Slavery at the hands of Muslims was not an uncommon fate of Christian traders whose ships plied the waters of the Mediterranean in the early 17th century.
The story of a many times grand uncle of mine whose slavery also had a happy ending is told here.
Great story! Thanks for the link. You have the blood of a hero flowing through your veins.
“Slavery at the hands of Muslims was not an uncommon fate of Christian traders whose ships plied the waters of the Mediterranean in the early 17th century.”
One silver lining to the victory at Lepanto (due to the intercession of Our Lady of Victories) was that the number of freed Christian galley slaves could help compensate for the loss of Christian soldiers & sailors (this was the last major battle between oared ships). On a sidebar, due the Spanish persistence in the battle (as Andrea Doria’s ships and others fell back, while the Spanish fleet under Don Juan of Austria attacked until victory was attained, killing the sultan), to this day Spaniards do not have to abstain from eating meet on Fridays during Lent. There was great debate as to how this applied to Spanish possessions in Latin America as they gained independence, but in the end the dispensation was reserved for Spain alone. In an attempt to mediate a peace between Greece and Turkey over control of Cyprus, Pope Paul VI returned to modern Turkey battle flags won from the Turkish fleet 400+ years before at Lepanto.