WI: Republic (/Kingdom) of Lundy

Zachariah

Banned
IOTL, the Republic of Salé was a short-lived city state at Salé (modern Morocco), during the 17th Century. After Algiers had concluded peace with several European nations, making it an unsuitable harbor from which to sell captured ships or their cargo, Janszoon and his Salé Rovers moved to the ancient port of Salé in 1619, and began operating from it themselves. The Salé Rovers immediately declared the port to be an independent republic free from the Sultan, set up a government that consisted of 14 pirate leaders, and elected Janszoon as their President. He would also serve as the Grand Admiral of their navy. The Salé fleet totaled about eighteen ships, all small because of the very shallow harbor entrance. Even the Sultan of Morocco, after an unsuccessful siege of the city, was left with no choice but to acknowledge its semi-autonomy. Contrary to popular belief that Sultan Zidan Abu Maali had reclaimed sovereignty over Salé, and appointed Janszoon as its Governor in 1624, the Sultan merely approved Janszoon's election as President, effectively acknowledging his sovereignty.

Under Janszoon's leadership, business in Salé thrived. The main sources of income of this republic remained piracy and its by-trades, shipping and dealing in stolen property. Historians have noted Janszoon's intelligence and courage which reflected in his leadership ability. He was forced to find an assistant to keep up, resulting in the hiring of a fellow countryman from The Netherlands, Mathys van Bostel Oosterlinck, who would serve as his Vice-Admiral. Janszoon had become very wealthy from his income as piratical admiral, payments for anchorage and other harbor dues, and the brokerage of stolen goods. However, the political climate in Salé worsened toward the end of 1627, as the ongoing war of succession in Morocco neared its conclusion, so Janszoon quietly moved his family and his entire piratical operation back to semi-independent Algiers, leaving the Republic of Salé to its fate.

But what if he hadn't gone back to Algiers- what if he'd relocated somewhere else instead? In 1627, Janszoon had also captured the island of Lundy in the Bristol Channel, and IOTL, he'd rule over the island for the next five years, using it as a base for raiding expeditions; most of his expeditions for the next few years would be mounted from here. So, what if he'd moved his family and his entire piratical operation, not back to Algiers, but to the island of Lundy instead, re-establishing his (Islamic) pirate's republic there? How long could it have possibly endured? And how much of an impact might this have had, in the long term?
 
Fascinating. Don't think an Islamic Republic would be able to survive in such an isolated area if it became more than an annoyance though...
 
In 1627, Janszoon had also captured the island of Lundy in the Bristol Channel, and IOTL, he'd rule over the island for the next five years, using it as a base for raiding expeditions; most of his expeditions for the next few years would be mounted from here. So, what if he'd moved his family and his entire piratical operation, not back to Algiers, but to the island of Lundy instead, re-establishing his (Islamic) pirate's republic there? How long could it have possibly endured? And how much of an impact might this have had, in the long term?

I've heard this thing about Janszoon capturing Lundy a lot. Thande has mentioned it too. And it's in several books about the corsairs.

But it's not mentioned in any English sources at all. And we have records of English monarchs giving permission for buildings to be built on Lundy during the time period janszoon was meant to have captured it.

I'm far from convinced it ever actually happened and it wasn't just a corsair boast that had no basis in fact.

The original source seems to be Angus Konstam in Piracy: The Complete History,. And in there the claim is that Jan Janszoon held the island of lundy for five years from around 1628. This is meant to be where he launched the 1631 attack on ireland from.

Except we know Bevil Grenville was building a dock there in 1631, and received an offer to buy the island in 1630. There are numerous reports of pirates using the area as a base, in 1628 four french pirates are reported to have rifled the shore, in 1632 John Nutt's vice admiral was almost captured there, in 1633 another frenchman named Meggor killed a lundy resident called Mark Pollard and late that year a Captain Brundiville is noted to have robbed various ships around Lundy, but there's no mention of a five year occupation.

And the only first hand account of the sack of baltimore specifically has the corsairs coming from morocco not a local base.

The only two mentions of barbary pirates at all the calendar of state papers, in reference to Lundy, are from 1625 and 1635. In 1625 there is a report that Lundy has been siezed by the turks which is denied by Thomas Harris of the Hms Phoenix and a government inquiry digs up only a Mr. Nicholas Cullen who says that 'the turks continued at Lundy a fortnight. I saw the turkish ship lying off the road off Lundy'. And in 1635 there's a report that algerians are using Lundy as a Harbour and Shelter but Janszoon was captured on Malta that year and within a year there's another offer to buy the island.

There's certainly no details about a 5 year occupation.

And Ian Hernon, in Fortress Britain has this to say 'Oliver Cromwell, aware that the corsairs were crippling his South West ports and drastically raising insurance costs for the entire merchant fleet, decreed that any Arab taken in those waters should be taken to Bristol and slowly drowned. He commissioned Robert Blake and William Penn, both of solid Westcountry stock, to clear the corsairs off Lundy Island, which they had made their operations base. They bombarded the makeshift enemy stronghold and those not killed or captured fled back to Barbary.'

So that puts it much later than 1628 if Cromwell is in charge. Fairyjo, a devon website, gives a version set in 1645 in which Robert Penn and William Blake captured 466 ships and 20,000 prisoners when freeing the island, which is a huge set of numbers, but is otherwise compatible with Hernon's version.

Except, 1645 is a) 4 years after Jan Janszoon's death and b) in the middle of the civil war. And we know what happened to Lundy in the civil war because it was just about the last place that held out for the king, not surrendering until 1648. There is no way it could have been held by pirates in 1645, indeed we have letters from citizens to North Devon thanking for royalists for preventing pirates landing at Lundy.

And again, the book on Lundy has a record of the pirates seen in the area and they're dutch or french.

It just doesn't add up.
 
Last edited:
But let's try to actually answer the question.

Janszoon leaves Sale. Now traditionally pirates have followed two paths, they've either based themselves out of the way (madagascar, sale, the bahamas) where there's no local forces of overwhemling strength. Or they've worked for a powerful state (going to ottoman ruled algiers or taking a pardon and rejoining a european fleet).

So you need a reason why Jan instead moves closer to enemy fleets and further from protection. Now Lundy is a good site for pirates, it's close to the bristol ships to raid, it's hard to capture, it's good priate territory and jan almost certainly knows about it and can find it. But it has one major disadvantage, which it's miles away from all the people you're selling your slaves too.

Jan captures slaves in baltimore and take them to Lundy, great. But noone in Lundy is buying white christian slaves. He'll have to sell them in algiers. Which means he's still having to make a voyage from lundy to algiers and not get intercepted. He's gained nothing in terms of safety.

Now he's got far more free movement, there's no sultan watching him, he can do what he likes, but he's living in a shitty island right next door to the roval navy.

So why would Jan do that? For me the obvious answer is he was exiled there. He's burned bridges elsewhere big time. He knows if he goes to sale or algeirs, then the deys will have his head and also that the european powers won't offer him a pardon.

So that changes things, he's in exile and using his slaves as labour on lundy or to trade with visiting corsairs for goods. he's not sailing back to algeirs, the algerians are sailing to him because they can't meet him in their home ports.

Now he can probably get away with this for a bit, it'll take a while for the english to realise how serious the problem is, assemble a large enough force to deal with it and then invade. If he's very lucky, he might survive through Charles's attempt to rule without parliament due to a lack of funds for the King and into the civil war.

Come the civil war he might be able to sell services to one side or the other. But as soon as one side gets the upper hand I think he's either killed or offered a position in england on condition of him freeing his slaves. A slave state on the english coast taking english slaves just won't be tolerated by any english government and there's no local patron powerful enough to back him against them.
 
Last edited:
So yeah @Zachariah, I think you can just about stretch a longer than 20 year occupation. From 1627 to the 1650s. But come the 1650s and the end of the wars of three kingdoms, Lundy is going to be the first target of who ever wins.
 
Top