Morocco

I read a strange letter on teletext the other day.

Someone mentioned whether some MP or other would get the Moors to apologise for all the thousands of people that were taken as slaves from Cornwall in the 17th Century.

Anyone heard of this?

 

The Moors raided our shores for slaves from the West Country if I remember correctly. The lucky ones converted to Islam and were eventually freed, the unlucky ones were sent to the galley ships. There was a programme all about this topic either on Timewatch (I think) or BBC Radio 4, a year or so ago.

 

Read more in a book called "White Gold:the forgotten story of Africas European slaves. By Giles Milton. Published by Hodder & Stoughton. 2004
Oh dear seems that the persecution was'nt all one way traffic :shock: .

 

It seems the most famous of these slaves was a Thomas Pellow who, as an 11 year old lad, was captured by the Barbary Pirates and foced, under torture, to convert to the Islamic faith.

http://www.melaniephillips.com/diary/archives/001423.html

I have also found a brief reference in my own library to a woman who was taken and rose to be a harem favourite of one of the Pirate Sultans but no names are given.

A Google search for Cornish Slaves and Thomas Pellow will give more detailed information on the subject.

Fasinating stuff.

Pol