,120 --> 00:46:52,800 Speaker 1: slaves below to be ripped apart limb from limb. Soon thereafter, 688 00:46:53,520 --> 00:46:56,400 Speaker 1: the Sea Wolf of the Knights of Saint John liberated 689 00:46:56,400 --> 00:46:59,919 Speaker 1: the two hundred Christian slaves who been kept below deck 690 00:47:00,400 --> 00:47:06,040 Speaker 1: by Consin. Romaga spent the early fifteen sixties plundering and 691 00:47:06,120 --> 00:47:09,680 Speaker 1: pillaging the Ottomans on the high seas. He was so 692 00:47:09,760 --> 00:47:13,560 Speaker 1: skillful in this task and so trustworthy that Lavalette, the 693 00:47:13,640 --> 00:47:16,880 Speaker 1: Grand Master of the Knights of Saint John on Malta, 694 00:47:17,160 --> 00:47:21,120 Speaker 1: entrusted Romaga with two galleys that he funded out of 695 00:47:21,160 --> 00:47:24,480 Speaker 1: his own pocket. But at this time of near ceaseless 696 00:47:24,560 --> 00:47:28,160 Speaker 1: retreat for Christendom from the Islamic forces of the Ottoman 697 00:47:28,200 --> 00:47:31,560 Speaker 1: Empire and the Barbary coast on the Mediterranean Sea. It 698 00:47:31,760 --> 00:47:35,839 Speaker 1: was the sea captain Romaga who constantly struck back at 699 00:47:35,920 --> 00:47:39,200 Speaker 1: the hated Turk. His raids on the high seas were 700 00:47:39,280 --> 00:47:46,200 Speaker 1: relatively speaking, small affairs. A handful of his galleys, with seasoned, 701 00:47:46,280 --> 00:47:51,960 Speaker 1: hardened sailors and infantrymen aboard, would track and ambush targets 702 00:47:51,960 --> 00:47:57,160 Speaker 1: of opportunity. Occasionally, these prizes were a great bounty. Some 703 00:47:57,280 --> 00:48:01,880 Speaker 1: of the ships that Romaga seas had tremended treasure, spices 704 00:48:01,960 --> 00:48:05,719 Speaker 1: and other valuable goods aboard. This was on top of 705 00:48:05,719 --> 00:48:09,040 Speaker 1: the continuous need for more slaves to row the galleys. 706 00:48:10,120 --> 00:48:15,080 Speaker 1: But it was Romaga's success in tracking such targets that 707 00:48:15,160 --> 00:48:18,680 Speaker 1: led directly to the decision by the Sultan, Suleiman the 708 00:48:18,719 --> 00:48:22,200 Speaker 1: Magnificent to launch what was supposed to be the beginning 709 00:48:22,360 --> 00:48:26,840 Speaker 1: of the end of the Christian resistance to the Ottoman conquest. 710 00:48:27,360 --> 00:48:31,400 Speaker 1: It would lead right to the very siege of Malta itself. 711 00:48:32,239 --> 00:48:36,000 Speaker 1: It was in the summer of fifteen sixty four June 712 00:48:36,040 --> 00:48:38,880 Speaker 1: of that year, when Romaga was cruising off the coast 713 00:48:38,920 --> 00:48:43,799 Speaker 1: of Greece with his squadron of fearless Christian pirates that 714 00:48:43,880 --> 00:48:47,640 Speaker 1: he came upon a massive galleon a treasure ship, with 715 00:48:47,719 --> 00:48:51,759 Speaker 1: a small flotilla of the Sultan's galleys to defend it. 716 00:48:51,760 --> 00:48:54,280 Speaker 1: It turned out that the ship belonged to the chief 717 00:48:54,360 --> 00:48:57,759 Speaker 1: Eunuch in the Sultan's court, a very powerful person within 718 00:48:57,760 --> 00:49:00,759 Speaker 1: the Ottoman Empire. The gallean was taken back as a 719 00:49:00,800 --> 00:49:04,640 Speaker 1: prize to Malta, where it sat in the harbor. As 720 00:49:04,640 --> 00:49:11,400 Speaker 1: a continuing insult to Suleiman himself, Romagah's summer of pillaging continued. 721 00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:15,480 Speaker 1: Off the coast of the Anatolian Peninsula. He attacked and 722 00:49:15,600 --> 00:49:20,160 Speaker 1: seized several Ottoman ships and took the Governor of Cairo 723 00:49:20,280 --> 00:49:22,399 Speaker 1: and the one hundred and seven year old former nurse 724 00:49:22,440 --> 00:49:27,799 Speaker 1: of Suleiman's daughter, Mirima prisoner. They were returning from the 725 00:49:27,880 --> 00:49:32,600 Speaker 1: pilgrimage to Mecca. Mere days after this, Romaga off the 726 00:49:32,680 --> 00:49:36,560 Speaker 1: coast of Alexandria, took the Governor of Alexandria on his 727 00:49:36,640 --> 00:49:41,240 Speaker 1: way to Constantinople to meet with the Sultan. These naval 728 00:49:41,400 --> 00:49:46,600 Speaker 1: escapades were taken as a slap directly in the face 729 00:49:47,600 --> 00:49:50,680 Speaker 1: of the then most powerful man in the world, the 730 00:49:50,760 --> 00:49:55,680 Speaker 1: Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Suleiman the Magnificent, the nest 731 00:49:55,800 --> 00:49:59,480 Speaker 1: of Christian vipers, the Knights of Saint John on this 732 00:49:59,520 --> 00:50:04,279 Speaker 1: island Malta had harassed him long enough. The Ottomans could 733 00:50:04,320 --> 00:50:08,360 Speaker 1: never have true naval supremacy as long as Romaga and 734 00:50:08,480 --> 00:50:12,000 Speaker 1: his kind were able to roam the sea. Suleiman made 735 00:50:12,000 --> 00:50:15,520 Speaker 1: the decision to launch the full scale assault that had 736 00:50:15,640 --> 00:50:20,120 Speaker 1: been building for years, perhaps decades. He would once send 737 00:50:20,120 --> 00:50:23,000 Speaker 1: for all, destroy this remnant of the Crusades the Knights 738 00:50:23,000 --> 00:50:25,759 Speaker 1: of Saint John on the island of Malta, and from 739 00:50:25,760 --> 00:50:28,560 Speaker 1: there use it as a ford operating base for a 740 00:50:28,600 --> 00:50:33,080 Speaker 1: direct assault on Sicily, on the Italian mainland, and then 741 00:50:33,120 --> 00:50:37,480 Speaker 1: into the heart of Christendom itself. This campaign would come 742 00:50:37,520 --> 00:50:40,759 Speaker 1: to be known as the Great Siege of Malta of 743 00:50:40,880 --> 00:50:45,200 Speaker 1: fifteen sixty five, and it will be our next episode, 744 00:50:45,680 --> 00:50:48,280 Speaker 1: So be sure to subscribe to the Buck Sexton Show 745 00:50:48,360 --> 00:51:01,520 Speaker 1: podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. Now the battles of 746 00:51:01,520 --> 00:51:05,279 Speaker 1: the past defined the present. This is Shields Hi