Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History class from how
Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm Katie Lambert and I'm fair and recently we got
Speaker 1: some male from Sarah and Amber and they sent us
Speaker 1: these lovely handmade paper magnolias and some necklaces. And they
Speaker 1: also sent us a book by Edward Chritzler called Jewish
Speaker 1: Pirates of the Caribbean, which of course meant that we
Speaker 1: had to read it created quite a stir on his
Speaker 1: it really did. We were very excited. We put a
Speaker 1: picture of us in our in our magnolia with our
Speaker 1: magnolias and our hair wearing our beads. If you haven't
Speaker 1: seen it, and people were really enthusiastic about the Jewish pirate,
Speaker 1: it wouldn't be so I wanted to do a podcast
Speaker 1: just about Jewish pirates, but we decided it didn't make
Speaker 1: a lot of sense unless you had the background, which
Speaker 1: is really interesting. So we're going to do some background
Speaker 1: followed by some brief biography. It's almost like a two
Speaker 1: part episode in one exactly, and we've talked about expeditions
Speaker 1: of discovery before you know, the human drive to explore,
Speaker 1: to conquer, to be first and the Age of Discovery
Speaker 1: is one really fabulous example, the period from the fifteenth
Speaker 1: to seventeenth centuries when Europeans went far and wide in
Speaker 1: search of new lands and treasures. But there's a little
Speaker 1: disgusted group amongst these explorers that had a different mission.
Speaker 1: It wasn't to find golden cinnamon, but to escape the
Speaker 1: Inquisition and the anti Semitic horrors of Europe. And these
Speaker 1: people were, of course European Jews, and we're going to
Speaker 1: give you a little bit up their story. Okay, so
Speaker 1: we've talked about some of this in our podcast on
Speaker 1: the Reconquista, but we're going to recap for you in
Speaker 1: case you haven't heard that episode yet. So if you've
Speaker 1: ever heard the term Sephardic Jews and wondered what Separd was,
Speaker 1: it was an outpost of the Roman Empire in what
Speaker 1: later became Spain, and at the end of the fourteenth
Speaker 1: century there were five hundred thousand Jews in Safard, making
Speaker 1: it the largest Jewish community outside of Palestine. And that
Speaker 1: stad is from that pirate book. A lot of this
Speaker 1: information is going to be from there, So yeah, you
Speaker 1: should definitely pick up a copy against Edward Chritzler's book
Speaker 1: Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean, And although Jews had called
Speaker 1: Safared their home for a long time, it wasn't seen
Speaker 1: that way by the rulers of the land throughout the
Speaker 1: centuries tight Us, the Visigoths, the Moors. But in feudal Spain,
Speaker 1: Jews occupied high society. Things took a sharp, sharp turn
Speaker 1: for the worse in the fourteenth century, during the infamous
Speaker 1: Massacre of One Jews were accused of blood libel, using
Speaker 1: the blood of Christian children for their religious rituals and
Speaker 1: also being the cause of the Black plague. And the
Speaker 1: man who sparked this horror and these attacks was the
Speaker 1: friar prompt Martinez of Seville, and you should remember his
Speaker 1: name because his accusations resulted in the deaths of one
Speaker 1: hundred thousand Jews who were ordered to invert or die.
Speaker 1: Many chose death. So skipping ahead a little bit to four,
Speaker 1: Queen Isabella of Spain or of Castile and Aragon orders
Speaker 1: the Edict of Expulsion, and we talked about that in
Speaker 1: the re Conquista podcast. But another one hundred thousand Jews
Speaker 1: were forced to leave Spain and the rest converted and
Speaker 1: were known as Conversos. Sometimes they converted publicly, but still
Speaker 1: maintain their own religious practices. I've known as new Christians
Speaker 1: um and also crypto Jews. Under Isabella, the Spanish Inquisition
Speaker 1: began and her Inquisitor General assaulted the burnings of nine
Speaker 1: thousand Jews at the Stake. By the early sixteen hundreds,
Speaker 1: there were very few places in Europe where Jews were
Speaker 1: allowed to be, So where was there to go? For one,
Speaker 1: there's a whole another continent, the New World, the New World.
Speaker 1: So a lot of them went as new Christians or Conversos,
Speaker 1: with high hopes for this new land and hopefully a
Speaker 1: new future where there was more tolerant right. Because of course,
Speaker 1: fourteen ninety two didn't just mark the beginning of the
Speaker 1: expulsion of the Jews from Spain. It's also the year
Speaker 1: Ferdinand and Isabella gator approval to Christopher Columbus's mission to
Speaker 1: find that elusive route to the East, and Jews supported
Speaker 1: this mission, you know, perhaps you could find them a
Speaker 1: safe place to make their home. And also in that book,
Speaker 1: apparently Christopher Columbus came from Jewish ancestry, which I had
Speaker 1: no idea, and I haven't finished reading it. I have
Speaker 1: to be perfectly honest, so I can't. I can't get collaborating. No,
Speaker 1: I would love to, but it's simply not possible at
Speaker 1: the moment um. But yeah, I thought that was really interesting.
Speaker 1: There's another person we're going to talk about later in
Speaker 1: this time past who you also surprised they know, is
Speaker 1: to Yes. So Christopher Columbus, of course didn't discover America,
Speaker 1: but he did discover all sorts of places, and some
Speaker 1: of them became Jewish havens, like the island of Jamaica.
Speaker 1: But Jews also dominated commerce in the New World. They're
Speaker 1: the ones who set up all the trade networks, who
Speaker 1: leased the ships, who introduced letters of exchange and credit,
Speaker 1: and their religious beliefs were ignored so long as they
Speaker 1: were useful. And once, say, you figured out the trade
Speaker 1: networks for yourself, you could go back to, you know,
Speaker 1: inviting the Inquisition to come visit. But Spain was pretty
Speaker 1: much the most powerful country in the world at this time,
Speaker 1: and the hatred that persecuted Jews had for the country
Speaker 1: made them an attractive ally for all of Spain's enemies.
Speaker 1: They had a lot of enemy, yes, a lot a
Speaker 1: lot of enemies. They could all work together to destroy
Speaker 1: the Spanish naval fleet. And because they knew all about ships,
Speaker 1: trade routes, and credit, these Jewish merchants knew where everyone
Speaker 1: was going and what they had in their ships. So
Speaker 1: that would make them perfect for one particular line of
Speaker 1: work I have in mind. Piracy. Perhaps, yes, it's the
Speaker 1: pirates life for me. So a tiny little history of
Speaker 1: Jewish pirates. Our first mention of them comes for Jewish
Speaker 1: historian Flavius Josephus in Jewish Antiquities in sixty three BC.
Speaker 1: Jewish leader Hyrcanus accuses Aristobulus of piracy in front of Pompey.
Speaker 1: They're arguing over a leadership position. And our source for
Speaker 1: that was Herod the Great Secretary, who told the story
Speaker 1: to Josephus. So for some reason that's considered a reliable source,
Speaker 1: I guess for information, although I wouldn't really want to
Speaker 1: trust Herod the Great Secretary. So I mean, if that's
Speaker 1: our start of Jewish pirates, though it continues long after that,
Speaker 1: and it makes sense too. I mean, we we already
Speaker 1: mentioned this extensive trade network and sort of the inside
Speaker 1: knowledge that a lot of people had about who was trading,
Speaker 1: what where it was going, and when, but it also
Speaker 1: makes sense that people who are forced to be outlaws,
Speaker 1: some of them might turn to an outlaw career where
Speaker 1: you can actually make a buck and maybe stay alive.
Speaker 1: So the first famous Jewish pirate we're going to discuss
Speaker 1: is named sign In, and he was Barbarossa's second in
Speaker 1: command and his favorite captain and also a giant pain
Speaker 1: in the Holy Roman Emperor Charles's life, And with one
Speaker 1: hundred ships, he occupied Tunis for Suliman, which gave Suliman
Speaker 1: control of the entire Mediterranean. Suliman might be a familiar
Speaker 1: name to Roxalana pip Harem beast. So when Charles offered
Speaker 1: Barbarossa North Africa in exchange for leaving Suliman and joining him,
Speaker 1: Barbarossa made his point by cutting off the messenger's head.
Speaker 1: So we're going to go ahead and take that. Doesn't know,
Speaker 1: but Signon also governed Algiers and commanded the Turkish navy
Speaker 1: and did away with most of the Spanish fleet in
Speaker 1: fifteen thirty eight. But he's also known for acts of mercy.
Speaker 1: It's because of him that the Christians of Tunis weren't
Speaker 1: all murdered by the enraged Barbarossa. So I mean for
Speaker 1: somebody who himself is persecuted, he seems to be markably tolerant.
Speaker 1: Our next one is Samuel Palash, the pirate rabbi of Holland,
Speaker 1: and he was the son of a rabbi. He was
Speaker 1: born and raised in Morocco, in the Jewish ghetto in Fez,
Speaker 1: which was home to fifty thousand Jews. And I didn't
Speaker 1: know before I read this book that Jews were in
Speaker 1: Morocco before the Arabs brought Islam there. I had no
Speaker 1: idea the other did I. But he wasn't content to stay,
Speaker 1: and in fact, he and his brother Joseph started making
Speaker 1: it past the walls of the ghetto at night to
Speaker 1: help raid ships in the Strait of Gibraltar. But he
Speaker 1: got got a reputation, as you know, a capable and
Speaker 1: daring young man, and the Sultan chose him as his
Speaker 1: trade rep. Samuel and his brother soon made use of
Speaker 1: the position to try to sell intelligence to other countries.
Speaker 1: But they were double agents, and in general I think
Speaker 1: maybe just enjoyed the lying more than what they were
Speaker 1: actually trying to do. They told Spain that they'd sell
Speaker 1: them information about Morocco and then told France they would
Speaker 1: sell them information about Spain. What they really wanted to
Speaker 1: do was find a safe haven for the Jews and
Speaker 1: a place where crypto Jews could drop the Christian mask
Speaker 1: and go back to celebrating the religion in peace. And
Speaker 1: they decided one particular place which had said it would
Speaker 1: be tolerant of religion. Yeah, they hear that Holland is
Speaker 1: open to other religions, and so they make their home there.
Speaker 1: It turns out it's more like look the other way
Speaker 1: than we welcome you with open arms. But um, they
Speaker 1: had a community that established there and the Jews in Amsterdam.
Speaker 1: In in sixteen o three they celebrated the Day of
Speaker 1: Atonement and that was the first Jewish worship service in Holland.
Speaker 1: Samuel also made alliances between the Netherlands and Morocco, which
Speaker 1: is pretty cool since wam was a Christian nation and
Speaker 1: one Muslim, and in general through all that he did
Speaker 1: tried to get back at Spain anyway he could. They had,
Speaker 1: after all, Synth the Inquisition after him. In sixteen fourteen,
Speaker 1: he began command of a Moroccan fleet and went after
Speaker 1: Spanish ships, trading arms for sugar, spice and diamonds and
Speaker 1: teamed up with the Dutch, the Moors, and other Jews
Speaker 1: to combat their common foe. One ship was adorned with
Speaker 1: phoenix and had a kosher cook aboard, and he was
Speaker 1: pirrating in the very last years of his life. He
Speaker 1: died in sixteen sixteen in the Hague. Our next entry
Speaker 1: is Moses Cohen Enriquez. We love the name. I think
Speaker 1: it's maybe the best name. He pulled off one of
Speaker 1: history's largest heists, and that went down in sixteen along
Speaker 1: with the Dutch West India Company's Admiral Hind. They both
Speaker 1: hated Spain, as so many people in this podcast have. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, do you think we're getting biased to the
Speaker 1: last couple episodes. I don't know. We're gonna have to
Speaker 1: figure out some We're gonna think about this Spain topics
Speaker 1: topics to counterbalance this a little bit. But Enrica's hated
Speaker 1: Spain because of the country's attitude towards Jews. Hind hated
Speaker 1: it because he had been a galley slave. That's a
Speaker 1: pretty understandable hatred, I'd say. Um, So, guess whose ships
Speaker 1: they decided to attack, Oh, Spain. Sin. They boarded them
Speaker 1: off Cuba and made off with enough silver and gold
Speaker 1: to total around a billion dollars in today's money. That
Speaker 1: I mean, does that put our artives to shame? I
Speaker 1: think it's any article we have about diamond heiser art heist,
Speaker 1: nothing is getting near a billion dollars. No, not so much.
Speaker 1: Enriquez settled on an island off Brazil and was never caught,
Speaker 1: even though I think people knew where he was. Perhaps
Speaker 1: he was just an enemy they didn't want to deal with. Maybe.
Speaker 1: So our final entry is Jean Lafitte the Corsair, and
Speaker 1: he's from a different time period um than the rest
Speaker 1: of them, but he's also a much more famous pirate
Speaker 1: and one that many people don't know was Jewish. So
Speaker 1: he decided we had to end our list with him.
Speaker 1: He was born around seventeen eighty and he came from Conversos.
Speaker 1: His family left Spain after his grandfather was executed during
Speaker 1: the Inquisition, and he set up shop in New Orleans.
Speaker 1: You could come to his family's blacksmith shop to deliver
Speaker 1: your smuggled goods and slaves to someone who would pay
Speaker 1: for them. He lived in islands in the swam throughout
Speaker 1: New Orleans with his men, and he would attack Spanish
Speaker 1: ships on commission from Latin American countries. But he wasn't
Speaker 1: all scoundrel. He had this sort of patriotic streak. It seems.
Speaker 1: When the British offered him money to help them attack
Speaker 1: New Orleans in eighteen fourteen, he instead passed on the
Speaker 1: information to the American army. He wasn't trusted and the
Speaker 1: bay where he was located was still rated. He made
Speaker 1: another attempt and spoke to General Andrew Jackson, who promised
Speaker 1: a pardon in exchange for his aids. So I think
Speaker 1: this We mentioned the Battle of New Orleans a little
Speaker 1: bit in one of the eighteen twelve podcast, but I
Speaker 1: think it's interesting this pirate has a genre. He led
Speaker 1: one thousand men in the War of eighteen twelve and
Speaker 1: fought bravely, but then he went back to being a rascal.
Speaker 1: He left New Orleans for Galveston, Texas, where he set
Speaker 1: up a new colony for his privateering men, and he
Speaker 1: was left alone until some of his followers attacked American ships,
Speaker 1: at which point he sensibly departed from Galveston, and we
Speaker 1: don't know how he met his end. But speaking of endings,
Speaker 1: we have a bit of a sad one today. This
Speaker 1: will be my very last episode of Stuff You Missed
Speaker 1: in History Class. I am moving on to a new opportunity,
Speaker 1: and while I'm very excited about that, it is incredibly
Speaker 1: hard to say goodbye to the podcast. Reading your emails
Speaker 1: and letters and opening all your presence and hearing your
Speaker 1: stories and seeing your pictures and having you tell us
Speaker 1: all about why you love history and the things you're
Speaker 1: passionate about in your lives. That's been the highlight of
Speaker 1: my day for a long time now. So thank you
Speaker 1: for listening, and I will very much miss talking to
Speaker 1: you every week. And Katie, it's been such a joy
Speaker 1: to post the podcast with you. I'm going to miss you. Sarah. Well,
Speaker 1: we better not go on or we might start tearing
Speaker 1: up there if there may have been a little tearing out,
Speaker 1: I had a small surprise party with our our video team.
Speaker 1: I'm currently wearing a tiara under my headphones, so picture
Speaker 1: that if you can. Um But don't worry, Stuff you
Speaker 1: Missed in History Class is not over. There is another
Speaker 1: fabulous host who will be taking my place. I promise
Speaker 1: you will like him or her. It's a surprise and
Speaker 1: a special guest. There will be a special guest house
Speaker 1: who I know you'll like, um, but I don't think
Speaker 1: you'll like anyone quite as much as me. Um, But
Speaker 1: thank you. That's the end of our episode for today's
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