Turkish Abductions
The Turkish Abductions were 1627 corsair raids on Iceland that seized about 400 people and carried them into slavery in North Africa.
Barbary corsairs: North African privateers and pirates who attacked ships and coastal settlements, especially in the Mediterranean and Atlantic. Corsairs from Algiers and Salé carried out the Icelandic raids.
Grindavík: A fishing town on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula, southwest of Reykjavík. Corsairs attacked Grindavík in June 1627, capturing residents and ships.
Ottoman Empire: A transcontinental empire centered in Anatolia that endured from the late thirteenth century to the early twentieth. Algiers was an Ottoman regency, though the Icelandic raiders operated with considerable autonomy.
The Travels of Reverend Ólafur Egilsson: A first-person account of Ólafur Egilsson’s capture, captivity, and journey to seek help in Denmark. It preserves a detailed contemporary narrative of the abductions and their aftermath.
Salé Rovers: Corsairs based at Salé, Morocco, who raided shipping and coastal settlements in the Atlantic. A Salé-based force joined the 1627 expedition to Iceland.
Heimaey: The largest island in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago off Iceland’s southern coast. The largest raid struck Heimaey later in the summer and seized many inhabitants.
Republic of Salé: A short-lived corsair polity based at Salé in Morocco during the seventeenth century. Its corsair crews supplied part of the force that raided Iceland.
Icelandic national memory: Shared narratives through which people in Iceland interpret and remember their history. The raids became a defining story of vulnerability, captivity, and survival.
Algiers: A major North African port and Ottoman regency that became a center of corsair activity. The raiders took many captives to Algiers for sale and ransom.
Vestmannaeyjar: An Icelandic archipelago of volcanic islands off the country’s southern coast. Its settlements, especially Heimaey, suffered the deadliest part of the raids.