Barbarossa Brothers
The exploits of this family of brothers was well known during the early part of the 1500s. A total of four male siblings of Ishak, Aruj, Khizr, Ilyas and two daughters. The name Barbarossa given to the brothers was a nickname for the color of the beards of Aruj and Hizir which in the Italian dialect meant "red beard". Their father was Yaqub and was an approved maker of pottery with his sons Aruj and Khizr working with him either with the pottery or his boat that he owned and was used to trade his wares.
It was during an early voyage to trade goods they were besieged by Spanish privateers commissioned by the Pope and Ilyas was killed in the battle in 1518. Ishak who was firstborn and for his early career joined his brothers at sea but later decided to stay on land to take charge of the family business in Mytilene. Aruj Barbarossa (also called Oruc Reis) who was in the same battle that killed his brother Ilyas was captured in that attack and was scheduled to be sold as a slave by the Spanish. He managed to escape and fled to Egypt and manipulated his way to seek an audience with sultan Qansoh al-Ghuri after their discussion agreed to grant him a ship and crew to plunder the Mediterranean islands held by Christians. He was later betrayed by the Spanish by those he once helped and then beheaded and sent with a bag of gold to Spain to dispel other claims they had killed him instead.
The last brother of Khizr (Also called Hayreddin) was the last of four brothers of Ottoman corsairs with the intent to become a dominating force in the name of the Ottoman Empire. The higher promotion bestowed upon him by the sultan allow access to more ships and men to continue the fight against others not in alliance with the sultan. He continued to raid and capture ships from the Spanish which now included over 40 galleys. This pleased the sultan and he was again promoted to grand admiral of the Ottoman Navy with an additional title of Chief Governor of North Africa. The fleet under his command now totaled over 200 ships and 30 thousand troops and continued to battle Spanish forces until a truce was settled between both the Ottoman Empire and Spain. He finally decided to give up life on the sea in 1545 in Constantinople to settle down and write of his adventures and died a year later and was buried in a mausoleum in Istanbul.
It was during an early voyage to trade goods they were besieged by Spanish privateers commissioned by the Pope and Ilyas was killed in the battle in 1518. Ishak who was firstborn and for his early career joined his brothers at sea but later decided to stay on land to take charge of the family business in Mytilene. Aruj Barbarossa (also called Oruc Reis) who was in the same battle that killed his brother Ilyas was captured in that attack and was scheduled to be sold as a slave by the Spanish. He managed to escape and fled to Egypt and manipulated his way to seek an audience with sultan Qansoh al-Ghuri after their discussion agreed to grant him a ship and crew to plunder the Mediterranean islands held by Christians. He was later betrayed by the Spanish by those he once helped and then beheaded and sent with a bag of gold to Spain to dispel other claims they had killed him instead.
The last brother of Khizr (Also called Hayreddin) was the last of four brothers of Ottoman corsairs with the intent to become a dominating force in the name of the Ottoman Empire. The higher promotion bestowed upon him by the sultan allow access to more ships and men to continue the fight against others not in alliance with the sultan. He continued to raid and capture ships from the Spanish which now included over 40 galleys. This pleased the sultan and he was again promoted to grand admiral of the Ottoman Navy with an additional title of Chief Governor of North Africa. The fleet under his command now totaled over 200 ships and 30 thousand troops and continued to battle Spanish forces until a truce was settled between both the Ottoman Empire and Spain. He finally decided to give up life on the sea in 1545 in Constantinople to settle down and write of his adventures and died a year later and was buried in a mausoleum in Istanbul.
