Jan Janszoon, Dutch-Ottoman Pirate and Statesman
- Consul Spiekermann
- 2. Juli
- 3 Min. Lesezeit
The mighty Vanderbilt business dynasty, former US First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Oscar-winning actor Humphrey Bogart, and the 29th US President Warren G. Harding all share a common, illustrious ancestor from the Netherlands: Jan Janszoon van Haarlem, also known as Reis Mourad the Younger. Jan Janszoon lived during the Eighty Years' War. The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands waged a fierce war of independence against the staunchly Catholic Kingdom of Spain, which simply refused to grant independence to its rebellious Protestant provinces. A slogan of the rebellious Calvinist Dutch during this period was "Rather Turkish than Popish." Underlying this was the conviction that it would be better for the Netherlands to become a protectorate of the Ottoman Empire than to fall under Spanish rule once again.
In fact, during this period there was even close communication between the Caliphate in Constantinople and the Calvinists. This unexpected alliance had both strategic and religious reasons. For the European Calvinists and the Ottoman Empire, Catholic Spain and the Holy Roman Empire were their main adversaries. Furthermore, there are theological parallels between Islam and Calvinism, such as the belief in divine predestination, strict moral codes, and the staunch rejection of pictures, icons, and statues in religious buildings.
When the Ottoman Empire ruled over Hungary and Transylvania, it even actively promoted the spread of Calvinism there. (For instance, Hungary's Regent, Admiral Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya, was a Calvinist for this reason.) Few figures embodied the astonishing convergence of Dutch and Ottoman cultures quite like Jan Janszoon, a native of Haarlem in the County of Holland. He began his career as a Dutch privateer, a maritime entrepreneur commanding a ship under the Dutch flag and government license to prey on Spanish vessels. However, he soon began operating with considerable independence in the Mediterranean, acting more like a pirate than a privateer. After being shipwrecked off the coast of Lanzarote, he managed to reach land safely. By coincidence, a corsair fleet from Ottoman Algiers was raiding the Spanish island at the time, and Janszoon was taken captive by them.
Among the Ottoman Privateers, he encountered other Dutchmen who were active as Ottoman Corsairs, such as Ivan Dirkie de Veenboer alias Sulayman Reis. The Calvinist Janszoon became a Muslim, regained his freedom, and resumed his former profession, now under the Ottoman flag. Thanks to the alliance between the Netherlands and the Ottoman Empire against Spain, he was even able to visit his family in the Netherlands without difficulty. Although they tried to persuade him to stay in Holland, he preferred life as an Ottoman corsair. At one point, he even served as the head of state of the autonomous Republic of Salé in present-day Morocco, later pursuing a career as an Ottoman admiral, diplomat, and statesman. His son, Anthony Janszoon van Salee, also known as "Anthony the Turk", emigrated to America, became a farmer on Long Island (in what is now New York), and emerged as the ancestor of many famous, wealthy, and powerful American figures.
As we see, Pirates can shape world history. And so do we. On July 4th, the European Pirate Party will vote on the application by our registered political party, the Minority List Austria – Danube Federation, to become an Observer Member. Let's hope the Pirates will let us on board!
